The weeks are counting down until Law & Order: SVU returns after the Season 23 finale set Benson up to make a big decision, and new casting news reveals that the Special Victims squad room is going to look different in Season 24. The long-running drama has added a recurring new detective, and fans of some of the other series in the nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe may recognize the actress from roles on Chicago P.D. and FBI: Most Wanted earlier in 2022.
Law & Order: SVU has cast Molly Burnett to play Detective Grace Muncy in Season 24, according to TVLine, and the very capable character reportedly has experience working with gangs. SVU of course shares the same TV universe as the three One Chicago shows, the three FBI shows, and the other two L&O shows.
Molly Burnett had a role in the Season 9 episode of Chicago P.D. that finally gave Atwater some closure, as well as the FBI: Most Wanted Season 3 episode that was one of the last before Julian McMahon’s departure and Dylan McDermott’s arrival. With Chicago P.D. set (obviously) in Chicago and Most Wanted traveling all over the country while chasing fugitives, it’s unlikely that there should be an issue with the same actress playing multiple roles within the same TV universe.
In fact, Burnett is far from the first actor to play multiple characters in shows sharing this TV universe. Dylan McDermott jumped straight from playing Law & Order: Organized Crime’s villainous Richard Wheatley to Most Wanted’s heroic Remy Scott, with McDermott sharing how OC inspired him on the FBI spinoff. Jeremy Sisto, who has been a series regular on FBI from the very first season, played NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo on Law & Order before joining the CBS show to play Jubal Valentine, and has even weighed in on the connection.
Throw in Law & Order’s Camryn Manheim playing multiple characters in the history of the same show and FBI: Most Wanted bringing in a former Chicago Fire actor to replace Miguel Gomez in Season 4, and Molly Burnett is just the latest to jump from one Wolf show to another. She also has appeared in a number of other series, including Queen of the South from 2017-2021, General Hospital from 2016-2018, and Relationship Status from 2016-2017, to name just a few outside of the Wolf Entertainment universe.
So, what does Molly Burnett joining SVU mean for Season 24? Well, fans don’t need to panic that a new detective coming to Special Victims automatically means that another is on the way out, like with Jamie Gray Hyder’s Kat leaving early in Season 23. A new detective could simply mean that the investigators working under Benson would have the numbers to split into partners again. Through most of last season, only Fin, Rollins, and newcomer Det. Velasco had their boots on the ground on a regular basis.
A new detective is just one of the changes coming to SVU when the fall TV season kicks off in September, as former showrunner Warren Leight has been replaced by Coyote co-creator David Graziano in the top job. It remains to be seen if the behind-the-scenes showrunner change will be noticeable when it comes to what happens on screen, beyond the addition of a new cop.
Law & Order: SVU returns to NBC on Thursday, September 22 at 9 p.m. ET, in the same week that will feature all nine Wolf shows coming back to primetime. The three Law & Order shows are reportedly aiming to start the 2022-2023 TV season with a three-part crossover, although that has not yet been confirmed. For some more upcoming viewing options, check out our 2022 TV premiere schedule.
