Last August, after about four years of 'umming and ahhing', I ordered season one of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit on DVD. I watched it exclusively for two days and immediately ordered season two and season three and season four almost immediately. I had managed to catch the odd episode of Law and Order, Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent when I would stay at Lara and Jane's when Katie was in London but I chose SVU because it was the dynamic of this set of characters that I liked the most. And despite the fact that the main series had the 'lesbian character' it was SVU that had the lesbian following... enter Butchy McFabulous and the Ice Princess. (Well technically only Butchy McFabulous for the first series.)

Usually I would fixate on the brunette of any television series that I watch e.g. BtVS = Faith, Charmed = Piper, Las Vegas = Sam, Stargate = Janet, CSI = Sara Sidle, Bad Girls = Nikki Wade. Olivia Benson has got it all; the brooding pout, the blazing eyes, the killer body, the fiesty attitude, she's just plain sexy. But something very odd happened... the blonde stole my affections.

ADA Alexandra Cabot walked onto the screen and demanded to be noticed, in all her arrogance and tailored suits, in her obsession for her win/loss ratio and her expensive shoes, with her razor sharp wit, disrespect for the rules and those damn glasses of truth and justice. I lived for the episodes when the court case would take up most of the show, loving how Alex would run circles around the defense lawyers and tie the defendant in knots. Then there was the love/hate relationship she had going with Bureau Chief Liz Donelly and her constant battle of wills with Judge Lena Petrovsky; I came to the conclusion at the end of the episode 'Guilt' that Alex has two moms and they are called Liz and Lena, I kept expecting one of them to ground her. And then there's the Alex/Olivia relationship; there's a whole manifesto over at Passion and Perfection but only one moment is needed to prove that the two of them were in love with each other. The final scene of 'Loss'. Believing Alex to be murdered Elliott and Olivia are ordered to a remote location where they discover Alex to be very much alive but about to be ripped from their lives again to keep her that way. Hardly any coherent words are exchanged but the complete devastation in Olivia's eyes and the utter helplessness from Alex said it all.

And then came ADA Casey Novak. She was always going to have big shoes to fill (Stephanie March wears a size nine). Not only did she have to win over the grieving squad, learn how to deal with live victims and maintain Alex's conviction rate but she had to do it with less perfect hair and horrendous taste in clothes. The whole first episode I wanted to throttle her. She just breezed in, ignored her detectives and nearly blew the case. But even I have to admit that by the end of the episode she won me over and by the end of the season I actually liked her. So much so that I was looking forward to season six, and not just because Alex Cabot was going to make an appearance.

It took me months to get hold of season six. Eventually I gave into the inevitable customs charge and ordered it from the States. It cost me an extra £13 but I had it, it was mine at last. First night I watched the first disc, second night I watched the second disc, but on the third night I had time for a whole disc and an extra episode and thus I had my ADA dilemma. In one hand I held disc four with 'Ghost'; the return of Alexandra Cabot, Alex and Olivia alone in a hotel room and an imagination full of possibilities. In the other hand I held disc five with 'Night'; the episode where Casey is attacked in her office, a chance to see Diane Neal act her butt off. 4? 5? 4? 5? 4? 5?

I watched 'Night'. I think I need to put Diane Neal on my list.

...