I grew up, like many others seeing Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (SVU) on my television every night. As the longest running primetime live-action series, it is in the midst of its 22nd season. I have watched every episode of SVU and it was a staple of my high school routine, to go home after school and watch re-run after re-run until the new episode dropped that week.
As many fans of the show know, Olivia Benson, played by the amazingly talented Mariska Hargitay, was heartbroken in season 13 when her longtime partner, Elliot Stabler,, was suddenly ‘transferred’ off of her unit. Evidently there was some kind of contract dispute that took actor Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler from the show. As a devoted fan, I could see how Benson’s demeanor with new partner Nick Amaro changed after Stabler left the show. I was so excited to hear of the crossover event that happened on April 1st to promote Stabler’s new position on Law and Order: Organized Crime. I knew it would finally answer the age old questions: Where has Elliot Stabler been? What is he doing now?
The episode gave me a great rush of happiness. Olivia Benson has always been an inspiring character for me to see on screen. She has gained so much respect in her position, making it to Commanding Officer and Lieutenant of Manhattan’s SVU. Benson is intelligent, fair, and a warrior, helping protect victims of heinous crimes and catch the most vicious criminals in New York City. As the leading character on a top ranked television show, she displays all the characteristics that I hope to be as a woman: compassionate yet strong and hardworking. Seeing Benson and Stabler, the show’s two oldest partners on the show work together again felt like a new rush of nostalgia.
They meet each other in shock, seemingly both over the traumatic case involving Stabler’s wife Kathy and over seeing one another again for the first time in almost a decade. Tension builds throughout the episode when Benson is reminded of the violent ‘Bad Cop’ persona Stabler could absolve when meeting face to face with criminals and pulls him out of interrogation with a suspect.
This episode was wrought with emotion from the minute Benson and Stabler meet but when Stabler later begins to apologize, it really picks up. When Benson confronts him for not telling her he was going to leave the unit ten years ago, I could feel the raw emotion between the characters. She said, “You were the most, single most, important person in my life and you just disappeared”. I watched in trepidation when they followed the case and when Kathy died, my heart broke for Stabler’s character. He embraces Benson for the first time in ten years and vows to find his wife’s killer. This marks the beginning of Stabler’s own show, Law and Order: Organized Crime.
I couldn’t recommend the storyline enough if you have been a fan of any of Dick Wolf’s Law and Order shows in the past. It was great to see Benson and Stabler back together. I am excited to see where the spin-off focusing on Stabler’s work in Organized Crime will go from here and I will be sure to keep following Benson’s work as Commanding Officer of the SVU team.