See Mariska Hargitay & ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Cast Back in Action on Season 26 (PHOTOS)

Mariska Hargitay on the set of 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 26
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

We still have just over two months until Law & Order: SVU returns to our screens for Season 26—the premiere is on Thursday, October 3, at 9/8c, after Law & Order and before Found (with Organized Crime moving to Peacock)—but we don’t have to wait until the fall to see Mariska Hargitay and the rest of the cast back in character on set.

Photos from filming on July 19 in New York City have made their way online, as you can see below, showing Hargitay (Captain Olivia Benson), Ice-T (Sergeant Odafin “Fin” Tutola), Kevin Kane (Detective Terry Bruno), and Aime Donna Kelly (Captain Renee Curry) at what looks like the scene of a tragedy, if that distraught woman Benson leads out of a building in one of the photos is any indication. Also pictured on set is Hargitay’s son August Hermann. (Hargitay’s husband Peter Hermann has recurred on SVU since Season 3 and was last seen as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan in Season 23.)

SVU didn’t end its 25th season with a cliffhanger, at least in terms of the case. Rather, as the finale ended, Benson passed along the compass necklace from Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) to the mother of the kidnapped teen she’d helped earlier in the season. She then called Stabler to let him know, “I haven’t taken it off since you gave it to me, and I wanted to let you know it has been incredibly meaningful to me and it has guided me in terms of my healing,” and he knew who she meant when she said she lent it to someone who needed it. “I knew you’d understand,” she said.

Check out the photos below and let us know in the comments section what you’re hoping to see in Season 26.

Law & Order: SVU, Season 26 Premiere, Thursday, October 3, 9/8c, NBC

Mariska Hargitay on the set of 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 26
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

Mariska Hargitay is once again leading SVU as Captain Olivia Benson. She’s the person victims want in their corner.

Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, and Aime Donna Kelly on the set of 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 26
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

Always love seeing Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T sharing scenes — they’ve been on the show the longest! But with quite a few members of the squad at this scene, something major must be going on.

Aime Donna Kelly and Mariska Hargitay on the set of 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 26
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

Aime Donna Kelly returns as Captain Renee Curry. Something serious must be going on, considering how she and Hargitay as Captain Benson are walking on scene.

Mariska Hargitay on the set of 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 26
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

Captain Benson (Hargitay) leads a distraught woman past media and police. Who did this woman lose?

Kevin Kane and Mariska Hargitay on the set of 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 26
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

Kevin Kane is back as Detective Bruno. But what happened here?

Mariska Hargitay, August Hermann, and Ice-T on the set of 'Law & Order: SVU' Season 26
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images

A lovely moment behind the scenes with Mariska Hargitay, her son August Hermann, Ice-T, and Kevin Kane