'Law & Order SVU' Takes A Page From Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case

Law & Order SVU's 13th season premiered last night sans Chris Meloni--whose run famously ended last season after he played detective Stabler for over 270 episodes, beginning with the show’s premiere in 1999. Meloni couldn't come to an agreement on a new contract so he decided his time was up.

But anyway, last night's episode took a page straight out of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case but the possible villain in this case is an Italian diplomat named Roberto Distasio. The episode opens as Distasia leaves his hotel room at the Park Milano, a maid, Mariam Deng, stumbles out of a nearby room. Later, Roberto is at lunch with family, hoping for his grandchild to be a boy. Meanwhile, hotel management calls the police and then the episode unfolds. Just imagine the Straus-Kahn case but with slightly different nuances.

By the episode's end Distasiao is found not guilty, just like in real life.

Did you see it? Was the episode too much of a bite? Will you miss Stabler?