LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Warren Leight Previews ‘What Can Happen in the Dark’

In the penultimate episode of LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT season 22, airing Thursday, May 27, Garland (Demore Barnes) asks Benson (Mariska Hargitay) for her help when a case involves the deputy chief’s neighbor.

“This is an interesting case of gender reversal in a domestic violence situation,” SVU showrunner Warren Leight previews of “What Can Happen in the Dark.” “Usually, when men are accused of a crime in our SVU universe, they’ll get a female attorney to represent them, because it sort of softens them to the jury. The jury thinks, well, he can’t be that bad a guy, he has a very nice woman attorney representing him [who is] saying he’s not a bad guy. So we wondered what would happen in a situation where a woman is accused of certain things. And we thought the smart move for her would be to get a likable male attorney.”

Enter Lee Tergesen’s defense attorney, Counselor Erik Garrison.

“Lee is such a good actor,” Leight praises. “We’ve been looking for something over the course of the year [for him] and Lee came to mind right away [with this]. And it’s a little different than what he’s done. I think his first day in court, we had to say, ‘No, no, Carisi sits there.’ But he’s a lovely actor, he’s a smart guy, and a smart actor. And this gives us the ability to bring him back from time to time.”

And, yes, Leight is aware fans may have memories of Tergesen’s last go-round in mind, when the actor portrayed a religious zealot who attacked prostitutes. “I was happy he was available, and I just thought, well, that’s kind of a treat,” he says. “I know that everybody has memories of that other episode, but in this case, on the heels of revisiting ‘Born Psychopath,’ Lee is a different character.”

The showrunner also was thrilled with the work done by the on-screen couple at the center of the storyline.

“Michael Gladis and Anna Wood are fantastic in that episode,” Leight gushes. “My gut was to hire Michael for this part. And then Anna came up, and that was a great idea. But I didn’t realize they played a couple two or three other times in their careers. So there was an immediate intimacy to them, which was great; it just solved a lot of problems early on for us. They’re really compelling.”

LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC

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