The news of Ethan Cutkosky’s return to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit should strike fear into the heart of any fan of the NBC procedural. The Shameless actor has played psychopathic murderer Henry Mesner in two SVU episodes so far, and his tally will soon be three.
Cutkosky announced his latest SVU appearance — an upcoming Season 27 installment — in an Instagram reel he and the Law & Order account jointly posted on Friday.
In the video, Cutkosky asks for a martini, and Mariska Hargitay — Captain Olivia Benson herself — reminds him that this is SVU.
“Can you make it a double?” Cutkosky responds.
The actor first appeared on SVU in 2013, in the Season 14 episode “Born Psychopath.” That episode introduces Henry as a 10-year-old who had been tormenting classmates and abusing his sister. In the course of that hour, the young Henry slashes his mother with a knife, sets a fire that almost kills his sister, drowns his friend’s dog, takes a younger boy hostage, and shoots Det. Nick Amaro (Danny Pino).
Henry then spends the rest of his childhood in juvenile detention before returning as an 18-year-old in the Season 22 episode “Post-Graduate Psychopath.” After talking his way out of the juvie facility, Henry murders his father, stepmother, and half-brother, and he sexually assaults his psychiatrist’s daughter. And before Henry is put back in prison, he stabs ADA Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) and threatens both Det. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and her daughter.
At the end of that episode, Rollins visits Henry behind bars. “I’ve got something I wanna tell you,” she says. “When I told you that I didn’t want you to die, I lied. If you ever get out of here, if you go after Counselor Carisi or anyone in my family again, it will be your last day on earth. I’ll kill you myself.”
SVU recently brought Rollins back to Benson’s squad, so now that Henry is returning, too, that showdown seems almost assured.
Aside from his menacing SVU role, Cutkosky is best known for starring as Carl Gallagher on Shameless. He also guest-starred on The Conners in 2022, and he had a role in this year’s film Happy Gilmore 2.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC
