I know there's been a lot of Law & Order on here lately, but I did Criminal Intent and the original, and I can't leave Special Victims Unit all alone, can I? Besides, the rumor is that Henry Ian Cusick is joining the show as a zexy artist love interest for Olivia Benson, and that doesn't bear passing up!
I don't object to this, but I'm going to be seriously, seriously annoyed if he shows up just to be another dude who passes through, just another bad relationship ending for our girl Olivia. I mean seriously. Girlfriend dates a coworker and dumps him for being immature and kind of weird (sorry, Brian Cassidy). Then, she dates someone who gets victimized, and who was HIV positive and has to get tested and oh noes! Another relationship ends under the pressure of an Internal Affairs investigation. She even gets turned down for an adoption.
Of course, Olivia, as the child of an alcoholic rape victim, has totally legitimate relationship issues. But there's something pretty problematic about leaving her hanging with those issues, giving her less potential for treatment and growth than the victims she works with, just because it's convenient for fans who like the chemistry between her and her (very married) partner or her and Alexandra Cabot. If she's genuinely in love with Elliot, or if she's interested in dating Alex, the show should address that, rather than using Olivia's love and sex life as a prop. There are, of course, women who are just not that interested in long-term relationships, but I think it would be a lot more constructive to create a character like that where there isn't always the excuse of intense trauma in the background. It's much more interesting to explore the choice to live alone as an honest, unforced choice than to secretly suggest that it's pathetic or the inevitable end-consequence of emotional damage.