'Law & Order: SVU' Season 22 Premiere Will Not Feature Christopher Meloni, and Fans Are Having a Meltdown

Like many other television productions, Law & Order: Special Victim Unit's Season 22 premiere has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The premiere was originally set to feature Christopher Meloni's return as Elliot Stabler. However, SVU showrunner Warren Leight confirmed on Twitter that the episode will now be held back until Meloni's spin-off, Law & Order: Organized Crime, debuts sometime next year. As a result, fans have weighed in on this delay, and they're not happy about having to wait for Stabler and Olivia Benson's reunion.

On Twitter, Leight responded to a fan who questioned whether Stabler would still appear in SVU's Season 22 premiere given that the premiere date of Meloni's spinoff was pushed back. In response, he wrote that all of the show's plans are subject to change amid the ongoing pandemic. When it comes to Stabler's appearance on SVU, Leight shared that he won't be reuniting with Benson or the other members of the elite squad until the night of the Organized Crime premiere (the spinoff will premiere in 2021, but an exact date has not yet been announced). He ended his message by noting that the SVU writers' room has to be "nimble" this year in regards to these changes.

Since fans were excited about the prospect of seeing Stabler and Benson back together again on their TV screens, they weren't thrilled to learn that they'll have to wait a little longer for that reunion. And they didn't hold back their feelings on this unfortunate delay.