The Special Victims Unit are called in after a black man (Blake Morris) is accused of sexually assaulting a man as well as harassing a woman and her son in Central Park. Despite being accused, the man claims he is innocent. When a new suspect is found, the innocent man is acquitted but he quickly files a lawsuit against the Special Victims Unit, which soon makes the case extremely difficult with the community losing trust in law enforcement.
When a boy (Athan Sporek) is found with bruises at school, and his mother (Riki Lindhome) is found unconscious and beaten in her apartment, the Special Victims Unit are called in to investigate a likely domestic and child abuse case from the hands of the mother's boyfriend (Christopher Cassarino) with the mother's son being the main target of the abuse. Things take a sudden turn when the abuser is murdered, and the boy confesses to killing him, but things do not appear as they seem. Elsewhere, Tutuola battles on giving his deposition on a case he previously handled fatally shooting a man with his son watching.
The Special Victims Unit are asked for assistance from Italian police when a young Italian woman (Brittany Conigatti) is reported missing for a month. When the woman is found dead, suspicion falls on her immature, party-throwing roommate and her drug dealer friend (Jordan Lane Price), who threw a party the night the woman went missing but both have no memory of that night. Meanwhile, the entire SVU squad starts to lose their patience with lockdown and quarantine as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
482
4
"Sightless in a Savage Land"
Norberto Barba
Matt Klypka, Denis Hamill, Julie Martin, & Warren Leight
On New Year's Eve, the Special Victims Unit is forced to investigate the possible kidnapping of a teenage girl. When she is found after being raped, the girl’s father murders her rapist. Carisi takes the father to court only to find that he is being represented by former ADA Rafael Barba. Meanwhile, Tutuola plans to propose marriage to a former colleague, Sergeant Phoebe Baker (Jennifer Esposito), who he previously dated but finds himself nervous about what she might answer.
483
5
"Turn Me on Take Me Private"
Juan Campanella
Teleplay by : Monet Hurst-Mendoza, Victoria Pollack, Julie Martin, & Warren Leight Story by : Victoria Pollack & Monet Hurst-Mendoza
The Special Victims Unit are called in after a webcam model (Eva Noblezada) is raped during a live cam session. The detectives soon discover that the rapist (Alex Brightman) is one of her viewers; as the case goes on, the rapist’s harassment and obsession towards the victim increases, which intimidates the victim. Meanwhile, Tamin and Carisi’s conflict reaches a new high as both clash over the case.
484
6
"The Long Arm of the Witness"
Martha Mitchell
Teleplay by : Denis Hamill & Warren Leight Story by : Denis Hamill & Micharne Cloughley
When a powerful judge (Josh Stamberg) dismisses a rape case and announces a run for New York Attorney General, Carisi investigates the judge's own history of sexual assault. However, he and the rest of the Special Victims Unit have difficulty getting some victims to come forward after their careers are threatened.
485
7
"Hunt, Trap, Rape and Release"
Batán Silva
Teleplay by : Kathy Dobie & Monet Hurst-Mendoza Story by : Kathy Dobie & Julie Martin
The Special Victims Unit team up with former Major Case Squad detective Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra) who is now a lieutenant with the Bronx SVU on a serial rape case that crosses city lines. Their fraught collaboration is hampered by police malpractice and inconsistent modus operandi.
486
8
"The Only Way Out Is Through"
Martha Mitchell
Teleplay by : Micharne Cloughley & Kathy Dobie Story by : Brianna Yellen
While Benson is out dealing with a family emergency regarding Noah, the Special Victims Unit attempt to help two sisters (Crystal Lucas-Perry & Sydney Elise Johnson) get closure after one of them is raped at gunpoint while the other is forced to watch, which happened in 2000 when the two of them were teenagers. Meanwhile, Tamin's cousin (Nicola Rossi) asks for her help after being raped by her date, and a rape victim (Jane Bruce) resurfaces from seven years ago in need of Fin's help wants to get closure from her rapist, but she may get more than what she bargained for.
Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) returns to New York after several years of absence only to find his family has been put in danger. He reunites with Benson to find the perpetrator while trying to make amends with her, but the Special Victims Unit is not entirely convinced he's a changed man. After his wife dies due to the car accident, Stabler rejoins the NYPD to gain justice for his family. This episode begins a crossover event that concludes on Law & Order: Organized Crime season 1 episode 1.
After a teenage girl (Victoria Lily Robertson) is found murdered near a halfway house for sex offenders, the Special Victims Unit initially suspects her co-worker Lonnie Liston (Mark Cayne), a parolee living in the house. However, vigilantes take the law into their own hands and lynch Lonnie, unbeknownst to them that Lonnie was set up by someone else. Meanwhile, Rollins' father suffers a stroke.
Benson faces a court case regarding Jayvon Brown that could cost her her job. SVU aids an activist (Suzette Gunn) in locating her missing sister (Victoria Janicki). Meanwhile, Benson and Garland work together to try to bring change to the NYPD, and Kat catches a break when she's promoted from officer to detective.
490
12
"In the Year We All Fell Down"
Jean de Segonzac
Teleplay by : Julie Martin & Warren Leight Story by : Julie Martin, Warren Leight, & Kathy Dobie
A local restaurant owner's (Sarita Choudhury) life spirals out of control after suffering a year of COVID-related losses and setbacks when she takes her business' realtor (Andrew Polk) hostage. Benson tries to de-escalate the situation when she comes across the area but doing so reopens old wounds from her past losses. Meanwhile, Rollins' father (James Morrison) has another stroke and Carisi tries to comfort her.
