Law and Order and SVU won't return with new episodes until 2025, here's when!

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for the Law and Order fall finales as well as a brief mention of the rape that occurred in the Law and Order: SVU episode.

We said goodbye to Law and Order and Law and Order: SVU far earlier than we would have liked but both shows did put us on a path toward some interesting arcs for the back half of their seasons. Unfortunately, however, we'll be waiting nearly two months for new episodes to see what happens next.

Both procedurals return on Thursday, Jan. 16 and they each have a character that was majorly shook up by the events that unfolded in their respective fall finales. Let's start with the flagship's "Bad Apple," an episode that spotlighted Lt. Jessica Brady. She knew the vic, Harrison, he was a cop in her old precinct. At first, it seemed like his killer was a dope dealer who wanted revenge for the raid the NYPD did on his spot but he wasn't the one responsible for the murder.

Brady realized that the case they were working was a cover-up. The real killer was the deceased officer's partner, Brandt. He'd been skimming money off the top of drug busts for years. Brady knew about it, so did his fellow cops. But when Brandt was confronted by Harrison who'd had enough of letting it slide, he shot him and then tried to pin it on someone else in the precinct.

"Bad Apple" focused on the concept of the Blue Wall, otherwise known as the cop code that sees those in the profession close ranks whenever an officer is involved in a situation or they look the other way. Their silence is meant to protect each other from those who try to do the institution harm or who don't understand the hardships of the job they've chosen to work.

It, however, can be detrimental in cases like the one in this episode in which a murderer was nearly protected by that silence because no one wanted to rock the boa or deal with the harassment that would come from "ratting out" another cop even though said cop killed one of their own for trying to do the right thing.

Brady was the one to come forward to reveal Brandt was known for taking money from raids and no one did a thing about it. The guilt she was carrying had to do with her being told about this by Harrison and her direction to him was to let it go. This time she didn't but it cost her as Internal Affairs was in her office at the end of the episode and it's implied her decision to testify will cause problems for her professionally given the way people were staring at her at the station.

Law and Order: SVU's fall finale, "Cornered," was a tense affair as Carisi was held hostage in a deli with three other people by two petty robbers--Boyd and Deonte--who escalated the situation needlessly. Boyd was the aggressive criminal. He's the one who shot and killed the cashier, Ali. Boyd also raped Tess, one of the women he'd held hostage. In all of this, Deonte had done nothing despite Carisi trying to get him to intervene and doing his best to manage the situation.

It wasn't until Ali died, and Benson had negotiated the release of Tess in exchange for herself only for Carisi to stop her once Tess was safe, that what Carisi had said to Deonte got through to him. He shot Boyd which gave the police the opportunity to sweep in. But the whole ordeal shook the ADA up immensely, so much so that Rollins wanted him to wait before he saw their girls.

Benson offered to give him the name of her therapist but he didn't think that's something for him. As she and Rollins observed him visiting his paralegal to deliver the birthday flowers he'd gone to the deli to buy, they both noted that he's not doing well. It shouldn't be expected that he would be but the events that transpired in "Cornered" will play into Carisi's arc moving forward as he processes what happened.

We'll keep you posted as information comes in about Brady and Carisi's storylines. Stay tuned to Americans Undercover for Law and Order franchise coverage. The series return Jan. 16 to NBC. Episodes are available to stream on Peacock. Follow us on X for livetweet threads and more content!

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.