Mariska Hargitay Reveals What’s In Store For Olivia Benson In ‘Law & Order: SVU’ This Season

Law & Order: SVU returns for its 16th season tonight on NBC and it's going to be good. SVU's leading lady, Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson, opened up about the season premiere and what her character will face this season.

After 15 amazing and crime-filled seasons, Olivia Benson is still one of the greatest cops on TV. In the hit crime drama, Olivia has put rapists away, saved the lives of hundreds of people, including her former partner Elliot Stabler (played by Chris Meloni) and even escaped the grasp of a psychopath. This season she has a new challenge ... being a mother.

"To be in darkness and fear and all that that she went through and losing faith in humanity and then having, like, a miracle lobbed into your world, a light. It felt like a comet, really," Mariska told TV Guide. "I think that having a child changes everything and will redefine her."

Last season Olivia was kidnapped and abused by a serial rapist called "The Beast" or William Lewis (played by Pablo Schreiber) and after escaping with her life she was haunted all season by the incident. Now, she will be able to finally put that dark chapter to rest and focus on a positive one.

"Now I'm deciding: Do I go to the crime scene or do I stay in my office? Do I delegate and give orders and be in charge of people or do I stay home with this kid?" Mariska explained about her character's new role as the leader of the squad. "Everything is different and everything requires much more energy and thought."

There will be another challenge for the special victims unit now that Amaro (played by Danny Pino) has been assigned to patrol duty after getting into trouble last season. Although Amaro will be on the show and trying to pick up the pieces in his life and return to active duty, there will be a new character filling his spot for a few episodes.

Det. Sonny Carisi (played by Peter Scanavino) will be filling in for Amaro, but he won't fit in right away. "He's a total outsider. He's brusk and he doesn't really get the nuances and he's not very experienced so he puts his foot in his mouth a lot of times," Peter told the publication. "But he's learning. He's picking it up. I think he's a good detective, but he's got a lot to learn on how to like approach cases."

Tune in tonight to see what happens when Olivia Benson has to balance life with personal life with her work responsibilities.

Photos: Law & Order: SVU's Facebook