The TV reunion we've been waiting for is just around the corner.
We're, of course, talking about Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay's upcoming on-screen reunion for Thursday, April 1's Law & Order crossover event. As E! News readers well know, Meloni is reprising his role of Detective Elliot Stabler, which he played between 1999 and 2011, for an all-new Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode and Dick Wolf's latest crime procedural, titled Law & Organized Crime.
It's been 10 long years since Meloni's Stabler shared the small screen with Hargitay's (now Captain) Olivia Benson. Thus, fans are counting down the hours until Thursday's TV event on NBC. And, from what Meloni shared on Instagram on Wednesday, March 31, we aren't the only ones looking forward to the reunion.
Meloni captioned the upload, "So April 1 is nearly here and @therealmariskahargitay @nbc @nbclawandorder and I just want you all to know...#L&OOC #L&OSVU."
And, in the footage, Hargitay started off the teasy video by saying, "I needed it."
Supporting Hargitay's stance, Meloni also stated, "I needed it."
After confirming that they "both needed it," Hargitay teased that the fans "needed it" too. We're hoping this tease means that Benson and Stabler will hash everything out during the crossover event—because that's what we need.
The last time fans saw Stabler, he had taken the life of a woman who had been shooting up the SVU precinct. After this incident, the quick-to-anger detective retired without saying anything to his longtime partner. So, it's safe to say that they have plenty to discuss during their reunion.
With the crossover event just a day away, we invite you to take a look at our list of everything we know about Law & Order: Organized Crime. Yes, for a refresher on Elliot Stabler and what's to come for Organized Crime, scroll through the images below!
Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) was first introduced to fans in season one of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The quick-to-anger detective was longtime partners with now SVU captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and a dedicated family man. Married at 17 to his sweetheart Kathy (Isabel Gillies), the Stablers have five children together: Maureen, Kathleen, twins Elizabeth and Richard and Elliot Jr.
Meloni played Detective Elliot Stabler from 1999 to 2011 as he departed the crime procedural after season 12. The last time SVU fans saw Stabler, he fatally shot a woman who was shooting up the precinct. Benson was later blindsided by the fact that Stabler retired before speaking with her.
10 years later, Stabler is out of retirement and back fighting crime. According to the show's description, Organized Crime will follow Stabler as he returns "to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. However, 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. Stabler will aim to find absolution and rebuild his life while leading an elite new task force that is taking apart the city's most powerful crime syndicates one by one."
Meloni's return to the franchise as Stabler includes a Law & Order crossover event! This means Stabler and Benson will be on-screen together for the first time in a decade. Meloni's April 1 appearance on SVU will launch the new series, Organized Crime.
As Law & Order SVU showrunner Warren Leight teased in March 2021, the crossover event won't be the only Benson-Stabler reunion. He wrote on Twitter, "yesterday's scenes were for an svu down the road."
Dylan McDermott has been cast alongside Meloni on Law & Order: Organized Crime. While little has been revealed about his role, the production photo lists his character name as Richard Wheatley. The image also features Nick Creegan as Richard "Richie" Wheatley Jr.
Fans will get to know Danielle Moné Truitt as Sergeant Ayanna Bell in the first episode of Organized Crime.
In February 2021, longtime Bones star Tamara Taylor was confirmed as one of Meloni's co-stars on Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Be sure to catch the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime crossover event on Thursday, April 1 on NBC.
Binge past episodes of Law & Order: SVU on Peacock.
(E!, NBC and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)