With the season finales of Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Organized Crime just days away, NBC dropped some big news about when all three shows will be back for the 2023-2024 TV season. Unsurprisingly, both the original and SVU are slated to return in the fall, but Christopher Meloni’s Organized Crime is being held for midseason. It’s not a huge shock, given that OC reportedly received an order for just 13 episodes compared to the 22 for L&O and SVU when the three shows were renewed, but it raises some big questions for the future of the franchise.
Will We See Stabler And Co. Before Midseason?
Holding the fourth season of Law & Order: Organized Crime until midseason could mean that Stabler, Bell, and all the rest won’t actually return to primetime as series regulars until early 2024. So, does this also mean that the OC task force will simply be working entirely off screen for the first few months of the 2023-2024 TV season, with fans forced to revisit old episodes via Peacock subscription while L&O and SVU get new episodes? Only time will tell, but I’m hoping that OC stars get some guest appearances or at least off-screen updates in the fall. Depending on how the upcoming finales end, it might be downright weird if Stabler in particular is MIA until January or later.
Will SVU And L&O Cross Over More?
The 2022-2023 TV season started out with three-part crossover between the three Law & Order shows, which obviously will not be the case for this fall. Plus, when it comes to crossovers in the franchise, SVU and OC have been far more likely to air two-parters and even share characters. With OC not returning until the new year, will Law & Order Season 23 and SVU Season 25 start to cross over with each other a bit more? The two shows have fewer connections than OC and SVU, but it would be nice if NBC could still start the season with a L&O franchise event even without one of the shows.
Will Organized Crime Be More Serialized Again?
Organized Crime has always been more serialized than its fellow Law & Order shows, but the current Season 3 has featured a number of much shorter arcs compared to the first two seasons. With only 13 episodes for Season 4, could OC go back to just one or two arcs per season? It seems unlikely that the upcoming finale will set up a new nemesis a la Richard Wheatley (whose actor is busy over on FBI: Most Wanted) for the unit, given the long delay before the show returns and all the crossover loose ends that may need tied up, but we can’t rule out more serialization come midseason.
Will The SVU/OC Finale Crossover End On A Cliffhanger?
The SVU Season 24 finale and OC Season 4 finale will end the current season in what appears to be spectacular fashion, with the two episodes on May 18 in the 2023 TV schedule pairing up to finish off the two-week crossover event. It started with an episode of OC that delivered enough old school Benson/Stabler moments to get me as a longtime SVU fan hyped for the two finales. But that makes me wonder: will the crossover end on a cliffhanger? If so, it’ll be on SVU to resolve in the fall, with or without Organized Crime stars on hand.
A lot may depend on when the writers found out that OC would be held for midseason, but only time will tell. Fortunately, not a lot of time is left to wait! For now, check out the crossover promo:
The season finales of all three shows will air on Thursday, May 18, starting with Law & Order (which recruited Sam Waterston’s real-life daughter for his 400th episode) at 8 p.m. ET, Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. ET, and Law & Order: Organized Crime with its last episode of 2023 at 10 p.m. ET, all on NBC.
