‘Law & Order: SVU’ Spinoff First Look: Elliot Stabler Apologizes in ‘Organized Crime’ Clip

NBC shared the first teaser for Law & Order: Organized Crime during Thursday night’s episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, showing the first new footage of Christopher Meloni as Elliot Stabler in a decade. Meloni plays the character for the first time since leaving SVU in 2011 in the new series, which sees Stabler leading his own organized crime task force. In the short clip, it appears that Stabler is apologizing to someone — possibly Benson — for staying away for so long.

The 25-second spot starts with some old footage of Srabler in action, before showing Stabler today, speaking to someone in a bar. “You know how much time has passed that you can’t reach out? Days turn into months turn into years and I just kept waiting for the right moment,” Stabler says. It is not clear who he is speaking to, but it is probably Mariska Hargitay‘s Olivia Benson.

Stabler’s apology also refers to how Stabler just disappeared from SVU without any major goodbyes. Meloni left SVU at the end of Season 12 because he did not renew his contract, and Stabler’s disappearance in Season 13 was just explained with dialogue. In the Season 12 finale, Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) said Stabler would have to take a psychological evaluation and be investigated by internal affairs. Rather than go along with those requirements, Stabler just retired off-screen between the two seasons and never said goodbye to Benson.

Organized Crime will debut on Thursday, April 1 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following a new SVU episode that reintroduces Stabler to the fold. The new series begins with Stabler returning to the New York City Police Department after suffering a personal tragedy. Stabler is asked to put together a new task force to stop organized crime syndicates. Dylan McDermott, Tamara Taylor (Bones), and Danielle Moné Truitt (Rebel) will co-star. Production was reportedly put on hold last week though after a member of the crew tested positive for the coronavirus.

It is not clear who the other characters in the series will be, but McDermott dropped a surprising preview on his Instagram page earlier this week. His photo showed himself standing in an ornate home with two big dogs. “Organized Crime,” he wrote in the caption. McDermott is a Golden Globe winner thanks to The Practice. His recent credits include Hollywood, American Horror Story, and LA to Vegas.