LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Jamie Gray Hyder Teases Kat’s Quest for Justice in the Season 21 Finale

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT’s historic 21st season comes to an—early—end with the Thursday, April 23 hour, “The Things We Have to Lose.”

The episode, though not intentionally penned to be a finale, works as a spiritual sequel to a number of season 21 episodes, as the squad has to contend with a number of past cases that once again need their attention.

For Kat (Jamie Gray Hyder), she reunites with Lakira (Bea Cordelia)—from “At Midnight in Manhattan”—and discovers they have another chance to put Paul Davies (Ben Davis) behind bars.

“In the finale, she is given another opportunity to try again at a case that she previously failed on and that was really hard for her,” Hyder admits. “Not only personally, but I think to watch somebody else that she cares about make the choices that they did and not have any control over it. This final episode gives Kat a little bit of feeling of control back, and really continues to highlight her ultimate goal, which is justice for those who deserve it and are under-serviced. She works really hard in this particular episode, to make sure that justice is in fact carried out.”

The chance for redemption, after Lakira opted to not press charges against her rapist, comes at a pivotal point for Kat. The case came relatively early into her time with the unit; now, she’s officially a member, and has had her share of ups and downs with the squad.

“I think Kat has calmed down a little bit and tried to work a little bit more within the confines of her team,” Hyder says. “But I do think that this particular case is triggering for her and you do see a little bit of that emotional side in her come up. While I do think that she’s learned her lesson when it comes to  stepping out of bounds, I think you also see that, no matter what, she’s going to do what’s necessary to get justice for those that she cares about.”

The drama has been steadily introducing more facets to Kat’s character in Hyder’s first year with the show, and the previous episode revealed another aspect of her life to the audience: Kat is bisexual.

“People have been itching to learn a little bit more about her personally,” Hyder notes. “The boxing episode was an example of peeling off a layer of the onion. When it came to her personal life and her sexual orientation, this was something that had been sort of dancing around for a little while now. Initially, [the writers and I] spoke about it a few months ago. The writers said [the last episode] would be the best time to reveal a little bit more about her.”

“I think that was the way that they intended to reveal it: Here’s another aspect about Kat that you might not already know,” she continues. “And it wasn’t some huge reveal or some big intense conversation. The way they decided to sort of casually drop it into conversation is important. It reminds you that this is just one aspect of a nuanced human being. And it doesn’t need to be the defining factor, and it’s not something that should be swept under the rug, but that it simply is one aspect of a multifaceted human. That’s the way that they presented it, both in the penultimate episode and then we’ll explore a little further in the finale.”

The series has had a minimal number of LGBTQ+ characters over its 21-season—and counting—run (with B.D. Wong’s George Huang being the most prominent before this), and Hyder has been touched by the immediate reaction to Kat’s reveal.

“I think people are really excited,” she says. “I think that there’s a lot of fans who felt underrepresented by the show in the lack of LGBTQ characters in the lead positions. So I think that this felt like a really big win for a lot of our fans and I am extremely honored to be the one to check that box for them. I do not take the responsibility lightly.”