By Jeff Pfeiffer
Last December, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans were thrilled when star Mariska Hargitay posted to her Instagram account a screen capture of a table read held via Zoom for an upcoming episode, accompanied by the understated caption, “Well … that happened …” Fans were excited that a new episode was in the works, sure, but they were especially amped-up when they noticed one screen name and picture in particular from among the several Zoom participants: “chrismeloni1.”
Yes, it was Christopher Meloni, back — at least virtually, in that moment — with his old SVU family and getting ready to reprise his beloved character of Detective Elliot Stabler. Meloni portrayed Stabler during the long-running crime drama’s first 12 seasons, from 1999-2011, earning an Emmy nomination for his work.
Starting this month, Meloni is back to the character full time as he leads the new spinoff series Law & Order: Organized Crime. The series launches with a two-hour event on April 1 — its premiere episode will be preceded by an SVU crossover episode in which Meloni guest-stars.
“Working with Mariska again was effortless,” says Meloni, sounding as excited to be back in the L&O universe as fans are at having him return, “and there was a sense of knowing without having to say anything. We just are, and you can’t plan for it, and it’s the most important element of chemistry. We’ve been lucky to keep it over the years.”
Of course, in his new series, Meloni will have a new group of regulars to work with, including Dylan McDermott, Tamara Taylor (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Danielle Moné Truitt (2017’s Rebel). The spinoff follows Stabler, who is returning to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss.
Meloni admits that he “can’t say much” about the series. “But Elliot has been finding his purpose. He took time to work on himself and focus on his family. What brings him back is a mix of business and pleasure, but both have been sidelined when we first see him.”
Executive Producer Ilene Chaiken tells us that the series will follow one major case over the course of the season, but the episodes will each feature a self-contained, close-ended story that resolves within the hour and relates to the larger case.
Stabler certainly saw some of the worst of the worst types of criminals working in the SVU, but dealing with organized crime seems like it could present new kinds of challenges to him, and Meloni agrees.
“This is a modern Mafia,” he says. “They have their hands in all the dark crevices like cryptocurrency and the dark web. It’s more high-tech, more sophisticated, and that’s just not where Stabler lives.”
