‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16, episode 11 preview: Mariska Hargitay’s mission in ‘Agent Provocateur’

Tonight’s new episode of “Law & Order: SVU” was in many ways the second half of a two-parter, and it tried to close the door on what happened between Amanda Rollins and Deputy Chief Patton.

So where will the story go from here? Next week’s “Agent Provocateur” seems on the surface to be very much a more traditional episode of the show, at least in that it doesn’t appear that Mariska Hargitay, Kelli Giddish, or any other primary cast member will have the spotlight for a story about hidden elements of their past. Instead, this is a case of a young teenager who is in desperate need of help after a sexual assault. The problem for Benson is trying to find a way to take down not only an actor, but a powerful manager who seems incredibly talented when it comes to making problems go away.

For more right now, take a look (if you haven’t already) at the official synopsis released by NBC, which includes Patti LuPone as a guest star:

“Fifteen year-old Madison Baker (guest star Madison Grace) sneaks out of her uncle’s home to meet breakout movie star Scott Russo (guest star Shiloh Fernandez), who invited her to a party via social media. Later that night, a patrolman finds her in an alley, sexually assaulted and barely alive. Sgt. Benson (Mariska Hargitay) suspects Russo and his manager, Lydia Lebasi (guest star LuPone), are covering up the crime when security footage from the party goes missing. When gossip site mogul Lenny Simmons (guest star John Pankow) airs the stolen footage, he refuses to give up the source material and ADA Barba (Raúl Esparza) takes him to court to find the truth.”

(Photo: NBC.)