After a few weeks off, Law & Order Thursdays are back with some great new cases to enjoy.
Law & Order tackles a tricky case involving the First Amendment and a political murder. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit puts Velasco in the middle of danger. And Law & Order: Organized Crime continues to have Stabler going in deep on a dangerous case while meeting an old friend.
It adds up to a great night of drama as the shows kick off the spring season.
Law & Order Thursdays took a brief break
After coming out strong in late February, Law & Order Thursdays had to take a brief break for mid-March.
Like all NBC shows, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime took most of February off due to the network’s coverage of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
When they returned on February 22, it was with the long-awaited Season 21 premiere of the revived Law & Order.
The shows ran a few weeks of new episodes before taking the last half of March off. There was no specific reason for a break, but perhaps NBC didn’t want to compete with coverage of the NCAA Basketball Tournament or simply issues filming during the coronavirus pandemic.
The shows left off with some intriguing drama. Law & Order had Maroun risking her career to help a woman avoid a harsher jail sentence than she deserved, with Price warning her she’d be fired if she ever did it again.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had Velasco in a tight spot when his date kicked off a rape allegation against an app owner. Meanwhile, Carisi and Rollins were handling their relationship being public.
On Law & Order: Organized Crime, Stabler continued to go undercover in the corrupt cop group the Brotherhood. However, he was thrown when Donnelly (Denis Leary) revealed that Stabler’s dad had faked the story of a “heroic” bust to cover shooting an innocent kid.
This will set up some big drama when the shows return.
What’s coming when Law & Order Thursdays return?
The night kicks off with Law & Order’s Free Speech which brings back past Law & Order guest star Dylan Baker.
“Bernard and Cosgrove investigate the murder of a congressional candidate; ADAs Price and Maroun contend with an extremist plot hellbent on thwarting the candidate’s agenda by any means necessary.”
The promo shows the lawyers facing the question of how far “free speech” can go to incite a murder in a case charged with political implications.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit will have Once Upon A Time In El Barrio which has Velasco stepping up on a dangerous case.
“Velasco asks Benson for help finding three girls who were trafficked from his hometown to New York.”
In the past, Velasco has touched on his hard upbringing amid the gangs of Mexico. The promos indicate that his search for these girls could put him in serious danger.
The night ends with Law & Order: Organized Crime as Can’t Knock the Hustle brings back Dann Florek as former Captain Donald Cragen.
“A new ADA on the case urges the task force to flip a member of the brotherhood to get the evidence they need. Stabler must come to terms with the legacy his father left him. Bell and Nova’s worlds start to overlap in more ways than one.”
Stabler will want some answers involving his father’s actions with Cragen put on the spot about it. It also sounds like this new ADA may be causing some problems on the Marcy Killers investigation as Nova continues to get in deep herself.
It adds up to some good new drama as Law & Order Thursdays make up for the delay with all the big twists that fans love.
Law & Order Thursdays begins with Law & Order Season 21 at 8/7c on NBC.