Last week, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had cause to celebrate, being renewed for a landmark 28th season on NBC. It’s another vote of confidence in a series that has managed to surpass its own parent series, becoming a staple on the network still capable of drawing in fans to this day, despite a cast that has massively evolved since its inception in 1999. Now, though, it’s time for the members of the NYPD’s 16th precinct to get back in the ring — literally. Collider can exclusively share a new sneak peek at Season 27, Episode 18, “Gimmick,” which sends detectives Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and Griffin (Corey Cott) into the world of professional fighting.
In the footage, the two officers take in a violent match involving their target, an amateur fighter who goes by the name of “Razor.” At first, Griffin appears to be getting into it, but the sheer brutality and sickening thuds of every blow wipe the smile off his face. After Razor wins his fight, Rollins and Griffin head back to speak with him about a victim found dead in a hotel. When initially asked about Ian Larkin, he blows their questioning off by calling him a “crackhead who can’t be trusted,” though he quickly becomes defensive when the detectives reveal they know he threatened him, and then completely silent when told of Ian’s fate. He is not pleased when Griffin insinuates that the cuts on his hand came from a different kind of fight than what he does in the ring, though, and after some pushing over why he wanted Ian to keep quiet, he explodes. Rollins is able to get Razor in cuffs, and given his outburst, he hasn’t exactly made the best case for his innocence.
Whether Razor is their man or not, the fact that he had some secret he desperately wanted to keep under wraps means he’ll have an important role to play in the precinct’s latest case. The whole team will be involved throughout the operation to catch whoever is responsible and ultimately bring them to justice. Separate from Rollins and Griffin’s work, though, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) will be trying to convince another victim to come forward for the sake of his friend. Coming off a brief hiatus last week, it’s certainly shaping up to be a packed return for the long-running spin-off.
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Collider Exclusive · Taylor Sheridan Universe Quiz Which Taylor Sheridan Show Do You Belong In? Yellowstone · Landman · Tulsa King · Mayor of Kingstown
Four worlds. All of them brutal, complicated, and built on power, loyalty, and the price of survival. Taylor Sheridan doesn’t write heroes — he writes people who do what they have to do and live with the cost. Ten questions will reveal which one of his worlds you were made for.
🤠Yellowstone
🛢️Landman
👑Tulsa King
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⚖️Mayor of Kingstown
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01
Where does your power come from? In Sheridan’s world, everyone has leverage. The question is what kind.
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02
Who do you put first, no matter what? Loyalty in Sheridan’s universe is always absolute — and always costly.
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03
Someone crosses a line. How do you respond? Every Sheridan protagonist has a line. What matters is what happens after it’s crossed.
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04
Where do you feel most in your element? Sheridan’s worlds are as much about place as they are about people.
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05
How do you feel about operating in the grey? Nobody in a Sheridan show has clean hands. The question is how they carry the dirt.
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06
What are you actually fighting to hold onto? Every Sheridan character is fighting a war. The real question is what they’re defending.
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07
How do you lead? Authority in Sheridan’s world is never given — it’s established, maintained, and constantly tested.
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08
Someone new arrives and tries to change how things work. Your reaction? Every Sheridan show has an outsider disrupting an established order. Sometimes that outsider is you.
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09
What has your position cost you? Nobody gets to where these characters are without paying for it. The bill is always personal.
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10
When it’s over, what do you want people to say? Sheridan’s characters all know the ending is coming. The question is what they leave behind.
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Sheridan Has Spoken You Belong In…
The show that claimed the most of your answers is the world you were built for. If two tied, both are shown — you’re complicated enough to straddle two Sheridan universes.
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🤠 Yellowstone
🛢️ Landman
👑 Tulsa King
⚖️ Mayor of Kingstown
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You are a Dutton — or you might as well be. You understand that some things are worth protecting at any cost, and that the modern world’s indifference to history, to land, to legacy, is not something you’re willing to accept quietly. You lead from the front, you carry your family’s weight without complaint, and when someone threatens what’s yours, you don’t escalate — you finish it. You’re not cruel. But you are absolute. In Yellowstone’s world, that combination of ferocity and loyalty doesn’t make you a villain. It makes you the only thing standing between everything that matters and everyone who wants to take it.
You thrive in the chaos of high-stakes negotiation, where the money is enormous, the margins are thin, and the wrong word in the wrong room can cost everyone everything. You’re a fixer — the person called when a situation is already on fire and needs someone with the nerve to walk into it. West Texas oil country rewards exactly what you are: sharp, adaptable, unsentimental, and absolutely clear-eyed about what people want and what they’ll do to get it. You’re not naive enough to think this world is fair. You’re smart enough to be the one deciding who it’s fair to.
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You are a Dwight Manfredi — someone who has served their time, paid their dues, and arrived somewhere unexpected with nothing but their reputation and their wits. You adapt without losing yourself. You build loyalty through respect rather than fear, though you’re not above reminding people that the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Tulsa King is for people who are still standing when everyone assumed they’d be finished — who find, in an unfamiliar place, that they’re more capable than the world gave them credit for. You don’t need a throne. You build one, wherever you happen to land.
You carry the weight of a system that is broken by design, and you do it anyway — because someone has to, and because you’re the only one positioned to do it without the whole thing collapsing. Mike McLusky’s world is for people who are comfortable operating where there are no good options, only less catastrophic ones. You speak every language: law enforcement, criminal, political, human. That fluency makes you invaluable and it makes you a target. You’ve made your peace with both. Mayor of Kingstown belongs to people who understand that keeping the peace is not the same as being at peace — and who do the job regardless.
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The ‘Law & Order’ Franchise Has Experienced Highs and Lows of Late
SVU‘s renewal assures that the Law & Order brand will continue to be a part of NBC’s plans in the near future, with Ice-T, Peter Scanavino, Kevin Kane, and Aimé Donna Kelly all still starring with Hargitay, Cott, and Giddish. It’s now set to reach the 600-episode mark with Season 28, firmly within striking distance of Gunsmoke‘s long-held primetime drama record of 635. The news hasn’t been all positive for fans of the Dun Dun franchise, though. Alongside the news of SVU‘s continuation came word that Christopher Meloni‘s spin-off, Law & Order: Organized Crime, would be ending after five seasons. The mothership series also remains on the bubble after 25 seasons. Major changes could be coming to Dick Wolf‘s universe, but, at the very least, Benson’s team isn’t going anywhere.
Law & Order: SVU Season 27, Episode 18 premieres tomorrow, April 23, on NBC. Check out our exclusive sneak peek in the player above.
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