Law & Order is going to be starting its new season a bit differently than it has in the past when one of the cast members is exiting: We’ll see it play out onscreen. In the past, stars have departed between seasons, with a couple of lines of dialogue explaining what happened to their characters. But Reid Scott, who plays Det. Vincent Riley, is leaving after three seasons, and his farewell will play out onscreen, in the October 15 episode (the second of the season).
It’s a “very personal” Riley-centric episode, executive producer Rick Eid tells TV Insider. “I think it’ll be really emotional and powerful. And the approach was we wanted to give him a memorable exit. He’s a great character. And honestly, I’d say interestingly enough, the genesis for the idea may have come from Reid himself.”
Riley’s troubled brother Matt (Ryan Eggold), still in a coma after last season’s stabbing, is back, too.
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“[Matt] is a complicated character and he’s had a complicated relationship with his brother, but I think, as we started seeing the last time we saw him, there’s real love there, and it’s probably mostly unspoken, but there’s a powerful bond between the two of them, and we’ll see that in this episode,” the EP teases.
“Complicated” is certainly the right word to use for the brothers’ relationship, given that Eggold’s first episode ended with Riley arresting Matt. In his second, he got out of prison and was stabbed because he was going to testify for his brother’s case. He still did, from the hospital bed, and made sure to express how proud he was of Vince.
“I don’t know that we had a master plan on it, but I think I just like the idea of two brothers that live totally opposite lives and who view the world in totally opposite ways yet still connect and love each other,” Eid says of that relationship. “But they have a hard time getting it right. But underneath all the conflict and issues and resentments is a strong brotherly love.”
How do you hope Law & Order writes out Reid Scott’s Riley and brings back Ryan Eggold’s Matt? Let us know in the comments section below.
Law & Order, Season 26 Premiere, Thursday, October 8, 10/9c, NBC