‘Law & Order: SVU’: Kevin Kane Breaks Down Bruno’s Intense Episode & What Benson’s Order Means

Bruno (Kevin Kane) takes the bullet (so to speak) for the squad in the Thursday, October 22, episode of Law & Order: SVU when they tackle a tough, heartbreaking, disturbing case. But what does that mean for him going forward, especially after a major conversation with his captain, Benson (Mariska Hargitay)? TV Insider spoke with Kane about that and more. Warning: Spoilers for Law & Order: SVU Season 28 Episode 3 ahead!

When the team discovers a case involving child sex abuse and a site on the dark web, Bruno takes it upon himself to stay at work overnight and go through the photos and videos to find any identifying markers, rather than, as Benson had said they would, let the team split up the work the next day. And so it’s a personal case for him as they try to track down not only the abusers and those running the site but also the victims. It’s made worse when it turns out the FBI is already onto the site and has infiltrated it, allowing it to continue to run, in hopes of getting their hands on the people trafficking kids. But Benson and Bruno in particular refuse to let that stand, focused on the victims in front of them now.

During the course of the investigation, Bruno, understandably, is upset and angry, but there are two key conversations he has, one with Fin (Ice-T) and the other with Benson. Fin tells him that the job used to be all he thought about, but there’s a difference between doing the job and letting it become you. Then, once the case is wrapped up, Benson tells him she’s making him take some leave. The problem isn’t that he watched those videos and looked at those photos for the team on his own, but rather, “pretending it didn’t mess you up,” she explains. He calls her out on pretending nothing gets to her and not taking time off after risking her and their careers by going against the FBI. She says that this leave is about protection because she doesn’t want her detectives to go above and beyond at their own expense. He leaves her with the remark that he was just following her lead.

Below, Kevin Kane breaks down this episode and teases Bruno’s return to the squad.

Bruno does agree to take that leave at the end, but does he yet get why he needs it? How does he feel about the leave? Can he process that yet with everything that… He hasn’t really slept, has he either?

Kevin Kane: No. Yeah, I think that’s part of it, too. Feeling a little crazy and battered like that. But I think what happens is, I don’t know— [there’s something about what] Fin says to him, [about how it] has so much weight on his life and this job and what it does to you. I’m not sure which version they use because I haven’t seen the final cut of it, but there’s a scene with Benson at the end where he recognizes her doing that, too. I think it’s just the time to take a breath. I think he recognizes it’s time to take a breath.

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

What can you say about how long he’s going to be gone for? How many episodes are you not in or are we going to see what Bruno’s up to while he’s on this leave?

No, I think I take a break, I go away, and then I’m back for — there’s an episode coming up. It takes place at a wedding reception, and we have this kind of acknowledgement that I’m back, and it’s a quick, very loaded, but we’re not going to say anything kind of moment.

How is Bruno going to spend his leave? What do you think that he does when he has a break from work like this? Because he doesn’t have to be working there. That’s the thing, too.

That’s true. But that tells you a lot about how much of a life he has. [Laughs] And I think the episode defines a little bit for him as well why he doesn’t. But yeah, I think it’s a big puzzle for him to figure out to have free time and know what to do with it.

So because Bruno does call out Benson about following her lead, does he think that he’ll get through to her with that? Because he also brings up earlier what’s going on with her, something that Carisi notes in the premiere, and it seems like more and more people are noting that there’s this change in her. So does he think that maybe he’ll get through to her now?

I think there’s a bond between them, that Bruno lived in this kind of world where everyone came down on him because he was sticking to finding the truth about these deaf girls getting murdered up in the Bronx, and in comes Benson and is the only person that says, “I’m listening to you. I believe you.” I think that’s always a very personal, strong bond between them. I find myself coming into scripts sometimes where there’s always a little moment where he’s looking out for her well-being. So I think that’s a big part of it.

Yeah, because also it feels like he liked that side of her when it came to refusing to back down and continue this investigation despite the feds. That benefited him from what he wanted to accomplish in this episode. So he likes when he sees things like that in her.

Yeah, and I think in his history too, he’s used to being the only one that feels that way, and he’s up against everyone, and it feels like he’s got a partner in that way.

But how is what he’s seeing in Benson moments, like telling the gatekeeper he can see his niece, changing his opinion of her? He really did not like that.

Yeah, I think that where the fine line of the ends justify the means, and for Bruno, I think when it comes to kids and it comes to… There’s just some certain things you don’t gratify, and that it’s very personal to him in that way.

Especially because he’s the one who stayed up all night looking at all those photos and videos. He took it upon himself to do that.

Yeah, and I think that’s part of his whole situation, too. It was like everyone else has children to go look at and a family to be with, and he doesn’t, so he felt like, “You know what? I should take this one for the team and my life; it was a little easier to navigate this stuff.” It was a little hubris on his part.

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But it also almost feels like he would’ve done that even if he also had a family to go home to.

Yeah, maybe. But I think with Bruno, it’s the chicken or the egg kind of situation, too. It’s like, is there a reason he doesn’t have a family?

I mean, Rollins is trying to set him up. She’s trying hard.

