Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 23

The twenty-third season of the American crime-drama television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was ordered on February 27, 2020, by NBC. It was set to air during the 2021–2022 television season, the season was produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television; the showrunner was Warren Leight, in the third and final season of his second stint in the role. The season premiered on September 23, 2021, and concluded on May 19, 2022. The series' milestone 500th episode aired this season as the sixth episode and saw the return of former Detective Nick Amaro and former SVU Captain Don Cragen. This is the last season for Jamie Gray Hyder and Demore Barnes as they departed in the premiere episode. The season consisted of 22 episodes.

Main

 * Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson
 * Kelli Giddish as Senior Detective Amanda Rollins
 * Ice-T as Senior Detective Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola
 * Peter Scanavino as Assistant District Attorney Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr.
 * Jamie Gray Hyder as Junior Detective Katriona "Kat" Tamin (episodes 1–2)
 * Demore Barnes as Deputy Chief Christian Garland (episodes 1–2, guest: episode 19)
 * Octavio Pisano as Junior Detective Joe Velasco (episodes 7–22; guest star: episodes 1–2, 4)

Special guest stars after their departure

 * Tamara Tunie as Chief Medical Examiner Melinda Warner (episode 6)
 * Danny Pino as Former Detective Nick Amaro (episode 6)
 * Dann Florek as Former Captain Donald Cragen (episode 6)
 * Raúl Esparza as Defense Attorney (former Assistant District Attorney) Rafael Barba (episodes 9, 22)
 * Donal Logue as Captain Declan Murphy (episode 10)

Crossover stars from Law & Order: Organized Crime

 * Christopher Meloni as Organized Crime Control Bureau Senior Detective Elliot Stabler
 * Danielle Moné Truitt as Organized Crime Control Bureau Sergeant Ayanna Bell
 * Ainsley Seiger as Organized Crime Control Bureau Junior Detective Jet Slootmaekers
 * Dylan McDermott as Richard Wheatley
 * Tamara Taylor as Professor Angela Wheatley
 * Nick Creegan as Richard "Richie" Wheatley, Jr.
 * Allison Siko as Kathleen Stabler
 * Nicky Torchia as Elliot "Eli" Stabler, Jr.
 * Jeffrey Scaperrotta as Richard "Dickie" Stabler

Recurring

 * Terry Serpico as Chief Tommy McGrath
 * Ben Rappaport as Congressman George Howard
 * Zabryna Guevara as Dr. Catalina Machado
 * Saverio Guerra as Paulie Banducci
 * TJ Lee as Celia Long
 * Ryan Garbayo as Ruben Ortiz
 * Aime Donna Kelly as Internal Affairs Bureau Captain Renee Curry
 * Stephen C. Bradbury as Judge Colin McNamara
 * Angelic Zambrana as Rosa Estrada
 * Jeffrey Schecter as Counselor Art Blumfeld
 * Carrie Kim as Celine Tatou
 * Adrian Alvarado as Detective Ray Fernandez
 * Frank Wood as Medical Examiner Abel Truman


 * Michael Dempsey as Elvis Baktashi
 * Ryan Buggle as Noah Porter-Benson
 * Aida Turturro as Judge Felicia Catano
 * Eddie Hargitay as Officer Eddie Montero
 * Kadia Saraf as United States Attorney Anya Avital
 * Michael Mastro as Judge D. Serani
 * Peter Hermann as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan
 * Joe Grifasi as Judge Hashi Horowitz
 * Ari'el Stachel as Sergeant Hasim Khaldun
 * Jason Biggs as Detective Andy Parlato-Goldstein
 * Cyndee Rivera as Detective Mia Ruz
 * Betty Buckley as Trial Division Chief Assistant District Attorney Lorraine Maxwell
 * Teagle F. Bougere as Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorney Phillip Baptiste
 * Aidan Quinn as Burton Lowe