With 500 episodes to choose from, it’s hard to pick the best episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Still, the writers at TV Guide Magazine were more than happy to take on the challenge.

Below, scroll through their picks of SVU's 25 best episodes that aired over 24 seasons. Did your favorite make the cut? Let us know in the comments below.

This is an excerpt from the Law & Order: SVU 25th Anniversary issue of TV Guide Magazine. For more inside scoop on the long-running NBC franchise, pick up a copy of the issue, available on newsstands and online at LawAndOrderMagazine.com.

When a cab driver is found murdered, the Special Victims Unit can’t figure out why they’re called in. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but one officer on the scene quips, “Whoever did this cut off their cigar and took it!” Cha-chung! The case introduces the legendary partnership of Detectives Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and sets the tone for the series. Later, Benson has a heart-to-heart with her mother, during which we learn that Benson herself is the child of rape. —Alexis Rotnicki