Christopher Meloni Details Reason Behind ‘Law & Order’ Return And Stabler’s ‘Devastating Loss’

Most Law & Order fans know by now that Christopher Meloni will be reprising his role as Elliot Stabler later this year. He will unfortunately not be heading back to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, where the detective got his start, but will be starring on a new spinoff based on organized crime. Stabler will head up the division, and many are hoping for some frequent crossovers between him and his former co-stars, especially Mariska Hargitay.

The actor recently sat down with Entertainment Tonight and explained why now was the right time for him to return to NBC, almost 10 years after he left the show that made him famous.

“A certain piece just fell into place. For me, there were just personal things that I was like, ‘You know, now is a good time.’ That was it. There was nothing secret. It just was effortlessly correct,” Meloni noted. “It’s one of these [things where] I felt like I believed in the stars and all that… I’d go, ‘Oh, the stars are telling me you know but because it was just right.'”

Fans of SVU had been begging for Stabler’s return for almost a decade after the character’s not-so-great send-off in Season 12. The actor and executives could not agree on contract terms, which ended with Stabler handing in retirement papers after shooting and killing a young woman in their squad room. The contract conditions that sealed Meloni’s decision to return have not been revealed.

Stabler and Benson are slated to crossover with one another, but whether it will be on the premiere of Season 22 of SVU remains to be seen. Some are speculating a rolling episode where Meloni appears on SVU to reintroduce his character. By the end of the episode, he will be stepping into the beginning of Organized Crime where his new job begins.

The character is also dealing with a “devastating loss,” which Benson is suspected to help him through. At the end of Season 12 of SVU, Stabler had a wife and five children, and many are assuming one of them has passed in the last 10 years.

Hargitay and Meloni recently reconnected for a fun Instagram selfie with the caption “let’s go,” which had fans of “Bensler” freaking out on social media, amping them up for the fall premieres.

Law & Order: Organized Crime debuts on NBC this fall. It will air directly after Special Victims Unit on Thursday nights at 10 p.m.