Law & Order: For The Defense Is Coming To NBC

 NBC Press Release

NBC’s Straight-to-Series Order Takes an Inside Look at a Criminal Defense Firm

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – May 3, 2021 – The most successful brand in television history is expanding on its already impressive legacy with NBC’s straight-to-series order of “Law & Order: For the Defense.”

From two-time Emmy Award-winning producer Dick Wolf, creator of the "Law & Order" brand, “Law & Order: For the Defense” will take an unbiased look inside a criminal defense firm. The series will put the lawyers under the microscope, along with the criminal justice system with every week delivering the promise of a contemporary morality tale.

Carol Mendelsohn (“CSI”) will serve as showrunner and executive producer, along with Wolf, Arthur Forney, Julie Weitz and Peter Jankowski. The series will be produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Wolf Entertainment. 

“This new show is exciting for me personally,” Wolf said. “We spent the last 30 years on shows that played offense. Now it will be great to play defense, and being able to do it with Carol is an honor and an opportunity for both of us to do television that hasn’t been done before.”

“We can’t wait to bring audiences the latest chapter of ‘Law & Order,’ which will explore a different angle of the criminal justice system,” said Lisa Katz, President, Scripted Programming, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming. “We’re excited about Dick Wolf’s perpetually thought-provoking approach as well his collaboration with Carol Mendelsohn, who we have been eager to do a series with for a long time.”

The “Law & Order” brand has been a hallmark of NBC dating back to the original Emmy Award-winning “Law & Order,” which debuted in 1990, and has been a staple of the network ever since. “Law & Order: SVU,” starring Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay, is a testament to the excellence and popularity of the brand as evidenced by, in its 22nd season, being the longest-running live action series in the history of television.

Wolf is also the executive producer of the brand’s most recent installment, “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” which premiered April 1 and was the top series debut from any network in 2½ years (excluding NFL lead-ins.)

 In addition to the “Law & Order” brand, Wolf is executive producer of NBC’s hit Chicago series, which continue to dominate the drama landscape, as well as CBS’ highly rated “FBI” and “FBI Most Wanted.”

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Season Finale Dates - Law & Order SVU & Organized Crime

FYI: 

NBC has announced that the season finale dates for Law & Order SVU and Law & Order Organized Crime will be Thursday, June 3, 2021.

Law & Order Organized Crime “An Inferior Product” Episode Information

Here are the details for a new episode of Law & Order Organized Crime,  “An Inferior Product”, the second half of a Law & Order SVU and Organized Crime crossover event. 

Law & Order Organized Crime “An Inferior Product”  Air Date May 13,  2021 (10 PM ET/9C Thursday NBC)

Stabler faces the consequences of a failed drug bust. Bell is forced to choose between the job and her family. Gina gets an unexpected visitor. Guest starring Mariska Hargitay and Demore Barnes.

Law & Order SVU “Trick-Rolled At The Moulin” Episode Information

Here are the details for a new episode of Law & Order SVU,  “Trick-Rolled At The Moulin”, the first half of a Law & Order SVU and Organized Crime crossover event.

Law & Order SVU  “Trick-Rolled At The Moulin”  Air Date May 13,  2021 (9 PM ET/8C Thursday NBC)

The SVU search for three women suspected of drugging and robbing wealthy men. The case leads to personal connections for both Benson and Kat. Guest starring Tamara Tunie, Christopher Meloni and Nicola Rossi.

Law & Order SVU – Organized Crime May 13, 2021 Crossover Event Promo

Here is the promo for the Law & Order SVU – Law & Order Organized Crime crossover event, airing Thursday, May 13, 2021.

NOTE: The episode names have been released – see links below:

Law & Order SVU “Trick-Rolled At The Moulin” 

Law & Order Organized Crime “An Inferior Product”

Law & Order Organized Crime “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of” Recap, Review, Discussion

Trying to work the Wheatley case with the task force while he continues to try to solve who murdered his wife is putting Stabler on the edge.   Benson has talked to him about it, his children have talked to him about it, but Stabler continues to obsess. It’s affecting his sleep.  In “The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of”,  Stabler is haunted by the nightmare of solving his wife’s murder.   This recap isn’t in order of how things occurred in the episode; it may be easier to follow what happened by grouping the recap into key segments of the episode.   The episode didn’t have the action as in previous episodes but the suspense was clearly there.   Stabler is loosing it and it shows, and one has to wonder how much more stressed he will be knowing his wife was the target all along?  He also seems to be forming a bond with Angela, and I wonder if this will come back to haunt him somewhere down the road. Gina is walking a tightrope with Wheatley.  She knows he is watching her and while she thinks she is being so careful, I suspect that Wheatley is already on to her actions, possibly including the bug in his wine cellar.  I wonder who is playing who? 

