‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16 spoilers: First look at Mariska Hargitay’s Benson

Are you ready to see Benson like you’ve never quite seen her before? Then we have a feeling that this photo below from the “Law & Order: SVU” season 16 premiere is probably going to bring a huge smile to your face.

As another reward for getting #SVUReruns as a Trending Topic in the United States, executive producer Warren Leight posted on Twitter a new photo of Mariska Hargitay’s character alongside baby Noah. This is a far different scene than the sort of crime scene that we typically associate with her character, isn’t it? It’s happy, cheerful, and hopeful. After the dark way in which we started the fifteenth season of the show, we cannot say just how thrilled we are for a change.

Now, we do have to wonder just how much of this child we are really going to see on the show. Benson’s personal life has always been a part of the series, but it has never been the sole focus. We imagine that much of this is going to be about balance, and figuring out how much of the home life to share versus life on the job.

The one thing that we know is that Benson is going to remain a part of the SVU team despite her new responsibility, and we’ll have to sit and see if her job changes significantly now that she knows there is someone at home waiting for her. She’s been in the line of fire so many times, but this is the first time that there has been a little one who relies on her.

Photo: NBC