What Happened to Camryn Manheim’s Kate Dixon on Law & Order?
Detectives Riley and Shaw were shocked when they heard the news about their boss at the 27th Precinct, Lt. Kate Dixon, but eventually learned what happened.
Season 24 of Law & Order kicked off with at least one bombshell in Thursday's premiere.
Detectives Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) and Vincent Riley (Reid Scott) were shocked to learn in the episode, titled "Catch and Kill," that Lieutenant Kate Dixon, played by Camryn Manheim, was no longer their boss at the NYPD's 27th Precinct.
The investigators were forced to carry on with an unsettling murder investigation with their blunt new boss, Lieutenant Jessica Brady (Maura Tierney), until Dixon finally sent word about why she’d suddenly disappeared.
Brady broke the news to Shaw and Riley while they were working at a brutal murder crime scene, when she came in, giving orders. When the detectives informed her it was an active crime scene, she casually replied: "I'm your new lieutenant, Jessica Brady, nice to meet you."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, hold on," Shaw shot back. "What happened to DIxon?"
Brady admitted she didn't know and just pressed the flustered investigators for details about the crime.
Shaw and Riley eventually discovered that Dixon chose to walk away from the job for an unexpected and heartwarming reason.
Why did Lt. Kate Dixon leave her job on Law & Order?
Lt. Dixon left the gritty New York City streets for the sunny beaches of Florida after her adult son, Patrick, got an attractive job offer.
“Patrick got a great job at a school in Miami. Mom is tagging along. Didn’t want to make a big to-do about it — tears and all that. Come visit,” she wrote in a text message to Riley about halfway through Law & Order's Season 24 premiere.
Shaw was on board with her offer, telling Riley, “I’ll take her up on that.”
But Riley, who had a close bond with Dixon, wasn’t ready to let her off the hook just yet since she'd left without saying a word to them.
“Talk about the old Irish goodbye though, right?,” he said. “I’ll take that up with her later, but I’m glad she’s alright.”
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It's unlikely that the unexpected departure will come between Riley and Dixon for long.
Before joining the 27th Precinct in Season 23, Riley served out a six-month suspension for punching a police captain while defending her honor.
The captain, whom Dixon later described as a “sexist son of a bitch,” called her “something he shouldn’t have,” and Riley walked in and “knocked his ass out” with one punch.
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The bold move came at a time when Riley’s life was falling apart. His wife took the kids and walked out on him at the same time that he was trying to care for his dying father. So, he'd been drinking on the job.
Although Dixon admitted that Riley’s behavior was “reckless," the fact that he stood up for her endeared him to her, and she fought hard to get him on her squad so he could get a second chance after serving out the suspension.
Who is Lt. Kate Dixon’s son Patrick on Law & Order?
Fans will remember Dixon’s son Patrick from the pivotal role he played in an emotional Season 23 episode.
Patrick, portrayed by Only Murders in the Building’s James Caverly, worked as a teacher at a school for the deaf in New York and came to the precinct after the father of one of his students was accused of killing a wealthy condominium developer.
Detectives would learn the father, Ryan Marley, was a security guard at a building under construction and was squatting in an unused apartment in the building with his daughter after his wife died from cancer and the medical bills wiped them out financially.
When the developer unexpectedly walked into the apartment in the middle of the night, Marley shot the man, believing he was an intruder.
Despite Patrick and Dixon’s best efforts to help the family, Marley was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder.
The heart wrenching story gave fans an inside look at the close bond that Dixon — who put her ASL skills to work in the episode — shared with her son.
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It seems as if the mother and son have started a new adventure together.
To find out more about how Riley and Shaw will adjust to their new boss, watch Law & Order on Thursdays at 8/7c p.m. on NBC or stream episodes the next day on Peacock.
