LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Juliana Aidén Martinez Previews Detective Kate Silva’s Season 26 Introduction

September 24, 2024 by Marisa Roffman

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT — “Fractured” Episode 26001 — Pictured: (l-r) Octavio Pisano as Det. Joe Velasco, Ice T as Sgt. Odafin “Fin” Tutuola, Juliana Aidén Martinez as Det. Kate Silva, Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson, Peter Scanavino as A.D.A Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr., Kevin Kane as Det. Terry Bruno — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

When LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT’s 26th season kicks off on Thursday, October 3 (at 9/8c), Manhattan’s SVU team has a new member: Detective Kate Silva (new series regular Juliana Aidén Martinez), who has been with the squad for a few weeks.

Though viewers won’t see it, Martinez says she imagines Kate’s first day was filled with normal work-related anxieties: “‘Where can I go to get some food? Is this the right way to get to the squad room?’” she speculates to Give Me My Remote with a laugh. “I think it’s very much just learning your surroundings, probably being eager because it’s your first day and you want to do a great job…Or I can imagine her kind of whispering to Bruno like, ‘Hey, is this the right way to use the restroom?’”

Things don’t stay light for long, though. In the season opener, “Fractured,” the unit is called to a brutal crime scene after a group of law students are attacked.

Though Kate is no stranger to police work, working in SVU takes a specific kind of skill and mindset. “What we know about Kate is she’s already been a detective for the Homicide Bureau, and she’s been doing basically the night shift—you’ll get some cases, you find out all the statistics and information you need to know so hopefully by the time the morning detective comes in, you can give [them] enough information to start doing canvassing or interviewing, etc.,” Martinez shares. “Kate has been a cop before…so she’s coming in [to this unit] already with that tenacity and that ability to really observe and be incredibly perceptive, to be very intelligent, [in] the way that she can read people.”

“[But] you’re seeing the transition of a woman who’s now hearing these cases that are happening to other women,” she continues. “You see why Kate is putting herself in a position of having moved from Homicide to voluntarily going to SVU. Why that’s extremely important for her. And it’s definitely a transition. It’s a different way of getting justice. It’s different from Homicide, where you see a body, to SVU, where you’re dealing with someone who is actively dealing with some kind of traumatic event that happened to them and finding justice for them in real-time. And so those are some really cool, different, dynamics that you see.”

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 05: Ice T, Mariska Hargitay, Octavio Pisano, Juliana Aidén Martinez and Kevin Kane are seen filming on location for “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” in Midtown, Manhattan on August 05, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Kate also has to contend with her father’s legacy in the force: He’s been a cop for decades, including a decade as a deputy commissioner.

“I definitely think that Kate just wants to really be seen as a person in her own right,” Martinez acknowledges. “And a lot of that, I think, is so relatable, especially as a woman—you know you have to sometimes work harder to be taken seriously or to rise the ranks. You’re dealing with people’s narratives, you’re dealing with people’s prejudices or biases, where Kate’s just, ‘I want to be seen in my full, whole beingness: My opinions, my thoughts, my intelligence, what I have to offer. I want to be seen as me.’ And I think that that’s very relatable for a lot of women who also just want to be seen as well.”

But given the history she has with the department, what is Kate’s take on her new boss, Captain Benson (Mariska Hargitay)?

“I think that Kate has probably heard about what other cops have done, what other detectives have done—maybe even like Bruno’s [lawsuit against the NYPD],” Martinez says, noting Kate’s likely heard intel from her father over the years. “You have an idea. But I think that Kate…probably [knows of the] reputation that has preceded Captain Benson because of the amount of things she’s accomplished in her position. From even [her time as] a detective to now being a captain, she has gone through so many tribulations and has gone through such powerful transformations throughout this journey on SVU. I’m sure Kate has heard about how formidable this woman is, but then you never know until you meet someone [how they’ll be]. And you see on the show how that dynamic and that relationship gets to play out.”

Kate could be an unexpected ally for the captain, too. “I think Kate understands, especially because of the way she grew up with her father, the pressures that people have to [be under] when they’re in positions of authority,” Martinez says. “Kate has tremendous respect for where Captain Benson is in her position, and what she’s had to endure to get there. There’s a lot that she can learn from her—and then [Kate] has her own mission that she wants to accomplish.”

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, Season Premiere, Thursday, October 3, 9/8c, NBC

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LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Juliana Aidén Martinez Previews Detective Kate Silva’s Season 26 Introduction

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