‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 18 photo: Mariska Hargitay, Raul Esparza on the case

With season 18 of “Law & Order: SVU” creeping up to its premiere date next month, NBC is slowly opening the floodgates with some further information on what to expect. Today, that comes two-fold in the form of a new photo featuring Mariska Hargitay, and a couple of teasers regarding how the premiere episode will put some characters in a tricky position.

You can see the photo featuring Hargitay’s Benson alongside Barba (Raul Esparza) below via TVLine, though unfortunately they may not be in complete collaboration for all of the verdict. After all, the description for the episode suggests that the two may have different viewpoints on a case that has started to take over headlines in New York City:

“A small boy is found alone in a park and his identity leads the SVU on a tense search for his mother.  The case becomes a city-wide sensation and Benson and Barba find themselves on opposing sides of the verdict.”

Even if they are at odds for the entirety of this case, Benson and Barba will more than likely find themselves in collaboration again before long. After all, it’s not really in their nature for them to be perpetually in conflict, and they need each other in order to ensure justice is ensured the vast majority of the time. Now that we’ve said that, there is something still very much appealing that comes from mixing things up here and there. Variety, especially in the form of character dynamics, is one of the reasons why this series is still on the air after so many years.

(Photo: NBC.)