The twenty-first season of the police procedural drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on NBC on September 26, 2019 and concluded on April 23, 2020. The season consists of 20 episodes. It made SVU pass the original version and become the longest running US prime-time drama television series due to high ratings. It was the first season to include Jamie Gray Hyder as Katriona Tamin and Demore Barnes as Christian Garland, as well as the first season where Olivia Benson is Captain and Dominick Carisi, Jr. is an Assistant District Attorney. Raúl Esparza also returns in a guest role. Warren Leight also returned as showrunner after departing in the seventeenth season. On March 13, 2020, production of the season was stopped permanently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the final episode count being reduced from 24 to 20 due to the final four episodes not being completed prior to the preemptive suspension, making it the second season to be cut short; the first being the ninth season due to the 2007-08 writers strike and the third being the twenty-fifth season due to the 2023 writers and screen actors guilds strike. It is the final season of SVU not to air alongside any other series in the franchise, with Law & Order: Organized Crime premiering in the second half of the following season.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
| Image | Character | Title | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Olivia Benson | Lieutenant 21.01 Captain 21.02-21.20 (Commanding Officer) |
Mariska Hargitay |
|
Amanda Rollins | Detective (Senior Officer) | Kelli Giddish |
|
Odafin Tutuola | Sergeant (Senior Officer) | Ice-T |
|
Dominick Carisi, Jr. | Assistant district attorney | Peter Scanavino |
|
Katriona Tamin (21.08-) | Officer (White Shield Investigator) | Jamie Gray Hyder |
Recurring/Guest Cast[]
| Image | Character | Title | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Melinda Warner | Chief Medical examiner | Tamara Tunie |
|
Rafael Barba | Assistant District Attorney | Raúl Esparza |
|
Christian Garland | Deputy Chief (Commanding Officer) | Demore Barnes |
|
|
Katriona Tamin (21.01, 21.04-21.07) | Officer (Vice Enforcement Division, 21.01) Officer (White Shield Investigator, 21.04-07) |
Jamie Gray Hyder |
List of Episodes[]
Specials[]
| Image | Episode # | Title | Production # | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
N/A | The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU | N/A | 2 January 2020 |
| Previous season: Season 20 |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 21 |
Next season: Season 22 |