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Courtesy of NBC<\/p>\n
Det.\u00a0Elliot Stabler is back on the beat… at least temporarily.<\/p>\n
Chris Meloni, who played Stabler on the procedural and its spinoff, will return for the upcoming 600th episode of “Law & Order: SVU,” TVLine has confirmed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
GiveMeMyRemote<\/a> first reported Meloni’s return.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meloni last appeared on “SVU” at the start of Season 27, when Stabler and his former partner, Capt. Olivia Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay), met up outside a wake for their former boss, Capt. Donald Cragen. The brief scene included Stabler telling Benson \u2014 with whom he’s had a long-term friendship that sometimes skewed almost-romantic \u2014 that he loved her<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n When does Law & Order: SVU Season 28 premiere?<\/p>\n
Courtesy of NBC<\/p>\n At the end of Season 27, “SVU” showrunner Michele Fazekas told TVLine that she’d wanted Meloni to appear in more episodes<\/a>, but that his schedule didn’t allow it. (Meloni currently stars in Dan Fogelman’s forthcoming football drama “The Land.”)<\/p>\n “When I was on the show,” said Fazekas, who was an “SVU” writer for Seasons 3 through 7, “it was Benson and Stabler… I want to use him as much as he can, but also, I don’t want to stunt it, or do it for no reason. It has to mean something.”<\/p>\n Chris Meloni also played Stabler in “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” the “SVU” spin-off that was canceled<\/a> in April after five seasons. In a teary message to fans<\/a> after the cancellation, Meloni called the experience of playing Stabler “a great ride” and thanked “Law & Order” fans: “You gave me a life,”\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n
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