Benson and Stabler: A Look Back at a 25-Year Partnership | Law & Order: SVU | NBC

A 25-year retrospective of Bensler, aka Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Christopher Meloni).
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ABOUT LAW & ORDER
Created by Emmy Award-winning producer Dick Wolf, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," now in its 24th season, is the longest-running primetime live-action series of all time.
This hard-hitting and emotional series from NBC's "Law & Order" brand chronicles the lives of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate crimes of sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence.
As commander of the SVU, Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) is a seasoned veteran of the unit who has seen it all. Her team includes Sergeant Odafin "Fin" Tutuola (Ice T), Senior Detective Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) and the newest member of the squad, Detective Joe Velasco (Octavio Pisano). Assistant District Attorney Dominick "Sonny" Carisi (Peter Scanavino) brings a fresh outlook to his cases while navigating the politics of the DA's office.
Benson and Stabler: A Look Back at a 25-Year Partnership | Law & Order: SVU | NBC
• Benson and Stabler: A ...
Law & Order
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[@UmItsGloria]

if this series ends without them finally being together these writers are going straight to hell😂😂

[@ethelmurray]

Did you writers read that, I agree with the strike...

[@zakarifreeman3245]

Hell yess!! It's time like fr. ❤

[@loridawson906]

i dont think the series is going to end i think we will finally get what we have been longing to see for over 25 years two people who truly have been in love with each other their love story will continue im going to give it another 5 years when the show reaches 30 years then it will end with both of them retiring

[@RightAsAlways5759]

@@loridawson906They would have to retire at the same time, I agree….

[@justdanae8067]

Yea right… his dead wife will haunt them

[@Lubbylove89]

I was 9 when this show came out and here I am a 34-year-old woman still waiting for these two to get together....

[@KPS2311]

Same here, 35, single little teen girl who loved the show, now married with kids. This love story is longer than mine.

[@casseyboo89]

LOL same here. If Elliot and Olivia dont get together, im gonna explode lmao

[@ludmilaparodi]

omg exactly the same here! I started watching it with my grandma and here i am still. Olivia is everything

[@jaderbean]

Same!!!! Can’t believe how long it’s been on. I hope they don’t keep us waiting too much longer. I have a feeling a crossover will take place soon since Liv reached out to him on this latest episode he had.

[@MikaelaJoArroyo]

Same here!

[@LadyAlteria]

I have never wanted two almost 60 year olds to be together as much as I want these two

[@bones.family]

Hope they end up together!

[@veeyan6882]

Layme

[@VisualEnjoyer9756]

I am SO glad the writers never made Eliot cheat on his wife to justify him and Olivia getting together. It would've ruined the man Stabler was written to be and cheapen their inevitable relationship

[@ban66a1]

Kathy can accept Olivia is Elliot's office wife

[@CharlotteIssyvoo]

I agree. I really liked that the writers didn't go the usual, boring route, with the married man cheating on his wife. Instead, Liv and Kathy were great friends, and Kathy trusted Liv completely. We can imagine that Kathy wouldn't choose anyone but Liv to be Eliot's second great love. But, gosh darn it, I do hope they hurry up and get together now!

[@CherriePetty]

Emotionally he did,but physically no,his wife knew..

[@CharlotteIssyvoo]

@@CherriePetty It's not emotional cheating to have a close friend.

[@veeyan6882]

They will never b together that's so cringe, this isnt a notebook story they r partners n too alike

[@rachaelriley4294]

When they get married it has to be all out. Crossovers, old characters, old villains, a full on superhero type event

[@peachesnmulder]

Oh this sounds AWESOME!!!

[@ethelmurray]

Captain Craighan will walk her down the aisle!!

[@margaretgarside5617]

Sounds like ghastly fan-service.

