Bensler fans? We are drawing ever so close to the time when we finally get to watch Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler reunite with Mariska Hargitay's Olivia Benson. While anyone who watched the two solve cases for the first 12 seasons of Law & Order SVU, and lamented the sudden departure of Meloni and his character, is very excited for this event, it does seem like some tragedy will be coming along with him. We know now that SVU is bringing back some additional Stablers for the crossover which will reintroduce Elliot, but this is probably a very bad thing for him and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
According to Give Me My Remote, not only will we be seeing Christopher Meloni come back to the 16th precinct on Law & Order: SVU, but the crossover event which will lead into the premiere of his Law & Order: Organized Crime will also feature three other members of the Stabler family. Isabel Gillies, Allison Siko, and Jeffrey Scaperrotta (who played Elliot's wife Kathy, daughter Kathleen, and son Dickie, respectively) are each coming back for the crossover. The SVU portion of the two hour event will see Elliot return after a threat to his family, which will lead to his old friends trying to keep them safe as they figure out who's menacing the group.
Long-time SVU viewers will likely remember that Elliot Stabler had a large family which played an important part in his life and work during his time as a detective. He and Kathy had five children by the time the character (and by extension, his family) left the canvas at the end of Season 12, and fans were treated to quite a few moments with both Elliot and his wife and their kids, with Kathleen and Dickie having major parts in several episodes over the years.
Unfortunately, we've also known for several months that Organized Crime will kick off with "a devastating personal loss" for Stabler, which is what launches the formerly retired detective to come back to the NYPD and head up an organized crime task force. With the confirmation that Kathy, Kathleen, and Dickie are returning, well, it's almost guaranteed that one (or more) of them is going to get hurt or die, right?
Early last May, SVU showrunner Warren Leight revealed that, before a certain health crisis cut Season 21 short, the plan for the last few episodes of the historic season had been to bring back Kathy and one of the sons she shares with Elliot, with their child having been "rolled by a team of ne'er-do-wells and may have been drugged," so that she comes to Olivia and her team for help. Dickie had been known to have some problems as a teen, so, more than likely, the son referred to would have been him.
Kathleen also gave her parents a lot of problems back in the day, with the girl getting two DUIs, stealing Elliot's credit card, and even getting arrested for robbery and breaking and entering. It turned out that her issues were probably due to her previously undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and once Kathleen began treatment she was able to turn her life around, helping Elliot and Olivia with a couple of cases and becoming and advocate for sexual assault victims.
Basically, either of Elliot's kids could easily be in the line of fire when it's time for us to see them again on Law & Order: SVU, and one of them (or Kathy) being killed is definitely the kind of thing that would convince him to return to the police force.
We're not sure right now how much of Warren Leight's original plan for reintroducing the Stablers will come to fruition, but we don't have long to find out. The crossover will start on NBC with Law & Order: SVU on Thursday, April 1, at 9 p.m. EST, and then continue right after on the premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime. For more on what to watch in the meantime, check out our guide to early 2021 TV.
