Stabler's coming home.
That is the messaging at the heart of all the promotion for the upcoming premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime. Why? Well, because the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit spin-off will mark Christopher Meloni's return as Detective Elliot Stabler.
Fans have been patiently waiting for the Organized Crime premiere—which will air Thursday, April 1 as part of a crossover event with Law & Order: SVU—ever since the spin-off was announced in March of last year. In case you forgot, Meloni's return to the franchise was delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the loss of a showrunner.
Nonetheless, this Thursday will feature an on-screen reunion of longtime co-stars Meloni, who famously played Stabler between 1999 and 2011, and Mariska Hargitay, who plays Captain Olivia Benson on the long-running crime procedural. And someone may need to call a bus for us because we are more than excited!
Although a lot has been kept under wraps about the new Dick Wolf-created series, we've compiled a list of everything we know about Thursday's crossover event, especially Organized Crime. Yet, we're not sure we're ready for the "devastating personal loss" that's been teased for Stabler. (More on that later on…)
For a refresher on Elliot Stabler and what's to come for Law & Order: Organized Crime, scroll through the images below!
Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) was first introduced to fans in season one of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The quick-to-anger detective was longtime partners with now SVU captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and a dedicated family man. Married at 17 to his sweetheart Kathy (Isabel Gillies), the Stablers have five children together: Maureen, Kathleen, twins Elizabeth and Richard and Elliot Jr.
Meloni played Detective Elliot Stabler from 1999 to 2011 as he departed the crime procedural after season 12. The last time SVU fans saw Stabler, he fatally shot a woman who was shooting up the precinct. Benson was later blindsided by the fact that Stabler retired before speaking with her.
10 years later, Stabler is out of retirement and back fighting crime. According to the show's description, Organized Crime will follow Stabler as he returns "to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. However, the city and police department have changed dramatically in the decade he's been away, and he must adapt to a criminal justice system in the midst of its own moment of reckoning. Stabler will aim to find absolution and rebuild his life while leading an elite new task force that is taking apart the city's most powerful crime syndicates one by one."
Meloni's return to the franchise as Stabler includes a Law & Order crossover event! This means Stabler and Benson will be on-screen together for the first time in a decade. Meloni's April 1 appearance on SVU will launch the new series, Organized Crime.
As Law & Order SVU showrunner Warren Leight teased in March 2021, the crossover event won't be the only Benson-Stabler reunion. He wrote on Twitter, "yesterday's scenes were for an svu down the road."
Dylan McDermott has been cast alongside Meloni on Law & Order: Organized Crime. While little has been revealed about his role, the production photo lists his character name as Richard Wheatley. The image also features Nick Creegan as Richard "Richie" Wheatley Jr.
Fans will get to know Danielle Moné Truitt as Sergeant Ayanna Bell in the first episode of Organized Crime.
In February 2021, longtime Bones star Tamara Taylor was confirmed as one of Meloni's co-stars on Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Be sure to catch the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime crossover event on Thursday, April 1 on NBC.
Binge past episodes of Law & Order: SVU on Peacock.
(E!, NBC and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)