Okay Dick Wolf, you’ve got to stop doing this to us fans! Law & Order: SVU continues to tease the Benson-Stabler romance even after 26 years. Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson partnered with Chris Meloni’s Elliot Stabler for 12 seasons before the latter exited the show. When Meloni’s character returned in Season 22, Wolf took up their romance plot right from where he had left it earlier.
However, even after four seasons of SVU and three seasons of Law & Order: Organized Crime, the relationship is in a frustrating limbo. I mean, even the shippers would’ve given up on their romance storyline by now. As a true fan, I expect the show to give Olivia her much-deserved stable relationship at this point, whether it’s Stabler or not.
Hargitay and Meloni were both actors who hailed from comedy, and fans would’ve never guessed that they would thrive in such a crime setting. They quickly went on to become fan-favorite detectives. For fans, the Benson-Stabler duo represented champions of s*xual assault victims on television.
Dick Wolf needs to move on from the Benson-Stabler romance in Law & Order: SVU
Mariska Hargitay once shared in an interview with TODAY that she had figured out that her co-star Chris Meloni was “the guy” to play her partner from day one. She shared that she and Meloni were polar opposites in real life, which reflected in their on-screen chemistry as partners. For 12 seasons, fans kept on believing that the two were going to pursue a romantic relationship.
However, Stabler’s marriage remained the biggest obstacle to pursuing such a storyline. Dick Wolf kept the audience in the dark about Benson and Stabler’s true feelings towards each other. Meloni left the show after the 12th season, and the show finally put the topic to rest. However, it failed to give Olivia Benson a proper romantic arc during the next ten seasons.
She pursued different romantic relationships, but none of them had a happy ending for our female protagonist. If you ask me, it was a gross injustice to Hargitay’s character when Wolf made her a single mom after a couple of decades on the show. Olivia Benson deserved happiness and Wolf was hell-bent on not giving it to her.
In Season 22, Stabler returned and the showrunner immediately killed his wife, opening a path for a potential romance between him and Benson. However, we knew that this storyline would take at least a few more seasons to develop, especially after the way Stabler abandoned Benson at the end of Season 12. Wolf once again started teasing the relationship.
Honestly, the slow-burn romance isn’t working for me. The almost-kiss in Season 24 Episode 12 felt more frustrating than ever. If Benson isn’t sure about this relationship, fans would rather want the show to move on from it. Worst of all, even if the duo commits to a relationship, there are logistical difficulties in portraying this romance on the screen.
It’s logistically difficult to portray a romance between Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler
Fans often forget that Chris Meloni’s Elliot Stabler only returned to the Law & Order universe and not to SVU. He has his own show, Law & Order: Organized Crime, which has little connection to Mariska Hargitay’s show. Both SVU and Organized Crime tried to build up the momentum for a potential romance between the two, but they have to eventually focus on their intended storylines.
Hargitay and Meloni leading two different shows is a major hindrance to pursuing their romance. It brings up logistical difficulties, as seen in previous seasons when Organized Crime had to go into a development limbo. Interestingly, Meloni’s show will be back on Peacock, which will allow for some crossover episodes.
The only way a Benson-Stabler relationship would satisfy fans at this point would be if Dick Wolf decides to make it happen in the finale of SVU. It also comes with the condition that Wolf should wrap up the show in a couple of seasons, so that fans aren’t frustrated by the status quo of their relationship.
Episodes of Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime are now available for streaming on Peacock.
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