Benson realizes she's a racist in Law & Order: SVU's Season 22 premiere

The Daily Beast

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit showrunner Warren Leight promised to address police brutality throughout the season in the wake of the death of George Floyd. Thursday's season premiere was a direct response to the Black Lives Matter summer protests. "It’s clear that SVU’s writers and producers take their mandate seriously this season—and for the most part, 'Guardians and Gladiators' is a fascinating look at how these shows might slowly re-imagine their roles," says Laura Bradley of the premiere, which also rips from the headlines the “Central Park Karen” Amy Cooper case. "Still, this process is not going to be easy or seamless. SVU might’ve shifted its vantage point, but we’re still living in the same fictionalized world with the same fictional characters. We’ve known some of these characters for decades, and for all that time they have, more or less, been treated as heroes—their actions justified, their mistakes minimized, their misjudgments forgiven after generally gentle scrutiny."