It’s one of television’s longest will they-won’t they relationships. We’re talking about Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler. The pair, played byMariska HargitayandChristopher Meloni, were a staple duo in the first 12 seasons ofLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit. After Meloni left due to a contract dispute, Hargitay stayed on and is still with the show in its 25th season. Meloni has sincereturned to the role of Elliot Stablerin a newLaw & Orderspin-off:Law & Order: Organized Crimethat kicked off in 2021.
Since the re-emergence ofStabler and Bensonin one another’s lives, fans have been wondering:will they finally get together? During the initial 12 seasons ofSVU, Stabler’s character was married to a woman named Kathy, and they had a family together. WhenOrganized Crimepremiered, Kathy was killed off. The decades-long tension between Stabler and Benson is not something Hargitay shied away from talking about in a recent interview withVariety. “Our chemistry is undeniable. It’s just the way it is,” she says.
Will They, or Won’t They? ‘Law & Order’s Long Running Slow Burn Is Still Burning
There’s a moment, after Stabler and Benson reunite, in a scene of great emotional vulnerability, where the episode’s teasers made it appear as if they’d kiss in the highly anticipated episode. As we all know now, they didn’t. The move even came as a shock to the actors. “To be honest with you, Chris and I thought it should go one way and the powers that be didn’t, so it got changed at the last minute, that near kiss,” she says. “Obviously, Dick gets [the] final say. It’s his show and he didn’t want that.”
The chemistry between the two, even after not being on-screen together for a decade, picked right up where it left off, thanks in part to Meloni and Hargitay’s offscreen friendship. Hargitay says for right now, things betweenBenson and Stabler want to remain open-ended, especially as we haven’t seen the two cross paths in Season 25 ofSVU. “We want to hold the tension,” Hargitay says, “and do what’s right and truthful for both characters.” With both characters being in New York City, we see their stories overlap. Most recently, that includes a scene at the end of theOrganized Crimeepisode “Missing Persons” where Stabler is watching a press conference at which Benson is present after the return of a missing girl, but they’ve had no screentime together since the respective shows’ previous season.
What’s Next For Benson and Stabler?
Fans won’t be left hanging when it comes to seeing Benson and Stabler again in the fall. Both shows were renewed for additional seasons. That meansSVUwill be heading into Season 26 andOrganized Crimewill be heading into a fifth season. There is, however, a catch withOrganized Crime. After the show was not including in a sweep of renewals from NBC, the network later announced thatOrganized Crimewould be moving exclusively to Peacock for its fifth season. Since the streaming service is owned by NBC, there is still the opportunity for the shows to crossover, but there will no longer be a back-to-back fix of Stabler and Benson on NBC Thursday nights.
Law & Order: SVUandLaw & Order: Organized Crimeair on Thursdays on NBC. New episodes are available on streaming on Fridays on Peacock.
Law & Order: SVU
This series follows the Special Victims Unit, a specially trained squad of detectives in the New York City Police Department that investigate sexually related crimes.
