Law & Order: SVU season 26 premiered on NBC on October 3, 2024. Since then, the latest edition of the popular police crime drama series has been having a weekly run on the network.However, the eighth and last episode of season 26 was released on November 21, 2024, and following it, no new episode has been released since. The next episode of Law & Order: SVU season 26 is scheduled to be released on January 16, 2025.The latest episode of the series ended on a suspenseful note, as Captain Olivia Benson fought intensely to save Carisi from a dangerous hostage situation, involving Amanda Rollins as backup. Read on to learn more about the upcoming episode.Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Law & Order: SVU season 26. Reader discretion is advised.Read More: Who is Kate Silva in Law & Order: SVU season 26? Everything you need to knowLaw & Order: SVU season 26: Next episode release date and time View this post on Instagram Instagram PostThe series will be back next year, on January 16, 2025. New episodes drop at 9 p.m. ET. For general convenience, the following table lists the release date and time of episode 9 alongside the corresponding time zones:Time zoneDateTimePacific TimeThursday, January 16, 20256 PMCentral TimeThursday, January 16, 20258 PMEastern TimeThursday, January 16, 20259 PMBritish Summer TimeFriday, January 17, 20252 AMIndian Standard TimeFriday, January 17, 20256:30 AMCentral European Summer TimeFriday, January 17, 20253 AMAustralian Central TimeFriday, January 17, 202510:30 AMRead More: The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 soundtrack: The definitive guide to all songs in the third installmentWhy the hiatus between episodes 8 and 9?As per a report published by NBC on November 21, 2024, Law & Order: SVU season 26 is on a holiday hiatus following episode 8, which was its fall finale. Similarly, other popular NBC shows like the three series of the One Chicago Universe will return next year.Read More: Chicago P.D. season 12 episode 9: Release date and time, where to watch, and moreLaw & Order: SVU season 26: Streaming options and cast View this post on Instagram Instagram PostNew episodes of the series are available to watch only on NBC. However, they become available on Peacock, the network’s streaming platform, one day after their release.The cast of season 26 includes:Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia BensonIce-T as Sergeant Odafin "Fin" TutuolaPeter Scanavino as Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr.Octavio Pisano as Junior Detective Joe VelascoKevin Kane as Detective Terry BrunoJuliana Aidén Martinez as Junior Detective Kate SilvaRyan Buggle as Noah Porter-BensonAimé Donna Kelly as Captain Renee CurryEdie Salas Miller as Officer Tiffany GómezCharlotte Cabell as Jesse RollinsBrett Cullen as Judge Leonard AndrewsJessica Tuck as Lillian AndrewsJohanna Braddy as Maggie AndrewsMark Moses as Defense Attorney Jan GreenRead More: Why are there rumors about Sharon Goodwin leaving Chicago Med? ExplainedWhat happened in the last episode of Law & Order: SVU season 26? View this post on Instagram Instagram PostToward the beginning of the latest episode, titled Cornered, Carisi walks into a local deli to get some flowers for his paralegal whose birthday was on that day. However, as luck would have it, a robbery was ongoing at the store right then.Carisi became a hostage to Boyd and Deonte. Olivia, seeing that Carisi was late at work, reached outside the deli in search of him and figured out the scenario. She immediately phoned Amanda and let her know about the same.Meanwhile, Deonte started getting more and more aggressive, extracting money from the hostages and even s*xually assaulting a woman. When he figured out that Carisi had been trying to communicate with the police, he became more violent than ever.Deonte negotiated for a free passage out of the store. However, Carisi and he got into a fight, and Boyd helped the former by shooting Deonte down. Carisi cornered Boyd nevertheless, arguing that he too was responsible for what the victims had to undergo.As the episode approached its end, it became clear that Carisi was traumatized by the incident. Olivia and Amanda remarked that he was not doing okay.Read More: Chicago Fire season 13: Full cast list exploredAll episodes of Law & Order: SVU are available to stream on Peacock.