'SVU' Veteran Dean Winters to Return in Arc Later This Season

The second half of Law & Order: SVU will include a familiar face stopping by the Special Victims Unit. Dean Winters' character, Brian Cassidy, is coming back again.

SVU showrunner Michael Chernuchin revealed in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter that Cassidy is coming back for a new arc. Chernuchin didn't give any more details on Winters' return.

Chernuchin, who is in the middle of his first season as SVU showrunner, brought Winters back earlier this season for a pair of episodes. He was seen in the season 19 premiere, "Gone Fishin,' " and the second episode, "Mood."

Winters was one of SVU's original stars, and was paired with Munch (Richard Belzer) in the first season. After leaving 13 episodes in, he returned to the show in Season 13 and made more regular appearances in seasons 14 and 15.

In "Gone Fishin,' " Cassidy was the one to tell Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) that she was under investigation for child abuse. Cassidy is now working in the district attorney's office.

"It's not going to be romantic," Chernuchin said of Cassidy's return in a THR interview in September. "They're going to go mano a mano, so to speak, in episode two. She's going to bring the hammer down on him."

When Winters isn't in SVU, he's best known for appearing as "Mayhem" in the All State commercials. He's been doing that since 2010, and stars in a series of new commercials for the insurer. The actor also recently starred in John Wick and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

New episodes of SVU air on NBC at 9 p.m. ET.

Photo credit: Michele Short / NBC