Why in the World Is Elliot Stabler Kissing Kathy's Killer?

The latest Law & Order spinoff, Organized Crime, gave fans the satisfaction of a long-awaited Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) reunion, but sadly, Stabler's return to the show has been marred by the death of his wife, Kathy Stabler (Isabel Gillies).

Ever since Kathy was blown up by a car bomb in Episode 1, Elliot has been fixated on finding out who exactly is responsible for his wife's death.

The second crossover episode with SVU, "An Inferior Product," dropped a huge bombshell about who was actually responsible for Kathy's death. In a shock to Elliot and audiences alike, it was revealed that Angela Wheatley (Tamara Taylor), the ex-wife of Richard Wheatley (Dylan McDermott), had ordered the hit on Kathy.

But why and how is Angela involved? And what's her relationship with Elliot?

When new evidence turns up that implicates Richard Wheatley's right-hand man, Izak Bekher (Ibrahim Renno), in the car bomb that killed Kathy, the Organized Crime task force corners Izak, who also happens to be working as a mole for them.

As Stabler confronts Izak and asks him why Richard wanted Kathy dead, Izak reveals that it wasn't Richard who ordered the hit, but rather Richard's ex-wife, Angela Wheatley.

This came as a huge shock to viewers who had just seen Stabler and Angela locking lips earlier in the episode.

Elliot Stabler's wife's gruesome death happened in the series premiere of Organized Crime. In "What Happens in Puglia," Elliot and Kathy were on a brief trip to New York when Kathy was killed by a bomb that was placed in the couple's rental car.

A devastated Elliot initially thought that the bomb was intended for him because of his work busting organized crime syndicates in Rome. But later on, he discovered the bomber was watching Kathy as he detonated the bomb, meaning that she had actually been the intended target.

It's been a real jaw-dropper to find out that Angela is responsible for Kathy's death since she's been a source of support for Elliot ever since Kathy died. Because Angela has also suffered the death of her own son, she's been able to bond with Elliot over the loss of a close family member.

So, it's especially heartbreaking to learn that after she was so kind and sympathetic to Stabler, Angela had actually been pulling the strings all along.

The following two questions remain: Why did Angela order the hit on Kathy? And why has she allowed Stabler to get so close to her?

Showrunner Ilene Chaiken told TVInsider that having Angela be the actual baddie was one of the "earliest ideas" in the writers room.

"We didn't know in the very beginning that Stabler would have a nascent romantic relationship with her," Ilene went on to add. "But we always knew that she was going to turn out to have, in some sense, called for the hit on Kathy."

We'll have to tune in to see just how Stabler and Angela's relationship develops.

New episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime air every Thursday at 10 p.m. on NBC.