THE Law and Order franchise has existed for many years and has has incurred multiple spin-offs, which makes the potential for Law and Order practically infinite crossovers. The procedural format leaves a lot of room open for the shows' investigations to intertwineas well as for the characters to work together or fight. Each spin-off or related show has its own take on how best to show the process of catching criminals, and incorporating multiple perspectives is always engaging.
Law and Order premiered in 1990 and its basic premise was to show both the investigation of criminals by the police and how lawyers arrested them. Since then, crime shows have become increasingly popular, but Law and Order remains the quintessential example of the criminal process. As crime has become more sophisticated over the years and new types of crime have emerged, the franchise has kept up with the times and evolved to remain relevant across all shows in its universe.
15
“People vs. Richard Wheatley” / “The Christmas Episode”
SVU Season 23, Episode 9 – Organized Crime Season 2, Episode 9
The first season of Law and Order: Organized Crime saw Elliot Stabler come out of retirement after someone murdered his wife in a car explosion. He agrees to take a role in the organized crime unit and begins investigating their cases, while also investigating his wife's murder. This shocked Olivia Benson since Stabler stopped being her partner and left without saying a word before disappearing. After the two met and worked together again on the first season of Organized crimethis was his second crossing.
This was also a special crossover because Stabler needed Olivia more than ever since he finally tried his wife's killer for her death. To raise the stakes Law and Order crossing, SVUof former ADA Rafael Barba is back, but this time representing the defendant. The character development here is great, as it features the explosive confrontation where Olivia finally calls Stabler out for leaving without saying a word and tells Barba that she will never forgive him for impersonating Wheatley.
14
“Chicago Crossover” / “Nobody Touches Anything” / “They'll Have to Get Through Me”
SVU Season 16, Episode 7 – Chicago Fire Season 3, Episode 7 – Chicago PD Season 2, Episode 7
This three-way crossover was the first time all three shows (Image: Disclosure)Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, Chicago Fireand Chicago police) crossed with a long overarching plot. Previous crosses between the Law and Order and A Chicago worlds often present two cases with a common connection. However, here, the two law enforcement teams (and the fire department) work together to solve a child pornography case.
Lindsay asks Olivia Benson for help.
THE Chicago Fire The episode had a house fire where the team found child pornography and turned it over to the Chicago Police Department. This brought Detective Erin Lindsay from Chicago Police to take the lead on the case. However, she has a half-brother who lives in New York City and realizes there is a connection between this case and him, so Lindsay turns to Olivia Benson for help. Working together throughout the three episodes, the two police teams arrest the criminal.
13
“Bad Things” / “Shadowerk” / “All Pain is a Disease” / “With Many Names”
SVU Season 24, Episode 21 – Organized Crime Season 3, Episode 21 – SVU Season 24, Episode 22 – Organized Crime Season 3, Episode 22
This is a four episode crossover between SVU and Organized crimewith two episodes in each program. For this to be worthwhile, the case must be complicated, and the setup here baffles the detectives. A series of crimes seems almost identical, but The problem is that there is different DNA at each crime scene. However, the detectives realize that the similarities may prove that one person is responsible for all the crimes, but they use different people to carry them out.
Detectives Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler team up to investigate the crimes and find a connection to a revenge-for-hire scheme, while also connecting to a rape investigation (Benson's SVU team) and an unsolved murder (Benson's team). Stabler organized crime). This is also a unique case Law and Order crossover event, as it wasn't mid-season, but was the two-part finale of each of the shows, including the loss of some key cast members.
12
“Trick-Rolled At The Moulin” / “An Inferior Product”
SVU Season 22, Episode 13 – Organized Crime Season 1, Episode 5
Fans of Law and Order: SVU had been waiting a decade to finally see Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler reuniteand the first season of Organized crime presented the Law and Order crossover episodes that saw them working on a case together for the first time in years. Law and Order: SVU began with a suspicious death believed to be an overdose. However, as the team investigated the overdose, they began looking for a specific drug known as “Purple Magic”, which Richard Wheatley sells.
Wheatley is the main villain in the first two seasons of Organized crimeplayed by Dylan McDermott. He ran an online pharmaceutical company and the organized crime unit believed he was involved in illegal operations with the company. He was also suspected of killing Stabler's wife, Kathy. The drugs the police were investigating in this episode were all linked to Kathy's death, and this was the beginning of Stabler finally finding justice for his wife's death.
