Law & Order: SVU was among the earliest of the major network TV shows to return in the 2026 TV schedule, fresh off of a month of winter hiatus. The new year started with SVU delivering plenty of crimes that are considered especially heinous all throughout the month of January (with one exception being pulled from the lineup). The long-running drama is already heading into another hiatus, however, with nearly a month between Episode 12 on January 29 and Episode 13 in late February. Here’s what we know.
Law & Order: SVU’s Last Episode Before The Break
The last new episode for the next four weeks is called “Hubris” and airs in SVU’s usual time slot on Thursday, January 29, streaming next day with a Peacock subscription. It’ll be the first to hit the airwaves on NBC after Carisi and Rollins were attacked in their home, but Carisi will evidently be moving forward without any trauma this time. Check out the logline for what to expect:
A teenager rescued from a dangerous situation begs Benson to help reunite her with her father. Carisi and CJ take the foster care system to task for separating families without sufficient proof.
Chicago Med’s Norma Kuhling’s character, who is doing much better than Ava Bekker was in her last episodes of One Chicago’s medical drama, will be back this week as CJ to team up with Carisi. That said, she doesn’t appear in the promo that NBC aired at the end of the previous week’s episode, which instead focuses on Benson and the case she and her unit are facing this week. Take a look:
Personally, I’m curious to see if Chief Tynan will make an appearance to complicate Benson’s job once again before the break. The NBC execs presumably knew that SVU would go on another hiatus early in the 2026 TV schedule, which would have allowed for a mini cliffhanger in the last episode before the break… except for that pulled episode, which starred Timothy Busfield and was filmed before news of his allegations broke.
Why Fans Won’t See SVU Again Until Late February
While diehard fans may be bummed at the prospect of the drama going on a break not too long after the last hiatus ended, there’s a good reason for it, and SVU isn’t isolated as NBC’s only drama that will be missing from primetime for the next month. The network’s coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics begins on Thursday, February 5, making the new One Chicago episodes that Wednesday the last of NBC’s scripted dramas before sports takes over the airwaves.
This isn’t unusual; the Winter Olympics generally bump NBC’s usual programming back until late February or early March. In fact, other networks often go on breaks during the Olympic season as well, with even CBS’ biggest shows like FBI, NCIS, and Ghosts not returning in 2026 until after the Games end. It’s less of an issue for the Summer Olympics every four years, since airing in July doesn’t overlap with seasons of NBC’s major scripted shows.
So, it’s not a bad sign for the future of SVU (or Law & Order) that they’ll be missing for the next several Thursdays after January 29. Personally, I’m much more worried about the future of Law & Order: Organized Crime. We’re coming up on a year since OC premiered its fifth season on Peacock, and more than two months since Chrisopher Meloni’s show wrapped the NBC broadcast of Season 5 back in November. Fans are getting desperate for news about Season 6.
For the foreseeable future, you’ll have to plan on heading to Peacock to revisit earlier episodes of SVU, OC, and Law & Order all on the same platform, while SVU and Law & Order can also be viewed with a Hulu subscription. As for the Winter Olympics, the Opening Ceremony will be broadcast on NBC on Friday, February 6.
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