Christopher Meloni is enjoying his freedom.

The star of Law & Order: Organized Crime says he’s enjoyed more of it since signing on to anchor his own spinoff of the wildly successful franchise, compared to his 12 years on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. “Our universe is slightly different than the SVU universe. So I think I feel a bit more freedom,” he tells Entertainment Weekly ahead of the premiere of Organized Crime‘s fifth season on April 17.

The freedom with which Organized Crime‘s creative team has approached Meloni’s beloved character was on display in the final moments of last May’s season 4 closer. No bombs threats, no shooting and shouting, but a tender moment at Stabler’s late wife’s grave, in which the infamous tough guy tenderly confides his excitement that their son Eli (Nicky Torchia) will soon become a father.

Nicky Torchia and Kiaya Scott on ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’.Ralph Bavaro/PEACOCK

Of course, there was shooting, shouting, and bomb threats. The character viewers will be waiting with bated breath to catch up with is Joseph “Joey” Stabler Jr., Elliot’s younger brother (Michael Trotter). Joey finished out the season handcuffed to an uncertain fate — literally. The villainous drug boss Emery (Tom Payne) handcuffed Joey to a briefcase full of chemical weapons in one of the finale’s last moments before taking off in a jet.

Meloni can’t say how or when, but when we “pick up his story,” it eventually “leads to certain ramifications, which are pretty intense.” Not just for Stabler, but the entire NYPD Organized Crime Task Force, led by Sergeant Ayanna Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt) and including Detectives Jet Slootmaekers (Ainsley Seiger), Bobby Reyes (Rick Gonzalez), and tech analyst Kyle Vargas (Tate Ellington).

The actor is, however, at liberty to tease an incoming “guest star from Stabler’s past — they ran together a little bit in their pre-times, let’s say pre-SVU, in those days” — who returns to “play a role in Stabler’s journey. So it’s kind of interesting how things go away and then resurface. It’s like a shark fin. You start to hear the music,” he says before humming a few bars from John Williams’ theme from Jaws.

Danielle Moné Truitt, Rick Gonzalez, Tate Ellington, and Ainsley Seiger on ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’.Virginia Sherwood/PEACOCK

Organized Crime has welcomed its fair share of figures from Stabler’s past, including Tamara Tunie’s Medical Examiner Melinda Warner and Kelli Giddish’s Sergeant Amanda Rollins. One-time Law & Order: Criminal Intent star Michael Biehn appeared on a season 3 episode of Organized Crime as David Carver, Stabler’s former marine buddy who gets caught up in violent biker gang feud.

But chances are Meloni’s referring to family here, not a friend. “We got the family involved,” he teases. “I think the dynamic will complicate things for Elliot, having to juggle a lot of new things while trying to do his job.”

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

Meloni says the coming season of Organized Crime will be a “powerful” watch for “people who have followed the journey of Stabler, which is all about this driven cop in the cop world. We’ve been watching him do it for nearly two decades now, so with all his flaws, Stabler has become a cautionary tale.”

He returns to a poignant moment from the past season, in which Stabler, pulled away from yet another family function, issues a haunting warning to Eli, who had just announced his intention to enroll in the police academy. “This is what being a cop looks like,” he says as he walks out the door. Meloni broke down Stabler’s stern warning this way: “If you want to be like me, it comes with the good and bad of everything that is, which is, you become nearly obsessed with the justice system, which is unjust. It’s a never-ending battle.”

Danielle Moné Truitt, Rick Gonzalez, and Christopher Meloni on ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’.Virginia Sherwood/PEACOCK

As influential as Stabler’s family relationships have proven over the past four seasons, one figure from his past stands alone: his SVU costar Mariska Hargitay.

Meloni and Hargitay’s characters, the righteously furious marine-turned-detective Elliot Stabler and the empathetic, yet pragmatic, Captain Olivia Benson, comprise one of the most enduring, hotly-contested will-they-won’t-theys in television history. Hargitay has made numerous crossover appearances on Organized Crime, but Meloni has taken their relationship to a new level by writing his first-ever episode in the franchise, in which they’ll both star.

Danielle Moné Truitt and Christopher Meloni on ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’.David Holloway/PEACOCK

“Every time we get together, it’s really second nature, and we just pick up and operate the way we always have, always searching for the best way to dissect the scene and reassemble it and make it work,” he says. Meloni confirms what Hargitay revealed last May, that there was a planned Benson-Stabler kiss in a season 24 episode of SVU that was “changed at the last minute.” He adds that his forthcoming episode touches on “the confused or gray nature of Benson and Stabler’s emotional connection,” but emphasizes the phrase, “It’s touched on. I wouldn’t say teased upon, but touched. It’s touched on.”

He recalls season 4 showrunner John Shiban saying something that “fired a creative spirit in me,” leading to the realization that this particular story “was a good episode for me to write, because I thought I could lend insight into how Stabler and Benson engage each other. I thought I could bring greater value, because I just know them.”

Christopher Meloni on season 5 of ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’.Virginia Sherwood/PEACOCK

After 27 years on and off with the franchise, Meloni understands the language and customs of the universe created by Dick Wolf intuitively. He says he “would be interested” in directing future episodes, too, having previously helmed episodes of the series Happy! and Underground, in which he also starred.

“They actually said to me, ‘We were surprised that you didn’t ask to direct this one. The only reason why I didn’t was I just didn’t want to give up my off-season downtime,” he jokes. “So give me a couple more weeks of down time and I’ll let you know.”

Law & Order: Organized Crime will premiere the first two episodes of season 5 April 17 on Peacock, with new episodes streaming weekly.