Procedurals are the most popular type of primetime television.
For years, many viewers liked them because they could watch a few episodes without bingeing multiple seasons to understand the characters.
While that’s still the case, nowadays viewers expect more from their favorite shows. They want to be invested in their character’s lives and relationships, or it’s not worth their time.
We’ve had some wonderful procedurals, such as Will Trent or newer episodes of Law & Order, which have often combined cases and the characters’ lives. It’s exciting to see how cases affect them.
However, others have shied away from that lately, making viewers long for even glimpses of personal character arcs. Looking at you, Law & Order: SVU
It’s become a massive debate, with one side wanting character involvement and the other preferring more attention on the unique weekly cases.
My verdict: Procedurals need a healthy balance of both to excel.
The Importance of Selecting Messy, Grey Cases That Make Us Feel Something
I know certain cases like sexual assault, rape, and murder are cut and dry. The perpetrator is wrong and should be punished.
But those get repetitive, which is why I appreciate twists that either make a suspect sympathetic or reveal that the cops got the wrong person.
These types of cases have shades of grey and make us think and feel. They are a procedural goldmine.
It’s why I felt sympathy for Colette Atkins, among many other bullied victims, as of late.
Being bullied constantly is tough to take, especially if it’s from your own sibling.
They’re the ones who’re supposed to protect you, not trigger you.
Do I think Colette should have stabbed her sister? No, but I understood it, and it wasn’t as cut-and-dry.
I’ve appreciated seeing many more bullying cases, as they occur both in schools and in workplaces. Still, it generally only frustrates viewers unless the shows address why bullies turn out that way.
Only Murder in a Small Town ever explored why Brett Holman harassed foster kids at home or was such an angry teen. It was such an important part of the process.
The Hunting Party might examine this with Col. Lazarus, including why she murdered those victims as a teen and how she reformed.
Learning that would help us understand her need for control and why she’s a formidable leader.
Seeing How Cases Affect the Characters Adds Depth
Many of these procedural cases have been interesting anyway, but adding how they affect the characters adds an extra layer of depth.
We often praise Will Trent for this, and one of the best episodes of Will Trent Season 4 was watching how Ormewood handled a cold case from years ago.
Trying to prove the man’s innocence only hours before his execution wrecked him and showed how much more he cared about people now.
Terry Bruno has been with Law & Order: SVU for years, but it took until Law & Order: SVU Season 27 Episode 15 for the series to highlight his backstory through an emotional case.
He was the best at understanding what Romeo, a male teen, went through.
Even I had difficulty believing he killed his mother, and I thought he looked traumatized instead.
I loved that Bruno used his past trauma to help Romeo open up and realize it wasn’t his fault.
Law & Order has also excelled at this weekly this season, with one of the best when Nolan had to put his girlfriend as a hostile witness on the stand to testify that her client texted her that he would kill her bully.
That was a dilemma because you felt for the teenager and his girlfriend, but Nolan almost always follows the law.
We Need to Know These Characters, or We Won’t Stay Invested
While we don’t need procedurals to become primetime soap operas, it’s important to look inside the personal lives of its characters.
Otherwise, we wouldn’t care about who solved the case, and they could change out detectives or agents every season.
That’s the biggest problem Law & Order has. They’ve swapped out so many detectives since the reboot returned in 2021 that it became hard to care about any characters except Nolan and Sam.
To their credit, they’ve improved greatly in Law & Order Season 25 by featuring cases that highlight each of their main characters, but it took time.
Often, fans like having rootable couples or characters on procedurals.
That’s what brings them back. Murder in a Small Town took that a step further by integrating Karl and Cassandra’s relationship into every episode.
Initially, it dealt with the cases, but then it delved into the intricacies of their relationship, and their different careers collided. It worked because viewers cared.
The Hunting Party found success with Bex and Shane’s connection, as fans return weekly to watch it grow.
It’s been a fun journey watching it evolve from coworkers to found family to a potential romance.
While the fans love these connections, they’ve been dubious about others, like Will and Ava or Amanda and Casey, on Will Trent.
Some of these seemed to be fueled by plot rather than genuine feelings, which turned viewers off. But we needed these romances to see inside these characters’ lives.
Finding a Way to Link Family Cameos to Cases
Many fans were disappointed that Law & Order: SVU never brought Noah on to investigate an AI cyberbullying case.
It was something that could have affected him, too, but beyond that, as a teenager, he may have had insight into what went down at school.
Sometimes, we want cameos to make sense, but instead, Noah popped up for a minute on Law & Order: SVU Season 27 Episode 17 and barely spoke a line.
Law & Order and Will Trent both recently featured characters with family cameos, which worked.
Det. Vince Riley asked his daughter, Bridget, how to use TikTok to find a skateboarder and suspect he’d chased but lost.
Det. Ormewood used his teenage son, Max, to help him identify who a video game system belonged to, and it belonged to a gunshot victim whose mom was holding everyone hostage until her son survived.
It showed how helpful teenagers could be within just a few scenes when given the right material. Don’t waste it.
Holly Alberg on Murder in a Small Town Season 2 also proved her worth by taking photos of grave sites and finding Enchanted Nightshade flowers, which led her father and Cassandra to a serial killer.
Cutting Out Beloved Characters or Family Can Hurt
Many of us love these procedurals for their strong team dynamics, and when a show alters those dynamics, it can hurt even a long-running series.
I thought that when Kelli Giddish returned to Law & Order: SVU, we would see more of Amanda Rollins and maybe even more of her family.
My dream was to see the old team of Olivia Benson, Fin, Rollins, and Carisi.
That never happened. The series has treated her more like any old character, and they’ve cut Fin’s airtime. While some of the cases were better in this season, the personal stories took a hit, and that’s what draws people in.
Law & Order: Organized Crime excelled in its first few seasons by balancing an intriguing villain, Richard Wheatley, with episodes featuring Stabler’s family.
However, in its final season, it got rid of Jet and featured Sergeant Bell less often. These women were vital to the show, and their loss changed the format to only weekly cases, with no heart.
We’re still having difficulty processing Amanda Wagner’s death and what that loss will mean for Will Trent.
It seemed more like a plot move than an attempt to enhance Will’s development.
Hopefully, we’re wrong, and he’ll move on without going further down the dark hole, but there could have been a better way to explore Will’s emotions than by making him suffer this much.
It’s Your Turn… Do You Prefer Character Arcs, Grey Cases, or Both?
I’ve loved procedurals since CSI and Law & Order: SVU began. They’ve evolved greatly since then, and so have we.
I can’t watch procedurals without them including character arcs. It’s what matters to me.
I stopped watching Brilliant Minds after Van and Jacob left because so much of the show revolved around how the interns dealt with cases.
There are only certain Law & Order: SVU episodes that appeal to me, because so many of the cases seem repetitive, and there isn’t as much meaningful conversation among the cast anymore.
But I know others have complained about things shifting from cases and getting too personal on shows like Will Trent. I love the series, but I can understand that point.
Right now, I think Law & Order excels at finding a happy medium by highlighting how different cases have affected each main character.
It’s your turn to vote, so please vote in our poll below and leave your thoughts below about the state of procedurals.
You made it to the end — and that means a lot.
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