It might finally be the moment where Christopher Meloni hangs up his Elliot Stabler hat. The actor, who has played the beloved Law & Order character on and off for an incredible 27 years, gave somewhat of a farewell to the detective after the news that the spinoff series Law & Order: Organized Crime was being cancelled.
“I just saw that they announced Organized Crime won’t be coming back,” Meloni said in a video statement about the series, which aired its first four seasons on NBC before moving to Peacock, via his Instagram on Thursday, April 16. “I wanted to take this moment to say thank you to the fans who not only helped give the character of Elliot Stabler life and longevity, but for sticking with him and welcoming him back. It was a good ride.”
He added, “I had a great time playing him. It was a great ride. Thank you. You helped give me a career that I never dreamed of, nearly 17 odd years.”
Earlier that day, it was confirmed that Organized Crime would conclude after its fifth season — which was the last place Meloni was playing the famed character full time. He has and presumably will continue to make appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but those are just that: appearances. Meloni’s Stabler was a series regular on the spinoff, so the fact is that we’ll be seeing our boy Elliot a lot less moving forward.
Meloni started in the Law & Order universe back in 1999 and helmed SVU for 12 seasons alongside Mariska Hargitay as detective Olivia Benson, who still leads the series to this day. Years after Meloni made his SVU exit in 2011, he returned in a recurring capacity for seasons 22, 23, and 24, and has since dropped down to a guest star for seasons 25 through to the most recent season.
Over the years, Meloni has also appeared as Stabler in three episodes of the original Law & Order show, which has yet to be renewed for Season 26. SVU, however, is already slated to come back for Season 28 later this year.
Photo by: Zach Dilgard/NBC via Getty Images.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
