‘Law & Order: SVU’ Details Where Elliot Stabler Went After Leaving Series

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit didn’t waste any time reuniting Elliot Stabler with his former partners at the SVU, with some surprising revelations along the way. So what has Meloni’s character been up to for the decade he has been away? Well, he didn’t stop fighting crime but he did change his venue quite a bit.

As revealed by Fin, played by Ice-T in the series, Stabler has been working in Italy as a special terrorism liaison for the NYPD. “Elliot had to come in for a task force meeting,” Fin says in the scene before adding his role. He later mentions that his main focus is terrorism cases, which is made quite clear after it is revealed his wife, Kathy Stabler, was injured in a car bomb attack.

Another significant revelation in the early moments of the episode is that Stabler and Benson have not spoken in 10 years. That would mean that upon Stabler’s exit, and Meloni’s by extension, the characters that were thick as thieves from the start have had no contact in a decade.

Later, Stabler and Fin have a closer heart-to-heart over some drinks, revealing that he went to find himself after leaving SVU before taking on private security overseas before working in the terrorism task force in Italy. Then four years ago in the series, Stabler found himself back in the NYPD’s graces as the liaison in Rome.

Stabler returned from Rome to New York for a conference and training session, but he is also scheduled to testify in an extortion and money laundering trial. Stabler and his family were living in Puglia in Southern Italy before their return for the state. It is also revealed that Kathy wanted to attend Liv’s award ceremony, but they didn’t reach out to Benson.

If you’re looking to catch up on Stabler’s latest exploits or relive the older episodes in the series, Hulu has past episodes up for streaming and NBC can be accessed live on through its service. Peacock also has all of your Law & Order needs, plus live episodes will stream on the NBC homepage.

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