Benson and Stabler: Will They or Won’t They?

The best romances start off as friendships. Regardless of how long the relationship lasts, it is that core friendship that will hopefully ground it.

For more than twenty years, Law and Order: SVU fans have been asking one question: When will Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) get together? When the series started, Stabler was happily married to his late wife and Benson was single. Over the years, she had a number of boyfriends, but no one stuck around for very long.

When Meloni and Stabler left the show in 2011, both the fans and Benson were shocked and heartbroken. It took us a while, but we go used to the newer members of the squad. Then he came back in Law & Order: Organized Crime (2021) and the question became even more prevalent.

Over the past year or so, both Benson and Stabler have become aware of something more between them.

The trailer for the new episode (which will air on Thursday) promises to answer the question. To be truthful, I have mixed feelings. Obviously, both the actors and the characters have tremendous chemistry and know each other inside and out. The next step (if there is one) is to become more than friends.

The issue that I have a problem with is narratives in which a female is given a potential romantic partner simply because of her gender. It has no bearing on the tale. I am fully aware that the show’s creative team respects their female characters. However, I am still a little wary of this storyline.

If this kiss happens, it may be the longest-awaited kiss in television history. Regardless of what happens, I eagerly await the release of this episode.

New episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit air on Thursday at 9PM on NBC.

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Best New TV Shows of 2021

*I apologize for the delay in posting. I should have written this before New Year’s Eve.

1. Loki: Tom Hiddleston shines once more as Loki, the complicated immortal who has become much more than the standard antagonist. Forced into new circumstances, he goes on a journey that forever changes him.
2. The Wonder Years: This reboot of the beloved 1980’s/1990’s series is just as poignant as its predecessor. The choice of making the main character and his family African-American only adds to its relevancy.
3. Law & Order: Organized Crime: This spinoff of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit starring Chris Meloni as returning Detective Elliot Stabler is a thrilling and spine tingling hour of television.
4. Ordinary Joe: This new NBC series is the story of one man and three distinct life paths before him. Told concurrently and using different colors for each decision, is is a reminder of how one choice can affect the rest of our lives.
5. Impeachment: American Crime Story: The latest chapter of this long running F/X series focuses on the affair between Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) and former President Clinton (Clive Owen) and the impeachment trial that followed. Instead of focusing on Clinton, the story is about the women who were directly affected by his less than honorable actions.
6. WandaVision: This first foray by the MCU via DisneyPlus is everything it promised to be. Wanda Maxmioff and Vision (Elisabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany) are living in family sitcom wedded bliss. But it not what it seems to be. With a star making turn by Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, this series is a must see.
7. All Creatures Great and Small: Ths unexpectedly Masterpeice/PBS series is adorable and charming. A rookie vetenarian starts his career in rural Yorkshire in the 1930’s and grows in unexpected ways. The new season starts tonight at 9PM ET/ 8PM CT.
8. Atlantic Crossing: This second Masterpeice/PBS series tells the story of the friendship/supposed affair between Franklin Delanor Roosevelt and Crown Princess Martha of Sweden during World War II. Forgotten for nearly a century, this tale of one woman’s drive to save her nation is truly worth watching.
9. The Book of Boba Fett: This latest entry into the Star Wars universe from DisneyPlus just premiered on December 29th. Though only two episodes have been released, it is already asking questions that are begging for answers.
10. Behind Her Eyes: Based on the book by Sarah Pinborough, this six part Netflix series about a married man’s affair with his secretary has a delicious ending that is jaw dropping and completely out of left field. Few endings have wowed me as this did.

Stabler Told Benson He Loved Her: The Jaw Drop Ensues

For the last twenty two years, the partnership of Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) on Law & Order: SVU (and it’s off shoot, Law & Order: Organized Crime) has been the favorite of fans across the world. Somewhere between being pseudo-siblings and besties, their relationship was reason we came back week after week.

Last week, a bomb was dropped that no one saw coming.

I have no idea where the story is going for the rest of the season, but that moment was one for the books.

Law & Order: Organized Crime Review

Warning: I highly recommend that you watch the episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode that aired just before Law & Order: Organized Crime before reading this review.

Someone once said that you can’t go home. While this rule is not set in stone, it doesn’t mean that the reunion will be all sunshine and roses.

Law & Order: Organized Crime premiered Thursday on NBC. An off shoot of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, it focuses on former SVU detective Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni). Ten years after leaving the force and his long time partner, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), Stabler has returned to New York. His new job is going after organized crime. Roped back in by personal loss, Stabler has to do his job while dealing with the repercussions of his past actions.

Stabler is back. Though it has been ten years since fans have seen him in the Law and Order universe, nothing has changed with the character. This show feels like a natural extension of where we left off in 2011. There is just enough to tie him to his professional past while allowing for more than enough room for him to grow as a police officer and a human being.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

Law & Order: Organized Crime airs on Thursday Night at 10 PM.