Elliot Stabler

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Elliot Stabler
Detective Elliot Stabler.
Title Detective
Affiliation New York City Police Department
Division Special Victims Unit
Current status Alive
First Appearance SVU: "Payback"
Played by Christopher Meloni

Detective Elliot Stabler is the partner of Olivia Benson.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Police force 1.3 Family life 2 Partners 2.1 Olivia Benson 2.2 Dani Beck 3 Appearances/Actors 4 Trivia

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Elliott was born in 1961. Stabler comes from an Irish-American family with three brothers and two sisters. His father Joseph was also a police officer who lost his pension shortly before his retirement. Stabler had a difficult relationship with his parents; his father was physically abusive at times, while his mother Bernadette was bipolar (a condition that Elliot himself may have inherited and passed on to his second oldest daughter, Kathleen). Stabler served in the U.S. Marines and has a USMC tattoo of an eagle, globe and anchor on his forearm. He attended Queens College, where he earned his B.A.

[edit] Police force

Stabler is a detective with Manhattan's 16th Precinct, also known as the Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. He is dedicated to his job, but this dedication occasionally turns into obsession, as he often takes cases personally, affecting his judgment. Nonetheless, Stabler has a 97 percent case closure rate. (SVU: "Haystack") He lives in Glen Oaks, Queens with his family. His wife is named Kathy; they have been married since 1981, they have five children: Maureen (born 1984), Kathleen (born 1989), twins Elizabeth and Richard (born 1992), and Elliot Jr. (born 2007).

He had not been issued a passport until an investigation required him to travel to the Czech Republic in 2003. (SVU: "Pandora")

Stabler has over the course of his career suffered a host of injuries and faced a number of incidences, some of which have even threatened his job.

In 2001, Stabler sustained a deep cut to the hand while searching the garage of former cop and murder suspect Sam Winfield. ("Victims") When he and Benson later pulled HIV-positive Gloria Palmera out of her tub after she slit her wrists in a suicide attempt, her blood soaked into Stabler's bandage, and he had to be tested for HIV. Fortunately, the test came back negative.

In May 2003, Stabler let his feelings interfere with his duty when he was called to the stand by the ADA Alexandra Cabot, where he provided unsubstantiated information (that the victim had been raped) to a dead girl's father he sympathized with. ("Grief")

In November 2004, Stabler was forced by Captain Donald Cragen to take sick time in lieu of being suspended, for refusing to seek counseling after finding the bodies of several murdered children in the Church of Wisdom and Sight; Stabler was flagged as being at risk for excessive emotional investment after mentioning to Dr. George Huang that one of the children was wearing the same brand of pajamas as one of his own kids. This was one of several incidences that contributed to the long-running acrimony between Stabler and Huang. Benson instead worked the case with John Munch, as Detective Fin was also on sick leave. ("Charisma")

In September 2005, Elliot went undercover as parolee "Elliot McEvoy" in order to investigate paroled rapist Ray Schenkel. His actions were barely sanctioned by Cragen, and he was nearly pulled off the case after a failed attempt to bait his new "friend" with an undercover female officer. He later ended up in a sticky situation when Schenkel stole his van and picked up a live victim. He was knocked unconscious by Schenkel after setting the girl free, and came very close to being killed, but managed to put Schenkel in a sleeper hold. (SVU: "Demons")

In October 2005, Stabler encountered former partner Pete Breslin, whose son Luke was the prime suspect in an assault case. When Stabler advised the family of the victim not to file charges, Cap. Cragen ordered him home for the remainder of the day. Stabler later witnessed Breslin assaulting Luke in the bathroom after Luke's arraignment. While defending the boy, Stabler lost his temper and beat Breslin unconscious. He sought counseling from Dr. Rebecca Hendrix, a forensic psychiatrist and former police officer, who helped him to deal with his long-repressed feelings toward his father. (SVU: "Ripped")

Later that month, Stabler had a close call when he was shot in the arm by Kyle Ackerman, the teen-aged son of white supremacist Brian Ackerman during the latter's trial, but made a full recovery. (SVU: "Raw") He had another close call in January 2006, when he was held hostage by drug addict Jake Hunter after a botched kidnapping, but was saved by Melinda Warner, who shot Hunter. (SVU: "Blast") In April of that same year, Stabler was held at gunpoint for several minutes in a warehouse by sadistic serial killer Victor Paul Gitano. Benson refused to shoot Gitano as doing so would have put Stabler's life in even more danger. Benson subsequently asked to be reassigned due to their increasingly strained working and personal relationship. (SVU: "Fault")

