It seemed almost irresponsible not to tell this story, given who he is, all of the things he’s been through in his life. We wanted to explore the truth of what Stabler would be going through. What did you want to explore with Stabler’s mindset and PTSD up to this point? I really shouldn’t say anything beyond what you see at the end of this episode, because there are so many ways that Stabler could handle this, given who he’s been and who he’s become. What can you tease about how Stabler handles that gut punch other than the shock that he’s in at the end of this episode? Is there anything you can see is about why Angela gave the order to kill Kathy? Could she be targeting Stabler because of a past case? Of course, she knew something that he didn’t know, and what we were drawn to was the incredible complexity and irony and ultimately tragedy of that.

They both really did bond over shared grief. The most important thing about it was not the romance or potential romance or even hookup - I don’t know which it is - but more that they developed a deep relationship that I believe and the actors portraying these characters also believe wound up being authentic. What did you want to do with Stabler and Angela leading up to the reveal of this twist? They have these emotional conversations, they shared a kiss … But we always knew that she was going to turn out to have, in some sense, called for the hit on Kathy. We contemplated it but weren’t sure it was gonna be the right way to go. We didn’t know in the very beginning that Stabler would have a nascent romantic relationship with her. We’ve known from the very beginning that in some form that was going to be Angela’s role. Ilene Chaiken: That was one of our earliest ideas. Nice bombshell there with Angela! How early on in planning this season did that come up? TV Insider turned to Organized Crime showrunner Ilene Chaiken for (some) answers and teases about what’s coming up as we head for the finale. The mobster’s ex-wife Angela ( Tamara Taylor) - whom Stabler has been growing close to and kissed in this episode - did! But when the task force confronted Izak, who’s now working as a mole for them, he shocked Stabler by revealing that Richard wasn’t the one to order his wife’s death. Then, new evidence connected Richard’s right-hand man Izak Bekher (Ibrahim Renno) to the bombing that killed Stabler’s wife Kathy ( Isabel Gillies). Simon got caught up in the middle of a group of women targeting rich men because of his friend.

'We probably will get to know Stabler in a way you've never gotten to know him,' showrunner Ilene Chaiken says.įirst, SVU’s case led the squad to a knockoff version of mobster Richard Wheatley’s ( Dylan McDermott) purple magic.

Law and order svu season 6 epsiode 22