‘Law & Order’ Season 24 Preview: ‘SVU’ Crossover, Tony Goldwyn Returns and Ryan Eggold Guest Stars
The Season 23 finale of “Law & Order” left the fate of Tony Goldwyn’s D.A. Nicholas Baxter up in the air on election night, but showrunner Rick Eid told TheWrap ahead of the Oct. 3 premiere that the character has indeed won and will be back for the entire season.
He also promised that Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) will be “a big part” of the second episode, about the murder of a tech CEO. “[Benson] has a pre-existing relationship with the defendant in this case,” said Eid. “It’s really a big part of the episode. It felt organic to who Mariska’s character is, and it was an interesting element to the story that gave it another layer.”
Eid said the crossover, which also sees the return of Elizabeth Marvel’s character Defense Attorney Rita Calhoun, is more “organic” than some of the previous three-series premieres that included “Law & Order: Organized Crime.”
While the strike-shortened Season 23 only had 13 episodes, the new season is back to the full 22, said Eid.
He also revealed that Ryan Eggold of “New Amsterdam” and “The Blacklist” has been cast as the brother of Reid Scott’s character, Vincent Riley: He’ll appear in connection to a case in Episode 3, which is titled “Big Brother.”
Eid explained that Riley, who joined the series last season, will also clash with new police lieutenant Jessica Brady, played by Maura Tierney, whose casting was announced in July.
“[The position is] traditionally more of a supervisory role, but this particular character still likes being a detective, because she’s a little bit more engaged than your typical lieutenant. She still interrogates, she still thinks like a detective, so she’s definitely actively involved in the cases,” said Eid.
He added, “She’s a little idiosyncratic. She has a bit of a gift for interrogations and picking up on minutia and certain things that maybe other detectives don’t.”
The former “ER” star takes the place of Camryn Manheim, who played Lt. Kate Dixon since the show’s 2021 revival.
Eid has also been on the procedural since the revival, but this is the first season where he can focus exclusively on “Law & Order,” after stepping down as the showrunner of another Wolf Entertainment show, “FBI” on CBS. “It turns out it was a lot more work to do two shows,” he laughed. “This is nice to really dive into this and be completely immersed in this show. So, yeah, I’m enjoying it.”
He’s been part of the Dick Wolf universe “on and off” for the last 20 years, working on shows including “Chicago P.D.,” “FBI: International,” and “Law & Order: Trial by Jury.”
“Honestly, it sounds cliché, but [we’re] just making them as good as we can possibly make them. ‘Quality’ is the word we use most. It’s really about quality, and muscular storytelling. By that I mean it’s about the story and not just fluff. We try to make it as grounded and real as possible.”
“Law & Order” Season 24 premieres at 8 p.m. on Oct. 3, followed by the Season 26 premiere of “Law & Order: SVU” at 9 p.m. Both shows stream next-day on Peacock.
“Organized Crime,” which stars Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler, has been moved from NBC primetime to streaming on Peacock, for Season 5, but a premiere date has not yet been announced.
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