In case you walk into my apartment on any given day, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is all but guaranteed to be on the TV. I’ve watched the show ever since my grandma tuned into certainly one of the now-ubiquitous marathons during a sleepover after I was nine (questionable to introduce a preteen to a series about sex crimes, but I digress). The events that unfolded onscreen were disturbing; I used to be immediately hooked. To today, I refuse to chop the cable cord, paying a ridiculously high Spectrum bill just to maintain those marathons coming.

As anyone who has spent a full Saturday watching channels like USA or ION can inform you, there’s quite a bit to like about SVUincluding its engrossing characters and the ripped-from-the-headlines stories. Now in its twenty fourth season, the show stays the longest-running prime-time live-action series on television — and its star, Mariska Hargitay, portrays the longest-running female character on network TV, Detective Olivia Benson.

Benson manages to be empathetic and commanding at the identical time — and he or she does all of it without a lot as a hair misplaced. Which brings me to my point: Benson — er, Hargitay — has incredible hair, a lot in order that it’s turn into a star in its own right. Ask any SVU diehard to ID an episode based on Benson’s hair; they’ll get it right, and I’m not only saying that because I can do it (I’ve also won SVU trivia night and walk around NYC in a “dun dun” baseball cap, so I’m willing to think about that I may be the outlier here).

Hargitay’s current shoulder-length waves have turn into her signature onscreen and off, but her hair evolution has been dramatic. She’s worn all the pieces from a dark layered lob to a highlighted pixie cut, and based on the star, it’s been a wild ride. “I like to mess around and check out latest looks, but I’ve definitely had some hair crises through the years,” says Hargitay, who also serves as an SVU executive producer and has directed numerous episodes. “I had short hair for some time, after which I hated having to grow it out. We did not have the styling right, and I made some mistakes with the colour too. I used to be trying stuff out and did not have the experience with hair or the eye to detail that I actually have today. Now I do know immediately what works and what doesn’t, but it surely took me a while to get there.”