The twenty-second season of the police procedural drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on NBC on November 12, 2020 and concluded on June 3, 2021. The season consisted of 16 episodes. It is the first season to include Demore Barnes as Christian Garland in a main cast role. Christopher Meloni, who hadn't been involved with the show since its thirteenth season, also returned in a recurring role before and during his main cast role in the series Law & Order: Organized Crime. Production was restricted due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in this season being cut to 16 episodes; this originally made it the shortest season in the series' history until Season 25 was announced to have only 13 episodes. This season aired alongside with season one of Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
| Image | Character | Title | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Olivia Benson | Captain (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 | Officer 22.01-10 Detective (Junior Officer) 22.11-22.16 |
Jamie Gray Hyder |
|
Christian Garland | Deputy Chief (Commanding Officer) | Demore Barnes |
Recurring/Guest Cast[]
| Image | Character | Title | Actor |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Elliot Stabler | Organized Crime Control Bureau | Christopher Meloni |
|
Melinda Warner | Chief Medical examiner | Tamara Tunie |
|
Rafael Barba | Defense attorney | Raúl Esparza |
|
Carolyn Barek | Lieutenant (Bronx Special Victims Unit) | Annabella Sciorra |
List of Episodes[]
| Previous season: Season 21 |
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 22 |
Next season: Season 23 |