‘Law & Order: SVU’: Velasco Returns With a Twist in Sneak Peek (VIDEO)

Chances are the squad didn’t expect that this would be how they’d be reunited with Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano) after he left on Law & Order: SVU. But their former teammate is back in the Thursday, April 9, episode, with a twist.

In the preview for “Deep Under,” the squad is tracking a drug cartel that’s trafficking women. “We need to rescue these girls,” Benson (Mariska Hargitay) says. But when it comes time to do that and they chase a suspect, to her shock, it’s revealed to be Velasco! Watch the video above for more.

In “Deep Under,” NBC teases, “Benson is shocked to find undercover Det. Velasco at the center of a sex trafficking bust. When more women are smuggled into the city, a rescued victim begs SVU to help save her sister.”

Velasco left SVU in the third episode of Season 27, which aired on October 9. After he helped the DEA out with one undercover assignment, the agency wanted him for more in San Diego. While he hadn’t been a fan of how they went about it, with Chief Tynan (Noma Dumezweni), he admitted to Benson that he knew that the agency’s target was someone who needed to be stopped. Benson encouraged him to say yes, explaining, “I haven’t stayed with SVU out of loyalty. I would never expect anyone to do that. I’m here because I think that it’s the place I can do the most good. You need to be where you can do the most good.”

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Now, Pisano is back, and when Deadline announced his return in February, the outlet noted it was for “at least one episode, but the total count is unknown at this time.” We’ll have to wait and see if this next episode sets him up to stay around longer.

Are you looking forward to seeing Octavio Pisano on SVU again? What are you hoping to see from Velasco’s return? Let us know in the comments section below.

Law & Order: SVU, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC