‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16, episode 22 preview: Watch an Andre Braugher – Mariska Hargitay scene

When Andre Braugher speaks, we listen. That is why we are thrilled to see him on Wednesday night’s new episode of “Law & Order: SVU,” made possible by the fact that he finished work on “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.” It has been a couple of years since we’ve seen Bayard Ellis on the show; for some reason, we still find it interesting that he was able to shift from one role on “Homicide: Life on the Street” to this one while Richard Belzer remained Munch.

When we see Ellis on this episode, he will be coming aboard the series with a very particular agenda, and that is doing everything within his power to ensure that he gets Benson investigating a case that is extremely important to him. It is one that is well over a decade old, but could involve a man who has been in prison for just as long for a rape of a child he did not commit. That child, who happens to be his own daughter, wants to recant her previous testimony.

Unfortunately, this case is far more complicated than this. Much of the reason why Benson is getting involved here is because there is not a whole lot of physical evidence other than her testimony, and the notion that her mother forced her into giving a testimony that she did not agree with so long ago.

There is no guarantee at all that this is a case that Mariska Hargitay’s character is going to be able to solve, but the compelling nature of this show is strictly that there are not always happy endings. Often, we are forced to confront the reality that nothing is going to go according to plan.

Photo: NBC