IT’S MELONI TIME
THEY ARE WALKING WITH THEIR BORDER TERRIER ALONG THE HUDSON ON THE WEST SIDE OF MANHATTAN. IT’S A LATE-SPRING MORNING, AND SMALL SWELLS OF RIVER ARE flicking at the wooden posts poking out of the water, ghosts of an expired pier. Christopher Meloni asks Sherman, his wife of 26 years, if they’ve gotten a bid on demolition—they just purchased an entire floor of a co-op in the West Village, and Sherman, an artist and former production designer, is going to lead the renovation of the investment property.
Meloni tells her he’s going to let Scotty off leash, which Sherman warns is against park rules. “He’ll be fine,” Meloni says, unclipping the dog and turning back to the reno updates. No one recognizes the actor, a rare occurrence lately. After a few minutes, they wonder: Where is Scotty? Meloni whistles for him, lowering his NYPD hat and turning until he sees the wiry little dog in the sunlight, sniffing a full plastic bag on the waterline. “Get away from that!” he says, annoyed. “You know, these fucking guys throw garbage away, and it just floats up on our shores.” Sherman grabs Meloni’s extravagantly muscled bicep. “I don’t think that’s trash,” she says. Meloni finally understands that the bag is actually a body bag: There’s been a grisly, perverted murder. “Call 911,” Meloni says over his shoulder, running toward what he now realizes are the remnants of a victim. “Don’t go too close to the body!” Sherman calls out while dialing. “It’s a crime scene.”
“I know it’s a crime scene!” Meloni shouts. “I do this for a living!”
Chun-chun.
That is how Meloni merrily turns the story of a placid morning into the cold open of an episode of the corner of the Dick Wolf multiverse in which he spent 12 years bashing perps. He played Detective Elliot Stabler, who retired from the force in 2011 due to an offscreen in his own spin-off, . Stabler is now in his mid-50s and coming into, Meloni says, “a world he doesn’t understand. You know, you’re a white cop of a certain age, you’re not allowed to do a lot of things, and you’re being challenged on your bona fides on both sides. How woke are you? And how much of a man are you?”