491
13
"Trick-Rolled at the Moulin"
Batán Silva
Teleplay by : Brendan Feeney & Brianna Yellen Story by : Warren Leight & Julie Martin
Several wealthy men turn up dead after a trio of women drug them with a bad batch of Purple Magic, which leads Benson to a breakthrough in the case of her brother Simon's death. SVU must also team up with Stabler after they find out the drugs that are getting released are tracing back to Richard Wheatley. This episode begins a crossover event that concludes on Law & Order: Organized Crime season 1 episode 5.
492
14
"Post-Graduate Psychopath"
Norberto Barba
Teleplay by : Brianna Yellen & Micharne Cloughley Story by : Brianna Yellen & Warren Leight
Following the events of "Born Psychopath", when Henry Mesner (Ethan Cutkosky) gets released from juvenile detention after eight years, things go very personal for Detective Rollins and the SVU team fears his behavior might be a danger to others.
Garland's neighbor is found injured at work at a construction site and Benson helps to investigate a domestic violence case but the squad dig up some more stuff when the victim's wife may be centered as the culprit.
494
16
"Wolves in Sheep's Clothing"
Norberto Barba
Teleplay by : Kathy Dobie & Christian Tyler Story by : Denis Hamill and Julie Martin & Warren Leight
The Special Victims Unit work to help a single mother who is being used for sex to live in her nice apartment. As they investigate, they discover that she is being trafficked, and they must get her to cooperate with them to find the suspects who are trafficking her. Meanwhile, Fin and Phoebe make plans for their wedding.
Production
Development
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was renewed through its twenty-second season on February 27, 2020.[1] The season marks the return of former main cast member Meloni as Elliot Stabler since the season 12 finale.[4] Meloni stars in the new Law & Order spin-off Law & Order: Organized Crime.[25] He was expected to appear in the season premiere of the twenty-second season,[4] but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the premiere of the spin-off was pushed back to 2021,[3] delaying his appearance to the mid-season.[26]
In the wake of the rise in awareness of police brutality towards people of color and racial unrest in America, show runner/executive producer Warren Leight said that he has been making changes in the SVU writers' room, stating that "change will start taking place on TV shows individually. There will be lip service paid". In addition to bringing on new voices, including people of color and those who have extensive history covering and writing about crime in New York, Leight said that "[They've] tried really hard in the last year to show how class and race affect the outcomes of justice in society, but I'm beginning to suspect "really hard" wasn't enough. This has to be a moment where people make themselves uncomfortable, where people in power have to make themselves uncomfortable".[27]
On October 6, 2020, it was announced Barnes would be promoted to main cast as Deputy Chief Christian Garland; he had a recurring role on the previous season.[28]
Filming
Filming for the season started on Monday, September 14, 2020.[29] Two days prior, Hargitay posted two photos on her Instagram of the SVU cast and crew doing a read-through of the premiere episode script on a Zoom chat and of the script itself with the title of the episode, "Remember Me in Quarantine".[30] On September 14, Hargitay posted two more pictures to her Instagram, one showing crew and cast members waiting in line to get COVID-19 tests and the other a photo of herself in the makeup chair with a gowned and masked makeup artist doing her hair and makeup.[31]NBCUniversal developed a comprehensive return to work playbook, which is being followed by all of the company's series. It involves reducing shift hours and adding days to shoots to accommodate strict COVID-19 protocols.[32] On April 27, 2021, filming for the twenty-second season concluded.[33]
Storylines
The twenty-second season has addressed the pandemic, which led to reports of an increase in domestic abuse in New York. "We're going to reflect New York in the pandemic" and "what happens to someone who is sexually assaulted during the height of the coronavirus outbreak", said showrunner/executive producer Leight.[27] The pandemic had a direct impact on the cast and crew, as the show lost a member of the costume department, Josh Wallwork, who died at age 45 of complications due to COVID-19.[30]
Leight told TV Insider that in the sixth months that the series had last filmed (March 2020), New York City is "a city that has lost faith in the NYPD and the DA's office", and that the season premiere episode starts with an assault in Central Park that "quickly turns into a racially volatile situation, and [the unit] confronts how their own racial bias affects their judgment". After a case about domestic violence, the episode "Remember Me in Quarantine" turns to what happens after extended social isolation and quarantine due to COVID-19 — or, Leight said, "how close people get to their breaking points". He also told TV Insider "we hope to bring back some [more] past regulars this season", in addition to Christopher Meloni's guest return later in the season.[34]
The series is also expected to cover police brutality towards African Americans, following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer and the subsequent global protests. Leight weighed in back in June 2020, that "we will find our way in to tell the story. Presumably our cops will still be trying to do the right thing but it's going to be harder for them and they're going to understand why it's hard for them". According to co-star Ice-T, the SVU writers have been "touched by this" incident and he thinks their emotional connection to it
...is going to show up in their writing. This one was just too brutal. This is what they call a tipping point. This is a point where people go, 'Enough!' This is a battle for humanity and human rights, it's not black and white people fighting, you know.[27]
Ratings
Viewership and ratings per episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 22
