What Captain Curry's Arrival Really Means for the Squad on 'SVU'
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There's a new female captain on the squad on Law & Order: SVU now. Captain Renee Curry (Aimé Donna Kelly), who was previously with the Internal Affairs Bureau with the New York City Police Department, has officially transferred to the Special Victims Unit as of this week's episode, titled "Zone Rouge."
Curry and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) have a complicated history, of course. Curry previously investigated Benson over her handling of the Jayvon Brown case in Season 22's "Guardians and Gladiators" and has interviewed her on other matters as well, including the recent and too-close-to-home case in "Duty to Report." This time, though, Capt. Curry's joining the fold as an equal, and it sounds like she'll be bringing some much-needed female energy to the force.
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"Curry really is looking to make a difference in the world. Yes, in IAB you do that, but with SVU, you're really affecting everyday civilian lives, and I think Curry is really, really looking for that," actress Aimé Donna Kelly told Parade of Capt. Curry's decision to change teams. "I think she's also looking to be part of a team because in IAB, it's so solo. Everything that you do is kind of—I state in the previous episode, 'I'm used to people hating me'—so I think Curry is ready for a friend, and she's ready to work with people who have the same goals in mind."
Curry isn't the only one who needs some new camaraderie, either; Benson also got the chance to open up to Curry at a time when her focus and feelings have been deeply affected by the disappearance of Maddie Flynn.
"Just as much as Curry needs a friend, I think Benson also wants another woman to be able to talk to and bounce ideas off of. These are two strong, smart, capable women who are in a unit that is very close to our hearts and difficult cases, things that are not easy to deal with," Kelly said. "There's a little bit of that mentor-mentee relationship happening, even though we're in the same category … It's really cool to see women supporting women and getting along and wanting to do good and focusing on the work."
Not everyone will welcome Curry into the crew with open arms, though. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (Ice-T) in particular is "going to check everybody that comes through that door," Kelly teased. However, Capt. Curry will be making some changes to her own approach to law enforcement that might just win the whole team's trust.
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"It's gonna be a delicate balance. It was really fun in the last episode, that bar scene, Benson basically says, 'It's time to break the rules,' and I don't say, 'Oh, my gosh, how dare you!' I'm like, 'Okay, yeah, let's do things your way. Let's figure out how that's gonna work with my personality.' And I think that's a really fun, push and pull of like, 'Where's the new line?'" Kelly explained. "When you're dealing with cases that SVU deals with, your heart really goes out to these people who are in pain. And I think there's that balance between yes, we want to do things by the book, but we also want to make sure that people get the justice that they deserve. And Curry's really, really excited about that. And she's learning that delicate balance, of course, from Benson. Benson has walked that line every single time that we've seen her, and that's just really exciting. I think Curry really looks up to Benson specifically because of that."
For Kelly, who has previously guest-starred on network procedurals like Blue Bloods and Chicago Med, the experience of seeing her character take a more central role in the show means she also gets to spend more time with the cast and crew, and she credits Law & Order: SVU for being as much of a unit off-screen as the characters are in the show.
"SVU feels so much like an ensemble… I compare it to the theatre company all the time because these folks have worked together for so long, and there's so much love between the cast and the crew and just everyone it really feels like home," she said. "It feels like you're walking into a group that is just really welcoming and such high-caliber performers. It's incredible. I really can't compare it to anything else that I've ever done in my career. It's the dream, it truly is."
Law & Order: SVU airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.
