The upcoming 23rd season of NBC’s Law & Order: SVU will be without two key characters. Jamie Gray Hyder, who plays Officer Kat Tamin, and Demore Barnes, who portrays Deputy Chief Christian Garland, are departing the series, sources tell Deadline. Their exits will be revealed during the two-hour Season 23 premiere on Thursday, September 23. we hear.
Both were introduced in Season 21 as recurring and both were promoted to series regulars for Season 22.
Season 23 picks up mere hours after last season’s finale, where Catalina Machado (Zabryna Guevara) was arrested for trafficking single mothers living in shelters in a complex housing-for-sex scheme. She now wants to flip on her superiors in exchange for a deal with the Feds, and names a powerful congressman as the big fish. It’s a make or break case for the NYPD and puts enormous pressure on the entire SVU squad to get a conviction.
In the first hour of the two-episode premiere, “And the Empire Strikes Back”, Benson’s loyalty to Garland is tested. Rollins and Carisi try to keep their witnesses on board when a powerful congressman is identified as a suspect. Ben Rappaport, Terry Serpico and Octavio Pisano guest star.
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In the second episode, “Never Turn Your Back on Them”, the search for a missing witness leads Fin and Kat down a dangerous path. Chief McGrath puts pressure on Garland and Benson to get a conviction. Rappaport, Serpico, Glenn Fleshler and Isabelle Poloner guest star.
Hyder’s Kat marks the first LGBTQ officer on the show and the second main LGBTQ character since Dr. George Huang, played by B.D. Wong, who exited the series in Season 12.
Starring Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: SVU chronicles the lives of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate crimes of sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence.
Ice T, Peter Scanavino and Kelli Giddish also star.
Law & Order: SVU is TV’s longest-running primetime live-action series. It received a three-year renewal in 2020, taking it through Season 24.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment. Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer. Warren Leight, Julie Martin, Mariska Hargitay, Norberto Barba, Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski are executive producers.
Known for his work on oCBS’ The Unit, Barnes’ previous credits include series narrator in American Gods, a starring role in Waco and recurring roles on DC’s Titans, The Flash and Supernatural, among others. He also guest-starred on NBC’s One Chicago for Wolf Entertainment and Uni TV.
Hyder’s previous credits include True Blood, Graceland and recurring/guest starring roles on The Last Ship, Inhumans, Chicago Med, among others.