History Fridge / LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit

** This is completely subverted, however, with "Acceptable Loss", in which the SVU cops' decision to defy a "drop it" order from Homeland Security ends up being the reason that a terrorist is caught. But Homeland Security was really holding the IdiotBall on that case anyway, and it's still little more than dumb luck that things work out the way they do.

** This is completely subverted, however, with "Acceptable Loss", in which the SVU cops' decision to defy a "drop it" order from Homeland Security ends up being the reason that

* Something that's always bothered me about the show is Benson and Stabler having the habit of jumping into cases that aren't theirs, especially when the FBI are involved; there have been several episodes where the victim or suspected perp are involved with an FBI investigation, and they either jump in or treat the FBI as the bad guys for not assisting their case. It took me a while to notice, but it's actually the opposite! 9 times out of 10, Benson and Stabler's interfering actually makes things much ''worse''. In the episode where reoccurring agent Dana/Starr was raped, they went into such a frenzy assuming (incorrectly) she was in trouble/over her head/kidnapped after seeing her willingly enter a car that they indirectly caused several deaths (by being so obvious in their policework and frightening the baddies) and almost ruined months of undercover work. In another episode with a rapist in the witness protection program, if they had been content to let the FBI handle it, a shootout with the mafia that killed a dozen people would have been avoided — not to mention the deaths of both the rapist and his father. Even the first episode with Dana has shades of this — the detectives got so caught up on the (totally unrelated to the case) white supremacy angle that it prompted a court shooting and blew Dana's cover, even if Dana was able to finish her job without incident that time (and they didn't know she was undercover until the end — still managed to almost ruin her case though!). There's no way this is an accident since it keeps happening; the show is very subtly showing either a Deconstruction of what really happens when you jump into a case over your heads... or an outright TakeThat at the assumption time and time again that only the SVU detectives can solve the case.

** This one is pretty clearly explained in the scene following TheReveal.

* One episode goes like this: Benson and Stabler suspect a recently-released ex-con that Stabler put away some time back for a series of rapes. For the first half of the episode, Stabler hassles the guy while looking for evidence to connect the dots. Finally, the suspect is found dead of a heroin overdose - just as they get word of another rape and attempted murder which had been committed while the guy was a corpse. After Stabler angsts for a bit, the second half starts up with Fin Tutuola going to meet and informant who gives them a lead on the real culprit. It was only after several viewings that I realized the episode was a TakeThat against Stabler, and a {{Deconstruction}} of the show's own abuse of ItsPersonal. During the first half, Stabler does his typical RabidCop routine and fixates on this one guy he had a personal history with, convinced he must be their man. Meanwhile, Tutuola was offscreen, slowly cracking the case by ''doing his job''. - Tropers/BellosTheMighty
** Oh, and on the subject of TakeThat moments, [[ReplacementScrappy Dani Beck]]'s existence makes a lot more sense when you realize she is essentially the manifestation of everything fans - especially Benson/Stabler shippers - complained Olivia Benson should be. BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, fanboys. –Tropers/BellosTheMighty
** Something that's always bothered me about the show is Benson and Stabler having the habit of jumping into cases that aren't theirs, especially when the FBI are involved; there have been several episodes where the victim or suspected perp are involved with an FBI investigation, and they either jump in or treat the FBI as the bad guys for not assisting their case. It took me a while to notice, but it's actually the opposite! 9 times out of 10, Benson and Stabler's interfering actually makes things much ''worse''. In the episode where reoccurring agent Dana/Starr was raped, they went into such a frenzy assuming (incorrectly) she was in trouble/over her head/kidnapped after seeing her willingly enter a car that they indirectly caused several deaths (by being so obvious in their policework and frightening the baddies) and almost ruined months of undercover work. In another episode with a rapist in the witness protection program, if they had been content to let the FBI handle it, a shootout with the mafia that killed a dozen people would have been avoided — not to mention the deaths of both the rapist and his father. Even the first episode with Dana has shades of this — the detectives got so caught up on the (totally unrelated to the case) white supremacy angle that it prompted a court shooting and blew Dana's cover, even if Dana was able to finish her job without incident that time (and they didn't know she was undercover until the end — still managed to almost ruin her case though!). There's no way this is an accident since it keeps happening; the show is very subtly showing either a Deconstruction of what really happens when you jump into a case over your heads... or an outright TakeThat at the assumption time and time again that only the SVU detectives can solve the case. - No Account (Yet)

** It's implied his family is at least well off. He proably has a trust fund or something, like every other teenage suspect on SVU.