[Laughs] She is, she is. And that’s been a fun dynamic.

Is that going to continue, that she still tries to set him up, or is that kind of just –

We’ll see. This was a big misfire on her end, so we’ll see if she wants to put another bullet in that gun. But it’s been a really fun season for just even having the opportunity to be with Kelli every day and to be out with Kelli. We really have a lot of fun together, and we didn’t really cross paths. She had left the show. It was a big deal that Bruno was taking her desk, so it was almost like this ghost in the room all the time, and now I’m partnered with her, and I get to hang out with her every day, and it’s been a real blast.

Yeah, I’m liking what we are seeing of that. So why do you think Rollins and Bruno need each other as partners this season?

I think we have this equal footing of being able to put each other in check in a way that maybe other people there don’t. I think it’s been a good kind of — there’s a couple of scenes we just filmed where we are really singing the same music, and we’re right in lockstep with each other. So we have a shorthand that ends up developing.

Going back to the fact that Bruno did take the bullet and go through all those files, does he regret doing so by the end of the episode?

No, I don’t think he regrets doing that because ultimately the end for him was to get this to stop. And I think it’s just the world’s tough, and it’s a reminder, and it’s a tough pill to swallow, and he’s swallowing that pill, but I don’t think he would do anything differently. I think he would still do it.

So if it came up against something like that, he would still, as quickly as he decided to do it this time, do it again?

If it means stopping these kinds of people, yeah, I think that’s part of the drive while he’s there. He wouldn’t stay in this job if that wasn’t the drive for him.

The scene between Benson and Bruno at the end was great, but also the conversation between Bruno and Fin was such a good moment in the episode. How much of that has Bruno taken to heart just yet? Or is that maybe something that he’ll be sitting with on the leave?

I think he’s sitting with it. When we first met Bruno, this obsession with making things right took down the rest of his life. He was pining over his ex-wife. I think he’s over that part of his life, and now it’s like, OK, what next? I think he’s smack in the middle of that, of figuring out what is next for him.

Yeah, and Fin’s like, “With my experience, there is a what’s next,” and now it’s accepting that.

Yeah, exactly.

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How much is this case going to be staying with him, especially now that he is on leave and it feels like that’s all he can think about? He’s not going to have another case that he can focus on right away now, so that’s detrimental to him.

Yeah. It’s like when your work is your whole life, and you get to go, “Oh, now go find a hobby, take a few weeks.” It’s like, what do you do? It seems like it’s going to be torture for him.

He can’t be like, “OK, well, there’s this other case I can now think about. I can put that at the back of my mind because I have to get this next perp.”

Yeah, this is the only thing he’s got to go home and think about.

So what is going on with Bruno when he comes back? Is it just back to business as usual?

Yeah, I think it’s more of a “walk before he can start running again” situation, and he eases himself back into a case that the whole team’s working on, and he’s doing his part and he’s trying to help everybody else out, and I think it just breaks the ice.

What’s Benson and Bruno’s dynamic like when he comes back?

I think they have an understanding of each other. I don’t think it’s a long-term… I think it’s a spat between people who do love each other in a certain way.

I think what’s interesting to see is how Griffin is really now feeling a part of the squad, especially after last season’s suspicions.

Yeah.

Does that feel the same way to you?

Yeah, and it’s funny because it’s such a parallel to Corey on set. He’s such a fun guy to be around. He’s such a great time. He makes us laugh. He just really just feels like he’s been there for years. So I think Griffin is in earnest; he’s got passion. Sometimes he doesn’t have the experience, but Griffin, you know, he’s there with the same wants and desires as everybody else.

Yeah, and the Bruno and Griffin dynamic was just fun last season, I have to say.

Yeah. It’s fun to just be the one to dig a little bit and poke some jokes at somebody.

Episode 600 is coming up. Congrats on that milestone. That’s impressive. What can you say about that episode and having Christopher Meloni back?

Oh, I can’t say much other than I think the longtime fans are really, really going to enjoy it. I think it’s satisfying. I think it delivers, and it’s kind of a love letter to everybody who’s been with us for all these years.

What does it mean to you to be part of that milestone?

It’s funny, I trained at the William Esper Studio, and the first job I ever got when I got out of there was being a guest star on SVU. And it was a full-circle moment, and I’ve been doing other things and completely different things, and there’s always been that kind of Wolf Entertainment world going, “Hey, come over here for a little bit.” And so they’ve always been a big part of my life, and it’s been really amazing to just be a part of the team.

So this season is switching up the partners a bit, but 600, you’re bringing back Benson and Stabler together, but what is it like for Bruno just to see two people who work together for so long and to see that kind of relationship? And is that something that he wants? Does he want to have a long-term partner like that? Does he like the switching up?

When he first came on, he was with Fin all the time, and I think Fin is always his friend, the best friend in the squad, the confidant. But I feel like where we’ve gotten to now with Rollins, it really feels like a real partnership. It’s not a mentor situation. It’s not any of that stuff. It’s like no one can tell her, no one has any more experience than her, and Bruno’s coming with experience from somewhere else, and I feel like they can really dance well together.

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