When Law & Order: SVU returns for Season 25, it has cliffhangers for Benson and company to resolve and multiple character departures to deal with.
Law & Order: SVU Season 24 was packed full of action and important story and character developments. What should viewers expect to see when the fan-favorite procedural returns? From returning and departing characters, to unfinished story arcs, to crossovers with Law & Order: Organized Crime, there will be a lot of ground to cover.
While SVU remains NBC’s longest-running drama and one of its most successful shows, it’s also experienced a fair amount of turmoil in its last several seasons. Cast changes have become common and storylines have pivoted in many different directions. With those things in mind, the upcoming Season 25 has the potential to be huge for one of TV’s biggest series.
Where Law & Order: SVU Left Off
The SVU Season 24 finale intertwined with a complicated saga from its sister show, Law & Order: Organized Crime. The mastermind of a dangerous dark web server known as Shadowërk was on the run, with Olivia Benson and Detective Elliot Stabler reunited to help close the case. Grounded from fieldwork, the two swung by a diner — where Olivia was shot, resulting in another critical moment in the ever-popular Benson and Stabler relationship. But that wasn’t the only major plot development.
Season 24 of Law & Order: SVU introduced a lot of characters — and cut short the arcs of others. Detective Grace Muncy became a full-fledged SVU member in Season 24; however, at the end of the season, the character decided to depart. Organized Crime also lost a member: Detective Jamie Whelan was tragically shot and paralyzed, later dying in the hospital. On a more positive cliffhanger, Detective Amanda Rollins — who left SVU for a teaching position at Fordham — was acting as a one-off consultant to the Organized Crime Task Force, with viewers speculating that could lead to Rollins rejoining the Law & Order franchise somehow.
What Storylines Will SVU Season 25 Need to Resolve?
Since Molly Burnett’s Muncy was written out, any further Muncy stories are off the table. That means so is the potential romance between Muncy and Joe Velasco — so SVU will have to figure out what to do with Velasco on his own. After losing Benson’s trust, he regained it by the end of Season 24, and has potential to grow as a character. But right now, he doesn’t have any clear direction. It’s also not known if the show will try to promote or introduce another character to fill Muncy’s spot.
Benson’s storylines expanded in Season 24. Her adopted son Noah discovered his half-brother — also adopted — which prompted Benson to open up her familial circle and trust new people. Through crossovers with Organized Crime, the ever-present dangling of the Bensler romance carrot continued, and Benson getting shot in the finale would seem to require SVU once again addressing that relationship. Plus, seeing Rollins on-screen again gave hope to the viewers who were so incensed by Kelli Giddish’s unexpected departure… but was that temporary or is Law & Order truly trying to find a way to rectify its mistake?
SVU Fans Are Hoping For Major Change
The will-they-won’t-they dynamic of Benson and Stabler has been plaguing the hearts and minds of SVU viewers for two and a half decades. This season saw the duo not only almost kiss, but finally admit deeper feelings for each other. Stabler left Benson with a parting gift — a compass to lead her to happiness — and an unspoken promise that he’ll be there when she’s ready. If the writers don’t finally move the Bensler ship ahead, it will be the most glaring missed opportunity yet. The news that Rollins and ADA Sonny Carisi are expecting their first child also should be further incorporated into the new season.
But it’s not all character-centric stories that fans clamor for. SVU is well known for repurposing “ripped from the headlines” cases, and a lot of news cycles have passed since Season 24’s finale. Events such Uniform Code of Military Justice reform allowing sexual assault cases to be tried independently of the military chain of command seem like they should be addressed by the series. Law & Order: SVU has done several episodes connected to the military, and it wouldn’t make sense for the writers to overlook such a development. While SVU Season 25 may not have a premiere date yet due to the ongoing Hollywood strikes, the show has much to do when it returns.
