‘SVU’: What the Stabler Family’s Return Could Mean for Elliot on ‘Organized Crime’

We don’t know too much about what to expect from the Law & Order: SVU spinoff Organized Crime focusing on Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), but we do know, thanks to NBC’s logline, that he leads an elite task force going after crime syndicates following “a devastating personal loss.” But with the news that other members of his family will appear in the upcoming April 1 crossover to kick off his show, it seems we might have a few hints.

Isabel Gillies (his wife Kathy), Allison Siko (their daughter Kathleen), and Jeffrey Scaperrotta (their son Dickie) are returning, Give Me My Remote reports. In SVU‘s episode, “Return of the Prodigal Son,” the squad works to keep the Stabler family safe after a threat. Will any of what had previously been the plan for the Stablers’ returns — showrunner Warren Leight revealed how Kathy would come back, with one of her sons in trouble, in the Season 21 finale, on SVU‘s official podcast — be used here?

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Benson & Stabler Reunite in New 'SVU'-'Organized Crime' Crossover Promo (VIDEO)

That sets the stage for the highly anticipated reunion between Elliot and his former partner, (now-Captain) Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). Sergeant Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) is the only other member of SVU who was around in Stabler’s days with the unit. Previews have shown Elliot with both of them, with one possibly teasing that “devastating loss.”

In that one, Benson is at a crime scene, with what looks like a burned car (could one of the Stablers have been inside?!), when she hears Elliot call her name. We’ll have to wait to find out when exactly that takes place in the crossover and why he’s at the scene. Watch the video below:

Now just because Kathy, Kathleen, and Dickie are alive and appearing on SVU doesn’t mean we should assume they’re all going to make it to the Organized Crime episode, or that one of the other Stabler children (Maureen, Elizabeth, and Eli) is the loss. It might not even be one of his family Elliot loses, though chances are high that it is.

But it is very possible that those three Stablers are returning to the Law & Order universe on-screen to remind viewers of who they are so that, when one (or more?) of them is killed to lead into the spinoff, no one has to go watch episodes that aired over a decade ago to understand where Elliot’s head is on his show. It’ll also reintroduce characters we’ll likely see or at least hear about in his life moving forward.

After all, we haven’t seen any of the Stablers since Elliot’s abrupt exit from the unit after the SVU Season 12 finale in 2011.

“When I left SVU, I know I didn’t handle that well,” Elliot says in the other teaser, but Fin corrects him: “You didn’t handle it at all.” (They’re referring to when Elliot turned in his papers without talking to anyone after he had to shoot an armed young girl in the precinct.)

And so now with this casting news, our list of questions continues to grow longer for Elliot’s return to the NYPD. Fortunately, there are only 17 days until we’ll get some answers.

Law & Order: SVU, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC

Law & Order: Organized Crime, Series Premiere, Thursday, April 1, 10/9c, NBC