I have loved Law & Order: SVU for a majority of my life; I was one of those kids who started watching it a bit too early. When I came to New York, anytime I felt homesick I would watch it, and after the first month or so of the pandemic, I had re-watched 20 seasons. Not only was I heartbroken when Elliot Stabler left, but I was shocked when I heard he was to return. Ironically, from someone who advocates against police, I have a very strong emotional connection to these fictional characters– at this point they’re like family. So here is my complete opinion on arguably the most impactful television event of the decade.
Before I jump into the episode, I want to just reflect on Stabler’s past. From this point forward there will be major spoilers, I highly suggest if you intend to watch the entire series you may hold off on this article. So, Stabler was the original main character, for the first few seasons it seemed to center his story, as his relationship with Olivia Benson grew and she evolved as a character we started to see the shift on the focus towards their relationship as partners. Elliot Stabler is a quintessential hothead cop; he makes very questionable judgments based on aggression. It’s easy to hate him, but then at the same time no one cares about each case more than he does, and at the end of the day there is always a scene where you love him. Plus, you have the evolving relationship with Olivia and the fan desire for them to get together.
Stabler leaves in the season 12 finale. In his career that we saw, he had what they call 5 “good shootings,” he killed people, but all were ruled justifiable. And because we are invested in these characters, we for a moment ignore that it is police brutality. Well in his final episode, Stabler kills a young rape victim who attempted to open fire in the squad room; it is again a shooting that would be deemed justifiable. The writers decided it was too much for Stabler and he left the show. The worst part about it all is that Olivia and the fans find out from the captain in the beginning of season 13, there was never any closure.
Now fast forward to the end of season 21 and the writers announce that in season 22 Elliot Stabler would return. No one was given any details, slowly it evolved to reveal that he would have a spin-off show called Law & Order: Organized Crime, but the question still remained how this would overlap with SVU. Well on April 1, 2021 we found out during a two-hour crossover event.
The plotline showed that Elliot and his wife Kathy were back in New York for a work conference, after leaving the special victims unit Elliot became at the liaison for NYPD in Rome and had to consult back in New York for a week. During this week Ice-T’s character, Finn, secretly invited the couple to an award ceremony where Olivia was being honored. However, the couple’s rental car is bombed with Kathy in it and Olivia finds out about then being in the city when arriving at the crime scene.
For a second I’m going to pull out from the plot to explain my reaction. Now mind you, this all happened within the first 2 minutes and I was a sobbing mess- I was not prepared for Elliot to scream “Olivia” and she whispered his name, it was a moment where time seemed to stop. Mariska Hargitay’s acting is hard to put into words, she has the capability of making you feel every emotion with just a few words and a tone shift.
Back into the plot, SVU is in charge of finding out who bombed an undercover police car with Kathy inside and why. Elliot obviously wants in on the case, which in turn creates a little bit of conflict, because in the time he’s been gone, Olivia has outranked him. Kathy ends up dying and that is when the reunion shifts into the pilot of Stabler’s new show. It’s been revealed that the bomber was hired, and it was part of an organized crime, SVU was taken off the case, and Elliot wants to join the New York City unit to help find his wife’s killer.
Another pause for my opinion, Elliot and Olivia talked briefly on what went down in the past but then we’re distracted by other factors. Their separate lives still kept them apart. Their interactions in the two hours pretty much ends with Elliot handing Olivia a love letter and him dismissing her a few days later when she wants to discuss it. To finish out the pilot of Organized Crime, we find out that the Italian mafia had something to do with Kathy’s death and that people close to NYPD were in on it. The first season will center on revealing all of these secrets and Stabler’s new position.
The two hours ended with me wanting more, which I guess means it did its job. However, part of me feels like it was not enough for a return. There were so many distractions to what everybody’s main focus was on. And yes, I know that the point is to introduce a new show and plot line, but I think the fans deserved a little bit more Olivia and Elliot, together. Based on the way it ended I am really hoping that there will be more overlap between the two shows, but honestly Dick Wolf always keeps us on our toes, so we will just have to see. I’m glad he’s back and rooting solely for Olivia’s happiness.