Only two episodes of Law & Order: SVU's milestone 25th season are left before the spring 2024 TV season winds down, and the new one on May 9 promises to make the most of the squad that Mariska Hargitay's Benson finally expanded this year. In an exclusive first look clip at the episode, Velasco (Octavio Pisano) and Bruno (Kevin Kane) are teamed up to dig back into a cold case, and I have questions about the witness being interviewed. See for yourself if you agree, with the above clip!
Velasco and Bruno are interviewing a father (played by Crazy Ex-Girlfriend alum Alberto Isaac) about the disappearance of his daughter Kim from back in 2000, which is a case so cold by SVU standards that the show had only been on for one season at that time! The father seemingly isn't a witness in the sense of seeing whatever happened to Kim, but is certainly the witness to the greeting cards that have arrived over the years without alerting authorities.
He also seems eager to help and not too broken up, although that in itself isn't suspicious after nearly a quarter of a century has passed. After all, a lot has happened since the pilot aired back in late 1999, and this isn't actually a case that Benson and Stabler investigated back in the day.
Personally, though, I watch enough of the Law & Order franchise every year that it stuck out to me that he had the whole pile of greeting cards – purportedly handwritten by his daughter after she disappeared – conveniently bagged, on hand, and ready to hand over to the detectives as soon as they asked. I'm not suggesting that this means the dad is shady or had something to do with her disappearance, but it sticks out enough for me to wonder if he has a larger part to play in the episode than just this one scene with Velasco and Bruno.
The new episode is called "Marauder" on May 9 in SVU's usual Thursday night time slot, and will involve Agent Sykes struggling on the anniversary of the disappearance of her sister many years ago, and the Special Victims captain believes that the FBI agent could get closure via a cold case. The case is from Manhattan, so it presumably won't lead Sykes to answers about her sister, but who knows with a show that has found the formula to last for 25 seasons and counting?
If Special Victims does indeed close this cold case in "Marauder" and Sykes does indeed get some closure about her sister, I have to wonder if this means SVU is tying off the loose ends of her story and writing her out ahead of Season 26. It always felt experimental for Benson to kinda sorta have an FBI agent on her NYPD team, and this episode will air just one week after Rollins floated the idea of coming back to Special Victims.
Tune in to NBC on Thursday, May 9 at 9 p.m. ET for the full context of this scene with Velasco, Bruno, and the suspiciously well-prepared witness in the newest episode of Law & Order: SVU. As always, SVU airs between Law & Order at 8 p.m. ET and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC... although that could change next season, if Organized Crime is indeed moved to streaming for fans with Peacock Premium susbcriptions. All three Law & Order shows currently release new episodes next day on Peacock after broadcasting on NBC.
