There was less dun-dunning and more anxiety Thursday night on “Law & Order: SVU” when Christopher Meloni made his long-awaited return as Elliot Stabler.
The ninth episode of season 22, “Return of the Prodigal Son,” saw the hot-headed former Special Victims Unit detective and wife Kathy back in the Big Apple for a work trip and visit that turned tragic.
En route to an awards dinner where Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) is being honored, Elliot leaves his rental car, only for a bomb to go off, hitting Kathy.
After Kathy’s condition initially stabilizes, Elliot and Olivia have a chance to rehash the last 10 years and his sudden departure from the squad, Liv’s life, and the city to move to Rome, where he’s been working organized crime, terrorism and trafficking cases. Stabler, it turns out, is slightly less gruff when speaking Italian, because apparently he does that now.
To fans of the pair’s partnership in seasons one through 12, along with their friendship and vague sexual tension, that scene was likely more emotional than the turn: Kathy dies, after her spleen ruptures.
The loss fuels Elliot’s decision to stay in New York, paving the way for the “SVU” spinoff: “Law & Order: Organized Crime.”
