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Kathleen "Katie" Louise Stabler is the second-oldest child of Detective Elliot Stabler and Kathy Stabler.

History[]

Kathleen Stabler

As a teenager

According to Elliot, Kathy saw Elliot involved in a shooting on the news, which caused her to give birth to Kathleen. She was born one month premature. (SVU: "Serendipity")

Kathleen found her father at home, having been invited by her mother. She told him to stay home or leave, as she did not like the affect the separation had on her siblings. (SVU: "Annihilated")

Kathleen was arrested for drunk driving, but her father made the charges disappear. (SVU: "Blood") However, this was eventually uncovered in court, and Kathleen was charged, with her father assuring her that he would help. (SVU: "Screwed")

Kathleen was charged and sentenced to community service for six months. Kathleen wasn't happy with the punishment, as she was afraid that the other students would see her in her community service uniform. She also could not stand the fact that her mother got pregnant with Eli, believing her peers would think that the child was hers. (SVU: "Alternate")

Two years later, Stabler burned her driver's license, reasoning that he could not be a good father if he did that.

Kathleen apparently also had two boyfriends before being diagnosed. When Stabler found a case regarding HIV outbreak, he discovered a boy that used to date Kathleen was infected and went to his daughter who stated they did not have sex and that was the reason for the break-up. After Stabler's credit card got stolen, Kathleen said she gave it to her boyfriend and lied when she said she was using to buy books. It is not known if they are still together.

After getting high, Kathleen was arrested again for sneaking into a stranger's house and stealing jewelry. At first, she didn't want to admit that she had a problem but apologized for the trouble. She later went with a guy to get high again and had sex with him. However, the drugs she took caused her to have an overdose. Her father and Detective Tutuola found her. Her father tried to wake Kathleen up and she didn't wake up. Her father took her to Saint Mark's Hospital, and she had her stomach pumped. The doctor told Kathy and Elliot she had bipolar disorder, but upon awakening she refused treatment. Because she would not admit she had a problem, her father returned the jewelry and told the owner to charge, his reasoning she will be forcibly medicated in prison. After she was arrested, she was upset with her father while begging him not to let them take her. However, her grandmother Bernadette visited in jail, while begrudgingly hinting to Kathleen that she, herself, was suffering from bipolar disorder after listing an incident where she injured Kathleen's father as a child. Realizing that she needed help, Kathleen accepted a plea in which she had to undergo treatment and medication. (SVU: "Swing")

A more composed Kathleen was recruited by Benson to counsel Kim Garnet, who was being abused by her boyfriend but refused to file a complaint against him. Kathleen was revealed to have reformed from her previous actions and accepted the consequences, and she wanted to prevent Kim from making mistakes like she did. She said she was happy Benson arrested her and used her own past, which had similarities to Kim's current predicament to show her that she should reveal the truth and stop protecting her abuser. Kathleen successfully convinced Garnet to name her boyfriend as her abuser. (SVU: "Crush")

Kathleen later returned suffering from guilt, as she was a "sober buddy" for her friend Bethany, who ends up leaving Kathleen's sight and was raped by a man named Chuck Mills, who murdered his girlfriend Carla for being pregnant. Kathleen got her hands on Chuck's file and persuaded her father to use it so Chuck would be found guilty of both rape and murder. However, due to the files being illegally obtained, a fact that became known to Chuck's defense attorney, Carolyn Maddox, Kathleen was in danger of being expelled from her college. However, Elliot convinced Sonya Paxton to have her listed as a confidential informant to avoid reprisal. (SVU: "Gray")

When Kathy was severely injured in a car bombing that was supposedly intended for Elliot, both Dickie and Kathleen turned up at the hospital where Kathy was being treated. Both Kathleen and Dickie were surprised to see Benson after ten years. After Kathy died, Elliot hugged Dickie and Kathleen in a chapel and wept. (SVU: "Return Of The Prodigal Son")

Kathleen, Elliot, her siblings, and Benson attended Kathy's funeral. (OC: "What Happens in Puglia")

Kathleen visited her father and brother, asking Eli about his school life before inquiring if he was really fine living with their father, due to his recent struggles. Eli told Kathleen he was not moving in with Maureen, despite both her and their father wanting him to go there for safety. Kathleen expresses concern because of Elliot being attacked but Eli insisted that he stays with his father. Kathleen spoke to Elliot who speculated that Eli did not want to lose him as well. Kathleen proceeded to voice how Elliot needed help in order to cope with both the death of Kathy and how he needed to deal with the stress of the job. Elliot brushed off her concerns by saying he was hanging on, but she was not convinced. Before leaving the apartment, Kathleen hugged her father while begging that he gets proper help. (OC: "Say Hello To My Little Friends")

Kathleen later met with Benson to discuss how she is worried about her father and his potential spiral after Eli told her that he and Elliot were nearly in a car crash. She told Benson that she chose to go to her because her father would listen to her for all their time together. She also revealed that she and her siblings are planning an intervention and want Benson there to help. When Elliot returns home, he found Kathleen and her siblings along with Benson present. They all discussed how they all care about him and just want him to get help for his issues regarding the death of Kathy. However, Elliot was not having it stating that while he appreciated their concerns, he is perfectly fine and proceeded to tell his family and Benson that he loved them before he left to the disappointment of Kathleen. (OC: "The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of")

When her grandmother Bernadette was arrested for slapping a child during a bipolar episode and was released with the help of Ayanna Bell and Elliot, Kathleen and her brother Eli went to Bernadette's apartment and offered her some help, asking her to move in with Elliot and Eli. When Bernadette expressed concern about who would look after her cats, Kathleen agreed to look after them. (OC: "New World Order")

When Eli stole Bernadette's bipolar pills and sold them to a friend, Bernadette screamed at Kathleen and Elliot that Eli had stole them and Kathleen attempted to calm her down while not believing that Eli had stolen the pills. (OC: "The Good, The Bad And The Lovely")

Kathleen attended the ill-fated dinner party that Elliot threw at his apartment. She happily engaged with her family and primarily hung around Bernadette. She became visibly uncomfortable and awkward during dinner when Elliot, Bernadette, and Randall fought. After Elliot and Randall's fight became physical, Kathleen, her siblings, brother-in-law, nephews, and Eli's girlfriend left the party, feeling uncomfortable, disgusted and upset by the fight. (OC: "The Last Supper")

Trivia[]

  • She has the highest episode count among her siblings, appearing in 36 episodes on both SVU and Organized Crime. Her brothers Eli and Dickie have appeared in 31 episodes and 25 episodes, respectively; and her sisters Maureen and Elizabeth have both appeared in 20 episodes.
  • The only one who calls her "Katie" is her grandmother Bernadette. (SVU: "Swing")

Appearances[]

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