The team at the Special Victims Unit has said goodbye ahead of the holidays, but NBC left the show with a look at what’s to come when business resumes in January. Following last week’s mid-season finale shocker, a new promo for Law & Order: SVU Season 26 sees Mariska Hargitay’s dauntless Captain Olivia Benson back to seeking real justice and protecting the innocent in her next case. The exact plot details of the episode are scant, but an arrest is made, and an all-too-familiar chilling scene is uncovered with a house vandalized with an insult to shame whoever’s inside. All that remains is to find the evidence to drive the case home and get “glorious” justice on behalf of the victims.
One big question to take away from the promo is what’s next for Carisi (Peter Scanavino) after last week’s episode put him through the emotional wringer. The mid-season finale ended with Benson and Rollins (Kelli Giddish) acknowledging that the detective-turned-ADA is not holding up well after winding up in a grisly hostage situation. Not only does he witness the death of a close friend, but he is left helpless as a fellow hostage is assaulted by one of the gunmen in the other room. Carisi appears to be totally fine and back to work in the promo, but Scanavino assured that “He’s changed from this episode.” It’s a traumatic event that will spark a more tense dynamic with Benson in a future case and affect his relationship with Rollins as he tries to get back on his feet emotionally.
Season 26 has seen a few changes in terms of its roster. The SVU welcomed a new detective in Kate Silva, played by Juliana Aidén Martinez, who will be sticking around for the long haul. As the daughter of a former police commissioner, she faces a tough challenge to rise above the claims of nepotism and prove her own worth in law. Giddish’s return as a guest star has also given the fan-favorite Rollins a new role to play, even if it’s not likely she’ll ever return to the unit. The other cast members include Kevin Kane, who was upped to a series regular, as well as Ice T, Octavio Pisano, and Aime Donna Kelly.
‘Law & Order: SVU’ Season 26 Has More Surprises in Store
After a season without any physical connections, SVU is eyeing more potential crossover episodes for the near future. Particularly, both fans and the actors themselves are eager to see if there will finally be a payoff to the years-long will-they-won’t-they relationship between Benson and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). That answer could come via a new crossover with Law & Order: Organized Crime, as Hargitay has previously divulged that even the shows’ creatives want the former colleagues together. More episodes uniting the two teams beyond Season 26 are also being planned to further play on their close bond forged through years seeking justice for the most heinous of crimes together.
Law & Order Season 26 returns with Episode 9 on January 16 in its typical 9 p.m. time slot. In the meantime, all episodes can be found on Peacock. Check out the mid-season premiere promo in the player above.
