‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16 spoilers: See Mariska Hargitay, Peter Scanavino in new photo

While you’ve seen some photos of Olivia Benson starting to adjust to life as a mother on “Law & Order: SVU” season 16, why not take a quick look at what the makeup of the new squad is going to be?

As you likely know, Amaro will be off undercover when the show returns with new episodes, so replacing Danny Pino in the squad room for the time being will be “Person of Interest” alum Peter Scanavino. Per TVLine (who also has the first image of him below), this character is named Detective Dominick “Sonny” Carisi, Jr., and he will be coming to Manhattan after working at the Special Victims Unit in other areas of New York. Therefore, he has a little bit of experience already in the field (but still most likely not anywhere near what Mariska Hargitay’s character has at this point).

The first few episodes of the new season seemingly have quite a bit of ground to cover. Not only is the show going to have to touch on what in the world is going on with Amaro (which may lead to some actions that put Baby Noah in danger), we also have to figure out if there is anything that can bring him back to the squad again full-time. We’ve grown to appreciate the character the fast few years, and don’t want to see him away from the rest of the gang for too long.

There are plenty of other cases that will need to be cracked aside from the major character stories, so don’t expect a completely different “SVU” this season. It will just have a new coat of paint to go along with what you care about already.

The new season of “Law & Order: SVU” premieres on NBC Wednesday, September 24 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

Photo: NBC