[@Spotlightshaee]

its giving marvel

[@TimothyOvia]

Old villains 😂

[@lexibeach1998]

"Are you ready for me daddy" took me out 🤣🤣

[@kaela5252]

I’m ded that was me! I was like whattttt 🤣🤣🤣

[@lnoeo9]

there really is no other show that makes the audience wait 25 years for the characters to get together. it HAS to be a record.

[@HMAP792]

Yeah this is a record. Mariska now holds 4 records. Longest running female character Longest running character Longest running prime time drama Longest slowburn tv romance

[@hinagikugamesnstuff2452]

And they still aren't really together 😂

[@margaretgarside5617]

@@hinagikugamesnstuff2452 Nor should they be.

[@hinagikugamesnstuff2452]

@@margaretgarside5617 Well, not our choice anyway.

[@veeyan6882]

They won't get together that's so cringe n cheap, Benson is tough Elliot is troubled and falling apart, they r too alike also for it to work, yall r so cringe

[@camhearsch875]

Olivia crying because her partner left broke my heart man, they're so close.

[@margaretgarside5617]

He also left without a word. He didn't even leave a note. Olivia heard it from Cragen.

[@thorgerdurhalldorsdottir1402]

There was a clip with Mariska and Ice T where they were shown old scenes and she cried watching the scene where she finds out Stabler left

[@aec1014]

I feel like they’ll get together in the last 30 seconds of the last episode. They’ll like walk out of her office holding hands or something. 😂😂😭😭

[@MsTinkerbelle87]

“Let’s go home, Liv” 🤞😆

[@kaela5252]

If that happens I’m screaming lol

[@r.r.6863]

Exactly!! Like, “I got off the plane.” Or some such nonsense. 😂🤣

[@veeyan6882]

So cringe so layme this isnt a fairytale, and they won't work as a couple Benson is too tough and Elliot too troubled n prideful

[@user-ll6zn3xv9v]

😂

[@ThisFunnyGinger]

That parallel universe is blending into this one, finally.

[@WWFanatic0]

Stabler, easily in his late 50s at that point, just casually picking up Benson, while blinded.

[@alexisjones4797]

Bruh I swear Mariska gets more gorgous with age she's so beautiful😍

[@HMAP792]

Definitely helps when your mum was Jayne Mansfield

[@spidermonkey727]

Nahhh, the amount of plastic in her face gets worse and worse with age.

[@CharlotteIssyvoo]

@@HMAP792 No doubt, eh? And her father was no slouch either.

[@R3Dwyvern]

I'm 23. This show came out before I was born and somehow these two still aren't together.

[@rodentswithlove7686]

same 😭

[@moniquekirk5958]

Girl! I feel this! Been watching since I was a kid and they still are not together! If they don’t get together soon I will loose my mind!

[@tiffanyc9730]

Best. Comment. Ever.🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@kaviyakaavs]

I'm 22😂 and yh I feel the same too

[@rustygribbler1380]

I scream eternally everytime

[@alexisjones4797]

8:42 When the girl started moaning Elliot's name Liv's face took me out😂😂

[@kaferrat]

Benson probably having sexual fantasies & wet dreams over Stabler. 😜😆

[@justcallmejessz3712]

😂😂😂

[@naschellep]

😂😂😂😂

[@zurirobinson2749]

I remember watching that scene as a child and the vicarious embarrassment I felt from her in that scene. If this happened to me I'd never live it down and I'm not even tough and stoic for a living (or at all)- probably me projecting my own issues but even though it's objectively funny I can't even laugh because I feel bad for the mortification of this fictional character 💀

[@paige-jay]

THESE ARE THEIR STORIES ✨✨✨✨

[@angieolguin-kw6vm]

I knew they loved each other for years. But this video has made it even more clear in case there were doubts. The love is real

[@mikebasil4832]

Benson and Stabler are a very special team. The cop drama universe would have never been the same without them. Happy Holidays to the Law & Order universe. 💓

[@user-fn5we8mr6b]

The Bond That Will Never Die

[@margaretgarside5617]

I hope so. It feels contrived.

