Character Overview
Cabot first appears in the SVU episode "Wrong Is Right," when she is hired to work with SVU as their permanent ADA overseeing the legality of its arrests, following a rotating mix of ADAs (among them Abbie Carmichael of the original Law & Order). It is revealed in the episode "Hell" that she is a graduate of Harvard Law School. While Cabot empathizes with the sexual assault victims she deals with, her strict code of legal ethics often forces her to make harsh decisions and judgments that go against her personal feelings.
She does occasionally bend the rules to suit her own notions of justice, however, often with unpleasant results. In the episode "Guilt," for example, she lies to detectives about having a search warrant to convict a serial child molester, and aggressively pressures one of the molester's victims to testify against him. The victim later attempts suicide, leaving him with severe brain damage. She only lied about the warrant after he attempted suicide, because he could no longer testify within the time frame demanded by the court. She is let off with a one-month suspension, but never truly forgives herself.
While Cabot had only been seen dating defense attorney Trevor Langan (Peter Hermann), executive producer and head writer Neal Baer has said that there is an unaddressed sexual tension between Cabot and Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). Baer admits saying: "We read the fan sites. We know that people are into the Alex-Olivia thing. All the codes are in there."
Cabot has appeared in 96 episodes, making her the third-longest ADA in the Law & Order franchise history, surpassed by her successor, Casey Novak, and by Law & Order: Criminal Intent's Ron Carver.
Read more about this topic: Alexandra Cabot
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