Law & Order: SVU season 18: Chris Meloni still open to returning
It may not be any surprise to most Law & Order: SVU fans, but it’s still nice to hear that Chris Meloni is open to a return to the show. He’s shared many photos with his former co-star Mariska Hargitay on social media, and to go along with that further, has never distanced himself too much from the role he played in Stabler for a good twelve years.
With that being said, there are still some things that would need to happen in order for the role to come about. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight in a new interview, here is what the actor had to say about the timing for a return:
“I have always said I would be open to it … [The] circumstances have to be right, that is all.
“We will see [if I return for the series finale]. It has never been brought up to me, so that is the kind of question that’s kind of out of my hands.”
The interesting catch-22 in this discussion is that there’s no reason to bring up such a subject with Meloni right now given that we’re still a long ways away from a potential SVU series finale coming on the air. This is an event that is presumably not taking place for a while — all signs point to the show returning for a season 19, and we think after that the milestone goal is a season 20 to match the original series. At that point, we wouldn’t be shocked if people started to think more in terms of a finish line, though personally we would like to see it last for however long that Hargitay and the producers want it to. She is really the face of the show and the key component in it at this point. While the series was able to survive losing Meloni, however hard that it was, it is tough to imagine it also being able to lose its other longtime lead.
There’s no real worry to worry about anything at the moment, given that there are still some great Law & Order: SVU episodes coming in the weeks ahead.
When do you want to see Meloni make a return trip to do more Law & Order: SVU? Be sure to share now in the attached comments! (Photo: NBC.)
Ellis Montaves
April 30, 2017 @ 7:50 am
I’d like to see him return with something about someone in his family being investigated. Stabler put in his papers to retire back in Season 13, so he won’t come back as a cop. Or when Liv becomes the SVU Deputy Chief (taking over Dodds’ position).