Ice-T’s Surprisingly Candid Law & Order: SVU Comment Exposes Issue With Fin

As Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 27 comes into view, there’s one long-time viewer frustration that has left many confused, including one of the actors on the show. While the personal lives and circumstances behind the characters isn’t necessarily as important on procedurals, it can be tough to balance cases and character development regularly.

Law & Order: SVU has gone through changes over its decades on the air, and while the most recent stretch of the series has done a lot more with the character work on the show, there are still moments that have left viewers scratching their heads and raising their eyebrows. Ice-T, who’s played Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola for years, is one of the confused parties.

While Ice-T has been a long-time cast member of the series, there are different levels of being in the know on SVU. While others, like the show’s lead Mariska Hargitay who plays Detective Olivia Benson, work heavily with the production on the series and knows more about what lies ahead, Ice-T’s experience highlights a specific issue that others have raised in the past.

Ice-T Reveals That Even He’s Confused By Fin’s Law & Order: SVU Story

Ice-T as Fin Tutuola and Charlayne Woodard as Sister Peg in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Ice-T shared that he’s often confused about what’s going on with his character, as he’s not usually aware of what the SVU episodes are going to look like until he gets a script. While Hargitay is a producer and “kind of knows where the boat’s being steered,” others aren’t as privy to what’s coming up.

Explaining that the first episode of Law & Order: SVU season 27 saw his character “getting [his] ass beat,” Ice-T explained that he wasn’t aware of what was coming until it was just about happening. To an extent, that happens with actors who are on the same show for a long time, but the sentiment spreads out a bit for Law & Order’s Fin.

Viewers have long struggled with the lack of foresight about Fin’s character development, as the show often makes it clear that there wasn’t much of a plan for what happened to his character from season to season. The inconsistency often feels like a missed opportunity for Law & Order fans, who want to see more from Fin and always hope for more Ice-T.

Ice-T’s Personal Story In Law & Order: SVU Hasn’t Been Regularly Developed

Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T stand next to each other in Law and Order SVU

For years, it’s been clear that Fin’s story on Law & Order: SVU hasn’t been developed in a way that’s planned ahead of time. Fin is a fan-favorite, and knowing that his development often remains static until it works for SVU as a whole is a tough pill to swallow. One of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s long-term stars deserves more.