Since the premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime, Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) hasn’t been able to catch a break. His wife was killed in a car bomb meant for him, international crime syndicates have placed targets on his back, and he is a 58-year-old in a 26-year-long situationship (with his former SVU partner Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay). To make matters worse, season five’s premiere episode ends with a suspect ramming into Stabler’s car as he escapes with a victim, leaving him in critical condition. The crash sets up the series’s intense second episode, co-written by Meloni, which takes a deep dive into a comatose Stabler’s psyche.
The pitch, Meloni explained, went like this: “What do you think if we have Stabler do something superheroic, gets injured in the moment, and it’s Benson who is there to bring him back to life with her presence?” The pair hadn’t seen each other since the SVU season 24 finale, when Benson pulled away from Stabler when he went in for a kiss, leaving their unresolved feelings to linger. Benson’s confession in his hospital room this season only deepens the characters’ will-they-or-won’t-they dynamic, which Law & Order producer Dick Wolf has been teasing across various shows since 1999.
As for Meloni’s perspective on the show’s romantic tension, he’s leaving the shipping to fans. “I’m not a shipper. I see the characters and I don’t yearn for shipping,” he states. He adds, “I let characters play out as the writers want them to play out.” Ahead of the season five premiere of Organized Crime streaming on Peacock, the L & O multiverse veteran walked GQ through his Organized Crime writing debut, Stabler’s complicated past, and tweeting through fascism.
GQ: How has playing a detective on TV impacted the way you view the world?
Christopher Meloni: The impact has been more on how I view the profession of law enforcement and their mindset, or how I portray the mindset and the difficulties, the stresses, and the world that they live in. I’ve found a kinship in that. I think my worldview has always been a bit jaundiced.
I meet an awful lot of detectives who, even though they’ve seen some things, still swim through the world with a clearer eye as to human nature. I’m always impressed when I meet detectives and they’ll tell me the stories that they’ve gone through, and they’re really solid and adjusted and focused and clear. It hasn’t broken them or spoiled their opinion of humanity.
Are you as religious as Stabler?
No, but we’re both still on a quest for the meaning of it all. I think we both share those questions: God, where are you? I want to have a relationship here, and I don’t, what is it? Do I not have the tools? Am I not looking hard enough? Am I going about it the wrong way?
Law & Order: SVU has been the first job for many actors. Who is someone you worked with that you now see in films or shows, and are like “I know them!”
Abigail Breslin was on our show. I guess she was eight or nine years old, maybe. When Mariska and I saw her act, we just looked at each other, going, “Uh-oh. That is some formidable kid.” Bradley Cooper, I’ve known him from Wet Hot American Summer, but he was on the show before he became Bradley Cooper, and you’re like, “Wow.” You can tell, you just can tell. Elizabeth Banks, same way. She was on the show. You’re just like, “There’s something in there that’s just, they got it.” So yeah, a lot of [actors passed] through and it kind of makes you feel like you’re part of TV history.
How would you describe your style versus Stabler’s? Do you dress alike?
He can’t wait to look for a moment to loosen the tie. When I wear a tie, I like to just keep it up and buttoned up for the most part. He’s a better dresser than I.
At the beginning of every season, that was an absolute necessity. We can deal with all the wardrobe issues we want, but what we have to take care of is the comfort of our feet, because we’re on our feet for 16 hours a day and very often chasing perps over cobblestoned roads. I don’t know how the ladies do it. I don’t know how Mariska does it. But God bless them.
I remember when we started, Stabler was coming back, and I talked with a lot of professionals who are helping police forces go from the idea of being warriors to being guardians of the common good, which I thought was an interesting use of the words and an interesting change in the headset. It was tricky, and there was a lot of discussion in the Wolf Organization, because they knew—this is a delicate dance. I didn’t feel the need to do a mea culpa tour. I always felt that Stabler, this character, was an honest cop, a good cop. His heart was in the right place. Was it always perfect? No. I don’t think that whatever my character did influenced the outside behaviors of society or cops.
I think things have changed. I don’t think we have changed. I think we’re always very cognizant of how much is too much, but then you got to give a little bit of much for a sense of drama. You just have to be honest when trying to tell the stories of dangerous environments.
He’s a complicated character. He’s flawed.
I find the hero worship to be uncomfortable. I just find it far more interesting to see the struggle of an ordinary man put in extraordinary circumstances and how he handles and fails at things. He’s a flawed human being.
I don’t tie those two worlds together. If I go on X and all that, that’s where I get very vocal. But on Instagram, I don’t want to corrupt or pervert that space with what’s happening. That’s more of a whimsical personal engagement. So, I compartmentalize these things. I already get accused on Twitter of having Trump Derangement Syndrome, but I don’t feel that way.
Yeah, I’m rocking it hard. I’m keeping it trim. Are you thumbs up or thumbs down on the rocking of the goatee?
I like the goatee. Do people in your life not like it?
Well, you know, fandom—they’re all over the map. You know, I heard someone tweeted something like, “I hate Stabler. He’s just a hothead with anger management issues.” I’m like, “Y’know, OK—you don’t have to look.” That’s the way to look at it. I mean, I’ve either failed at my job, or maybe you need to look at the trauma that you have endured. I mean that without being sarcastic. We all have these prejudices or triggers.
Definitely. Do you always read the tweets?
Nah, super rarely. I mean, it really is a cesspool. That’s why I took a break and I’m on the verge of taking another break. With the sense of fascism growing by the day and no one doing anything about it, I think my tweets will save the day [laughing].