Spoilers ahead for the Season 24 premiere of Law & Order , called "Catch and Kill." Law & Order returned in the 2024 TV schedule with the murder of a Brooklyn prosecutor and Maroun struggling with the particulars of the case due to the similarities to what happened to her sister , but the biggest development that is bound to continue affecting the rest of Season 24 was the arrival of ER alum Maura Tierney as Lieutenant Jessica Brady to replace Camryn Manheim 's Lieutenant Kate Dixon . Manheim isn't the first Law & Order star to leave between the seasons , but fortunately, the show didn't wait long to give a definitive answer for why she was gone and Brady in her place.
Shaw and Riley found out about Brady replacing Dixon when Brady showed up at a crime scene, and Riley couldn't get through to their former lieutenant throughout the first half of the Season 24 premiere. Considering that Law & Order didn't immediately explain Anthony Anderson 's absence as Detective Kevin Bernard and was fairly vague in the explanation for Frank Cosgrove 's absence after actor Jeffrey Donovan 's departure, I wasn't really expecting a detailed explanation for why Dixon was MIA. So I was pleasantly surprised when the answer came about twenty minutes into "Catch and Kill.
" Walking with Shaw, Riley got a text from Dixon to explain what had happened. The text read: Patrick got a great job at a school in Miami. Mama's tagging along.
Didn't want to make a big to-do about it, tears and all that. Come vi.
