'Law & Order' Premiere Introduces Maura Tierney's Potentially Unlikable Lieutenant
Law & Order has a new lieutenant, and she doesn't care if you like her or not. After the exit of Camryn Manheim at the end of Season 23, Law & Order added ER and The Affair alum Maura Tierney as new lieutenant Jessica Brady. While that announcement was made earlier this summer, it apparently didn't reach the rest of the 27th precinct. When Brady showed up at the crime scene early in the Season 24 premiere, Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) and Riley (Reid Scott) were less than welcoming.
"Excuse me, this is an active crime scene," Riley said, and when Brady showed him her badge, he thought he had to get territorial over the case. Both Riley and Shaw were quite shocked when Brady informed them that she's their new lieutenant, and she does not know what happened to Kate Dixon.
Related: Everything to Know About Law & Order Season 26
As the case unfolded and turned into a dark, sad story of domestic violence, Brady kept any sense of personality close to the vest but proved herself to be very straightforward, no nonsense, and uninterested in making friends.
"I know you were close to Dixon. I know it's hard to start all over again with someone new and all of that stuff, but really, that's your problem. Not mine," she told Riley. "I don't need you to like me. I don't need you to agree with me. I need you to listen to me."
She may be cold, but she's effective, and was almost working faster than Reid and Shaw as they determined that a murdered prosecutor was killed by her own husband. It will certainly be interesting to find out more about her and to see whether the detectives do, eventually, come to like her.
As for Dixon, Reid eventually managed to get a hold of her and find out where she went. Via text, she revealed she had moved to Miami because her son Patrick, who is deaf and a teacher at a school for the deaf, got a new job at another school and she was "tagging along." She didn't say goodbye because she didn't want to make it a big deal, but she did invite her former colleagues to visit sometime.
The case ended up hitting a lot harder for ADA Maroun (Odelya Halevi), who knew the murdered prosecutor. The husband committed suicide before his trial was over, and the team didn't have enough evidence to go after his wealthy friend who helped cover up how he abused his wife. Maroun was deeply affected, especially since her sister had been murdered and the killer was never convicted back in 2013, and she nearly risked her career to get the friend on trial. Price (Hugh Dancy) had to talk her down in the middle of traffic to keep her from making a huge mistake, and the episode ended with her crying into his chest.
Law & Order airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.
Next, here's everything to know about Law & Order: SVU Season 26.
Solve the daily Crossword
