Surprise! Law & Order: SVU's Octavio Pisano To Return In Season 27 Premiere

Joe Velasco's SVU stint isn't done just yet.

Octavio Pisano will return for Law & Order: SVU's Season 27 premiere, sources confirm to TVLine.

Pisano was a series regular on NBC's long-running procedural from Season 23 through 26, though his departure made news just before SVU's Season 26 finale in May. His character was promoted to Detective Second Grade, an occasion that the squad marked with a surprise gathering at a bar near the precinct. At the end of the episode, Capt. Benson and her officers donned their dress blues and attended the ceremony in which Velasco was officially promoted.

Pisano appeared in a social media video that the show and its star, Mariska Hargitay, posted Thursday to mark the cast's return to set. In it, he, Peter Scanavino, Hargitay, Kevin Kane and recently promoted series regular Aimé Donna Kelly rehearse a scene from the season premiere.

Juliana Aidén Martinez, who played Det. Kate Silva in Season 26, also left the show at the end of the season. She recently was cast as a series regular on CBS' FBI, and will not return to SVU.

SVU will air Thursdays at 9/8c this fall, following Law & Order at 8 and leading into The Hunting Party at 10.

Are you excited to see Velasco in Season 27? Hit the comments with your thoughts!