** What's more, he claimed to have gone to multiple precincts all throughout his adolescence. The fact that SVU found the younger brother after putting in some actual effort just goes to show that if other police tried harder, they might have been able to find Greg's brother a long time ago. Which is another problem of some cops. They just give up too quick.

* Greg Yates being an {{Expy}} of William Lewis may seem like a cheap move of retelling a story arc with certain tweaks. But if you think about it from another angle, this is where the Fridge Horror comes in: Lewis isn't the only one of his kind (psychopathic, chameleon-type serial rapists/killers who enjoy torturing and terrorizing victims in many ways, use their charm to lure in victims or get out of situations, are clever enough to mastermind ''prison escapes'', will stop at nothing to get what they want, etc.). And who's to say it'll stop at Yates?

** They go over this in the episode. He ''did'' try to get the police to reopen the case, they just wouldn't bother.

* FridgeLogic: Often tends to crop up when things deemed unnecessary to the flow of the story are ignored by the writers. For example, it is never explained where a fifteen year-old boy who had slept with dozens of hookers was getting the money for the high-priced call girls he was seeking out.

* FridgeBrilliance
** Cragen's LimitedAdvancementOpportunities (he's been at the same rank for almost 25 years) makes a lot more sense if you recall that, at the end of the first season of the mothership, he helped send the guy who had gotten him all his previous promotions to prison for corruption.
** The whole show makes a lot more sense when you realize that it's not meant to be a realistic portrayal of the American justice system, but rather a StealthParody of its flaws.

* FridgeBrilliance: Cragen's LimitedAdvancementOpportunities (he's been at the same rank for almost 25 years) makes a lot more sense if you recall that, at the end of the first season of the mothership, he helped send the guy who had gotten him all his previous promotions to prison for corruption.

** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Didn't Ariel want to have one more thing coming out from her waist?]]

* Tempered by occasional FridgeBrilliance and ShownTheirWork. For example, what was the name of the radical group in the season 10 episode ''"Transitions"''? Children of Ariel. Many transgendered children, especially mtf children, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic express an affinity for]] [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid mermaids]].

** Quite possibly because if his crossing the MoralEventHorizon in that manner ''did'' come to their attention, he ''would'' be fired. [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism Assuming, of course, one believes there are actually decent people in this]] CrapsackWorld who would ''care'' about that...

* Tempered by occasional FridgeBrilliance and ShownTheirWork. For example, what was the name of the radical group in the season 10 episode ''"Transitions"''? Children of Ariel. Many transgendered children, especially mtf children, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic express an affinity for]] [[TheLittleMermaid mermaids]].

** Tempered by occasional FridgeBrilliance and ShownTheirWork. For example, what was the name of the radical group in the season 10 episode ''"Transitions"''? Children of Ariel. Many transgendered children, especially mtf children, [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic express an affinity for]] [[TheLittleMermaid mermaids]].
*** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint Didn't Ariel want to have one more thing coming out from her waist?]]
** Elliot Stabler frequently bends or outright breaks the law to torture suspects (who more often than not turn out to be innocent and are often killed as a result of this), but for some reason the only thing that's brought up to internal affairs is the fact that he sometimes wishes rapists would die.

** Elliot Stabler frequently bends or outright breaks the law to torture suspects (who more often than not turn out to be innocent and are often killed as a result of this.) but for some reason the only thing that's brought up to internal affairs is the fact that he sometimes wishes rapists would die.