Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni tease their upcoming Law & Order: SVU reunion with a single photo. Meloni and Hargitay first played the roles of Detective Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler in 1999 when they were cast in the Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Meloni starred on the show for 12 seasons. In 2011, he announced he would not be returning to the show after disagreements over contract negotiations.
However, Meloni couldn't stay away from the Law & Order universe forever and will reprise his role in a new spin-off called Law & Order: Organized Crime. The new series follows Elliot Stabler as he "returns to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss." Stabler retired from the NYPD after the season 12 finale showed him fatally shooting a young girl in self-defense after she arrived at the precinct and killed the men who killed her mother. The traumatic incident pushed Stabler to leave the NYPD as the show was forced to write off Meloni's character following his departure.
SVU star Mariska Hargitay posted a photo of her and Meloni on Instagram with the caption, "It's on." The post and caption could be a sign that SVU will start production soon. Detective Stabler's return to the series was originally planned for SVU's season 21 finale. However, plans were scrapped after the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to production, forcing the show to end its season early. SVU's showrunner Warren Leight announced that Stabler will return in the first episode of season 22 in addition to Meloni returning to the character in the new Law & Order series.
While NBC remains committed to airing Organized Crime in the Fall, the network announced new shows like Tina Fey's Mr. Mayor and Kenan Thomson's Kenan will not air until 2021. Returning shows Good Girls and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist have also been postponed. NBC already announced that Organized Crime is set to premiere in mid-October, with production resuming on the NBCUniversal studio lot. Meloni's return is highly-anticipated, and Organized Crime is one of the few shows NBC pushed back into production once they felt it was safe to resume filming.
Detective Stabler was always a fan-favorite on the long-running cop drama series. And Stabler's relationship with partner-turned-best-friend Olivia Benson was one of the biggest highlights of the show. Law & Order: SVU has continued to do just fine with Mariska Hargitay taking the lead and is still one of the most-watched series on broadcast television today. But the reunion of Benson and Stabler will always be an exciting sight for fans.
Source: Instagram