Deputy Chief Christian Garland (Demore Barnes) comes to the squad room to tell Benson and Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) that Brown was suing the NYPD in a wrongful arrest lawsuit and that they both were named personally.

Meanwhile, with the SVU squad in pending litigation, it causes ADA Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino) problems with getting justice for the victim who was actually assaulted in the park.

"Guardians and Gladiators" was written by Brendan Feeney, Denis Hamill, Monet Hurst-Mendoza (teleplay) as well as executive producers Julie Martin and Warren Leight (story), and directed by Norberto Barba.

[2] Show runner Warren Leight told TVLine, "In our season premiere, our cops arrive at a crime in Central Park where a Black man has already been arrested.

Throughout the episode, and the season, we’ll be looking at how explicit and implicit bias shape the criminal justice system, and also at how public scrutiny and anger, and internal conflicts, affect our squad.

All law enforcement actions — from arresting a black suspect on the word of a Central Park 'Karen,' to bringing a case before a distrusting Grand Jury, even to Fin's being the target of a lawsuit from the shooting at the end of last season — are now viewed through a different prism.

"[4] In the midst of unrest and the pandemic, Leight also told Forbes that the SVU cast and crew were just glad to be back to work, "We were sad to end our season early, and sadder still to be off the air so long.

The episodes this fall, shot just weeks before airing, capture this moment in time with all the loss, hope, anxiety and drama that have defined 2020.”[4] Ice-T told TMZ Live "You're going to see Mariska['s character] deal with the challenge of 'is she racist?'

"It’s clear that SVU’s writers and producers take their mandate seriously this season—and for the most part, “Guardians and Gladiators” is a fascinating look at how these shows might slowly re-imagine their roles.

We’ve known some of these characters for decades, and for all that time they have, more or less, been treated as heroes—their actions justified, their mistakes minimized, their misjudgments forgiven after generally gentle scrutiny."

"[7] Neetha K. at Meaww commented, "There are a lot of eyes on crime procedurals these days and of the ones that have aired, 'Law & Order' has taken a more nuanced -- and rightful -- approach in addressing the issue.

"Considering the location, and the fact that Law & Order: SVU is filmed in New York City, some may have assumed that the show would go the extra mile to use proper precautions.