Olivia Benson's hair mystery case: solved. On TV shows that run as long as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, it's not uncommon for actors to take time off, especially when it comes to the main characters.
There are a lot of things that happen in an actor's life that can interrupt the filming process, and sometimes it's just easier to write them off for a while than to deal with those difficulties on screen. If the show has a female lead, there is one major life event that can easily disrupt any on-set schedule: pregnancy.
Although there are some actresses who don't mind coming to work in the later stages of their pregnancies, others are unable to work until the birth of their children and want to take things slower. Also, all the trouble of hiding a pregnant belly usually ends up in very awkward shots with large shots of only close-ups of a particular character throughout the season.
Either way, the result just isn't worth the effort, which is why Mariska Hargitay's character was written out of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2007. Still, that didn't prevent some awkward timing in the episode's release. If you were to re-watch season 8, you might notice that Olivia Benson reappears in episode 10, Scheherazade, with a very confusing haircut.
One that is too similar to the one she had in season 7, while Mariska Hargitay still hasn't gone on maternity leave. It's safe to assume that this episode was filmed in advance, and the team just didn't think it was necessary for the actress to keep the same hair for the upcoming season, so the episode wouldn't stand out too much.
What's even more interesting is that this isn't the only time Olivia Benson's hair has caused confusion among fans. The same thing happened in season 9, and was especially noticeable in episode 3 of season 9, which led everyone to believe that episode was a holdover from season 8. Although it does not interfere with the plot in any way, the hair change just adds another layer of mystery to the episodes.
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