'Law & Order: SVU' Season 19 Spoilers: Squad Deals With More Deadly Riots and Rallies
Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and her team are set to deal with more chaos and riots in the next season of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
New showrunner Michael Chernuchin recently revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that one of the storylines to look forward to in the new installment is about the recent unrest in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a group that included white supremacists was protesting the removal of the statue of Robert E. Lee and clashed with a crowd of counterprotesters. The tension and conflict spilled over to the next day when several people, including a woman named Heather Heyer, were allegedly hit by an angry protester and his car. The incident killed Heyer and also injured 14 more.
The EP said that while they want to show this kind of political issues in the series, they will not include their biases in the storytelling.
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"Because I'm not going to a choose a side. I won't choose a side. I'm going to present both political views and let the audience decide which one is right. My goal, and I told the writers on this on the first day of our writers' room, is at the end of every episode, I want half the audience to throw their shoes at the television and the other half to stand up and cheer," Chernuchin said.
Meanwhile, there will be huge changes in the team's dynamics when the series returns this September. Carisi (Peter Scanavino) is expected to play a more active role as a squad player. He and Assistant District Attorney Barba (Raul Esparza) will reportedly spend more time dealing with cases, fueling speculations that the younger may be thinking of following the other's footsteps as a lawyer. Carisi will also do his best to assist Benson and the others in the teased complications regarding the escalating violence against the Muslim community that will be featured in the premiere.
"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 19 is expected to air on Sept. 27, 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.
