In April 2020, it was announced that Meloni would reprise the role for a new SVU-spinoff series,[3] where Stabler comes out of retirement to lead an NYPD organized crime task force.

[9] Stabler is Irish American[1] and lives with his wife Kathy (Isabel Gillies) and five children (Maureen, Kathleen, Richard "Dickie", Elizabeth "Lizzie", and Elliot "Eli" Jr.).

[10] Executive producer and head writer Neal Baer has explained that, in contrast to Benson – "the empathetic, passionate voice for these victims"[11] – Stabler embodies "the rage we feel, the 'How can this happen?'

One such instance occurs in a case involving serial killer Gordon Rickett (Matthew Modine), whom Stabler had investigated for raping and murdering a young girl 14 years earlier and had thrown through a plate glass window.

In the Season 12 finale, Stabler is forced to shoot Jenna Fox (Hayley McFarland), a young woman who opened fire in the Special Victims squad room on the men who raped and murdered her mother, killing them and recurring character Sister Peg (Charlayne Woodard).

His superior, Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), comments that if Stabler wants to keep his job, he will have to undergo a psychological evaluation, take an anger management class, and submit to an internal review of his entire personnel file.

He comes to suspect that gangster Richard Wheatley (Dylan McDermott) ordered the bombing because Stabler was investigating him and his father, mob boss Manfredi Sinatra (Chazz Palminteri).

His first assignment is to help Bogdani and his uncle, Kosta's underboss Albi Briscu (Vinnie Jones), burn down a bar in which they have murdered the owner, who owed them money, in order to make his death look like an accident.

After Stabler covertly helps Bell and Benson rescue a young girl that the Kosta Organization is trafficking, however, Flutura becomes suspicious that someone in the family is a traitor.

Meanwhile, Bell threatens to take Stabler off the task force, but he manages to persuade her and their superiors to give him two more days to prove Wheatley's guilt, offering to resign from the NYPD if he fails.

After double-crossing McClane and leaving him to die, Wheatley demands Richie's release from prison, a private jet to take him and Angela out of the city, and Stabler admitting to "framing" him for Kathy's murder on livestream.

That night, fellow undercover NYPD detective and family friend Frank Donnelly (Denis Leary) comes to his aid, having been alerted to Stabler's problems by Benson.

[41] When assassin Natalie Dumont (Adrienne Walker) tries to kill Stabler on orders from Webb's wife Cassandra (Jennifer Beals), he arrests her and makes a deal with her to inform on the Marcy Killers in return for a lighter prison sentence.

[44] Meanwhile, Stabler uncovers evidence suggesting that his late father faked the shooting that led to him being awarded the NYPD's Combat Cross medal and framed an innocent man.

[44] In the crossover series premiere, Stabler and Bell team up with Detectives Frank Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) and Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) of the NYPD's 27th Precinct to investigate the murder of Ava Marchenko (Alexandra Avezova).

In that following episode, Stabler and Whelan track down Dominic Russo (Wass Stevens) and Vincent Bishop (Kevin Corrigan) who ordered Kenny to kill Henry.

After testifying against The Brotherhood, Stabler gets called in by SVU Detective Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) to investigate the rape of a mother and her child by a gang posing as cops.

Stabler then investigates the shooting of Jennifer Lee (Esther Chen) and develops a close relationship with her husband Stephen (Grant Chang), bonding over their grief for their wives.

Stabler discovers that Lee's campaign manager, Michael Quan (François Chau), is the leader of a human trafficking ring and is responsible for Jennifer's shooting.

In the following episode, Stabler assists Bell in finding a serial rapist who drugs and assaults gay men in bars, including Detective Eric Geary (Adrian Anchondo).

In the following crossover episode, Stabler teams up with Benson to take down Shadowërk, a network of mercenaries who commit rapes and murders contracted over the dark web.

In the season finale, Stabler teams up with Benson and Rollins and the Special Victims Unit to take down the creators of Shadowërk, at the cost of Whelan's life.

[52] She is later arrested for breaking and entering and robbery, at which time doctors and her family realize that she suffers from bipolar disorder, which is a condition she shares with her paternal grandmother, Bernadette.

[37] The crime boss further interferes in Stabler's family by hiring elderly con artist Miles Darman (James Cromwell) to romance Bernadette as a cover for spying on him.

[38] Darman develops real feelings for Bernadette, but unwittingly helps Wheatley kidnap her and hold her hostage as part of his master plan to force Stabler to make a false confession to framing him for Kathy's murder.

For example, during a case in which three women are charged with raping a male stripper, Benson and ADA Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March) believe the man's story, while Stabler takes a cynical view of his claim from the start.

She asks for a new partner after Stabler expects her to jeopardize his life to shoot a convicted sex offender (Lou Diamond Phillips) who had kidnapped two children and killed one of them.

Stabler is assigned a temporary partner named Dani Beck (Connie Nielsen) while Benson is working undercover in Oregon (Mariska Hargitay was pregnant and on maternity leave).

In "Do or Die" (Law & Order: Organized Crime, Season 2, Episode 22), Stabler is awarded the New York City Police Department Combat Cross for his actions in taking down the Marcy Killers and the Brotherhood.

[12][24] On March 31, 2020, NBC announced that it had ordered a 13-episode series with Meloni reprising his role as Stabler in a then-untitled SVU spinoff, to be produced by Dick Wolf.