I rarely review Law & Order SVU, but it's one of my favorite shows, and my wife feels the same. But I couldn't help but review the SVU crossover with the new Organized Crime Law & Order last night on NBC, given that it featured the return of Elliot Stabler, who left SVU some ten years ago, in the wake of the actor Christopher Meloni not being able to reach agreement on a new contract with NBC.
Stabler's partnership with Olivia Benson was the heart and soul of SVU, and his departure came with no explanation in the narrative. We learned last night that he was also incommunicado with Benson these part ten years. This creates an excellent narrative tension as the two reunite in New York after Stabler's wife is mortally wounded in a bomb blast intended for Stabler.
Benson is understandably torn between feeling protective towards her former partner and hurt, even angered, by his sudden departure and ensuing silence. But just to be clear, and not to get too "meta" about this, that departure was not Stabler the character's fault -- it presumably was NBC's fault, for not giving Meloni the actor what he requested. In any case, Olivia's struggle to get some bearing now on Stabler, especially since she has moved up from Detective to Captain on SVU, was played out over both SVU and Organized Crime last night, was appropriately inconclusive, and was the best part of these two episodes.
It was also gratifying to see some kind of romantic energy between the two -- at this point, of course, unacknowledged. Given that Stabler's wife died, and Olivia has been without romantic involvement this year, I'd say that possibility is real. In fact, one of the best parts of the crossover event is the letter Stabler gives to Benson, who can't read it then. At the end of the second episode, Benson shows up and wants to talk to Stabler about the letter, but he's too engrossed in the case at hand to talk to her at that moment. So what's in the letter? It has to be something good, from a narrative point of view, and I'd guess promising for their future relationship. In fact, I'd predict that if Organized Crime stays on the air for at least a few years, we'll see the two together as a couple. Maybe even if Organized Crime doesn't make it.
On that account, the show has been faulted by the usual Greek chorus of complaining critics. It wasn't the most original or scintillating opening episode, true, and it lacked the usual Law & Order pacing and flourishes. But, hey, give it a chance. The lives of every SVU character have been both enriched and challenged by Stabler back in their picture (speaking of which, great scene between Fin aka Ice T and Stabler in SVU last night). Meloni and Mariska Hargitay have a crackling chemistry together as actors, and I'm eager to see where this goes.
