Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 21 of Law & Order: SVU Season 24, called “Bad Things.”
The Season 24 finale of Law & Order: SVU is now just days away, and the episode will continue the two-week crossover event that starts with Law & Order: Organized Crime on May 11. While it remains to be seen if there’s much time for one of the usual vicious felonies for the SVU unit in the middle of a crossover, now is the time to look at the three newcomers in this season… and see which stands out as the strongest to return for Season 25.
The Season 24 newcomers consist of Grace Muncy (Molly Burnett), Tonie Churlish (Jasmine Batchelor), and Terry Bruno (Kevin Kane), and I certainly have a favorite among these three. That said, I’m not going to rank them based on who I like the most, but on three criteria: who fits in best with the rest of Benson’s unit, whose development has been the most interesting, and who fills Rollins’ (Kelli Giddish) vacancy the best. (And then a shout out to my favorite at the end!)
With SVU actors expected to appear in fewer episodes next season and summer hiatus on the way for fans to have to use a Peacock subscription for a fix, there’s no guarantee that three all of them will be back. So, in the spirit of speculation, let’s start with the cop who comes in third!
3. Officer Tonie Churlish
Churlish came to Manhattan’s SVU after working in the disgraced Bronx SVU, and has gone to great lengths to try and prove herself to Benson (Mariska Hargitay), even though that’s not what Benson wants. Unfortunately, the first notable move that Churlish made was to illegally record Velasco (Octavio Pisano) confessing to a crime while trying to get information out of a prisoner. Neither one of them came off well from that, and it meant that she did not get a warm welcome from all the detectives in Benson’s squad right off the bat.
A recent episode filled in her backstory a bit more with the reveal that both her parents were therapists, and she does fill Rollins’ vacancy insofar as she’s a female cop, but she’s also the only newbie who doesn’t yet hold the rank of detective, and she hasn't been around long enough for me to really get attached. For these reasons, I rank her third.
2. Detective Terry Bruno
Bruno also came to Manhattan’s SVU after working in the Bronx (and making a lot of money via a lawsuit), and I won’t lie – I surprised even myself by placing him in the #2 spot instead of #1. He fit in well with Fin (Ice-T) in particular from the jump, as they teamed up to solve a rape case in the Bronx when the Manhattan squad dropped by to help clean up their messes. Bruno is also more seasoned as a cop and a Special Victims detective than the other two SVU newbies, and he’s fun in a show that tends to be light on fun.
While he hasn’t developed all that much, he has an interesting backstory as a cop who doesn’t even need to work anymore, but stays on the job because he cares about the victims. At the same time, as a male detective, he doesn’t quite fill Rollins’ vacancy in that regard, and that regard truly matters for a show about sexually-based offenses that have been primarily against women for 24 seasons now.
1. Detective Grace Muncy
Muncy has been around the longest of the three SVU newcomers, with Benson poaching her from Captain Duarte (Maurice Compte) and the Bronx gangs unit earlier in Season 24 after seeing her empathy in action. She didn’t fit in right away, for reasons ranging from her wardrobe to her violence with suspects, the latter of which contributed to Elias’ trial going sideways in the fall finale. She was also openly antagonistic toward Churlish on Velasco’s behalf… and if you’d asked me where I’d rank her as recently an hour before watching the latest episode, I would have said second behind Bruno.
The events of “Bad Things” changed my mind. The episode not only showcased her growth as a character with how she went above and beyond to catch Elias after realizing that he was the culprit, but also how much she has gotten over her grudge against Churlish. I was impressed as well with how she talked Elias down enough to be handcuffed (and needing two sets of cuffs to do it).
The scene with the massive Elias facing off against two women who he could have easily overpowered had me on edge, but she solved it. She got props from both Benson and Carisi (Peter Scanavino) for how she handled the case, and she seems to have a solid ally in in Fin, even if she’s closest to Velasco. Plus, as a woman holding the rank of detective, she’s the closest of the three newcomers to filling Rollins’ vacancy.
Now, is Muncy my favorite of the newcomers? That honor still goes to Bruno, who really won me over when he teamed up with Fin in Ice-T’s big episode, but I would prefer a Special Victims unit that includes more than one woman as a series regular. After all, most of the victims of this show’s 500+ episodes have been women, and Fin and Velasco even commented in "Bad Things" on how most of the perpetrators are men. If I could hypothetically only keep one newbie, my heart says Bruno, but my head says Muncy.
Of course, there’s no saying how many of them will be back in Season 25, so it’s entirely possible that I’ve ranked Churlish, Bruno, and Muncy only for them all to return in the fall (or whenever SVU can come back after the WGA writers strike). I wouldn't be mad about it! Honestly, as long as Fin and Benson don’t go anywhere, I’ll probably be content. For now, one thing that we can count on is the current season ending with the Season 24 finale on Thursday, April 18 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
