Summary

• Raúl Esparza left Law & Order: SVU after six seasons because he felt it was time to move on to new projects.
• Esparza's character, Rafael Barba, has made surprise guest appearances in later seasons of SVU, including crossovers with Law & Order: Organized Crime.
• Barba's return in Season 23 strained his relationship with Benson, but their future is left open for another potential return.

Law & Order: SVU is currently the longest-running primetime live-action series on American television. With over five hundred episodes, fans are no strangers to beloved SVU characters being written off the show. However, that conceit doesn't take the sting out of seeing a fan favorite leave. In particular, SVU's Assistant District Attorney position has regularly been turned over every few seasons. But the loss of Raúl Esparza's ADA Rafael Barba remains one of the show's hardest departures.

Barba joined the SVU squad way back in Season 14 as a recurring character, before being promoted to a series regular in Season 15. During Raúl Esparza's tenure on the show, Rafael Barba provided not only a moral compass (which sometimes went against legal technicalities) but also a distinct personality. Moreover, Barba's deep, personal friendship with Captain Olivia Benson was a moving testament to the power of relationships in the Law & Order franchise, making people wonder why Raúl Esparza left SVU in the first place.

Updated on April 14, 2024, by Florencia Aberastury: Rafael Barba is one of the most popular and beloved SVU ADAs, as well as the longest-serving SVU ADA, and his departure from the show took many fans by surprise. This article has been updated to include more information about Raul Esparza's departure from Special Victims Unit and his return, as well as to bring the article up to current CBR standards.

This clip contains discussion of sexual assault.

Why Did Barba Leave SVU?

Despite being a strong fan-favorite, and SVU's longest-serving ADA, Raúl Esparza left SVU in Season 19. But when does Barba leave SVU? Rafael Barba had a memorable exit from the show, as he found himself caught between his morals and the letter of the law in a family's right-to-die case. Ultimately, he chose to follow his moral compass and left the District Attorney's Office after helping the family by turning off their son's life support — thus breaking the law. He was replaced by ADA Peter Stone, played by Philip Winchester, who became the franchise's link to the Chicago television universe.

• Rafael Barba makes his first appearance in Season 14, Episode 3 of Law & Order: SVU, in an episode entitled "Twenty-Five Acts"
• After acting as a recurring star in Season 14 of Law & Order: SVU, Raúl Esparza was promoted to a series regular for Season 15.
• ADA Barba makes his final appearance as a main cast member in Season 19, Episode 13 of Law & Order: SVU, in an episode entitled "The Undiscovered Country."

But Raúl Esparza's reason for leaving the show was much less dramatic than his character's. There was no bad blood or unhappiness behind the choice, as Esparza was quoted as saying:

"I've done six seasons, I felt like it was time to go. I had explored a lot of what I thought Barba was about. I just felt it was time to move on."

So, while there are fair gripes about other characters being written out too soon — like SVU detective Amanda Rollins, Christian Garland, or even Stone — and ill-advised replacement character arcs, Esparza's leaving was nothing but congenial. In fact, he remained on such good terms with the producers that Barba has since returned to the Law & Order world.

How And When Did Barba Come Back To SVU?

From Elliot Stabler to Donald Cragen and most recently Amanda Rollins, a lot of beloved SVU characters have found their way back to the Law & Order franchise in some capacity — including Rafael Barba. Beginning in Season 21, Rafael Barba started a slew of surprise guest appearances, much to the delight of longtime fans. In fact, Barba even appeared as part of a crossover event in the second season of SVU's sister show, Law & Order: Organized Crime.

• Raúl Esparza has appeared in four episodes of Law & Order: SVU since his departure from the series in 2018.
• Including his guest appearances, Raúl Esparza has starred in 119 episodes of Law & Order: SVU.
• Raúl Esparza has also appeared as Rafael Barba in one episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime from Season 2, titled "The Christmas Episode," bringing his total number of episodes in the franchise up to 120.

For every heartbreaking time that a character cannot return, such as the passing of Richard Belzer preventing Detective John Munch from coming back, there are others like Barba who get full-blown character arcs when they come back. He video chatted with Benson in Season 21, Episode 13, "Redemption in Her Corner," before returning in Season 22 to help with the Innocence Project. He also met with Sonny Carisi, who had by then become SVU's next Assistant District Attorney.

Barba was next seen in SVU's Season 23 as part of a crossover with Organized Crime — when he gets on the somewhat bad side of Stabler and Benson by defending Richard Wheatley, the man who murdered Stabler's wife. That storyline strained his relationship with Benson and, when Barba again returned at the end of Season 23 of SVU, in the episode "A Final Call At Forlini's Bar," the two former friends met up for a tense drink. Barba alluded to having strong feelings for Benson... but she couldn't get past his betrayal. The two didn't necessarily part as friends, but SVU left a glimmer of hope for their future, leaving the door wide open for another welcome return from the show's favorite lawyer.

What Has Raúl Esparza Done Since Leaving Law & Order?

Since his final appearance as a series regular in Season 19 of Law & Order: SVU, Raúl Esparza has continued to enjoy a fruitful career. Most notably, Esparza had a key role in Hulu's 2022 miniseries, Candy, which starred Jessica Biel as the infamous Candy Montgomery, who was a prime suspect in the murder of her lover's wife, Betty Gore, in the 1980s. Esparza portrayed Don Crowder in the series, Candy Montgomery's lawyer who manages to get her acquitted of the charges brought against her.

• According to the Internet Movie Database, Raúl Esparza has 28 acting credits for his work in movies and television.
• Raúl Esparza's highest-rated project on Rotten Tomatoes is 2017's Ferdinand, with a 71% Freshness rating. He voices Moreno in the animated film.
• Raúl Esparza's lowest-rated project on Rotten Tomatoes is 2010's My Soul to Take, with a 10% Freshness rating. He plays Abel in the film.

Most recently, Esparza appeared in FX's drama miniseries, A Murder at the End of the World. The series follows a group of eight people who are invited to a billionaire's mansion, only for one of them to wind up dead. The survivors, including Esparza's David Alvarez, must get to the bottom of the murder before time runs out.

Although his departure from Law & Order: SVU was painful for many viewers, Raúl Esparza has continued to enjoy a fruitful career. In the years since leaving the series, he has shown that he is much more than ADA Rafael Barba — even if he returns to the iconic role from time to time.

Law & Order: SVU is available to stream on Peacock and Hulu.