‘Law & Order: SVU’: Octavio Pisano Says ‘Part of’ Velasco Wants to Return to SVU

Well, at least Velasco (Octavio Pisano) survived a dangerous undercover operation with the DEA that brought him back to New York and reunited him with his former squad? Still, the Thursday, April 9, episode of Law & Order: SVU left quite a bit about his future up in the air, and he did come close to dying. TV Insider spoke with Pisano about the chaotic turn of events. Warning: Spoiler for Law & Order: SVU Season 27 Episode 17 ahead!

When Velasco realizes the cartel he’s undercover with in San Diego is moving young women in New York, he calls in a tip to SVU; Benson (Mariska Hargitay) is shocked to see him but quickly “arrests” him to maintain his cover. Any time someone — Benson or Fin (Ice-T), mainly, as he’s talking to them, not his DEA handler (Grey’s Anatomy‘s Jerrika Hinton) — tries to get him to come in, he refuses. That’s because, as it’s revealed, he’s romantically involved with the enforcer’s girlfriend, Eliana. There’s also another group of women somewhere. But the enforcer is becoming increasingly unstable and more and more violent, and when he gets wind of a leak in his organization, he starts shooting. Velasco eventually confesses he’s a cop when Eliana ends up in the crosshairs, and before his former team and DEA handler can come to his rescue, both Velasco and Eliana are shot.

The good news is both survive — she may get witness protection if she cooperates, and Carisi (Peter Scanavino), back early from a week away with Rollins (Kelli Giddish) can make it happen — but Benson calls Velasco out on taking too many risks and lying to them. He doesn’t think he’ll have a future at the DEA, but Benson argues that he’s too good for them to let go. But what does Velasco want?

Below, Octavio Pisano breaks down Velasco’s ending and filming key scenes with Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T and ponders what’s next for his character.

How is Velasco feeling about how this undercover op went by the end of it?

Octavio Pisano: Yeah. I think one of the biggest issues, which is always hard for undercover agents, is the relationships, especially if you’re having to portray this amorous relationship to get in and get information, and at the end, you find out this person is somewhat innocent or coerced to be a part of these crimes, and the emotions are real. And I think, to be honest, I feel like SVU had a lot to do with that because SVU was always teaching him how to be empathic and be compassionate with the victims. And in some way, he sees the victimhood of this person, even though she’s involved with the people she is.

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How did he feel about Eliana?

I think it’s mixed. I think the emotions were real. I think that he saw the innocence in her and also how she’s trapped. She made all these wrong choices and ended up in this situation, which I feel like for him, and this is something that I actually consciously made a choice on, was that you find yourself in situations based on choices that almost felt like were not your choices because of the environment, because of whatever priorities you had, you end up making those choices and then you end up in that life. And I feel like that’s what he sees in her. And so he feels like he can help her get out and start a new life the way he did because if you know the backstory, he had similar situations back in Mexico in his youth, where he ended up being part of these groups and these crimes, not necessarily because he was looking to be part, but one thing led to another. And so I think he sees that in her, on top of the obvious attraction and emotional connection. But I think that where he’s at, those wouldn’t be that big of an issue as much as the, “I see you. I see where you’re at.”

How did he think it was going to end with her though? Because the way it did was really the best-case scenario, I feel like.

Yeah? You think best-case scenario?

I mean, I don’t think it could have gone any other way. At least they’re both still alive?

Right. Yeah. I mean, we’ll see what happens because there’s still the case to be had and there’s many ways it can go. But yeah, I mean, the bullet, a couple inches this way, done. And I feel like he even says it at one point, he’s like, “I don’t know if I made the right choices. I feel like I messed up and I feel like if I could do it again, I would do it differently.” So, yeah, I think it is, in that case, the best-case scenario, but yeah, I’m not sure.

Something that’s very clear in this episode is that even after he’s been gone from SVU for all this time, it seems like Benson and Fin are the ones he trusts the most and the ones that he’ll listen to the most about things. Why is that?