11
“For a Few More Leke” / “Fast Times @TheWheelHouse” / “The Good, the Bad and the Lovely”
Organized Crime Season 2 Episode 4 – SVU Season 23 Episode 5 – Organized Crime Season 2 Episode 5
In its 23rd and second seasons Law and Order: SVU and Law and Order: Organized Crime had two different crossover events. The second crossover had Benson and Stabler finally having their explosive confrontation over Elliot leaving her without saying a word. However, the first episode focused more on a current case that brought them together for a common cause. Elliot was undercover with the Albanian mafia and slept with the gang leader's wife to protect his identity. He was easily disguising himself.
It turns out that the woman Stabler slept with is involved in this sex trafficking ring.
This is related to a case Olivia is working on: she is trying to find an Albanian waitress named Rita Lasku. When one of the people she interviews tells her about a drug ring, she takes her to the organized crime unit to take it down. When it turns out that the woman Stabler slept with is involved in this sex trafficking ring, it begins to show Stabler that his decisions while undercover are not always a positive experience.
10
“Entitled”
SVU season 1, episode 15 – Law & Order season 10, episode 14
When the first season of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit premiered, it was inevitable that there would be a crossover with the original Law and Order. Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), one of the pillars of SVUpartners with detective Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach)a veteran of Law and Orderwhen she comes across an unsolved case that was once his. Both episodes were named “Entitled” for the respective shows, starting in SVU and concluding in Law and Order.
As one of the prototypes for the franchise's crossovers, “Entitled” effectively combined the casts of both shows and gave credibility to the SVU when he was in his childhood. The original case saw Lenny and his retired partner, Mike Logan, unable to solve it. Although they were unable to find the killers, Olivia, teaming up with Lenny, finally discovered who did it, although the jury refused to convict the culprit. The episode also had the bonus of seeing Captain Cragen return to the 27th precinct.
9
“Conventions” / “Comic Perversion”
Chicago PD season 1, episode 6 – SVU season 15, episode 15
Later, SVU would give credibility when a new series, Chicago Policecame onto the scene. In Season 1, Episode 6, “Conventions”, Chicago Police concludes an arc started in SVU season 15, episode 15, “Comic Perversion.” The story focuses on the cultural reaction to sexual assault, a topic that SVU often found. In this Chicago Police In the episode, a woman protests a comedian who makes jokes about sexual assault, but the comedian later sexually assaults her.
After his conviction, this led to a follow-up SVU. Detective Erin Lindsay approaches Detective Olivia Benson looking for information about another rapist. Detective Tutola then helps Rollins help Detective Voight and Antonio find a serial rapist. As a crossover, it doesn't tie the shows together very well, as the characters from DP spend just a few minutes on SVU at the end of “Comic Perversion”. However, as a story, the plots tie together well and serve as a strong start to DP as a series.
8
“Night” / “Day”
SVU season 6, episode 20 – Trial By Jury season 1, episode 11
One of the shortest-lived spin-offs was Trial by Juryprogram that changed its format and focused on the different cases presented by lawyers on opposite sides of a trial. In SVU Season 6, Episode 20, 'Night', the story begins with Benson and Stabler investigating a murder and meeting a lawyer played by the guest star Bradley Cooper. This leads to a serious problem as it revolves around the sexual assault of illegal immigrants who are too afraid to report the crimes due to the risk of deportation.
Angela Lansbury also starred in Trial by Jury, Season 1, episode 11, “Day”, where the plot ends with Lansbury's character trying to protect her son, who is accused of murder. While Trial by Jury Lasted only one season, this brief crossover was a highlight of the series. The biggest selling point here was the shocking attack on ADA Casey Novak and his removal from the case, forcing ADA Kibre to lead the prosecution and bring the culprits to justice.
7
“Design” / “Failure”
SVU season 7, episode 2 – Law & Order season 16, episode 2
After the initial success of crosses between Law and Order and SVUboth shows repeated this in the episodes “Design”, Season 7, Episode 2 of SVUand “Flaw”, season 16, episode 2 of Law and Order. In “Design”, the SVU team investigates an alleged victim who has other sinister intentionsbut the case goes cold. In “Flaw”, detectives find Benson's card with a victim and partner to find the link in both cases.
This is a strong crossover between SVU and Law and Order, as both episodes have a different focus on the case and are strong in their own right, outside of the crossover appeal. What really helps lift these episodes is that the criminal, April Troost, is someone who has gotten away with her crimes before, and now Olivia has the chance to arrest her. But when she discovers that April isn't working alone, the mystery grows even more.
6
“Nationwide Manhunt” / “The Song of Gregory Williams Yates”
SVU season 17, episode 14 – Chicago PD season 3, episode 14
When a repeat criminal appears in a process, it is always a great attraction for critics and the public. In SVU season 17, episode 14 “Nationwide Manhunt”, the criminal, Gregory Yates (Dallas Roberts) escapes from prisonand it's up to detectives to capture this notorious killer. During the hunt, they decide to resort to Chicago DP team to help in his search after Yates is in Chicago. This is equally important since Yates killed one of Chicago's members, so they have a vested interest in the case.
