Fans have been waiting for months to find out Lieutenant Kate Dixon’s fate on Law & Order — and the answer wasn’t clear for much of the premiere.
Camryn Manheim’s Dixon was noticeably absent when season 24 began on Thursday, October 3, and Maura Tierney’s Lieutenant Jessica Brady was in her place. While Brady told detectives Vincent Riley (Reid Scott) and Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) “I don’t know” where Dixon is when they first met, they later learned the truth of her departure.
“Patrick got a great job at a school in Miami. Mom is tagging along,” Dixon revealed in a text message to Riley during the episode, referring to her deaf son Patrick (James Caverly), who is a teacher for the deaf.
Dixon added, “Didn’t want to make a big to-do about it — tears and all that. Come visit.”
Shaw seemed OK with how Dixon left, telling Riley, “I’ll take her up on that” offer to visit Florida.
Riley, however, wasn’t happy with how their boss left without warning. “Talk about the old Irish goodbye though, right?” he said. “I’ll take that up with her later, but I’m glad she’s alright.”
While Riley and Shaw were blindsided by Dixon’s change of residence, viewers were aware that Manheim, 63, was leaving the show. News broke in May that the season 23 finale would be Manheim’s last episode.
“I had the most incredible experience being a part of the Law & Order Universe, and more importantly the Wolfpack,” Manheim wrote via Instagram at the time. “I’m so thankful for the three wonderful seasons that I spent with this wildly talented cast of merry pranksters. Mehcad Brooks, Reid Scott, Connie Shi, Anthony Anderson, Jeffrey Donovan, Hugh Dancy, Odelya Halevi, Tony Goldwyn and Sam Waterston. Not to mention the stellar guest stars that came in and out of the studio doors.”
Manheim portrayed Dixon for three seasons, beginning with the revival of the franchise in 2021 with season 21. (The series originally ran from 1990 to 2010 before making a comeback.)
“I thank Camryn for her three wonderful seasons helping us relaunch Law & Order,” creator Dick Wolf said in a statement on May 10. “She is a class act, and I wish her nothing but the best for her next chapter.”
With Manheim’s exit, the door was open for a new lieutenant, whom fans met on Thursday’s premiere. When Tierney’s Brady showed up to Shaw and Riley’s crime scene, she was met with resistance partially because they expected Dixon to be there.
As the investigation into the death of a Brooklyn prosecutor unfolded, Riley butted heads with his new boss, telling Brady it “just feels like you don’t trust us very much.”
Brady confessed that she didn’t trust him or Shaw because “I’ve never met you before.” She explained, “I can’t afford to take anything for granted with everybody breathing down my neck.”
Brady noted that she knows Riley was “close to Dixon” and it’s “hard to start all over again with someone new,” but she noted it’s not her problem. “I don’t need you to like me. I don’t need you to agree with me. I need you to listen to me,” Brady concluded.
Halevi, who plays ADA Samantha Moroun, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the premiere that Brady’s arrival will shake things up this season.
“Her character is a veteran detective. She pays attention to details, and she sees things that no one else does,” Halevi, 35, said of Brady. “She makes people take accountability, which is going to create a new and interesting dynamic in the precinct between Riley and Shaw. It’s gonna challenge them.”
Law & Order airs on NBC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET.