In September 2006, Stabler was injured in an explosion involving dynamite but recovered from his injures. (SVU: "Informed") In November of that year, he was stabbed in the chest with a pen. (SVU: "Cage")

In the season 8 episode "Loophole", Stabler was injured after Cupid threw him out the window, and hurt his arm. Later that year, Stabler was put on suspension after it was alleged he beat a teenage murder suspect to death. (SVU: "Dependent") An eye-witness used a video phone to record the incident of Elliot punching and restraining the much smaller teen. Elliot was cleared of the charges when it was determined that the teen died due to a cardiac syndrome during the struggle, and the teen's internal injuries were not due to Elliot's use of force, but actually Elliot's attempt at using CPR to save the teen.

Stabler has twice had to use deadly force. During the season 4 episode "Risk", a corrupt police officer raised his weapon at Stabler in fear of being caught, forcing Stabler to shoot him. In the season 6 episode "Debt", Stabler shot a suspect who was threatening to shoot his hostage despite the suspect's willingness to work the situation out with Benson.

In November 2007, Stabler was temporarily blinded when schizophrenic rapist Saul Picard threw him into a car window. However, Elliot's blindness lasted only a week. Shortly after, Casey Novak convinced Stabler to take the stand to testify against Picard but then blindsided him with her questions so as to cause the defendant to act out in court, thus demonstrating emotional disturbance, which precluded Picards from being extradited to Louisiana, where he would have faced the death penalty. Stabler did not like the feeling of being used. (SVU: "Blinded")

More recently, Elliot fractured several ribs while trying to restrain fifteen-year-old Tommy Ross, who lashed out after his mother Susan Ross died from untreated AIDS. (SVU: "Retro") Stabler pressed charges, but only did so in order to get Tommy to testify against his mother's doctor, Gideon Hutton; the charges were later dropped, though Stabler urged the boy to get tested for HIV, as Susan's death suggested that he was at risk for the disease.

That year also saw Stabler get shot while working undercover to gather evidence against animal smuggler Andre Bushido. One bullet passed clean through his chest but did not damage any vital organs, while the other lodged in his bicep and had to be removed. Though he was urged to take a week off, he came back on the job the next day to take down Bushido.

[edit] Family life

Stabler often mentions his family, particularly his children, sometimes as a way to gain trust with the victims. He is protective of his children and becomes defensive if a suspect asks about his family. Stabler once revealed that he helped deliver all of his children to that point, and he sees aspects of them in every child molestation victim. As a result, he has an intense hatred of pedophiles, admitting that he sometimes fantasizes about killing them, almost losing his job as a result. (SVU: "Tragedy") Stabler finds it particularly disturbing when he sees aspects of himself in a child abuser; in one instance, an abusive parent reminded him of a time he lost his temper and slapped his then-toddler daughter Maureen. While he restrained himself from hurting her further, he was frightened by his loss of control. (SVU: "Shaken")

Stabler often connects with child victims on a fatherly basis, and has been very willing to use physical force to apprehend a suspect that he believes to have harmed a child. In turn, many victims tend to respond to him very warmly. For example, Stabler successfully reached out to a fifteen-year old girl who regressed to child-like state after being attacked by her father. (SVU: "Resilience")

At one point, Stabler and his wife separated, and Kathy moved in with her mother. (SVU: "Doubt") Though she had sole custody of their children, they frequently visited their father, once surprising him at work on his birthday. Kathy eventually sent him divorce papers; (SVU: "Raw") later, Stabler realized during a case involving a divorcing couple that "when love twists into hate, there's nothing you won't do," and silently returned the signed papers to his wife. However, eventually Stabler showed up at Kathy's house at night after being cleared in the supposed beating death of a suspect. (SVU: "Dependent") He told her that he loved both his job and his family, and couldn't live with the thought of losing either, and asked for a reconciliation with his wife, saying "I want to come home". Stabler eventually moved back home with his family; he met Kathy for drinks to discuss rebuilding their relationship. (SVU: "Sin") They ultimately became intimate once again. (SVU: "Annihilated")

In the episode SVU: "Responsible," he takes his daughter Kathleen's driver's license and burns it. He does this because, two years prior, Kathleen had been arrested for DUI and Elliot had used his clout as a police officer to get the charge to disappear. Reasoning that he could not be a good father if he did that, Elliot decided to take away Kathleen's license. At the end of the 2007 season finale, Kathleen is arrested again for the DUI. Kathy, also in the season ender (SVU: "Screwed"), tells Elliot that she is pregnant and that she wants him to come home; as of the season nine premiere, (SVU: "Alternate") he has done so, and has reconciled with Kathy. In that episode, Kathy is briefly held hostage in their home by a knife-wielding perpetrator (played by Cynthia Nixon) who allegedly suffered from multiple personality disorder and who appeared to be stalking Elliot.

