‘SVU’ Boss Talks Benson & Stabler’s ‘Important Relationship’ and Christopher Meloni’s Future on the Show

Perhaps the longest, most frustrating slow burn on TV is that of former partners Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). It started on Law & Order: SVU, where they worked side by side for 12 seasons until he left. It reignited when he got his own spinoff, Organized Crime, in 2021; sadly, that has been canceled after five seasons. But SVU is still going, meaning he can always pop up on there.

SVU showrunner Michele Fazekas is all for bringing Meloni back onscreen, though she notes it depends on his schedule.

“I wouldn’t want to just drop him in an unimportant scene,” she tells TV Insider. “You have to use him and bring him in with purpose. So, yeah, I would love to bring Stabler back around once in a while.”

There have certainly been almosts between Benson and Stabler, including a near-kiss in SVU Season 24. Benson also hasn’t had a love interest in a while, and Fazekas doesn’t know about bringing one in, in general.

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“When I was on the show, it was Benson and Stabler, and I personally don’t know about a love interest for her,” she says. “I think that is a really important relationship that I do want to serve as much as we can. Chris works a lot. There were a couple of episodes this year, I was like, ‘Hey, is he around?’ and he was working.”

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She continues, “I think it’s important to service that relationship for me personally and also for the fans. It’s a super important relationship to Benson, and Benson is a different person than she was when I was on the show before. She has grown in so many different ways, and that relationship is very different, and Stabler is a different person. So, what are they now together? And so exploring that would be great if Chris Meloni is available.”

What do you want to see SVU explore with Benson and Stabler going forward? Let us know in the comments section below.

Law & Order: SVU, Season 27 Finale, Thursday, May 14, 9/8c, NBC

—Additional reporting by Erin Maxwell

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