Law & Order: SVU’s Most Ardent Will-They-Won’t-They Ship Gets Another Encouraging Endgame Tease

Every show or movie has an iconic romance, irrelevant of the genre. However, television often has the benefit of developing a strong relationship before the characters get romantically involved, and, sometimes that leads to incredibly long will-they-won’t-they storylines.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit knows all about it. It’s staple characters, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, are the emotional core of the show, and their story spans more than 25 years and multiple shows, even if they haven’t gotten together yet. After Mariska Hargitay’s recent encouraging words about Benson/ Stapler, Christopher Meloni also weighed in on the subject when speaking to People, and gave his encouraging take on it.

Police procedurals are often guilty of having long will-they-won’t-they storylines. Since the shows often follow episodic storylines, they leave little to no room to develop the characters faster, save for some brief moments during the cases or at the end of them. The X-Files‘ Mulder and Scully, as well as Bones‘ Brennan and Booth, also took multiple seasons to ever kiss, maintaining their relationship platonic despite the tension and chemistry.

However, Law & Order: SVU took it to a different level. Benson and Stabler have been working together for over two decades, and their professional and emotional relationship borders on romantic, with no payoff for the fans, and now they even have different shows. Speaking about the “sexiest” part of their relationship, Meloni, who leads Law & Order: Organized Crime, replied, “Gosh. They know each other in an unspoken way, and I think it’s the depth of their friendship. And they’ve made these stabs or these attempts at making this thing another thing…”

Even the recently released Season 27 saw another tense moment, with Stabler’s “Love you” to Olivia Benson during the premiere episode. The actor hopped on social media to reveal the moment was improvised. “Ad lib. Made the cut. Ur welcome.”

He continued, “For Benson and Stabler to get together, it’s hard! Hard. Am I blushing?” He continued that anything is possible with enough time, showing his willingness for the pairing to get together. “Oh, I have the energy, just not the time.”

Speaking about his ideal ending for Stabler, he admitted, “Some conclusion to Benson and Stabler. I think both characters, Stabler and Benson, should ride off into the sunset.”

Mariska Hargitay Also Teased that the Beloved Pair Might Get Together

Image via NBC

Law & Order fans aren’t the only ones eager for Captain Olivia Benson and Detective Elliot Stabler to get together. Ahead of SVU’s Season 27 premiere this September, Mariska Hargitay also encouraged fans of the long-running will-they-won’t-they ship. Asked about the couple, she encouraged fans with a smile to “never give up hope.” She also teased Benson and Stabler “come together at big moments.” While the pairing has yet to be officially together, the support of the two actors makes it more bearable and encouraging.