Stabler was written out of Law & Order: SVU without Stabler getting a big farewell episode.
It should be interesting to see if the new show features Stabler returning to the NYPD or tweaking SVU history and simply explaining that he went off to another unit.
The character’s absence was explained as a retirement from the police force, which surprised but didn’t anger his best friend and partner given all the stress of working in the Special Victims Unit.