I mean, those were the people that guided him. Those were his mentors from the beginning. It was always Fin and Benson. And I feel like since his arrival and throughout the four years he was there, it was always these scenes where he was getting wisdom from both of them, either at the same time or on separate occasions, on separate matters. And I feel like it’s a full circle moment for him, especially that last scene in the hospital that was both in the scene and speaking meta outside, and me as an actor with Mariska and Ice, it was a great scene.

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Yeah, especially because when he was leaving to join the DEA, we had the great scenes with him and both of those characters as well. Talk about filming the scenes with Mariska and Ice-T in Benson’s apartment and in the car. Those were great.

Yeah, Benson’s apartment was great. That day was a little bit of a hectic day, and at times, it felt like I didn’t even know what was left. Everything was moving so fast. But as soon as we got into the scene itself, we just locked in. And it was great to build that moment with Mariska, based on our relationship, and bring that into the scene and really find those moments where I can push back and she can really … We found a relationship in that scene. I feel like, to be honest, I’ve had a lot of good scenes with her, but that one in particular, maybe because we were in Benson’s apartment and it’s more of a personal, intimate scenario, and her son is sleeping, and then the stakes were so high that I feel like that connection was really made. Yeah, but from all the scenes that I’ve shot with her, that’s the one that really … We even hugged out afterwards. It was great. It was a great scene.

And the other scene, with Fin in the car, that was one of the first scenes we shot in the episode, and I hadn’t seen Ice in close to a year. So in between takes, we were talking life. And then as soon as we went into it, that energy went into the scene. So it’s a scene where it’s like, the stakes are high as well, but at the same time, it’s like, I haven’t seen you. This is my brother. Thank you. Thank you for having my back. So all that went into the subtext of the scene. Yeah, I’m excited for people to see it.

At the end of the episode, Velasco seems to be wavering when it comes to where he wants to be. Beyond being where he can do the most good, what does he want?

Well, that’s the million-dollar question, right? I think I’m trying to figure it out myself. I think he’s trying to figure it out. I think there’s a lot of factors in the element, especially during that moment. I mean, he just got shot, and he’s woken up by Fin and Benson, and he’s just trying to process everything because at the same time, he’s saying he might be let go from the DEA, and I don’t even know if I want to stay with them. I don’t know what I want. I don’t know where I … I’m just trying to breathe. And her coming in close and being like, “They can’t let you go.” Almost like saying, “You’re good wherever you want to go.” That actually got a little bit emotional unsaid because it was in a double entendre subtextually. So yeah, I don’t think he knows. I think he’s in the process of figuring it out.

Does he want whatever path he takes now to lead back to SVU?

I think a part of him does, yeah. I think truly what he wants the most is to go where he can do the most good. I just don’t think he knows where it’s at. I think that his greatest skill is also his greatest weakness, which is he can feel for the victims, and he can really connect with them. And I think over the years, that’s what really got to him at SVU, that he was really affected by the cases that they couldn’t help, that they couldn’t solve. And so I feel like going with the DEA, going undercover, it’s a little bit more disconnected because you’re working bigger cases until it gets to the same issues, human trafficking and people. Because it’s one thing to track drugs and guns and all that, but when you’re dealing with people, I think that’s, again, his skill and his weakness.

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Will we see you again after this episode?

I hope so. I hope so. I don’t know.

What would you like to explore with Velasco should you return?

I think the show itself is always in a transitional period, especially now. And I think Mariska’s character, Olivia Benson, is also at a place where she’s asking some tough questions. So I feel like with all that going on, I would just like to be part of that transitioning and that evolution of the characters. And I’ve seen — because I followed the show for a while — Peter Scanavino’s character evolve from a detective to ADA, everything he’s doing. And it’s amazing to see from the first scene he did to the latest scene, the trajectory and the arc that he’s had. So I would just be excited to see where we could take him and see how he can grow.

We’ve seen that. I mean, Velasco had come a long way from when we met him when he left SVU.

Right. There’s been evolutions. And I think, like I said, the show’s evolving, the writers are evolving, everything is growing. So obviously, I want to see him grow. So I’d be excited to see where they take him.

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