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'Law & Order: SVU' Season 22 Episode 2: Mask or no mask? Show inconsistencies make fans 'f**king agitated'

It is no wonder then that fans of 'Law & Order: SVU' are getting annoyed by the fact that their favorite show is not sticking to protocols on the screen

Spoilers for 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 22 Episode 2

In the post-pandemic world, there are certain protocols many of us have gotten used to -- small acts that indicate how much life has changed. And while health professionals and some politicians, including President-elect Joe Biden, urge people to wear masks to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus, many continue to flaunt them. When television's fall season returned, we expected shows to reflect the current era we are living through and while producers have stated that they are taking strict measures to prevent the spread among the cast and crew, we hope to see those precautions reflected within the show as well. Wearing a mask wherever you go -- especially when you come close to someone you're not usually in contact with -- keeping a safe distance of six feet, these are all WHO-recommended protocols and many of us now do this unconsciously.

It is no wonder then that fans of 'Law & Order: SVU' are getting annoyed by the fact that their favorite show is not sticking to protocols on the screen. It would have been one thing to not reflect the pandemic at all, but doing so, and then getting details wrong can be annoying, especially when seeing people without masks has the capability to make those who are conscious of the virus, anxious. 

Within the episode, as the officers of the Special Victims Unit (SVU) interacted with lawyers, doctors, suspects, and their contacts, we sometimes see them wearing masks but then taking them off. For example, when Katriona "Kat" Tamin (Jamie Gray Hyder) speaks to a child's teacher, both of them are seen maskless. A fan pointed this out, concerned for both the story as well as the actors involved, saying, "Kat in a school and then her and teacher take mask of not 6 feet apart and w pandemic so bad now how are actors safe [now] that rapid testing has flaws."

A fan tweeted, "Watching these broadcast Covid shows where the actors wear masks is dumb cause every time they get close to someone they take the mask off to talk to them. #nbc #LawAndOrder #svu." Another pleaded, "Please stop taking the mask off the minute you walk through the door. What’s up with that?#SVU #SVU22." A fan noticed how the show was inconsistent with mask-wearing, writing, "This week in #SVU mask nonsense. The cops come to the hospitals wearing masks, THEN REMOVE THE MASKS ONCE INSIDE THE HOSPITAL."

Of course, at a time like this, given the high rate of infections and deaths from the coronavirus -- not just in the United States, but across the world -- a new type of anxiety has developed. Some are now more concerned about keeping themselves safe and take extra precautions. Seeing the show being so lax about these protocols is affecting viewers. One viewer wrote, "The inconsistent mask wearing in #SVU is making me so f*cking agitated."

'Law & Order: SVU' airs on NBC on Thursday nights at 9/8c.