It’s not quite as simple as just good vs. evil.
On tonight’s highly anticipated mega-crossover Law & Order event, airing Dec. 9, sophisticated mob boss Richard Wheatley (Dylan McDermott) finally goes to trial for the murder of Kathy Stabler. Yet in a jaw-dropping twist of events, former ADA Barba (Raúl Esparza) represents Wheatley as his attorney—shocking both Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and former partner Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and calling into question who they can really trust.
As controversial as the pairing was on-screen, off-screen, however, the team up with Esparza was a no-brainer for McDermott. “Raúl and I just got along immediately. We just clicked,” McDermott exclusively told E! News. “There was just this shorthand we had between each other, this simpatico.”
Plus, who wouldn’t want to see a beloved Law & Order: Special Victims Unit alum team up with a seductively cruel Law & Order: Organized Crime villain?
“[Barba] knew he was dealing with someone formidable with Richard Wheatley,” McDermott continued. “So a lot of times in acting, so much of it is hinging on the relationship and I think the Barba-Wheatley relationship is certainly in both episodes.”