[@euphemiafleur48]

What an amazing 25 years! Who's in charge of L&O promo? Can we have Mariska and Chris do a one-on-one discussion about the last 25 years of SVU and their partnership? Like Actors on Actors

[@jessicael8577]

omg yes they need to do this !!!

[@marlenesheffield8777]

Great idea!!!❤️💯

[@margaretgarside5617]

He was gone for ten years!

[@SheridanNikol]

I started watching this show when I was 12. I'm 30 now still rooting for these two to finally get together.

[@josiefidalgo9172]

SAME! It needs to happen

[@unclericosfootballcamp2854]

Isn't that crazy? Lol

[@clairechristy977]

I was 19 when this show started. I'm 43..... my daughter is a teenager......

[@LCNighthawk]

When Elliot left the show lost a GIANT part of the heart of the SVU when he returnes i cried

[@gabby7313]

Very few TV Partnerships/ couples achieve this kind of chemistry. Serendipitous even!

[@Bergen98]

Slowest of the slow-burns in the history of slow-burns.

[@mackiebenson9467]

Crying screaming throwing up. These two have been intertwined emotionally, mentally since day one and hopefully one day SOON, physically. Their love is different and their time to finally pursue that parallel universe is way PAST earned. It has been there forever. NOW don't forget about SWING and "Maybe God remembered how cute you were as a carrot, and The Christmas Episode (OC).... the fact there's AT LEAST 45 mins of their relationship means it's time. I don't make the rules. xo

[@jazzybabe0914]

Yall are crazy for this. Like after all of this they dont end up together like I wanted since I was 10 I'm pullin up and demand to talk to the manager.

[@marlenesheffield8777]

😳😂💥💯

[@sarahhejab6596]

It’s like watching a movie It’s like watching a movie between Elliot, Stabler and Olivia Benson ❤

[@nightwingman666]

My entire life just flashed before my eyes.

[@qaone]

I’m begging please please PLEASE make them canon at least mid-season. I want to see them as a couple! Not just a kiss at the very end of the series.

[@daniellebibona1503]

I've been here for every season since 1998.

[@josepha133]

You're a hero

[@sonic100X]

1999 exactly

[@jasnettaranelle1101]

Don’t show us that masterpiece and then dangle it like a carrot anymore! I almost don’t want to come back out of fear last season was the closest Bensler fans will ever get to something concrete between these two. Seriously. They are golden. Their story is golden.

[@bornasapimp]

Olivia and Elliot just need to start a family already! Like my grandpa once said; “If you know you’re in love with someone, what the hell are you waiting for? Marry them!”

[@yvonneplant9434]

She just turned 60 in real life. Come on.

[@KnicknackCottonWolf]

That's bad advice, grandpa. Lots of types of love are not compatable love.

[@CharlotteIssyvoo]

Olivia is years past menopause so I think starting a family is not something they can or even want to do. I think they should just enjoy each other, all the kids grown and gone, just the two of them. Bliss.

[@rosanneperkins9516]

I always wonder if there was a lightbulb moment for each one of them that they realize their feelings were stronger than just friendship

[@josepha133]

I think that must have been the moment in season 7 where they both choose each other over the job…

[@rosanneperkins9516]

@@josepha133 I have to rewatch season seven because I don’t remember

[@HMAP792]

@@rosanneperkins9516episode Fault and yes definitely that was the time I would have to agree

[@KayKay114]

​@rosanneperkins9516 Season 7 episode 19 I just finished it. I hopped on YT when it ended with Olivia asking for a new partner. 😅

[@MISSYGful]

Now THIS is the video I've been waiting for! It's why KZbin was invented.

[@spc_equestrian401]

Even Kathy could see that there was a romantic connection between Elliot and Olivia

[@margaretgarside5617]

Really?

