The thirteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit debuted on NBC on September 21, 2011, and concluded on May 23, 2012. With Law & Order: LA and Law & Order: Criminal Intent having ended in July 2011 and June 2011 respectively, this season of Law & Order: SVU was the first to be broadcast without any other running American Law & Order series, a position the series held until the nineteenth season, when Law & Order True Crime premiered.
Season 13 dealt with the departure of Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) from the Special Victims Unit after a shooting in the squad room. Additionally, Warren Leight, coming over from the recently concluded Law & Order: Criminal Intent, became the executive producer/showrunner for the series, replacing Neal Baer who began working on a CBS medical drama.
This is the first season to feature Mariska Hargitay as the lead in the show.
Production Warren Leight replaced Neal Baer as showrunner, after Baer moved to CBS Television Studios. NBC executive Robert Greenblatt said the network planned to "reset the tone" of the show but have the storylines "still be compelling but a little more grounded". Filming began in July 2011 and the first three episodes were finished mid-August. Production resumed on the rest of the season after Labor Day (September 5, 2011). Casting director Jonathan Strauss also took on the job of co-producer on the show; his promotion was described as a rare move in the television industry. Strauss told The Hollywood Reporter, "NBCUniversal and Wolf Films have afforded me this unique opportunity, and in television, a fairly unprecedented one, to serve as both casting director and co-producer on SVU."
The thirteenth season was Ted Kotcheff's last year serving as an executive producer for the series. He stated in an interview that the departures of Christopher Meloni and Neal Baer were the primary factors in his decision to leave as well. He also thought that a large turnover in the writing and producing staff would help the show stay fresh saying "Listen, twelve and a half years. That is enough. Let this new writer you have coming in have a blank page so that he can maybe recreate the show, and bring something new to it."
Cast changes and returning characters On May 14, 2011, TVLine reported that Mariska Hargitay would return for a thirteenth season, while Christopher Meloni had not come to terms with his contract yet. Initial reports indicated that she would appear in only the first 13 episodes, and then her character would be promoted to a supervisor position with a new detective replacing her; however, NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt clarified later that August that she would be in every episode of the season. NBC was considering Jennifer Love Hewitt to replace Hargitay. Greenblatt later told TVLine, "Jennifer Love is somebody we've been circling, but I don't know that that is going to happen at all". It was later reported that Jennifer Love Hewitt would not be coming to the show.
Meloni's contract negotiations fell through, and on , TVLine reported that he would be exiting the show. Mariska Hargitay said that "He inspired me every day with his integrity, his extraordinary talent and his commitment to the truth. I love him deeply and will miss him terribly — I'm so excited to see what he'll do next." On August 1, 2011, Greenblatt confirmed that Meloni's character would not be killed off. On June 10, 2011, co-star Ice-T renewed his contract for two more seasons (seasons 13 and 14). Kate Ward of Entertainment Weekly felt co-star Ice-T should have replaced Meloni, instead of searching for a new cast member. Actors Danny Pino, Kevin Alejandro, David Conrad, Michael Raymond-James, and later Rhys Coiro were tested June 21, opposite Hargitay as replacements for Meloni. NBC and creator Dick Wolf aimed for a younger female and male actor as they tried to extend the series' lifespan by several more years. On June 27, 2011, NBC announced that Kelli Giddish and Danny Pino would be brought on as the new series regulars.
Stephanie March and Diane Neal returned to SVU in their roles as Assistant District Attorneys Alexandra Cabot and Casey Novak respectively for "an undetermined number of episodes". Neal told TV Guide, "It's back on track to what the original SVU was intended to be, which is about sex crimes and crimes against children, it's got more of a nitty-gritty feel." She says having her and Stephanie March back provides a familiarity for viewers now that original cast member Chris Meloni is gone. "I think they should put us in the court room together!" she says about March.
On July 17, 2011, during an SVU marathon on USA Network dedicated to his character, BD Wong announced his departure from the cast on Twitter. In response to a tweet about his character's status in season 13, he wrote, "I actually do not return for Season 13, I am jumping to Awake. It's awesome!". Wong added, "I don't know if or when I'll be back [on SVU]! It was amazing to have such a cool job for 11 years and to be a real NY Actor." Wong reprised his role in the episode "Father Dearest", which aired on May 2, 2012.
Tamara Tunie was moved from the main cast credits to a "special guest" starring role.
