With chemistry as electrifying as Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni’s, one would think they would cross over to each other’s respective shows frequently. So, why haven’t their beloved “Law & Order” characters, Capt. Olivia Benson and Detective Elliot Stabler, physically been in a scene together in nearly two years?
Benson and Stabler started out together on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” as detectives who were paired up to solve some of New York City’s most heinous sex crimes when the NBC prime-time drama debuted in 1999. Stabler had a wife and multiple kids, and Benson stayed (mostly) single, but the two cultivated a large and very loyal fan base who hoped their partnership would take a romantic turn.
Meloni left the series following Season 12 in 2011 after failed contract negotiations. The show picked up the next season with Benson unable to get in touch with Stabler, who didn’t return to work after shooting and killing a young girl wielding a gun in the precinct. The unit’s captain at the time, Donald Cragen (Dann Florek), informed Benson that her partner “put his papers in” and wouldn’t be returning.
Fans had all but given up on Meloni ever reprising Stabler until news broke in 2020 that he would bring the character back for a new NBC series called “Law & Order: Organized Crime.” His return was part of a crossover event between a Season 22 episode of “SVU” and the series premiere of “Organized Crime” on April 1, 2021. Stabler crashed back into Benson’s life on “SVU” when he called her for help after his wife, Kathy Stabler (Isabel Gillies), was injured in a car bombing. Kathy died at the end of the episode, which spurred Stabler’s mission to continue on “OC” to get justice for his wife and find her killer.
Kathy’s death also seemed to finally open the door for the possibility of a romance between Benson and Stabler. A lot has happened between them since Stabler’s return, including an “I love you” confession, a twisted love(?) letter, some hand-holding, feelings confessions from them both and a near-kiss that was “changed at the last minute,” according to Hargitay.
And now, Hargitay will appear in the second episode of the new season of “Organized Crime” on Thursday, April 17.
See Benson and Stabler together again in ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ teaser
Peacock released a teaser Wednesday, April 9, showing Benson at Stabler’s bedside in the hospital.
In the video, Stabler’s boss, Sgt. Ayanna Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt), asks him to go undercover again.
Tense scenes of Stabler in action flash throughout until he gets hit by a semitruck. Then the teaser cuts to Stabler being wheeled into the hospital with Bell at his side.
And then …
“Elliot,” a voice, which fans will recognize as Benson’s, says.
The trailer concludes with Benson staring intensely at Stabler with his eyes closed in his hospital bed.
Meloni told TODAY.com last summer he was writing the second episode of “OC” Season Five and teased a guest appearance from Hargitay in the upcoming season.
“Oh, girlfriend’s coming on,” he said at the time.
Hargitay opened up in an interview with TODAY.com in October about what it was like to guest star in an episode written by her close friend.
“It was, you know, daring. It was risk-taking. It was moving. It was out of the box, the way he thinks,” she said. “It was so fresh and so intimate.”
“It was a joy to say his words,” Hargitay added. “It was a joy to work on it with him. He’s an incredible director, an incredible leader and just an incredible artist.”
More recently, Hargitay and Meloni were spotted on the set of “SVU.” So, there’s a chance Stabler may pop up there first on NBC, which is also airing the Season Five “OC” premiere at 10 p.m. ET on April 17 following “SVU.”
“Just leaving this here 👯♂️,” Hargitay captioned a series of photos on Instagram of herself with Meloni on set March 19.
The next day, Meloni shared two selfies he took with Hargitay.
“So I bumped into this one on the street @therealmariskahargitay,” he wrote on Instagram.
What happened in Benson and Stabler’s last scene together on ‘Law & Order’?
Benson and Stabler physically haven’t shared the screen since the “Organized Crime” Season Three finale, “With Many Names,” which was part of a crossover event with the “SVU” Season 24 finale, “All Pain Is One Malady,” that aired May 18, 2023.
Benson got shot for the first time ever in the “OC” episode. She and Stabler took down the shooter together before he carried her, bridal style, to safety — and urgent care 👀.
In the final scene, Stabler visited Benson in her office and gifted her a compass necklace, which Hargitay revealed to TODAY.com she and Meloni designed together.
“Elliot, this is beautiful,” Benson told him, before asking if the necklace is “supposed to lead” her somewhere — or to something.
Stabler said, “Lead you to happiness, Liv.”
“I sure as hell am going to try,” Benson responded.
“Me too,” Stabler said.
Benson wore the necklace in the following season of “SVU,” though she didn’t physically cross paths with him on “SVU” or “OC.”
In the “SVU” Season 25 finale, which aired May 16, 2024, Benson loaned the necklace to someone else and shared the news during a phone call with Stabler in the last scene.
“I wanted to let you know that it has been incredibly meaningful to me,” she told Stabler of the necklace. “It has guided me, in terms of my healing.”
After Benson told Stabler she “lent” the necklace to a victim’s mother, Stabler said: “Sounds like she needed it a lot more than you do.”
“I knew you’d understand,” Benson replied.
Why has it taken so long for Benson and Stabler to appear on screen together again?
It’s not exactly clear why the characters haven’t shared the screen in nearly two years.
In May 2024, Peacock announced “OC” would be moving from NBC to the streaming service for Season Five, which led fans to wonder if characters from broadcast TV’s “SVU” could still cross over with streaming’s “OC,” and vice versa. The answer to that one is a definite yes given Hargitay’s upcoming appearance on “OC” and the recent Meloni spotting on the “SVU” set with Hargitay.
“SVU” showrunner David Graziano told TODAY.com in 2022 that “some of the considerations about Benson and Stabler have nothing to do with narrative and they’re about just logistics of these two actors’ (Hargitay and Meloni) busy schedules.”
“You’ve got to think for a second about the ‘OC’: Chris Meloni is in every single scene of that show, and they just can’t lend him out the same way we can sort of give them Mariska for a day or two,” he explained. “Even when we give her over there for a day or two, we feel hobbled without her.”
Both shows have also reportedly experienced showrunner shake-ups in recent months.
In November, “OC” showrunner John Shiban exited the series while the show was still filming its fifth season, Deadline reported, with original showrunner Matt Olmstead returning as executive producer to finish out the season. The series has also reportedly cycled through multiple showrunners across the five seasons, according to Deadline.
More recently, news broke that “SVU” will be helmed for the first time by a woman after Season 26. Deadline reported April 1 that Michele Fazekas will take over as “SVU” showrunner after Graziano finishes his three seasons with the show. Fazekas previously worked on “SVU” in the early 2000s as a producer and writer.
The show, like “OC,” has yet to be officially renewed for another season.
The first two episodes of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” Season Five drop Thursday, April 17, on Peacock, with a special telecast of the first episode airing on NBC at 10 p.m. ET after new episodes of “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU” at 8 and 9 p.m.
(Peacock is part of our parent company, NBCUniversal.)
