Christopher Meloni’s Detective Elliot Stabler is reaching out in the latest look at Law & Order: Organized Crime. It’s unclear who Stabler is talking to in the brief teaser, but fans will more than likely think it’s Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson. Could Stabler be providing the reasoning and an apology behind his absence to his former partner? “You know how much time has passed that you can’t reach out? Days turn into months turn into years and I just kept waiting for the right moment,” says Stabler in the teaser.
For many Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans, Elliot Stabler ghosted Olivia Benson in season 13. Christopher Meloni left the series after season 12 when contract negotiations broke down. In turn Stabler quietly retired from the precinct off-screen between seasons, without saying a word to Benson. So, it would be logical for our first look at Law & Order: Organized Crime to be a breaking of the ice between the two former partners.
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In a recent interview with AP, Christopher Meloni was asked how Elliot Stabler is different in Law & Order: Organized Crime. “You can have certain behavioral patterns as a younger man that I don’t think wear as well as an older man,” said the actor. “I think that if you are conscious and have aspects of empathy and awareness, you acquire a modicum of wisdom, which I think helps temper impulses. I think the heart and soul of this man, Elliot, is still very much alive and burning.” Most of the main storyline for the new series is being kept under wraps, but it is known that the detective is coming back after suffering a devastating loss, which likely fuels Stabler.
As for returning to the world of Law & Order: SVU, it took some time for Christopher Meloni. The actor had to think about it, and there were some nerves involved. “There was some trepidation. I was fully prepared for weird,” says Meloni. “Gearing up to reintroduce my character through the SVU vehicle was really rather nerve-racking.” He goes on to say that it was “very difficult,” but once he got rolling, everything went smooth. While it may have been weird for the actor, Stabler seems to be right where we last saw him, with some added wisdom.
Christopher Meloni was also excited to return to his Elliot Stabler character in Law & Order: Organized Crime, thanks to the work of Dick Wolf Productions. “Their connections, their knowledge of how shows get produced, done and written. It’s nice. You don’t have to remake the wheel. I was pleasantly surprised to slip into shoes I had worn before,” says Meloni when asked about his decision to return after all of these years. Law & Order: Organized Crime premieres on April 1st. You can check out the teaser above, thanks to the official SVU Instagram account.
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