Cast
Main
Special guest stars
Crossover stars from Law & Order Linus Roache as Bureau Chief Assistant District Attorney Mike Cutter
Recurring
Guest stars
Linus Roache reprised his role of ADA Michael Cutter from the original Law & Order series in the season premiere episode. Cutter has been promoted at the DA's office to Bureau Chief ADA in which he oversees the ADAs assigned to the Special Victims Unit. Show runner Warren Leight stated, "If Cutter was a bit of a hot head in the past, the passage of time and some added responsibility in his new job has made him more mature, and perhaps a bit more jaded." Roache had to say, "I learned a lot from my time on Law & Order and it's going to be interesting to experiment with Cutter's development in this new context — I think Special Victims is going to be an area where Cutter's passion for justice can really come forth." Franco Nero guest starred in the season premiere episode as an Italian dignitary accused of rape, evoking the Dominique Strauss-Kahn arrest. Kathleen Garrett played the Italian dignitary's "stand-by-your-man" wife, Ron Rifkin played his savvy defense lawyer, similar to Strauss-Kahn's real-life lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, and Broadway and Dreamgirls star Anika Noni Rose played the victim. NBA stars Carmelo Anthony (New York Knicks) and Chris Bosh (Miami Heat) played themselves in cameo guest appearances in the episode "Personal Fouls". Mehcad Brooks played Prince Miller, a fictional basketball superstar who was once one of the coach's prodigies. Rapper/actor Heavy D played Miller's cousin and business manager, Supreme. Anthony and Bosh appeared in the opening scene and episode climax.
Kyle MacLachlan guest starred in the episode "Blood Brothers" as Andrew Raines, a charming, seductive Master of the Universe-esque philanthropist in his 50s who is part of one of New York's royal families; he is a powerful politician whose family is embroiled in a scandal. Paige Turco portrayed Andrew's (MacLachlan's) wife Kathleen, who is described as "charming, charismatic and fiercely protective of her family". MacLachlan and Turco have appeared on SVU before; MacLachlan in the season 6 episode "Conscience" as Dr. Brett Morton, a psychiatrist who was acquitted of murder for the sake of avenging his son's death. Turco was in the third season episode "Ridicule" as a woman named Pam Adler who aided in gang raping a male stripper. The episode was inspired by the infidelity and divorce of Arnold Schwarzenegger. T.R. Knight guest starred as a suspected serial rapist who consistently maintains his innocence despite overwhelming evidence. Charlie Tahan made an appearance following news that Season 13 would feature a return of Calvin Arliss, Olivia's foster child for two episodes in Season 12. In "Missing Pieces", Arliss is seen with Olivia and his elder foster family, presumably his grandparents from Vermont to whom he was sent to live with by his mother.
Andre Braugher portrayed Bayard Ellis on a recurring basis. Ellis is a high-powered defense attorney for the underprivileged who becomes a civil rights champion, as well as a close friend to Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). Braugher guest starred in a sixth-season episode of the original Law & Order series as Frank Pembleton, who originally worked in the Baltimore City Police Department's Homicide Squad with Detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) on Homicide: Life on the Street. New showrunner Warren Leight stated about the addition of Ellis, "I want the squad room and the legal team to have worthy adversaries, not to have straw men that they can easily take down, he's really smart, a very successful defense attorney who, in an effort to expiate his guilt, has started to defend those black and Latino youths who don't get good defense in New York. He sees an encroaching world of police and district attorney's office tyranny, and he's out to subvert it or to try to get the playing field back to where it was before 9/11." Sofia Vassilieva guest starred in the same episode in which Braugher debuted. Vassilieva portrayed Sarah Walsh, a self-reliant, bohemian girl and shining star of her middle-class suburban family who comes to New York City on a piano scholarship, and loses her inner light after she is attacked in her own apartment.
Timothy Busfield and Izabella Miko guest starred in "Russian Brides". Busfield played a widower whose fiancée (played by Miko) mysteriously disappears. Natasha Lyonne and Carrie Preston guest starred in the episode "Educated Guess". Lyonne played Gia, a patient at a psychiatric hospital, while Preston played her aunt. The hospital becomes a point of interest for SVU detectives due to a possible rape case. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried guest starred in the episode "Lost Traveler". Executive producer Warren Leight explained he was looking for a colorful character to take the snooze factor away from a new under-appreciated technical IT character in the precinct. "Those scenes can be dry, so I thought he'd be interesting." Warren said he would be bringing back the character, Leo Gerber, "from time to time."
Laura Benanti guest starred as Detective Nick Amaro's wife, Maria, who returns from overseas. She and Amaro must figure out where their relationship stands. Benanti first appeared in "Spiraling Down" and has the potential of a multi-episode arc. Treat Williams guest starred in the episode "Spiraling Down", in which he played Jake Stanton, a former all-star quarterback caught up in a sting operation with an underage prostitute. Stanton is represented by famed defense attorney Bayard Ellis (Andre Braugher). Beth Chamberlin guest starred as Georgia Stanton, the wife of Treat Williams' Jake Stanton. Real-life football pros Jerry Rice and Warren Sapp also made special appearances.