Spoilers ahead for the Season 23 premiere of Law & Order, called "Freedom of Expression."
Law & Order is finally back in primetime, but not everybody from Season 22 has returned. Jeffrey Donovan left the hit drama over the hiatus as Detective Frank Cosgrove, reportedly due to creative reasons. "Freedom of Expression" waited about twenty minutes before even addressing Cosgrove's absence, and a conversation between Detective Jalen Shaw and newcomer Detective Vincent Riley, played by Reid Scott, revealed some details. But those details just left me asking more questions.
Last seen in the Season 22 finale (which is available streaming now with a Peacock Premium subscription), Frank Cosgrove gave no sign at the time that he was on the verge of leaving the unit. Apparently, something significant went down in the months between that finale and the Season 23 premiere in the 2024 TV schedule, as Shaw had this exchange with Riley in the squad room:
- Riley: "Hey, man, I gotta ask. What happened with Cosgrove? I knew him a little bit back in the day. He was a good cop."
- Shaw: "Great cop. He just got jammed up."
- Riley: "On what?"
- Shaw: "Being too honest about things people aren't too honest about these days."
- Riley: "Yeah, it is not a great time to have an opinion, is it?"
- Shaw: "It is not."
Given that the theme of the Season 23 premiere was freedom of speech after hate speech at a university led to murder, it's hard to say if this explanation for Cosgrove's absence is specific to his character or just tied to the case of the week. If the former, then hopefully we'll find out more as the season continues. If the latter... well, maybe Law & Order doesn't have any plans for a deeper reveal.
And those unknowns have me asking more questions about Cosgrove than about the case of the week. Does Law & Order have more details on the way about what he was "too honest" about that he "just got jammed up" over an opinion? If so, will this be an ongoing storyline in an otherwise very procedural TV show? Or was this the first and last big mention of the character? How did Riley and Cosgrove know each other? And have we really seen the last of Jeffrey Donovan as Frank Cosgrove?
Personally, I hope we haven't already seen our last episode with Frank Cosgrove, not least because there was a case in Season 22 that established via a bloody twist that he wasn't ready to leave the NYPD for a safer and cushier job. Plus, Law & Order already gave a more interesting exit to Cosgrove than to Anthony Anderson when he departed as Detective Kevin Bernard ahead of Season 22, with room for that story to continue. In fact, Bernard's absence wasn't even addressed until the second episode of last season; Cosgrove's exit is more unresolved.
Questions about Cosgrove aside, I am intrigued by the new dynamic between Shaw and Riley. They didn't seem to be gelling well at the beginning of "Freedom of Expression," but they bonded a bit over hating social media, and Riley shot a man for the very first time to save Shaw. Whether they ever agree on cashew milk remains to be seen; I'm interested to see what comes next for them. Riley also seems to have a history with Dixon, although it's not clear what kind yet.
Law & Order will continue airing new episodes on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10 p.m., all on NBC. Assuming the drama runs for the expected 13 episodes in Season 23, it will reach the 500-episode milestone by the time the finale airs, so hopefully NBC will have something special planned later this year.
