 The episode was written by David Matthews and was directed by Michael Slovis . It is the first episode to air since Christopher Meloni left the series as leading costar , and marks the first appearance of Kelli Giddish as Amanda Rollins , who was added to the main cast alongside Danny Pino in June 2011 following Meloni 's departure . The episode featured guest appearances from Franco Nero , Stephanie March , and Linus Roache , who reprised his role as Michael Cutter from Law & Order . " Scorched Earth " received mostly positive reviews , though the cast changes received mixed reactions . According to Nielsen ratings , the episode 's original broadcast was watched by 7 @.@ 63 million viewers . 
