Law & Order looks to be ramping up more drama this week.
While it doesn’t appear as if Benson and Stabler will cross paths again, each will have their own challenges with separate cases that put too many people in danger.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has a problematic new captain
Olivia Benson has had to endure some rough stuff on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in Season 23.
The premiere had Benson run off the road, resulting in a leg injury, and still concerned about who was behind it. Much bigger was how Kat left the unit after being shot while Garland quit the NYPD as he couldn’t handle the politics.
This leads to Chief McGrath taking over as interim captain. He set a tone by telling Benson he only wanted to focus on cases that could be “substantiated” rather than “he said/she said” accusations.
In the previous week, things got tense for Benson when the team went after a gangster who put a singer in a wheelchair. This led to a clash with the Organized Crime Unit and the FBI using the guy to get to a bigger fish.
While Stabler assured Benson he had her back, the gangster ended up skating by into witness protection, leading Benson to worry about the future.
This Thursday’s episodes begin with a rerun of Season 22’s Post-Graduate Psychopath. That’s followed by One More Tale Of Two Victims, where the team targets an attacker going after mothers. However, Benson is horrified when McGrath boldly claims, “there’s no rape here.”
The SVU searches for a serial rapist who preys on mothers with young children. Benson and Fin struggle under the tightened reins of Chief McGrath. Guest starring Octavio Pisano, Jade Marie Fernandez and Johnny Pemberton.
The promo indicates that Benson’s clashes with her new boss will be a major issue going forward.
Stabler goes even deeper undercover
In the last two-hour episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime, Stabler’s undercover operation got even more dangerous.
Stabler discovered that Albanian gangster Albi (Vinnie Jones) was secretly gay. He managed to convince Albi he could trust Stabler, which had him invited to the inner circle of the Kosta Organization.
Meanwhile, a major twist was that Marcy Killers gang member Nova was actually an undercover cop. She’d fallen in love with a contact and was tempted to quit when her girlfriend was killed but Bell talked her into staying on.
In For A Few Leke More, the undercover operations for both Stabler and Nova get more dangerous, with Stabler perhaps crossing a line in a robbery.
Stabler must face the music after crossing a dangerous line with Kosta; Bell and Jet devise a plan to secure intel from every criminal organization in the city; Flutura presents an invitation that’s too valuable to refuse.
Stabler also has to handle his mentally infirm mother (Ellen Burstyn) staying with the family, which isn’t helping his mood.
The episodes promise far more action and drama as both Benson and Stabler feel their jobs closing in on them.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs at 9/8c on Thursday, followed by Law & Order: Organized Crime on NBC.