In SVU: "Alternate" we also learn that Kathy's pregnancy continues to progress normally, and that Kathleen did not receive jail time for her DUI conviction but was sentenced to community service.

In SVU: "Paternity" Kathy is seriously injured by a drunk driver who hits Olivia's car when she is driving Kathy to a doctor's appointment. Olivia and a team of firefighters manage to get Kathy out of the car and into an ambulance, where Kathy gives birth to a baby boy. Kathy's life appears to be in jeopardy but she survives. Elliot is immensely grateful to his partner, who asks him what name he and Kathy chose. Elliot says Kathy wants to name the boy after him. "Just what the world needs," Olivia quips, "another Elliot Stabler".

[edit] Partners

[edit] Olivia Benson

Stabler's current partner is Olivia Benson. They have never been romantically involved but Benson has shown signs of wishing they could be. Their relationship is not without friction, as the two sometimes argue over the cases they work on; Benson is quicker to side with the victims while Stabler is more impartial. This became obvious in the season 3 episode "Ridicule", where three women were charged with raping a male stripper; Benson and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot are quick to come to the man's aid, while Stabler took a cynical view of his claim from the start.

Benson and Stabler were separated at times during the show. She was briefly reassigned to Computer Crimes in the season 7 episode "Fat", and replaced by a Queens SVU detective, Lucius Blaine. Benson returned to SVU in the next episode "Web". In the season 8 premiere "Informed", Benson teamed up with an FBI agent and eventually went undercover in Oregon to infiltrate an eco-terrorist group.

Stabler's wife Kathy became jealous of Stabler's relationship with Benson. Combined with his long hours on the job and away from home, Stabler's work at SVU placed considerable strain on their marriage, eventually culminating in their seperation; they later reconciled before the divorce became final. They have recently welcomed the birth of their fifth child.

[edit] Dani Beck

Stabler was assigned a temporary partner named Dani Beck, who remained until Benson returned full-time to SVU. After an altercation with a nearly mute homeless man, Benson re-entered Stabler's life as his partner. Upon their reunion, they both comment on how the other has changed since their original partnership. Beck had helped Stabler loosen up, while Benson had picked up a few health conscious habits from her stint infiltrating the eco-terrorists.

[edit] Appearances/Actors

• • Law & Order (1 season, 2 episodes) - Christopher Meloni
    • Season 10, 2 episodes
  • Law & Order: Trial by Jury (1 season, 1 episode) - Christopher Meloni
    • Season 1, 1 episode

[edit] Trivia

• Stabler's badge number is 6313.
• Stabler has a deep-seated distrust of psychologists and psychiatrists stemming from his being hauled in front of the Morris Commission after being interviewed by Dr. Rebecca Hendrix. This has manifested itself in his hostility towards Dr. George Huang, whom he views as meddlesome, particularly when it comes to interrogations. (See: "Execution", "Demons", "Scavenger")
• As a child, Stabler wanted to be an architect, but ended up following in his father's footsteps, hoping to win his approval.
• Stabler's blood type is A-positive.
• Although he is not romantically involved with Olivia Benson on the television series (it is considered illegal for partners to enter into a relationship of that magnitude in New York City), both Hargitay and Meloni have been asked on multiple occasions whether or not their characters would ever "get together"; they replied that it was more of a brother/sister relationship and that their characters becoming involved with one another would turn the series into a soap opera. Despite the supposed brother/sister relationship, their strong sexual tension has been acknowledged by MSN News, Mariska Hargitay, and the USA network. USA, which has syndicated SVU, has been heavily promoting the show by airing humorous ads that mention "how to flirt with your partner", with a shot of Stabler and Benson "sharing a moment". In an edition of Entertainment Weekly, both Meloni and Hargitay mentioned that they have joked about the sexual tension between the characters while reading through their lines.
• Actor Nick Chinlund also originally screen-tested for the role of Stabler, according to Meloni. Chinlund later appeared in the SVU episode "Execution" in a different role.