‘Law & Order’ Season 26, Episode 2 Recap: What Happened To Det. Vincent Riley In Reid Scott’s Final Episode?

SPOILER ALERT: This post contains details on Law & Order Season 26, Episode 2, which aired on NBC on Thursday, October 15.

Earlier this year, Deadline reported that Reid Scott, who plays Senior Detective Vincent Riley, was leaving the NBC procedural.

Scott’s exit finally aired in the second episode of Season 26 titled “Into the Mystic.”

The episode opens with Riley sitting at his work desk, and something prompts him to look for Ray Biller. When he arrives at Ray’s apartment, the person who answers the door says Ray isn’t there. Riley orders the guy to call Ray to find out where he is.

Moments later, Riley calls Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) and tells him, “Need to talk to you right away. Call me back.”

Riley then calls Theo Walker (David Ajala) and tells him he’s headed to a bar as “something is cooking.” After heading to the bar, Riley gets a text from Walker saying he’s on his way.

As Riley approaches the bar, he notices Ray exiting the establishment. Riley follows Ray, who tells him he needs to talk. However, when he turns around, he shoots Riley twice in the chest and runs off.

Walker arrives at the scene and notices a man running away with a gun in hand. However, by the bar, there’s a lot of commotion as Riley bleeds from the gunshot wounds.

Walker calls for help, applies pressure, and yells, “Vince, stay with me, come on!”

Lieutenant Jessica Brady (Maura Tierney) arrives at the hospital, and Walker fills her in on what happened, leaving her shocked and without words.

At the hospital, the doctor tells Walker they couldn’t save Riley, leaving all his colleagues in despair.

Robert Calvino, played by James Badge Dale, is introduced to help investigate Riley’s death.

Riley’s wife shows up at the police station and tells them that he had been withdrawing “lots of cash” recently. Although Riley’s wife didn’t know what the money was for, she did note that he was a drinker.

Jessica Brady and Robert Calvino visit a woman who Riley had been arguing with hours earlier on the day that he died. The pregnant woman tells officers that Riley was giving her cash as he “felt guilty” for killing her husband years before.

Brady and Calvino find out Riley was at Ray Biller’s apartment and talk to his friend, who corroborates what Riley was doing there the night he was killed. When they get back to the office, Nolan tells them that Ray Biller’s brother, Wayne, whom he found for murder, was killed in prison.

The police find Ray Biller, who was attending his brother’s Wayne funeral, and arrest him as the prime suspect in Riley’s death.

Actor Ryan Eggold made an appearance reprising his role as Matt Riley, the troubled brother of Detective Vincent Riley, showing up in court and wanting justice for his brother’s death.

The prosecution runs into a problem when Ray Biller’s defense argues that they can’t prove he was the one who killed Riley, as they didn’t recover a weapon.

DA Nicholas Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) is determined to put Walker on the stand, but Nolan pushes back as he doesn’t believe Walker actually saw Ray Biller as the man who killed Riley.

On the day of the verdict, Ray Biller was found guilty on the charge of first-degree murder.

Although it was a victory for the prosecution, doubt remains over whether Walker told the truth, and Nolan remains skeptical about whether they did the right thing.

In July, Deadline first reported that Reid Scott was leaving Law & Order, after joining in Season 23. He reportedly decided to exit the NBC procedural due to the strain of the cross-country commute to New York City, where the series is filmed.