Law & Order: SVU Exclusive: Malcolm in the Middle Mom to Battle DA Barba

Law & Order: SVU district attorney Rafael Barba (Raul Esparza) better bring his A-game.

The long-running NBC procedural has snagged Malcolm in the Middle mom Jane Kaczmarek to battle the DA in an upcoming episode, TVGuide.com has learned.

Kaczmarek will play Pam James, the Suffolk County district attorney who lands the same murder case as DA Barba. However, while James arrests an SVU rape victim for the crime, Barba and the SVU team like a different suspect for the murder. The trials start simultaneously and both prosecutors must fight for a conviction before the other can destroy their case. There is not yet an airdate for the episode.

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Kaczmarek is best known for playing Malcolm in the Middle's controlling and crazed matriarch Lois on the Fox family comedy, for which she earned seven Emmy nominations. She more recently starred as a judge on the TNT legal drama Raising the Bar and currently recurs on Whitney as Whitney's mom. Kaczmarek also guest-starred on the flagship Law & Order back in 1994.

Law & Order: SVU airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on NBC. Are you excited to see Kaczmarek go toe-to-toe with Barba? Who do you think will come out on top?