[@stephanieweisbart777]

She did, and she never fully trusted Olivia 😮

[@margaretgarside5617]

Nope--not in the text (for lack of a better term).@@stephanieweisbart777

[@tiffanyc9730]

That's why she wrote that letter the way she did.😒 I don't want to speak bad about the fake dead, but Kathy was wrong for that. The fact that she wrote that cruel stuff knowing he was going to give it to Liv showed the depth of her insecurity.

[@margaretgarside5617]

That whole thing with the letter is totally contrived. In fact, the whole 'romance' is contrived, and I wish the writers hadn't done it. After 25 seasons, they seem to be running out of ideas vis-a-vis the characters'' personal lives, but they didn't need to do THIS (esp. making Kathy and Barba look unsympathetic, thus clearing the way for Bensler. Ugh). @@tiffanyc9730

[@amoffatt2310]

That liv laugh love thing made me awwww

[@JennNofficial]

these two have me and my heart in a perm chokehold!!!!!

[@RightAsAlways5759]

One full episode, get them both in a room with a couch in front of a fire, alcohol and LET THEM HAMMER IT OUT! (Take that anyway you want)…..she needs to confide in him about what when on in her life that 10 years and HE NEEDS TO HEAR IT! Thanks for this compilation, made my day!

[@marlenesheffield8777]

Yes, Yes and Yes to this!!! 😆💛❤️💋💯

[@Lilou71]

Their story is so beautiful. Please do it justice.

[@angelaholmes8888]

I absolutely love elliot and Olivia been watching svu since i was a teenager i hope these two finally end up together ❤

[@MsTexas73]

I hope they finally move the relationship forward. It’s time we see them address her past while he was away, their real feelings for one another and THEN try romance. Also, this compilation missed quite a few scenes that should have been included from OC: the one in Liv’s truck when she addresses his PTSD the 1st time, the whole family intervention of the PTSD, the scene where he tells her Kathy wrote the letter, the Christmas episode, the scene outside of his apartment where she touches his face and tells him to hurry back from the undercover mission because his family needs him, the scene in the hall of the OC area after Liv walks out of the interrogation of the people who OD’d her brother, the scene when they are watching the Armenians and she realizes the one lady is THE ONE Stabler had to “work”. 😄, the scene of them working as partners and they bust in and search that house for that girl.

[@victoriaguerra8610]

They better end up together they’ve gone through so much not only as working partners but on a high personal level they are meant to end together ❤

[@88shasta]

They better be together in 2024.

[@vgg31]

"You and this job are about the only things I've got anymore. I don't want to wreck that." - Detective Elliot Stabler 2008 2012: "Elliot put his papers in." 2021: Back on the force! OC SPINOFF ♥️♥️😎

[@nightslayer6951]

I'm hoping in the new season Olivia and Elliot will become a couple

[@NickyD]

nope elliot isnt even a mian cast hedoing one eoposide

[@nightslayer6951]

@NickyD You never know, it might just happen

[@india8448]

I feel like it won’t happen until season twenty-seven. 😂

[@missleelee7232]

Finally!!

[@nightslayer6951]

@@india8448 If this isn't the final season

[@stephaniebreuer5434]

Elliott and Olivia love is so strong and deep. Love these two and the show. ❤😍😍 Elliott was sweet to give her a compass necklace.

[@sydcharlotte]

Stop baiting us and give it to us already. It’s been 25 years!

[@kaferrat]

🥺😆

[@user-ll6zn3xv9v]

It will be more. 😂

[@stephanieweisbart777]

20-plus years of friendship and enduring respect. These 2 were destined to grow old together. ❤😊

[@dennishamilton6234]

Damn a long 44 minute video showing the chemistry and some fellow police officers who worked together for years and who are some of my favorite ones

[@Liv-hx9xx]

45 minutes god bless this better be their year

[@AcidicOrpheus73]

1:26 Thats it, thats their whole dynamic

[@joannaaguilar4961]

I love the relationship they have together, Benson and Stabler are my favorites detectives

[@MCMNasty2]

These are their stories. The story of Benson & Stabler. Endgame will finally be here! ❤

[@barbarajean6538]

Really well done video. Thanks so much for not laying a cheesy soundtrack over the video clips and just letting them play! Loved it!

