‘It’s Going to Come Full Circle’

The good news: We already know there’s going to be a Law & Order: SVU Season 26, which is good after the teases we’ve gotten about this spring’s finale from star Peter Scanavino.

“You’re definitely going to see some familiar faces from this season, and it’s going to come full circle for a lot of characters,” he tells TV Insider. As for whether it ends on a cliffhanger, “yes and no, I’m not going to say any more about it.”

Speaking specifically about Carisi in the last episode of the season, the case is one “he’s super invested in,” according to Scanavino. Furthermore, “there is definitely a character that has a nice emotional journey in that episode and it might be unexpected for some viewers.”

Looking ahead to next season, the actor wants to see how work affects Carisi at home and the tensions that result. “I’d like to see him be possibly conflicted about a case, if he’s doing the right thing, if he’s not,” he adds. “I’d like to explore all the murky grayness of these areas.”

When Scanavino first joined SVU in Season 16 as Carisi (he guest starred in Season 14 in a different role), his character was a detective. But he then moved over to the other side of the cases, becoming the show’s ADA in Season 21. Now, in Season 25, “he’s more seasoned, he’s more confident, he’s more comfortable in the courtroom, he’s more at home there now,” says the actor. “He’s got his footing. I’m hoping going forward we get to showcase more of that and he just gets better and better as opposed to when he was kind of trying to find his footing in the first couple seasons. Now we’re going into the fourth season, fifth season. I hope you can see him really fulfill his full potential as I see it, be more confident in his decisions, have more independence.”

So at this point is Carisi more comfortable as a lawyer than he ever was as a detective? Scanavino isn’t sure. “I think a lot of things coincided with him just being more confident as a person,” he explains. “And a lot of that was with Rollins [Kelli Giddish, returning this season] and the kids and all of that. He is just more grounded, I think, right now than he ever was as a detective. But I don’t think that makes him more comfortable per se.”

What do you want to see happen on SVU before the season ends? Let us know in the comments section, below.

Law & Order: SVU, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC