Virginia Sherwood/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Elliot Stabler loves his mom.

So whatever you see is deep, true affection."

Burstyn first appeared on an episode of the 10th season ofSpecial Victims Unit,titled “Swing.”

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME – “The Good, The Bad and The Lovely” Episode 205 – Pictured: (l-r) Ellen Burstyn as Bernadette Stabler, Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler

Ellen Burstyn and Christopher Meloni on ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’.Credit:Virginia Sherwood/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

After she was arrested for burglary, Stabler reluctantly visited his estranged mother Bernadette to gain some insight.

But she wouldn’t return to theLaw & Order-verse untilOrganized Crimekicked off in 2021.

But Burstyn’s main arc onOrganized Crimeconcerns her mental health.

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME – “Lost Highway” Episode 501 – Pictured: (l-r) Dean Norris as Randall Stabler, Ellen Burstyn as Bernadette Stabler

Ellen Burstyn and Dean Norris in ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’.Ralph Bavaro/PEACOCK

“The relationship this season is a little bit, ‘What do we do with her?’

The worry about where she is mentally,” Meloni explains.

“I think we play off whatever complications the writers put in.

She and I talk about it and we make it work.”