Content warning: This article discusses incidents involving violence, sexual assault, abuse and other topics that may be triggering to some readers.
There are a lot of shocking twists throughout the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit series. That's no surprise to any devotee of Dick Wolf's venerable procedural franchise. Twists are par for the course in any of L&O's iterations.
However, there are some twists throughout SVU that shock the viewers past the normal level of unexpectedness. This show is known for some twists and turns, and even some criminal tropes that make it easy to guess who the perpetrator is. Despite the captivating nature of the show, these twists took a lot of viewers by surprise, in some instances coming completely out of the left field.
Alex Fakes Her Death
Alex Cabot (Stephanie March) is one of the most likable characters on SVU. While her overall comion for victims makes her so favorable, she makes a sudden exit in Season 5.
In the fourth episode of season 5, ADA Cabot gets in a bit over her head chasing a murderer of an undercover federal agent, who turns out to be related to a dangerous drug cartel. Alex's headstrong personality leads her down dangerous territory, eventually forcing her to go into witness protection when she receives death threats. This exit was so shocking because Alex had been such a consistent character since season 2 that the audience wasn't expecting her departure.
The Gender Swap
When Benson and Stabler think they've found the kid who bit and killed a gang member in self-defense of a sexual assault, they had no idea the situation was about to get a whole lot more complicated.
What the audience thought was a twin sister trying to protect her brother turns out to be a huge plot twist. On the contrary, the girl is taking the wrap because she was the actual victim, despite the chromosomal DNA found being biologically male. By investigating another sexual assault case in the mix of them all, the team stumbles upon a biologically male teenager who underwent a sex change after an accident during an everyday circumcision.
Stuckey As A Killer
When the audience first encounters forensic technician Dale Stuckey, it's clear his brash behavior and crude remarks make him quickly unlikable.
However, it's a shock when Stuckey commits three murders and attempts two more, including Detective Stabler. When Stuckey makes a mistake in the lab, resulting in a criminal being set free, he goes after the perpetrator and his lawyer. What's more shocking, though, is when he makes an attempt on Judge Donnelly's life for humiliating him in court, kills a woman to frame the man who got off, and then attacks Stabler when his DNA matches that found at the latest victims crime scene.
The Killer Psychologist
It's no surprise George Huang is one of the most intelligent characters from SUV, especially represented in this episode when he (and ADA Casey Novak) discovers a supposedly abused kid is actually a sociopath.
The ADA and detectives are clearly disturbed when the kid, Jake, gets it easy in family court, but no one sees the next thing coming. Dr. Brett Morton, a psychologist and father of the boy Jake killed, grabs a court officer's gun and shoots Jake to death. Even more shocking is the end of the episode when Morton gets off and its he killed Jake so that the boy could never kill again, revealing his temporary insanity plea was a hoax.
A Mother's Abuse
In episode 20 of season 12, everyone is so convinced (by the substantial evidence) a piano teacher, June Frye, killed her student that no one sees the surprise twist in store.
This is another case of a sister protecting her sibling, except this time the sibling really is the killer. While it's often the case that the father is the abusive parent, it turns out that a mother had abused her two daughters as they were growing up. This abuse causes the younger girl, the sister of the piano teacher, to kill a young girl by utilizing the abusive techniques her mother afflicted on them.
Ken's Brother/Cousin
Though this show has its share of family drama, the revealed secrets from Fynn's ex-wife's past is quite a plot twist.
The cousin, Darius, who Fynn's son Ken has always been close to turns out to be the half-brother who was a result of their grandfather raping Ken's mother. This news leaves several characters reeling, and comes up at the opportune time when Darius is on trial for murder. Knowing the truth behind Darisus's troubled past doesn't help him seem sympathetic when he is so clearly unapologetic about his crimes, but it leaves Fynn and Ken's relationship rockier than ever.
Dana's Fatal Jealousy
Olivia Benson makes many friends throughout the show, including FBI Agent Dana Lewis.
However, even Olivia's respect for Agent Lewis can't protect her when the team discovers what Dana did so many years ago in a jealous rage. When she was a young woman, she kills another woman after a love interest pressures her to have an abortion and then tells her he is going to marry this woman a couple of months later. It's impressive that, after so many years, Nick Amaro, being one of the best partners from the show with Olivia, is able to dig up the clues that eventually lead to Dana falling under suspicion for the crime.
It Wasn't the Mother
In an episode starring Hilary Duff, a young mother is a likely suspect for her baby's death.
However, in a surprise twist, the mother was found not to be guilty for her baby's death, despite her burying the body in an abandoned lot after she finds her daughter dead. The medical examiner reveals, in a shocking twist, that the child died of measles. This storyline unexpectedly leads the team to a mother whose negligence in not vaccinating her child leads to a measles epidemic. This episode is the first in a slew of anti-vaccination cases throughout the series.
Barba Loses His Cool
This show has a history of great ADAs, so it's no surprise that the newest ADA of the time, Rafael Barba, shocks the viewers in such an unexpected manner.
There are a lot of reasons Barba is the best ADA on the team, one of which is going through great lengths to get a conviction. In the first episode he appears, Barba makes a sadistic rapist look particularly guilty when he puts a belt around his neck and gets the accused to lose his cool on the stand. It's a big shock to see the newest ADA gain the detectives' favor quickly by doing something so dangerous and bold to make his point.
The Secret Behind An Abusive Teacher
While this episode of season 19 is hinted at being obscure right in the title, 'Send in the Clowns', the overused trope of a teacher's lust for their star pupil takes a startling turn.
A music teacher begins having an inappropriate affair with his student, eventually causing her to fake her own death and run away with him. While the faked death is a shock because she frames an innocent man to do it, the bigger shock comes after she and the teacher are recovered. In a fit of anger and betrayal, the mother of the girl its the brief affair she had with this same teacher resulted in pregnancy... and the same girl he was having an affair with.
