Detective Elliot Stabler returns to New York after several years of absence only to find his family has been put in danger. He reunites with Benson to find the perpetrator while trying to make amends with her, but the Special Victims Unit is not entirely convinced he's a changed man. This episode begins a crossover event that concludes on Law & Order: Organized Crime season 1 episode 1.
Tropes
- Back for the Dead: Kathy Stabler returns after a decade, only to die of a ruptured spleen.
- Beard of Sorrow: Dickie Stabler has grown a full-beard in the 12 years since his last appearance, just in time for his mother's death.
- The Bus Came Back: Christopher Meloni returns as Elliot Stabler after his last appearance in the Season 12 finale "Smoked". Along with him are his wife Kathy (“Delinquent”) and his children Kathleen (“Gray”) and Dickie (“Turmoil”). (The other three children appear in the second half of the crossover, but not in the SVU portion.)
- Call-Back: Among the many references to the Season 12 finale, Olivia chews Elliot for not saying goodbye to her personally and we also see a flashback to Olivia and Kathy’s car accident when Olivia arrives on the scene of the bombing.
- External Combustion: It was meant for Elliot, or so we thought.
- Killed Off for Real: Kathy Stabler.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Elliot apologizing to Olivia for abruptly leaving could easily be interpreted as Christopher Meloni apologizing to the show's fans over the same reason.
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: The episode is an obvious launching pad for Law & Order: Organized Crime. The story of this episode follows directly into the story of the official pilot episode, "What Happens in Puglia".
- Secondary Character Title: The title obviously refers to Elliot. While he was the show's original co-protagonist, he's been apart from the main cast for a decade and is only credited as "Special Guest Star" here for this to count as Protagonist Title.
- Trying Not to Cry: Olivia is visibly moved after finally venting out on Elliot over his abrupt and unceremonious departure but struggles to keep it together. It got so bad that she couldn't find the hospital exit despite it being near her.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Olivia finally vents on Elliot for leaving abruptly and not even contacting her for a decade.
- After the perp talks ill about Stabler's wife, Stabler is about to rough him up. Olivia stops him and calls him out on his behavior.