[@SritaLunitaDeCullen]

They're so incredibly awesome! Can't take them apart 😢😢😢😢😢😢

[@marm917]

this is so much torture for us Bensler fans, if they don’t end up together i will be so damn disappointed!

[@india8448]

I can’t wait for them to finally get together. 😂 Some people act like if they do get together, that’s all the show is gonna focus on. 🥴 We may get a mention of one on the other’s show and we may get a few scenes with them together, but that’s not all the show is gonna be about. Sheesh. 😒

[@carriegracious]

Law & order really said "Sorry you didn't get season 25 cuz the strike but here is a 44 minute video about Liv & Elliott to make up for it" 🤣🤣🤣

[@gracerosegonzales2951]

They will die in eachothers arms, and it will kill us all😢

[@booklover5238]

Don't jinx us like that! I would die if the show ended like that. I'd riot.

[@heyitsalysia]

They better get together by the end of season 25 they have been teasing us for FARR TO LONG!! They have been posting so much EO content lately 😭

[@ItsMe-pb2ej]

I’m so happy but so scared! I don’t want them to get together at the very end of the show and us not get to see ANY of their relationship unfolding - after this long , us fans need to see some decent screen time of them as a proper couple ❤️ it’s totally doable on the writers/producers part ! They only need to keep up with a few crossovers and thtd be perfect - PLEASE let this be the year it happens🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

[@shakiral32]

I think it is madness that alot of us were young kids when this show started, now big adults in our 20s and 30s an stillllll waiting for them to get together. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@naschellep]

Yup 😂😂😂😂 I was 8!

[@user-ll6zn3xv9v]

Yup. 14 years old.

[@marlenesheffield8777]

😳🥰😍 Thank you NBC social media gurus for the evolution of Olivia and Elliott's complicated and confounding situationship. From young rookies to seasoned professionals -- their relationship has stood the test of time. My fan wish still is that the writers allow the characters to have that grownazz folks conversation -- no holds bar -- cards on the table -- with plenty of brown liquor and ice involved -- screaming, shouting, snot-nosed ugly crying and then quiet reconciliation. This relationship needs some serious healing before the love can come out. Just my two pennies.😂 Happy Holidays L&O World Fandom!!! P.S. While you are at it writers, can the fandom get a feature-type 2-parter with Chicago PD and Organized Crime? I would love to witness the testosterone combustion when Detective Stabler and Sargeant Voight are in the same scene!!! 💥🔥💛🧡❤️💋💯

[@sofialaura5219]

THIS MEANS YOURE GOING TO GIVE US THEIR ENDGAME THIS NEXT SEASON RIGHT

[@preciouswilliams22]

The MOMENT Stabler mortgaged his house to pay for Liv's bail (when I was in undergrad), I knew Elliot was in love with Liv!!! What man do YOU know would mortgage his home behind his wife's back JUST for a friend😒☕

[@msredux]

2024 is the year of Bensler

[@arlettegil]

EO is Endgame 😍😍😍

[@EGracie86]

I have been watching Law and Order since I was 13, in 1999 and would love to see these two together but also, I don't know. What they have is so special. In reality though the TV chemistry and development as these two as side by side characters is incredible. Kudos to Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni, as well as the show writers and directors.

[@andib21]

I love the recap. I love watching these two together.

[@PadmeSkywalker-ig2mr]

If they don’t get together we riot 😂

[@jirehbarahona7805]

Put my babies together, they deserve to be happy 😭

[@marycummins771]

I enjoyed watching this and LOVE Elliot and Olivia, but how did this not include the scene where he tells her he didn’t write the letter!?!?

