Law & Order: SVU Fan-Favorite Character Officially Returns After Series Exit

11 hours ago 6

Published Feb 10, 2026, 7:21 PM EST

Adam Bentz is a senior news writer at ScreenRant, where he has authored nearly 5,000 articles, including features and lists. He studied creative writing and English with a concentration in screenwriting at Southern New Hampshire University and interned as a writer/journalist for The Borgen Project, an influential organization that fights global poverty.

However, one of his proudest achievements is editing a Leonardo DiCaprio freakout compilation that has over 150K views on YouTube. Adam also fancies himself an amateur film reviewer on his website.

After exiting the series, a fan-favorite character is officially returning to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

The Law & Order spinoff originally followed Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), who exited the series in 2011 after 12 seasons, though it now stars Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson and Ice-T as Sergeant Fin Tutuola, members of NYPD's Special Victims Unit, an elite team of detectives who investigate sexual assault, child abuse, and domestic violence. Also starring are Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, and Kevin Kane.

Now, according to Deadline, Octavio Pisano is officially returning as Detective Joe Velasco in Law & Order: SVU season 27. The actor is currently filming an episode in New York, and sources close to the production say his character will be operating undercover. Details about when he will appear and what those episodes will cover will be announced at a later date.

SVU Velasco holding a case file and standing in front of the board

Pisano departed the Law & Order spinoff as a series regular in October 2025, when his character left SVU to take an undercover DEA assignment in San Diego focused on drug trafficking. That move left the door open for him to return in a recurring or guest capacity, which is the case here. He is confirmed to appear in at least one episode, though his total number of appearances hasn't been determined yet.

Pisano first came aboard the long-running procedural as a recurring cast member in season 23, and just a month later, in October 2021, he was promoted to a series regular after Velasco had become a fan-favorite character. Pisano has also portrayed Velasco in three crossover episodes on Law & Order: Organized Crime.

In addition to starring on Law & Order: SVU, Pisano also made his feature directorial debut with Wet Under Blue Sky, a boxing drama which he also wrote and stars in.

Release Date September 20, 1999

Showrunner Michael S. Chernuchin, David Graziano

Directors Jean de Segonzac, David Platt, Peter Leto, Alex Chapple, Juan José Campanella, Norberto Barba, Constantine Makris, Martha Mitchell, Arthur W. Forney, Michael Slovis, Steve Shill, Alex Zakrzewski, Michael Pressman, Helen Shaver, Mariska Hargitay, Michael Smith, Ted Kotcheff, Fred Berner, Jonathan Kaplan, Holly Dale, Jonathan Herron, Jud Taylor, Adam Bernstein, Jim McKay

Writers Judith McCreary, David Graziano, Michael S. Chernuchin, Daniel Truly, Jonathan Greene, Amanda Green, Lisa Marie Petersen, Allison Intrieri, Lawrence Kaplow, Jose Molina, Matt Klypka, Michael R. Perry, Samantha Corbin-Miller, Barbie Kligman, Robert F. Campbell, Candice Sanchez McFarlane, Gwendolyn M. Parker, René Balcer, Robert Nathan, Wendy West, Speed Weed, Ryan Causey, Chris Brancato, Christos N. Gage