Law & Order: SVU season 23 episode 9 spoilers: The Carisi showdown

In just a matter of days Law & Order: SVU season 23 episode 9 is poised to arrive, and we don’t have to tell you it’s something big. Odds are, you’ve seen a handful of the previews that are out there already! This is the beginning of an epic crossover event with Law & Order: Organized Crime, and you are also going to be seeing the return of Raul Esparza as Rafael Barba.

Typically, we would imagine that the return of Barba would lead to all of SVU welcoming him with open arms. Yet, that is likely to not be the case here. Go ahead and consider it a consequence of Barba potentially opting to represent Richard Wheatley in court. This means that Benson would be going against her friend, and Carisi would be forced to engage with a one-time mentor in court.

So what will this showdown look like, especially with such high stakes? In speaking to TVLine, here is what Peter Scanavino had to say about the stakes of it all:

It’s a big deal, you know what I mean? It’s a lot of responsibility. He’s also co-chairing with [Bureau Chief Phillip] Baptiste, who’s from the Homicide Department, so, he’s got his superior overseeing him and giving some pretty tough odds during the case. But then it’s against Barba, as well, and that’s always fun. [Carisi has] always got something to prove in front of his former mentor, but it really seems like one of those cases where there’s a lot of moving parts, and is Carisi up to deal with all those moving parts? [Laughs] It’s a fast-moving case. Sometimes, things drop out, and then it’s a challenge for him, for sure, and I don’t think he’s taking it lightly.

Our hope is that the writers really take their time with the court-case part of the episode — allow both Carisi and Barba to chew the scenery a little! Since this is such an important case, it should get more time in every aspect than you get in the standard episode.

What do you want to see from Carisi on Law & Order: SVU season 23 episode 9?

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This article was written by Jess Carter.