Jason Butler Harner

Series Pilot. Surviving the fallout from a meltdown, ACN 'News Night' anchor Will McAvoy returns to his job and finds that his executive producer and most of his entire staff are leaving his show. Will learns he's been assigned a new EP: MacKenzie McHale, a former girlfriend. Will and his overhauled staff face an immediate challenge when breaking news comes over the wire.

Louise and Hugh Murdoch, both well-respected professors at Stuyvesant College, are found shot to death in their apartment. The murder weapon, a Beretta 9 mm, is recovered in a nearby trashcan. Detectives Briscoe (Jerry Orbach) and Green (Jesse L. Martin) begin their investigation at the unfortunate couple's offices. Hugh Murdoch was a biomedical researcher who was involved in a controversial type of stem cell research. Initially they think some pro-life groups might have been behind it, but they realize that's not the case.

When all the passengers on a plane die, FBI agent Olivia Dunham investigates the events and her partner almost dies. A desperate Olivia looks for help from Dr. Walter Bishop who has been institutionalized. Olivia, Dr. Bishop and his son Peter begin to discover what really happened on Flight 627 and begin to uncover a larger truth.

Detectives Stabler and Fin investigate when two high school kids, Connor and Janey, disappear from a field trip to a museum. They later discover Connor was attempting a fake kidnapping plot, and Janey has gone off with the family's much older driver. In this episode, Stabler meets his new partner NYPD Warrants Officer Dani Beck (guest star Connie Nielsen who begins a 6 episode arc) Betty Buckley returns as guest star attorney Colette Walsh. Mariska Hargitay, Dann Florek, Richard Belzer, Diane Neal, B.D. Wong, and Tamara Tunie also star.

The winter premiere picks up right where the finale left off, this time from Olivia's point of view. Exactly what happened when Jake went to the bedroom? Who took Olivia and where did she go?