Why Raúl Esparza was the best-ever ADA on Law & Order: SVU

The Concourse

“The role of the ADA was important—it’d be kind of weird to have a show predicated on law and order without strong casting for the law half of the equation,” says Lindsey Adler. “But throughout most of their stints on the show, (Alexandra) Cabot and (Casey) Novak had a significant supporting cast. (Rafael) Barba, on the other hand, progressed to become the strongest, most interesting personality left on the show with Olivia Benson. Without Munch, Fin’s sting has been somewhat neutered; Nick Amaro was basically the show’s hate-able hot guy; Amanda Rollins has all sorts of problems but has never quite evolved to become Benson’s complement; and while Sonny Carisi is a fantastic police character, the show’s move away from a true procedural has really limited his effectiveness. For my money, SVU’s late-series core duo has been Barba and Benson. It’s a split that makes me genuinely concerned about the worth of the show going forward.” ALSO: Ranking the SVU ADAs.