Carisi,   still a newbie as far as I’m concerned, is already proposing a “shadow counsel”, saying he’s done it before and like it’s an everyday thing.   (I’m trying to recall if/when we’ve actually seen him do this before.)  It also seemed insulting for him to tell the judge that it’s legal “technically”. I would think the judge would be an expert on what is and isn’t legal.  

When Stabler told Benson “I love you”  was this a Freudian slip or did he mean it as he corrected himself to mean “all of them”?   It’s probably both, although I think his love for Benson is not the romantic kind of love. 

Here’s what happened:

Stabler  realizes that someone was in the area taking selfies near the time of the car bombing that killed Kathy. It isn’t until his son Eli makes a comment about geotagging a photo that  he gets the idea to use that information to track down the people in that photo.  Stabler is so distracted at the information from Eli that he stops his car in the middle of traffic and then when he starts moving again, he gets into a car accident.    Later he manages to find the people who were in the selfies.   He stops the woman on the street as she’s walking her dog and convinces her to have her boyfriend send him the photos.  Much later, he gets the photos and looks at them closely.  In the window, near the car bombing he sees  Sacha Lenski.  It’s late in the night but he tries to call Benson and when she sees who is calling, she doesn’t answer.  He leaves her a message, saying that Sacha was there and he activated the bomb from across the street.  Sacha knew it was Kathy getting into the car. Stabler realizes he wasn’t the target, it was Kathy,  wondering why anyone would want to kill her.

Kathleen meets with Benson and, in a very emotional state, asks Benson to help her and her siblings stage an intervention with their father as he is clearly suffering from PTSD.   This intervention does take place – they are waiting for Stabler when he comes home -  and Stabler is stunned and less than pleased.  When Benson asks Stabler to tell them what he needs, he replies “I love you” but then looks around to the others and adds “I love all of you”.  But he’s not ready for any of this and says he doesn’t think he can do this. 

The task force continues to work the Wheatley case, tracking down a local pharmacy whose computer is connected to his company Contrapos and the filling of a prescription of Naradol, a component in Wheatley’s drug, purple magic. This leads them to a home where a young boy has just died from the drug that he just received from that same local pharmacy.  Stabler helps to console his mother. 

Izak Bekher is in interrogation with his lawyer, and they deny involvement in Manfredi’s death. Stabler also thinks Wheatley, targeting him, got Kathy killed.  Stabler and Bell push the theory that Wheatley shot Manfredi, using Izak’s gun (which Stabler confiscated earlier),  leaving the bullet casing to implicate Izak.  Izak’s gun also matches the bullet that killed Jocelyn Howell.  Izak’s lawyer isn’t going to make any deals.    Later, Izak calls Stabler and says he wants to talk – he needs protection. Stabler and Bell meet with Izak in prison, without his lawyer. Izak is ready to turn on Wheatley but his lawyer will never make a deal and worries Wheatley can get to him inside of Rikers. Stabler says they will figure something out.

Stabler and Carisi meet with a judge.  They want to hire a second lawyer – a “shadow” counsel” – to work with Izak in secret to make a deal to cooperate.  Izak’s lawyer Vincent Weiss is beholden to Wheatley, not Izak. Carisi says he’s done this before, and it’s legal – technically. Carisi wants to appoint Izak a new lawyer, but keep it under wraps and in a secret hearing with the record sealed to make  a deal with Izak for his cooperation.   They would then stage a fake arraignment hearing. Weiss will still represent Izak, and the judge will grant bail.  Stabler adds that Izak walks, Wheatley thinks he is in the clear, but the reality is Izak works for them. Stabler uses the death of the boy earlier in the day, and the judge’s grandkids, to hit home the kind of damage from Wheatley’s drugs.   They later have the secret hearing, but Izak will not wear a wire with Wheatley. Bell agrees to this.   The deal is on and the judge warns him what will happen if he doesn’t do this as agreed. 

In the middle of all this, Stabler goes to see Angela as he thinks she is the only one who will understand what he’s going through.  They share their grief over the loss of Stabler’s wife and Angela’s son.

Izak is arraigned and everything goes as planned. 

Meanwhile,  Wheatley tells one of his men to find out all he can about Gina and apparently he has access to many of the city’s CCTV cameras. He watches Gina AND he also has malware on her phone that can tap into her phone camera.  Later, Bell meets with Gina who knows Wheatley is counter-surveilling her. She refuses Bell’s offer for an undercover officer to shadow her.   Bell gives Gina a bug to place into Wheatley’s wine cellar to help penetrate  the Faraday cage.  

Gina attends Richie’s 30th birthday party and has to tolerate a few catty remarks because she’s just a “waitress.”   Angela gets weepy when she comments that Richie is her only son (Raffi is dead).   Wheatley makes some creepy comments which puts everyone off, especially Richie.   Later, Gina plays up wanting to see the wine cellar and manages to get the bug planted. 

The next episode is May 13, 2021 in a crossover event with Law & Order SVU. 

