“In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories…BUM-BUMM.”

From timely, hard-hitting coverage to real guidance in society, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, aka, SVU is an ongoing, American drama series. This isn’t some crazy opinion, but a very  supported statement. SVU has ran for 19 seasons now, making it the fourth longest running series, preceded by The Simpsons, Gunsmoke and Law Order.

SVU is about an elite squad that protects New York City from one of the most vicious crimes: rape. They are informed of a case and then go to work breaking down every aspect of the victims lives and the case itself to find a lead. From there, they go out into the streets and work with those in the community to try to get the dirtbags off of the street.

But then, there’s an age old debate that Criminal Minds is just as good, if not better, than SVU. False.

Criminal Minds is another American drama series, but this one is about a group of profilers that hunt criminals based on the profiles they create purely from crime scenes and patterns. Now don’t get me wrong, Criminal Minds is not a bad show at all, actually one of my favorites, but that does not mean it even comes close to SVU. It doesn’t.

SVU first aired way back when in 1999, while Criminal Minds just broke waves in 2005. While both are good shows to follow and learn from, there’s just something about SVU that gives it that extra little push over Criminal Minds. Really, it’s just a little push according to TV.com, where SVU is rated an 8.9 out of 10 and Criminal minds is rated a measly 8.8 out of 10. Boom.

On Jan. 31, Criminal Minds had a total of 5.422 million viewers according to tvseriesfinale.com. But SVU had a total of 7.1 million on the episode aired on Nov. 29, 2017.

The numbers aren’t the only category SVU is winning in though. We have the Olivia Benson who not only is compassionate and lives and breathes her job, but actually has been in the shoes of the victims, on more than one occasion. She has been through the worst but still puts her fears aside to be of assistance to those who need it, and she is, without a doubt, the best. Just like SVU.