Summer hiatus approaches its end with the fall premieres of the 2024 TV schedule on the way, but Law & Order: SVU still isn’t back quite yet. Mariska Hargitay’s series is set to return in October, so there’s no wonder that the Law & Order social media accounts are still hyping some of the biggest episodes from years past rather than what’s coming in Season 26. After previously calling back to Modern Family’s Ariel Winter guest-starring, the franchise reposted a clip from an unforgettable episode of Season 5 that featured Serena Williams. And as it turns out, fans in the comment section actually make a really good point.
Anybody who started watching SVU more recently than 2004 and hasn’t revisited the early years streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription or Hulu subscription might not be familiar with this particular episode. The Instagram page for Law & Order posted a clip of tennis legend Serena Williams playing an athlete in the Season 5 installment called “Brotherhood,” with this description: “Serena Williams guest stars as a basketball player in this legendary SVU episode.” Take a look:
It’s really not a witness interview in the Law & Order franchise unless the person being interviewed isn’t just going about their day while discussing brutal crimes with detectives! Serena Williams doesn’t have a large role in the episode, and the comments on the post are largely positive. I had to think twice when I read this one in particular, though, from user kwayeara11:
I’ll never understand why they didn’t just have her play tennis💀but I love this episode and season 5 is one of my favs!🔥
Another commenter wrote “Not with that jump shot 😂,” and I can’t help but agree now that I’ve thought about it. Why couldn’t Serena Williams’ character be playing tennis instead of basketball? She was absolutely fine as the basketball player in this episode of classic SVU, but both Williams sisters are more than just “fine” when it comes to tennis.
Of course, the reason why this never really occurred to me before is that “Brotherhood” is a fairly intense episode of SVU. Benson and Stable are drawn into the case of a murdered fraternity pledge master, whose history of victimizing women became clear enough that Serena Williams’ character was lucky to have an alibi to confirm her whereabouts.
The killer was actually a frat pledge who the dead man had assaulted, and the trial went through a number of twists and turns that included the defense attorney flipping on his own client so that Casey could get the conviction and put a rapist behind bars. Honestly, if the biggest nitpick of an episode is wondering why the real-life tennis superstar was playing a basketball player, that's a sign of a good episode, and I'm glad the franchise social media accounts reminded me of it.
In fact, it's a standout overall from what I consider the golden years of SVU, a.k.a. when the squad was comprised of Benson, Stabler, Munch, Fin, and Cragen. Serena Williams’ cameo was a fun little inclusion, even if she was portraying a basketball player instead of a tennis star for some reason. If you want to rewatch “Brotherhood” from Season 5, you can find the episode streaming on Peacock and Hulu.
You can also catch new episodes of Law & Order: SVU Season 26 starting on Thursday, October 3 at 9 p.m. ET, between Law & Order at 8 p.m. ET and Found at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC. Production started on the 26th season in late July, with Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T back together yet again.
