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'Law and Order: SVU' Season 22: Will Olivia and Rollins get Covid-19? 'Cringy' pandemic episodes annoy fans

Many feel that NYPD detectives Olivia and Amanda Rollins might contract Covid-19 since they were not wearing masks and were in touch with Lexi maid the pandemic

We all lament the crime news in reality. However, when the same incidents inspire a show like NBC’s Law and Order: Special Victims Unit then it becomes the longest and most-watched crime drama on our television. With 23 Grammy nods the shows “ripped from the headlines” stories investigate abuse, specifically sexual crimes that are deemed as one of the most heinous crimes in the eye of law.

In the past, the edgy show has dealt with gory cases pertaining to rape, pedophilia and domestic violence with its thrilling narrative and bold characters led by the team of New York Police Department detectives headed by Captian Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). In Episode 3, Season 22, the show again sheds light on the shocking crime of sexual abuse. However, it also revealed that Covid-19 has a huge screen presence this time as the pandemic is reflected amply in the episode.

In the episode 'Remember Me in Quarantine' - The SVU interrogates a group of college roommates when one of them goes missing during Covid-19 lockdown. It also saw the return of fan-favorite guest characters like the astute and competent medical examiner Dr Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie). The episode depicted the brutal murder of Maria, a 20-year-old exchange student whose friends said that she just packed up her stuff one day and left without informing anyone. When interrogated by NYPD it was revealed that she stayed in the room and maintained super social distancing due to the pandemic before she left. It is revealed she was in very strict quarantine before she was aiming to go back to Italy. Now Italy, as we all know was the worst hit in the pandemic which is why Maria could not go back and missed her father.

The episode had people telling Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) that “this year, people have lost their minds”. This amplified how pandemic severely affected people’s lives. Further, Lexi, one of the roommates of Maria reveals that the pandemic got on her nerves as she could not go out or visit her mother. This was the reason she brought in an unknown man (Shawn) into her house to have stress-relieving s*x within the mundane lockdown period. Lexi also reveals certain apprehensions about not wearing masks and kissing people.

Now, that the show has explicitly shown Covid-19 in many of its twists and turns, it has caused a furor on the Internet. Many feel that NYPD detectives Olivia Benson, Fin and Amanda Rollins might contract Covid-19 since they were not wearing masks and were in touch with Lexi amid the pandemic. However, it is not revealed if Lexi has contracted the virus. Showrunner Warren Leight tweeted on the episode that they released after Covid. “Remember Me in Quarantine was our first episode back after we shut down for Covid. Shot in early September, with the city just beginning to emerge from a horrible six months. We wanted to prove we could come back, for our crew, our fans, our city. #SVU.”

Show’s production company tweeted, “A sad reality for many real-life MEs: The morgues in NYC were so overwhelmed by the March/April COVID surge, they couldn't process or ID bodies in time. Real medical examiners were all extremely overworked, working long shifts and shuffling between morgues to the autopsies.” #SVU. A user wrote, “SVU is making covid episodes that are basically Olivia Benson asking suspects why they raped someone when they're supposed to be social distancing.”

A user wrote, “They really got covid all up in these SVU episodes.” Some people were annoyed by the showcase of the pandemic, “SVU being based around covid is annoying tf out of me.” A user said that NYPD detectives were not wearing masks, “I'm mad they are screaming social distance but they are walking around with no damn mask on. That's worse than my boss talking about Covid everyday but refuses to wear a mask in our 6 X 9 space.” A user wrote, "Oh sh** pretty sure Liv and Rollins gonna get Covid now #SVU." "What's up with SVU making all these covid episodes it's kinda cringy," read another tweet.