‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 15 spoilers: Mariska Hargitay’s Benson to face Lewis again

At the start of this season of “Law & Order: SVU,” we had one of the most painful and uncomfortable episodes of the entire series’ run to watch as we were subjected to watching Mariska Hargitay’s character of Olivia Benson be beaten and tormented by William Lewis. She was barely able to make it out of that terrible situation alive, and for next several weeks following, she was able to try and move forward while doing some of the work that she is known for.

However, this story is not completely over as of yet, since Benson now has to take on the near-impossible task of facing off against this man in court. As first confirmed in a report from TV Guide, Pablo Schreiber is going to return for the first episode back after the new year, which will air on Wednesday, January 8. This is the first time that he will be back on the show since the premiere, and this will be the first new episode after a six-week hiatus that is really about to begin.

In explaining the reason for Lewis coming back, executive producers Warren Leight and Julie Martin tell the website that it revolves around Benson having to speak at his trail, and that this ends up being a different sort of torture for the character:

“We are thrilled and terrified that Pablo Schreiber is coming back to SVU to reprise his role as psychopath William Lewis. He’ll again be tormenting Det. Olivia Benson. Although he’s the one on trial, he turns it into hers.”

It’s not a surprise that we are seeing Lewis again, given that the procedure for Benson dealing with him is going to be far and away different (not to mention more painful) considering that he is someone who actually turned her into a victim. But, this is still a little step out of the ordinary for the show, given that it is by and large as procedural as they come.

Photo: NBC