Law & Order: SVU Showrunner Michele Fazekas Gets Real About Benson and Stabler’s Future (Exclusive)

Showrunner Michele Fazekas knows what Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans want most.

When asked if there’s a storyline she’s still eager to explore, the showrunner thought of one original character in particular.

“Obviously, everyone’s always asking me about Stabler, and I love [Christopher] Meloni. I would use him as much as he wants to. I tried to!” Fazekas tells PEOPLE.

Meloni portrayed Det. Elliot Stabler—famously, Olivia Benson’s “partner for life” — from the show’s premiere in 1999 until he left the series in 2011. He reprised his role in 2021 for the spinoff series Law & Order: Organized Crime, which ran for five seasons on NBC and Peacock.

PEOPLE confirmed in April that OC would not be returning for a sixth season.

“I wanted to take this moment to say thank you to the fans, who not only helped give the character of Elliot Stabler life and longevity, but for sticking with him and welcoming him back,” Meloni said in an Instagram video shortly after the news broke.

“Good ride,” he added, as his eyes appeared to well up. “It was a good ride, I had a great time playing him. It was a great ride, but thank you. You helped give me a career that I never dreamed of. Nearly 17 odd years.”

Beyond the Law & Order universe, Meloni is now set to star in new Hulu series The Land from This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman. The cast also includes Mandy Moore and William H. Macy, and shooting took place over the last year in Los Angeles.

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“[Meloni’s] very, very busy. I tried to bring him into this. I’ll just sometimes ask the question like, ‘Hey, is he working?'” Fazekas says. “It’s like, ‘Oh yes, of course he’s working.'”

For more than two decades, Meloni’s Stabler and Mariska Hargitay’s Benson have been busting perps and fighting crime on NBC. They’ve also always had a lot of chemistry.

“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…” Meloni previously told PEOPLE when asked about the “sexiest” part of the “EO” (Elliot and Olivia, as fans have dubbed them) relationship.

Fazekas says she’s aware of the duo’s storied history, and she wants to do it justice if she’s able.

“I think that’s a relationship that I really care about. I know the fans really care about [it],” says Fazekas, who also worked on SVU as a writer and co-executive producer from seasons 3 through 7. “So as much as I can, I would like to just acknowledge that and service that as much as he’s available… which he’s often not.”

At the suggestion that she will have to just tell Meloni to clear his schedule when she needs him, Fazekas laughs.

“I know,” she says. “Sorry!”