SVU's Mariska Hargitay Will Appear in Law & Order Revival

05/13/2022 11:24 pm EDT

NBC couldn't be more thrilled with its Law & Order universe after a successful revival of its flagship Law & Order series, and now a major SVU star is going to jump over for the show's season 1 finale. That would be Captain Olivia Benson, aka Mariska Hargitay, which was revealed by Law & Order showrunner Rick Eid on Today. Eid said "In the finale, Olivia Benson appears, which is exciting. Benson crosses with Detectives Cosgrove and Bernard; they need to talk to her." Eid said that the season finale will revolve around an off-duty price officer being shot, and the officer was a friend of Cosgrove, which will set off the long-simmering tension between the police department and the district attorney's office. 

Eid says that there won't be "some big cliffhanger" to that episode, adding that "It's more of an emotional finale." As for why Benson didn't show up before now, especially after the revival's first episode that revolved around a very Special Victims Unit style case. "There was no specific reason (for her not to be in that episode)," Eid said, "other than that we were building sets and writing scripts and doing other things. There definitely was a Special Victims backstory to it, but at the end of the day it was still a homicide. There just wasn't a compelling legal or evidentiary reason."

We can't wait to see Benson mixing it up with the new and returning Law & Order cast, and hopefully, we'll get more details on the episode soon. As for the revival, Eid also touched on the challenges of finding a balance between the original show's look and format and today's preferred style and format.

"The show is so beloved and iconic that if you're going to bring it back you'd better try hard to live up to its standards," he says. "Things have changed and people have gotten used to a different, glossier look (to TV). We want you to feel like you're in (the room), but also make it pleasurable to watch," Eid said.

Are you looking forward to the Law & Order finale? Let us know in the comments and as always you can talk all things Law & Order with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!

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