Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans have waited 10 years for the return of Detective Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni), who departed the show after the season 12 finale, when his character was forced to shoot a teenager who had open fired in the SVU precinct.
Fast forward to Thursday night and Stabler returned for an episode of SVU titled Return of the Prodigal Son, which served as a kick off to the Stabler-led Law & Order spinoff Law & Order: Organized Crime. The two-hour event was 10 years in the making and featured the reunion of longtime partners Stabler and Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).
The episode begins with Olivia responding to a 1013 call (officer in distress), making her late for an award ceremony where she is due to get an award. She arrives on the scene and asks what happened, and it’s revealed a car bomb went off and an officer’s wife was injured.
Benson heads toward the car but is distracted when she sees the victim being loaded into the ambulance. She recognizes the victim as Kathy Stabler (Isabel Gillies), the wife of her former partner. It’s then that Benson hears a familiar voice call out, “Liv!” Benson whips around and comes face-to-face with Elliot for the first time in a decade. She breathes out his name in a whisper, as if daring to believe her eyes, and the two walk toward each other.
We're calling in our West Coast squad for back up.
The #SVU & #OrganizedCrime crossover premiere event starts right now on @NBC. pic.twitter.com/8a8Hy7fOxk
— 𝐋𝐀𝐖 & 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 (@lawandordertv) April 2, 2021
At that point, everyone in the audience screamed at seeing Stabler and Benson together again and the episode takes off from there.
The SVU squad rallies to investigate the attack on Kathy. Olivia and Fin (Ice T) bring the rest of the squad up to speed and they both talk about their relationships with Stabler.
Part way through the episode, Olivia is reunited with Kathy in the hospital, and Kathy mentions how it’s just like the old days with Elliot and Olivia being so in sync with each other. Kathy also admonishes Elliot, stupefied that he went 10 years without reaching out to Olivia following his retirement from NYPD.
Always in sync. <3 A THRILL to have you back, @isabelgillies, couldn’t love you more. I MISSED YOU SO! @Chris_Meloni #SVU #OrganizedCrime — @Mariska pic.twitter.com/oL3SXx3mFN
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) April 2, 2021
After Kathy goes to sleep, Elliot joins Olivia in the waiting area. And thus begins the most emotionally charged moment of the episode: Elliot trying to make amends for leaving SVU without even telling Olivia. Everything is finally put it all on the table.
Elliot: Liv, I’m sorry.
Olivia: *after telling Elliot that don’t “have to do this right now”* Are you sorry for leaving? Or are you sorry for walking…for not giving me the courtesy of telling me?
Elliot: Both. I think I thought if I talked to you…
Olivia: You walked away. Cause that’s what you did, Elliot. I had to find out from Cragen.
Elliot: Olivia…
Olivia: Elliot…You were the most, the single most important person in my life and you just…disappeared.
Elliot: I know. I was afraid…if I heard your voice, I wouldn’t have been able to leave.
The long-awaited discussion between Benson and Stabler is emotional to watch and you can tell both characters carry a lot of emotional baggage regarding Stabler’s departure.
Sadly, the episode does not have a happy ending. You can probably guess why. But there is a welcome Benson and Stabler hug that helps carry the viewer through the moment.
💔💔💔 #SVU #OrganizedCrime pic.twitter.com/QQ0tMGhHyx
— 𝐋𝐀𝐖 & 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 (@lawandordertv) April 2, 2021
From there, the episode seamlessly transitions to Organized Crime, which is a show that stands well on its own. Although it’s a little confusing at first since the viewer doesn’t know who’s who except for Stabler, the show contains the familiar Law & Order drama and the episode is personal for Elliot as he continues to track down the person responsible for the car bombing.
Another welcome part of Organized Crime was seeing all of the Stabler children return, with Allison Siko and Jeffrey Scaperrotta returning as Kathleen and Dickie Stabler. Maureen, Elizabeth and Eli have new actors playing their characters. Eli also has one of the most emotional moments of the OC episode, which Nick Torchia pulls off beautifully.
SVU and Organized Crime air on Thursday nights back-to-back on NBC. Both shows will have new episodes next week.
The next chapter in Stabler’s story is here. 😱 Don't miss #OrganizedCrime Thursdays at 10/9c on @NBC. pic.twitter.com/afjFGiobxo
— 𝐋𝐀𝐖 & 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 (@lawandordertv) April 2, 2021
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