Olivia Benson is back to get justice in Law & Order: SVU Season 25. There are some changes to come to the cast. Here’s everything we know.
Fall TV was heavily delayed due to the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes this summer. That also meant that we had little news on our favorite shows. The good news is that the strikes are over, and now we can look at when our favorites will return and all the cast changes that are set to happen.
Law & Order: SVU Season 25 is officially happening. Here’s what we know about the return of the longest-running crime drama so far.
When will Law & Order: SVU Season 25 premiere on NBC?
Get Thursday, Jan. 18 in your diary. That is when Olivia Benson and the team will be back to save the day. Yes, NBC is setting January premiere dates despite other networks opting for February and March.
The episode will air at 9 p.m. ET/PT as usual. Law & Order and Organized Crime will air either side of it as has been the cast for the last two seasons.
How many episodes will be in Season 25 of Law & Order: SVU?
When NBC renewed the Dick Wolf productions, it came with the news that a lot of them would be cut to between 18 and 20 episodes. It also came with the news that not all characters would be in every episode. The only difference would be SVU, which would still see Mariska Hargitay in every episode of the series.
This was a cost-cutting measure, as linear ratings see a decline and the cost of production is increasing. That could change with the strike action, though.
It looks like the plan is to have 13 episodes in SVU Season 25. This could mean all characters in all episodes as the reduced episode order is already a cost-cutting measure.
Who is in and out of Law & Order SVU?
After the end of Season 24, we learned Molly Burnett would not return as Detective Grace Muncy. She came in as the replacement for Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins, who reprised her role in the Season 24 premiere.
Now we know that Giddish will be back for the Season 25 premiere at the very least. Could she be back for more? That’s something we’ll have to see with how the season progresses.
We are expecting the following to return:
- Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson
- Ice-T as Sergeant Odafin “Fin” Tutuola
- Peter Scanavino as ADA Dominick “Sonny” Carisi, Jr.
- Octavio Pisano as Junior Detective Joe Velasco
We would also love to see Christopher Meloni return here and there. We still have a lot of questions about whether something will finally happen between Benson and Stabler. It’s about time!
What to expect in Law & Order: SVU Season 25
Like previous seasons, there weren’t any storylines left on a cliffhanger. This series takes things on a case-by-case basis with each episode split between the detective work and the justice system. All the cases are timely, often ripped straight from the headlines. We’re sure to see more of that in the coming episodes.
We would love to see more crossovers with Organized Crime. Benson and Stabler continue to work together extremely well, and fans want to see the two end up together. They are Law & Order endgame!
We would also like to see more of Rollins and Carisi together. The two are expecting a baby, but Rollins shared that she missed being a cop. Could Rollins return full-time and find a way to balance work and life?
Law & Order: SVU is available to stream on Peacock.