Elliot Stabler’s return on Law & Order: SVU was bogged down by a personal tragedy, but it also gives his romance with Olivia Benson a higher chance of finally happening. Almost a decade since Christopher Meloni left the police procedural, he’s now back opposite Mariska Hargitay making the long-awaited Stabler and Benson reunion come to fruition. While this isn’t a permanent scenario as Stabler is heading a different task force in the new spin-off, Law & Order: Organized Crime, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be any more crossovers moving forward.
NBC had to change how Stabler’s return was going to pan out a couple of times. The initial plan was for his family to appear at the very end of Law & Order: SVU season 21 to set up his eventual appearance. But due to the coronavirus pandemic that forced the show to cut their year short, that was scrapped. Meloni’s cameo was then moved to the season 22 premiere, but that also didn’t happen; instead, they landed on the police procedural’s midseason offering with the episode aptly titled “The Return of the Prodigal Son” functioning as a springboard for Law & Order: Organized Crime. The new series will see Stabler lead a new team that will hunt down NYC’s biggest crime syndicates.
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Before all of that, however, the detective reunited with his former co-workers, Fin Tutuola and of course, Benson. The much-awaited face-off, unfortunately, happened at the most inopportune time as it’s on the heels of an attempted assassination on Stabler. While it failed to kill him, it did, however, injure his wife, Kathy. They were still able to rush her to the hospital, but eventually, she died. As tragic as this is for Stabler, it also clears the path for NBC to move forward with a potential romance with Benson. As partners for 12 years, the pair had an indestructible bond; they grew so close that it even put a strain on Stabler’s marriage. However, Law & Order: SVU never really crossed the line with regard to the pair’s relationship and it remained platonic until Stabler’s abrupt Law & Order resignation.
Unlike other will they/won’t they arcs on TV, Stabler and Benson’s was a bit more complicated because the former was married with kids. Stabler’s dedication to his work resulted in some difficulties in his marriage, and Kathy has been mostly understanding, it has caused issues. Knowing full well how in-sync his husband is with his partner, she learned how to treat Olivia as a friend and not be jealous of how much time Elliot spent with her. This was what made it more difficult for Law & Order: SVU to move forward with a Benson and Stabler relationship despite fans clamoring for it. There’s no way that they can justify it without making both detectives bad considering how great Kathy has been through it all.
Now that Kathy is gone, that hindrance effectively is, too. Of course, it’s not going to happen any time soon considering that she just died in the latest Law & Order: SVU episode. Stabler and his family are all grieving her death, and it might take a while to get over it since her murder is tied to his ongoing arc. But, in case NBC finally wants to bite the bullet and move forward with long-clamored Stabler and Benson romance, they can finally do it easily.
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