SVUs Mariska Hargitay Explains Why Elliot/Olivia Didnt Kiss

The Big Picture

• Mariska Hargitay says it was creator Dick Wolf's decision to have Elliot and Olivia not kiss in a tension-filled scene.
• Despite the near kiss, the tension between Olivia and Elliot remains open-ended for now on Law & Order: SVU.
• The chemistry between Elliot and Olivia is strong thanks to the actors' off-screen friendship but their characters' paths have not yet crossed in Season 25.

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 by Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni, were a staple duo in the first 12 seasons of Law & 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 since returned to the role of Elliot Stabler in a new Law & Order spin-off: Law & Order: Organized Crime that kicked off in 2021.

Since the re-emergence of Stabler and Benson in one another's lives, fans have been wondering: will they finally get together? During the initial 12 seasons of SVU, Stabler's character was married to a woman named Kathy, and they had a family together. When Organized Crime premiered, 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 with Variety. "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 between Benson and Stabler want to remain open-ended, especially as we haven't seen the two cross paths in Season 25 of SVU. “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 the Organized Crime episode "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 means SVU will be heading into Season 26 and Organized Crime will be heading into a fifth season. There is, however, a catch with Organized Crime. After the show was not including in a sweep of renewals from NBC, the network later announced that Organized Crime would 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: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime air 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.

Watch on Peacock

ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kuaLDjJqlnWWfp7Gmvoysra5llaG5qrvTZqaloaaerm63yKyqZpuRo7CmuMuem2adqKW5orXNnpto