It's not a prank when we say Det. Elliot Stabler reunited with Capt. Olivia Benson, and it felt so good—although that cliffhanger wasn't ideal.
Christopher Meloni's popular character made his long-awaited return on the Thursday, April 1 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where he found himself face-to-face with Mariska Hargitay's Liv for the first time since he exited SVU 10 years ago. This was followed by the series premiere of his own new procedural, Law & Order: Organized Crime.
It didn't take Liv and Stabler long to reconnect in New York City, and she was stunned when she saw him at the scene of the crime, where his wife, Kathy, had just been seriously injured by a car bomb.
Stabler hadn't even spoken to Liv since leaving SVU in 2011 after he killed a 16-year-old girl, and since then, he went on a walkabout and then was living in Rome and doing some security work. He and Kathy decided to return to NYC to surprise Liv for her award ceremony that the woman of the hour sadly ended up missing.
The detective was quickly back to his old self, as he rolled up his sleeves and seemed about ready to pummel the suspect, an anarchist named Jacob. The guy knew just how to push Stabler's buttons, and Liv had to charge at Stabler in order to keep him from doing something he'd regret.
Finally, Stabler and Liv got a moment for a heart-to-heart, where he told her, "I'm sorry." She replied, "You're sorry for leaving? Or ... for not giving me the courtesy of telling me?"
The emotional moments kept coming in hot. "You were the single most important person in my life, and you disappeared," Liv said. He explained, "I was afraid if I heard your voice, I wouldn't be able to leave." Yowza.
After Stabler sat down with Fin (Ice-T), who dropped the news that Liv now has a son, Stabler learned that Kathy didn't make it and died of a ruptured spleen. The new suspect is Sacha Lenski, an auto repair worker who's a "low-level earner for random crews."
Sacha definitely appeared out of his league, and sure enough, he was found dead in his prison cell, and it was made to look like an overdose.
After Stabler stormed into a courthouse to yell at two men he's believed to be responsible, the show shifted into Organized Crime. Right near the beginning, Stabler and Liv met up again, and she passed along her evidence folder and let him know about a burner cell found at Lenski's place.
That's when things got really interesting. Liv said she's having trouble picturing Stabler residing in Rome, and he responded by saying she would have loved it there. He then explained he was asked to say a few words for her ceremony, and because he is who he is, he instead wrote her a letter, which he handed to her and told her she can read if she'd like. Just like that, she was off to join her son for sledding.
Let's just say this in no uncertain terms: We. Need. To. Know. What. Was. In. This. Letter. We. Swear. Please. Someone. Just. Tell. Us. About. The. Friggin. Letter. OK, moving on, we promise.
Stabler got someone to hack the burner phone and headed to a storage facility that Lenski had visited. At the building, Stabler learned that a hookah spot there was owned by a man nicknamed Raffi the Poet, a.k.a. Rafiq, who was murdered. For some reason, Stabler's ID was found at the warehouse.
The detective met up with Rafiq's mom, Angela Wheatley (Bones' Tamara Taylor), who shared that her ex passed along his substance issues to Rafiq. After that, Stabler attended Kathy's funeral, as did Liv, where Stabler's son Eli was particularly bereft.
Stabler met up with the warehouse owner, a mobster named Sinatra (Chaz Palminteri), who denied having anything to do with the bombing that killed Kathy. We also met Sinatra's smug son Richard (Dylan McDermott), who was also up to something in Puglia, Italy.
Later, while Stabler was chatting with Angela, someone on a moped fired a gun at them in an apparent attempt on the detective's life. Soon after, all Stabler could think about was a message he received for someone claiming to know who killed Kathy. Stabler hurried to Coney Island to meet the mystery message-sender.
Also hanging out at the Wonder Wheel were Sinatra and Richard, and by the time Stabler got to the amusement park, Sinatra had ended up dead. Then, we saw Richard at home, and Angela was there as well, where the two got quite cozy.
Finally, it was time to get the news we needed: the friggin' letter. Sure enough, Liv told Stabler she read it and wanted to discuss it—gasp!—but he was too distraught over finding Sinatra's body. Talk about terrible timing.
And so the letter mystery ended on a cliffhanger, which did not make us happy. But as least we got plenty of chaotic Stabler-Benson energy, right?
Organized Crime airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)