The teams from both shows work well together and repeat the success of previous crossovers throughout the two episodes. While they meet Yates at the end, his fate brings a shocking conclusion to the story. Voight and Benson have to work together, and since they both have a strong bond with Yates, this creates one of the most intense crossovers in history. Law and Order history.
5
“Baby, it's you”
Law & Order season 8, episode 6 – Homicide: Life On The Street season 6, episode 5
Homicide: life on the street lasted seven seasons with several crossovers between it and the original Ioh and request. Both episodes share the title “Baby, It's You,” and part of the crossover's broad appeal was that it was loosely based on the real-life case of JonBenét Ramsey, whose investigation caught the nation's attention. Teams follow the trail of the victim's fathera teenage model, and his belief that his father is the perpetrator.
As with real events, the episode had many twists and turns and gained a successful reputation in the crossover category. Unlike the real-life case, where Ramsey's parents were cleared of all charges, this one had some dark revelations that turned attention from the father to the mother as Detectives Briscoe and Curtis teamed up with Murder Detectives Falsone and Munch on the Baltimore investigation.
4
“We Call Her Jellybean” / “The Number of Mice” / “Daydream Believer”
Chicago Fire season 3, episode 21 – Chicago PD season 2, episode 20 – SVU season 16, episode 20
Although the story of Gregory Yates ends with “The Song of Gregory William Yates”, he is first introduced in the three-part crossover event between Chicago Fire, Chicago Policeand SVU. Olivia Benson is called on Chicago Fire episode to investigate an arson case parallel to an unsolved case in New York. This leads Benson to join the detectives in DP and then ends with all parties involved meeting Yates in New York.
Yates is sent to prison, but this victory is short-lived within the franchise, as he reappears shortly after that. This crossover also includes a tragic moment when Yates kills Chicago Police Nadia Decotis and District Attorney Rafael Barba head to court to bring Yates to justice and close Decostis' murder case. This remains notable as it brought both One Chicago show the world Law and Order and united the Dick Wolf franchises.
3
“Enchanted City” / “For God and Country”
Law & Order season 6, episode 13, Homicide: Life On The Street season 4, episode 12
The first crossing between Law and Order and Homicide: life on the street was in the double episodes “Charm City” and “For God and Country”, which mainly deal with a bombing in New York. In Law and Order, the The bombing is linked to another act of terror in Baltimore five years earlier. It was identified as a racially motivated act committed by a white supremacist. The story is tied up in Murder as the investigation into the previous attack can finally be investigated and closed.
This offered a fun crossover as it brought Detective John Munch into the Law and Order stratosphere, where he ended up moving when Murder ended his run so that his story could continue. The only thing that drags this episode down is that the detectives clash a little too much to add drama, where they could have done better if they worked more closely together from the start.
2
“Return of the Prodigal Son” / “What Happens in Puglia”
SVU season 22, episode 9 – Organized Crime season 1, episode 1
Detective Stabler left SVU in season 12 to Italy to be with his wife and family. When Christopher Meloni was ready to return to Law and Orderhe re-entered the franchise. His comeback begins with the murder of his wife and coincides with the premiere of the spin-off Law and Order: Organized Crime. Stabler returns to solve his wife's case and returns to law enforcement to stop organized crime syndicates.
This was an emotional story for both characters from SVUand Stabler goes through a lot during the episodes. Seeing him return to the franchise as part of the new series was gratifying, but how he got there was tragic. This was very important Law and Order crossover since finally reuniting Sabler and Benson after the former left without saying goodbye a decade earlier. Although they only resolved their differences later, this was a perfect first step.
1
“Give me shelter”
Law & Order season 22, episode 1 – Organized Crime season 3, episode 1 – SVU season 24, episode 1
Another three-way intersection between the original Law and Order, Law and Order: Organized Crimeand Law and Order: Special Victims Unit“Gimme Shelter,” was an epic undertaking for the franchise. Detective Cosgrove (Jeffery Donovan) begins the investigation into the death of a young woman in a shooting, and Detective Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) of Organized crime joins him.
When the pair decide there's more to crime than murder, Benson and Stabler are added to the mix, and the three teams end up destroying an international criminal network. Soon, Stabler and Benson join the case when it turns out it's more than just a homicide, and it takes all three units to bring in the suspects. Finally, McCoy and Price have to work together to find justice, and the complex case makes Este Law and Order crossing event that requires all units to work together.