Law And Order: Organized Crime - What We Know So Far

Badge number 6313 in the NYPD belongs to one man and one fictitious man only — Detective Elliot Stabler. For 12 seasons, Chris Meloni played the iconic former Marine on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit alongside a host of characters, most notably Detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay).

Sadly, Meloni's tenure as Stabler ended in 2011 after failed contract negotiations. In the continuity of SVU, season 12 ends with Stabler killing a woman who opens fire in the SVU squad room. The death comes as a huge blow to Stabler because the woman's attack was spurned on by a need for justice after the sexual assault of her mother. It's also noteworthy that this death marks the sixth time Stabler had to kill in the line of duty.

For Stabler and Meloni both, this was the end of the road. Stabler is expected to undergo a psychological evaluation and anger management classes, but ultimately decides to retire (off-screen) instead.

However, a decade later, Meloni is finally returning as Elliot Stabler to the Law & Order family with a brand new series called Law & Order: Organized Crime. Here's everything we know about the upcoming series so far.

If you've been waiting for 10 years for Elliot Stabler to come back to Law & Order, there's no one here who will blame you. While Chris Meloni never stop wowing television audiences with roles on major shows like True Blood, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp, Happy!, and Harley Quinn, there's really no replacing Stabler.

And the great news for those who are wondering when Stabler will return, the answer is "very, very soon!" Since Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is still on the air and about to begin it's twenty second season, the decision was made to reunite Meloni's Stabler with his old partner Olivia Benson in an epic two-hour, crossover event.

The Season 22 premiere of SVU and the first ever episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime will both air on the same night: Thursday, April 1, 2021. SVU  at 9pm EST with Organized Crime following immediately after at 10pm EST.

If you think Chris Meloni will be the only big name for the new Law & Order series, you are very mistaken. The cast so far is already full of incredible procedural drama veterans and new talent alike.

One thing to get out of the way, though — don't expect Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson to switch shows. In an interview with The Talk, Meloni made it clear that Hargitay was staying a part of SVU, saying "I hear she has her own day job." However don't think that means the two won't crossover again after the pilot. Meloni confirmed that he'd go along with "whatever the writers come up with. I think we will both be looking forward to playing with each other in each other's sandbox."

Hargitay aside, according to Deadline, there are some huge names slated for the new series. While fans are more accustomed to seeing Dylan McDermott, on the legal end of things as Bobby Donnell in the long-running series The Practice, he's been known to don a blue uniform a time or two like in LA to Vegas and Dark Blue. And for any Bones fans out there, Organized Crime will also star Tamara Taylor, who is perhaps best known for wrangling Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) and her crew as Camille Saroyanin. She's also been featured in the popular series Numb3rs, CSI: Miami, and NCIS.

Rounding out the cast of regulars are Danielle Moné Truitt and Ainsley Seiger. Truitt recently starred in cop shows Deputy and Rebel. Rebel, notably, focused on the challenge of being a woman of color in law enforcement. Seiger is a relative newcomer.

Recurring cast members thus far include Jaylin Fletcher (Snowpiercer), Nick Creegan (David Makes Man), Charlotte Sullivan (Rookie Blue), and Ben Chase (The Last Thing He Wanted).

The million dollar question is this: what would bring Detective Elliot Stabler back to the force? And the answer seems to be only the absolute worst possible reason of all — tragedy. According to an official release from NBC, Stabler will return "to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss." Stabler does have a wife and a slew of kids, so it's possible some or all of them might find themselves on the wrong side of a crime family.

Obviously, whatever form the inevitable tragedy takes, it will only act as preamble for the ongoing series. And since it's been a while since Stabler was in the game, a big part of the plot will revolve around how out of step he is. "The city and police department have changed dramatically in the decade he's been away, and he must adapt to a criminal justice system in the midst of its own moment of reckoning," reads the statement. Considering the focus on police corruption in the real world, we're guessing many forthcoming ripped-from-the-headlines stories will butt up against Stabler's way of doing things.

But if you want to know what Organized Crime is like in a sentence, NBC summed it up: "Stabler will aim to find absolution and rebuild his life while leading a new elite task force that is taking apart the city's most powerful criminal syndicates one by one."

Law & Order: Organized Crime airs on NBC beginning April 1, 2021.