Mariska Hargitay Talks About Her Role On "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

April 1, 2008 6:36 p.m. EST

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" will have five new episodes to air when it returns on April 15. The first episode has Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay, behind bars in an undercover assignment. When we last saw "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," Olivia had just been rejected as an adoptive parent and her luck doesn't get any better when the show comes back after the writers' strike.

Hargitay told TV Guide, "Olivia goes undercover in a state prison posing as a junkie. And it turns out a guard is raping women prisoners. She gets knocked around a lot, and it's really scary. I realized with this episode just how obsessive Olivia is, and how far she will go for justice."

The issue of Olivia wanting to be a mom is not going to go away either. "Olivia is a woman of a certain age with a clock ticking," said executive producer Neal Baer.

The April 29th episode will be the 200th for the series and will see the gang playing cat and mouse with a twisted perp, played by Robin Williams. Hargitay told TV Guide, "He is one of those charismatic human beings who has uncanny power over people to get them to do what he wants. Whatever he wants. He's a very bad guy."

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" returns on Tuesday, April 15 on NBC at 10/9c.