'Law & Order: SVU': Annabella Sciorra Set to Reprise 'Criminal Intent' Role

Christopher Meloni is not the only former Law & Order star making a comeback during this season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Annabella Sciorra, who appeared in one season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, will appear in a special episode expected to air in February. Sciorra will play Det. Carolyn Barek for the first time since 2006.

Sciorra's Barek is now a lieutenant in the Bronx Special Victims Unit and will join Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the Manhattan SVU team to hunt down a serial rapist whose victims live in both New York boroughs, reports TVLine. The episode is expected to air in February. New episodes of the series air Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Sciorra only appeared in one season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and was paired with Chris Noth's Detective Mike Logan. She left at the end of Season 5, with a later episode hinting that she clashed with Logan. Sciorra recently starred as Rosalie Carbone in Netflix's Marvel shows Luke Cage and Daredevil. She also starred in episodes of ER, Mental, The Good Wife, CSI, Bull, GLOW, and Truth Be Told. In 2005, she appeared in the short-lived Law & Order: Trial by Jury as a different character. In 2001, she earned an Emmy nomination for her guest appearance on The Sopranos.

SVU Season 22 already featured one big return, with Raul Esparza stopping by to reprise his role as Rafael Barba in "Stranger in a Strange Land." The show is also expected to feature several prominent Broadway actors, especially after showrunner Warren Leight joked on Twitter that he was "trying to hire every Broadway actor we can" while Broadway is shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The latest episode featured Beetlejuice star Alex Brightman and Hadestown's Eva Noblezada.

However, the most anticipated return will be Meloni, who played Elliot Stabler on the first 12 seasons of SVU. Meloni will make his return to the franchise after a decade away in an SVU episode, which will lead into his own spin-off, Law & Order: Organized Crime. The showrunner will be Ilene Chaiken, who previously worked on Empire and created The L Word. On Friday, Meloni shared a black and white photo with co-star Mariska Hargitay, possibly taken t the SVU set. Meloni has also started production on Organized Crime, which is expected to debut later this season.