Law & Order: SVU is returning from winter break for a Christmas episode that will involve some familiar faces returning, and it could get complicated for Rollins. Donal Logue will be back as Captain Declan Murphy, who is the father of Rollins’ oldest daughter but was never a particularly serious romantic partner. Still, in a scene (seen above) from the Season 23 midseason premiere on January 6, called “Silent Night, Hateful Night,” Murphy shows some interest in her love life before they’re interrupted.
Considering that Rollins is indeed seeing somebody and that relationship has been kept secret all season, she might be grateful to that local who interrupted with his interest in the case. Murphy asking if she’s with somebody may not be a question that she’d want to answer for him while working a case. Or at all, really!
Luckily for her and her secret relationship with Carisi, they get back to business with the interrupting local, and he ends up on their radar as a suspect in the hate crime. And it’s hard to blame them – if “Don Johnson” is a fake name, he probably could have chosen a better one! Whatever the situation may be between Rollins and Murphy personally in the midseason premiere, they clearly can work well together professionally.
This episode is going to be a different kind for SVU, and not just because Donal Logue is returning to the show. Instead of centering on sexually-based offenses, the investigation will be into a string of hate crimes that will evidently involve bombs at a mosque, based on what “Don Johnson” had to say. The episode will also bring in none other than Jason Biggs as a guest star.
It should be interesting to see how the show balances the personal situation for Rollins with what appears to be a very high-stakes case. Unlike Law & Order: Organized Crime, SVU saved its Christmas episode for early January, and the investigation doesn’t seem too merry and bright. Holiday episodes do sometimes give more of a peek at the home lives of the detectives; could that happen for Rollins again in Season 23 for Christmas?
Only time will tell on that front, but Murphy seems to be bringing a pretty big case to Special Victims. They’ve investigated hate crimes before in the more than 500 episodes that have aired so far, and the promo for the episode gives some more hints about what kind of criminal (or criminals) they’re facing. Check it out:
It will evidently take all hands on deck for this case, involving bombs rather than the usual kinds of suspects that Olivia Benson and Co. are so skilled at catching. Murphy isn’t coming back just to mix things up with Rollins, but his return (and interest in her love life) could take the story in some new directions for Season 23. Watch the midseason premiere of Law & Order: SVU on Thursday, January 6 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC, right before an episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime that will have plenty of high stakes as well.
