'Law & Order: SVU' season 19 plot news: Fin's actions could spell trouble for Barba's legal case

A promotional image for NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Facebook/LawAndOrderSVU

There are only a few weeks left until the premiere of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 19. With that, showrunner Michael Chernuchin has laid out what fans can expect in the next installment.

(Spoiler alert! This article contains potential spoilers for "Law & Order: SVU" season 19. Read only if you wish to know more about it.)

The premiere of "Law & Order: SVU" season 19 is aptly titled "Gone Fishin'" and will feature some intense sequences of action. In the episode, Sgt. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (Ice-T) will cross the international borders to track down a fugitive rapist, Byron Marks (Will Chase).

"Fin sets the season going," Chernuchin said in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly. "We see something about Fin where he's willing to break the law, or at least thinking he's breaking the law to do the right thing."

It looks like Fin's efforts will pay off: Byron will be caught by Lt. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) in the next installment's second episode titled "Mood." But the drama does not stop there as the former's action will set off a political tug-of-war that could derail Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba's (Raúl Esparza) legal case.

"That basically sets off a whole international incident," Chernuchin continued. "We start big, and that's what we wanted to do. It's a big episode, the first one."

It has been 18 years since "Law & Order: SVU" premiered, but it remains one of the most-watched programs in the United States. In fact, the police procedural series' 18th season, which aired from September 2016 to May 2017, averaged a 1.34 rating in the 18–49 demographic with over 5.8 million viewers (based on live + same day ratings).

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" season 19 is set to premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 9 p.m. EDT on NBC.

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