Law & Order: SVU is officially back in production for the new season, and longtime leading lady Mariska Hargitay has already provided some peeks behind the scenes to reveal that fans have a lot to look forward to. Not only did she share a snapshot of her back at work with Organized Crime’s Christopher Meloni, but she revealed a first look at the new detective coming to Special Victims, played by Molly Burnett. As the wait for the return of all three Law & Order shows continues, check out the sneak peeks courtesy of the woman behind Olivia Benson!
Mariska Hargitay And Chris Meloni Back On Set Together
SVU and Organized Crime crossovers are always highly anticipated, whether Benson and Stabler are joining forces for a big two-parter or one of them is just popping up on the other’s show. It hasn’t been confirmed one way or the other whether SVU and OC will return in September as part of a three-way crossover with Law & Order, but Mariska Hargitay’s BTS photo reveals that Benson and Stabler will be together in the captain's office early on in Season 24. Take a look:
Hargitay and Meloni are both in costume in Benson’s office on the SVU set; throw in the actress’ hashtag of #BetweenTakes, and it’s safe to say that fans are getting a scene with the two TV icons either early in SVU Season 24 or early OC Season 3. After revisiting the SVU pilot, I went on the record with my feelings about the “Bensler” name for the two characters, but what’s not to love about the #MarshMelon hashtag for the stars?
The SVU Squad's Newest Detective
Mariska Hargitay also shared a photo with a focus on almost the full SVU squad. (Peter Scanavino is missing, presumably because Carisi is busy with the “law” half of Law & Order for this scene.) She credits Kelli Giddish – who plays Rollins, despite some absences in Season 23 that you can revisit with a Hulu subscription – with designing the shot, which features Molly Burnett as the new detective, as well as Aqeel Taahir Ash-Shakoor, who is playing a precinct commander in Season 24:
Molly Burnett’s casting as Detective Gracy Muncy (pictured across from Giddish in the subway photo) was announced prior to Mariska Hargitay posting the photo, and she’s a familiar face to Wolf Entertainment fans after a role in an Atwater-centric episode of Chicago P.D. and an intense episode of FBI: Most Wanted in the 2021-2022 TV season. As for Aqeel Taahir Ash-Shakoor, he confirmed his casting as a Season 24 precinct commander via Instagram.
Whether or not his character is more in sync with Benson than McGrath remains to be seen, but the bar is pretty low when she was stuck with McGrath after losing Garland! It is a bit of a shame that there was no peek behind the scenes that showed Peter Scanavino as the one missing piece of the team, but Carisi just doesn’t hit the streets as an ADA the way that he did as a cop, and evidently isn't needed for this part of the episode.
Hopefully these BTS photos are just the beginning of what the cast will share as the wait continues for the end of the summer hiatus. They’re back at work, and it’s just a matter of time before we get to see them back in action. Law & Order: SVU returns to NBC in the 2022 TV premiere schedule with its Season 24 premiere on Thursday, September 22 at 9 p.m. ET, between Season 22 of Law & Order at 8 p.m. and Season 3 of Organized Crime at 10 p.m. All nine of the Dick Wolf shows will be back in that same week, so be sure to mark your calendars!