Law & Order SVU “In The Year We All Fell Down” Recap, Review, Discussion

Maybe it’s COVID tragic stories fatigue, maybe it’s because this wasn’t a special victims case - maybe both - but I could not connect with this episode at all.  Not one bit.    I disliked it more than any SVU episode I’ve seen in a long time.  It’s  not that I didn’t feel any sympathy or empathy  for what everyone was going through. I think it’s more that I thought the entire situation with Vanessa Blake could have been resolved WITHOUT Benson’s de-escalating.  I also am not a fan of the Rollins family drama.   The episode was far too “soap opera” for my liking.   This episode focused on two concurrent stories, neither of them resonated with me.

Typical impulsive Rollins, she brings her father to New York without thinking things through.  Rollins’ father had a mini-stroke and Rollins brings him there while he recovers.   Rollins’ mother isn’t coming.  Carisi is there to support her, and brings cannoli for her father.   Carisi still hasn’t told her about his relationship with Nicole. When Rollins asks about what he wanted to tell her before she got the news of her father, he avoids the situation.   When her father takes a turn for the worse,  Rollins has to deal with questions like power of attorney, living will, medical insurance, etc.  Rollins doesn’t want him to be alone through all this, and gets protective of her father and suspicious when his current wife Amber shows up.  After Rollins lectures Amber on all the care her father will need, Amber makes a quick exit.  How exactly does Rollins expect to care for him or pay for it if he doesn’t  have the right coverage or finances?    I suppose that Rollins is forgiving her father for all the times he abused her mother, abandoned the family,  and his drug/booze overdoses?  Does she fully understand what she’s signing up for? We are talking Rollins here, so I doubt it. 

Meanwhile, Vanessa Blake goes through a year of COVID by having her restaurant business dwindle, her husband leave her, her son alienated, and her mother dying from COVID, for which she blamed her son.  (During this recap of her year, our ears are assaulted by music that overpowered the scene.)  The last straw is the realtor pulls the plug on their restaurant (she is in partnership with Ira), finding a clause that allows the realtor to avoid the moratorium on evictions.   She decides to take  matters into her own hands and holds the realtor at knifepoint.   Benson happens to be stopping in the restaurant for some take-out and hears from an officer that a woman in the restaurant has gone crazy and pulled a knife. Ira explains that Vanessa pulled the knife on the realtor because she didn’t want to face closing the restaurant.   Benson decides to flash her badge and gain access. Inside, she sees two officers, one pointing a taser at Vanessa and another a gun.  Benson says she knows Vanessa but Vanessa wants her out. Benson asks the two officers to step outside, she’ll handle this.  She orders them to holster their weapons. 

Here’s my issue with Benson’s interference:    It doesn’t matter that she knows Vanessa; anyone unhinged enough to hold a knife (or gun) at another person could behave erratically at any time.  I’m not in favor of using deadly force (unless absolutely necessary) but I found myself thinking that a quick taser shot on the part of the officer would have stopped Vanessa in her tracks.  Instead, Benson decides to use her newly-learned skills of de-escalating and she prolonged the situation and the risk to others.  I found myself thinking like this: taser – situation over quick; de-escalation – situation carries on for hours with a large number of law enforcement outside with crowds and media coverage.  

Yes, Benson got the realtor out of the situation, but she put herself at risk. It’s possible that weighing on my mind was the real-life incident just days before where a 16 year old girl was shot by police as she tried to stab another girl.  That officer had a split-second decision to make to avoid someone being murdered right in front of him. His fast action saved someone’s life, despite the fact he took another.  Not every situation can be like this one with  Benson where she  knows the person holding the deadly weapon.    Benson and Vanessa talk things out – there’s too much talking; I started to mentally tune out. During all this airing  of grievances, Benson’s relationship with Ed Tucker comes up.  Benson tells Vanessa that Tucker got cancer then killed himself.  That’s not a very uplifting message to someone who is down on their luck.  

Bottom line, Vanessa’s husband still isn’t there for her but she reunites with her son and the situation is diffused.  Benson has saved the day again.   Vanessa, under arrest,  exits the restaurant to applause,   a customer raised $35,000 on a Go Fund Me page and even the realtor chipped in. Benson tells Vanessa to remember it was the worst day of her life and she made it through.  Sure, Vanessa lived through it but her problems are definitely not over.  Garland tells Benson to take a few days and let someone take care of her. (So who exactly is going to do that for Benson?)

Thankfully, the hour ends.

Law & Order SVU “In The Year We All Fell Down” Photos

Here are photos for Law & Order SVU “In The Year We All Fell Down” airing Thursday, April 22, 2021 at 9PM ET on NBC. The photos feature Mariska Hargitay, Demore Barnes, and Sarita Choudhury as Vanessa Blake. 

 Photos by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC 2021 NBCUniversal Media, LLC