[@todayiglowup4286]

HOW ARE THEY STILL NOT TOGWTHER

[@fabisilva6313]

The one true love of each other's lives ✨❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ let them be partners in every way finally and give us domestic EO too!

[@margaretgarside5617]

Yeah, Kathy was rubbish! /s.

[@mackiebenson9467]

45 minutes of the evolution of EO. Imagine…. What if they had a summer project of nothing but EO’s relationship. Like the whole shebang. They finally go there, do the whole romance over the course of a month and when the shows pick up in the fall, they can reference that time together becoming a couple so people can’t complain the shows are only EO. Then the shows can sprinkle a little of their relationship in every 2-3 episodes and it makes sense. THE X-Files did movies in between seasons, so can SVU/OC. Especially I a world of Hulu, Peacock or Prime. Don’t hold back!

[@sortasticious1781]

I always thought Kathy naming their baby Eli instead of Oliver or something after that accident was a misstep.

[@MsTexas73]

Me too. It should have been either Oliver Eli or Eliot Oliver.

[@GailB0707]

Can't believe it's been 25 years

[@margaretgarside5617]

He was gone for ten of them.

[@cathytrottier8944]

They have always been in love with eachother.

[@neliaharrison2650]

It's crazy that the first episode was in 1999

[@asakarlsson6890]

I do HOPE that they end up toghter BEFORE they end the show!!! HOPE HOPE HOPE!!!

[@lillybean911]

if it makes anybody feel better, she was wearing the necklace and the new season opener episode

[@anthony_ros]

What necklace

[@kristinebrauer2292]

Love these 2, now let them be together!!!!!!!

[@Caitlin232323]

GOD BLESS THE NBC SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM

[@jofrench7525]

My god they NEED to be together

[@krystalkindred669]

I want to say thank you to who put this together.... especially noting the season and episode.... I'm totally reliving some of the things featured... God I love SVU

[@laurascorpio]

And more to come. 😌

[@lunebadru5997]

this is the slowest burn i have ever watched. and im here for it. i want these two to at least have a moment. something. an implied night of passion and right back to work

[@Kyroko]

the Liv, Laugh, Love got me kickin' my feet like a lil school girl.

[@angelasilvi9090]

I love them and they are an amazing team together!

[@LinhHoang-sh6xm]

Waiting for these two to end up together is like waiting for One Piece to end

[@lucy-pd7cm]

Thank you It was very enjoyable watching those two together, although i have been watching all of the series, but i forgot a lot of things over the course of the years. I always watch old episodes because I miss the old svu so much. 😢

[@renemuller5114]

Sadly it is ONLY a 15 year partnership, since Elliot was gone for 10 years! I wish he never left!!!

[@gussiebmusic]

Insane to put together a 45-minute ship video when it's clear no one working on the show is writing for the ship

[@margaretgarside5617]

Thank goodness for that!

[@ForeverSweetx3]

Exactly 💯 I'm so sick of the writers!

[@Rheinmeister09]

With them introducing El's brother this season and hopefully bringing the kids back again, they will spend some time on his personal life and bring the two of them together.

[@cynthiathomas4310]

Absolutely love this! However, there are a few scenes that are missing: when he said “I love you,” when he showed up at her house, etc. Please add those scenes! 😊

[@madunwagbo4769]

Great. Now do one for Goren and Eames

[@psymompa]

I wish they would make an appearance in the Law and Order world again.

[@audreymcgill3529]

Please put them together already. I want to see them get together and see what a romantic relationship between the two look like.

[@user-ye2ge4zo5lhennypenny]

Love this show has you sitting on the edge of your seat everytime!

[@adrianakhoo]

BETTER BE THIS SEASON. I COULD DIE

[@Jeenie2212]

Thank you so much for posting!!

[@jessicaortizzz]

I want Olivia and Stabler to make it more than my relationship!