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Everything to Know About Law & Order Season 24
Just as the district attorney's office settles into a groove, the detectives on Law & Order are in store for a shakeup at the precinct with Maura Tierney's new lieutenant.
Law & Order is back!
Season 24 kicks off Thursday with an election victory, and, as usual, an unsettling case.
The new season will feature more of the ripped-from-the-headlines stories that fans have come to know and love, but will also offer some new insight into the beloved characters who investigate and prosecute the complicated cases.
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“Something we’re sort of emphasizing this year is trying to learn more about some of our characters,” Law & Order executive producer, showrunner and writer Rick Eid told NBC Insider. “It’s still Dick Wolf’s Law & Order and there’s still compelling, topical cases every week and ethical and moral dilemmas every week, but we’re trying, on certain episodes, to dig just a little bit deeper into our people and seeing how their personal lives intersect with their professional lives.”
For the detectives at the 27th Precinct, that will include getting to know their new lieutenant, Jessica Brady (Maura Tierney), and crossing paths early in the season with Detective Vincent Riley’s (Reid Scott) brother, played by New Amsterdam’s Ryan Eggold.
Over at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, new DA Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) will still be settling into his new post after a tight election, as the fate of his marriage remains up in the air.
With the season premiere approaching on Thursday, October, 3 on NBC, here’s everything we know so far about Season 24 of Law & Order.
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When will Season 24 of Law & Order begin?
Season 24 of the legal drama kicks off Thursday, October 3, 2024, at 8/7c p.m. on NBC with a case that hits close to home for Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi).
“When a Brooklyn prosecutor is found slain in her apartment, Maroun takes drastic action to convince an eyewitness to come forward,” reads the official description of the episode, titled “Catch and Kill."
At the same time, continues the synopsis, "Riley struggles to adjust to the new lieutenant in charge" after Lt. Kate Dixon, played by Camryn Manheim, left the station.
Who’s in the Season 24 Law & Order cast?
Season 24 will see the addition of one new face at the precinct. Lieutenant Jessica Brady, played by television and film veteran Maura Tierney. She'll be introduced during the season premiere as the new boss.
According to Eid, Brady is a “real straight shooter,” who picks up on things that many detectives may not see.
“Unlike most lieutenants, I think she still thinks and acts like a detective and is more engaged day-to-day than most lieutenants — meaning she's active in interrogations and almost acts like another detective as opposed to a supervisor,” he told NBC Insider.
Brady will work closely with Detectives Riley and Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks), who are both returning in Season 24 to investigate some of the city’s deadliest crimes.
Over at the prosecutor’s office, District Attorney Nicholas Baxter (Goldwyn), who was appointed to the job in Season 23, is fresh off his election win and eager to make his political mark.
Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) and Assistant District Attorney Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi) will also be returning to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
RELATED: Will Tony Goldwyn’s DA Nicholas Baxter Be Back on Law & Order in Season 24?
How Season 23 of Law & Order ended
When viewers last saw Baxter in the Season 23 finale, he was in a precarious place, both personally and professionally. After learning he was the real target of a high-profile shooting that claimed the life of a popular baseball player, Baxter and his family were thrust into danger.
The suspected shooter was identified as a man with ties to a street gang out for revenge after Baxter prosecuted some of the gang’s top leaders while at a prior job. The only way to ensure prosecutors could successfully argue the case against him, however, was by calling Baxter’s adult daughter Carrie (played by Goldwyn’s real daughter Tess Goldwyn) to the stand, putting her at risk and exposing a dark secret from her past.
Baxter’s wife Julia (Tara Westwood) had been staunchly opposed to putting Carrie on the stand. Carrie’s testimony did help put the killer behind bars, but she was forced to admit on the stand that she’d hit a man with her car in college after a night of drinking. In the aftermath of that past incident, her attorneys — and her father — worked to get the charges against her reduced to a misdemeanor. When the secret later came out at the unrelated shooting trial, it put Baxter’s election chances in jeopardy.
In the final scene of the Season 23 finale, Baxter was waiting at an election watch party to see whether the decision to put Carrie on the stand had cost him the election. Julia, still furious about his decision, was nowhere to be seen.
Eid hinted to NBC Insider that although Baxter does come away with the win, his marriage will still be in jeopardy in Season 24.
“I think maybe the election went better for him than his marriage, ultimately, but we don't really address it the first few episodes,” he said. “But, I don't think things are perfect with his wife yet.”
Where to watch Law & Order Season 24
To find out what will happen next and catch all the Season 24 drama, watch Law & Order Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream episodes on Peacock the next day.
