'Law & Order: SVU' Showrunner Hints at 'Surprise Returnees' for Season 22

Law & Order SVU showrunner Warren Leight is teasing a few more "suprise returnees" in the upcoming season. While some are already known (Detective Elliot Stabler played by Chris Meloni, Assistant District Attorney Raphael Barba played by Raul Esparza), the showrunner reveals to US that the long-running drama still has a few tricks up its sleeve.

Leight admitted there was a plan for Rick Fox to come back this season but "every time we make a plan, the COVID Gods laugh," he said. "We still hope to see him back on our stage. In the meantime, fans will have to make do with Raul, Chris Meloni, Elizabeth Marvel, John Waters, Tamara Tunie, Wentworth Miller and a few other surprise returnees."

The coronavirus pandemic has certainly played a huge part in the production of the latest season, but Leight attributes the show's completion to the seasoned veterans on the staff. "We've all had to completely change every aspect of the way we work, often in mid-episode. We're very fortunate to have an experienced team that's been working on the show for as long as we all have. Every time a brick comes through the window (which on some days happens every ten minutes), the nearest person grabs a broom, sweeps up the glass, someone else replaces the pane, and we just keep going."

The show, which is in its 22nd season, previously teased a preview of Barba's return to cop drama. In the clip, Barba is tasked with helping Carisi (Peter Scanavino), who immediately assumed that he returned to "taunt" him. The former ADA asks Carisi about the case he's landed, which he originally deems too easy.

Though, Barba doesn't think it's as cut and dry. "I think the guy's got a Purple Heart, titanium leg and PTS," he tells Carisi, before noting that his charges are "negotiable." With that, Carisi asks if Barba is representing the criminal. "I guess I am now," he says.

Esparza left the show after a six-season stint in 2018.

"We'd written earlier that Barba had been involved in political work last year, now that the election is (we hope) over, it was time for him to find a new purpose," Leight said of Esparza's return. "Many lawyers sell out and join a major firm, others go straight-up pro bono (say, working for the Innocence Project), but Barba I think both misses the action and likes the attention that this particular case brings."