‘Law & Order: SVU’ Stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni Reunite in New Selfies

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni reunited for a pair of new selfies, which made fans dream about a possible Stabler and Benson reunion on the small screen.

The two appear to have just run into each other in New York City on Wednesday. Hargitay posted a gallery of three images. The first one was just a fun selfie, but she told fans, “Wanna see why I’m so #Happy swipensee.”

The next two photos were selfies with Meloni.

Meloni also posted a selfie, cutting off his own forehead and writing, “Crazy [people] on the streets of [NYC].”

The #Happy in Hargitay’s caption is a reference to Meloni’s current series, SyFy’s Happy!, in which he plays a hitman who befriends his kidnapped daughter’s imaginary friend (voiced by Patton Oswalt). The show was recently picked up for a second season, which will debut sometime this year.

Although there is no indication Meloni will appear on SVU anytime soon, he has remained close with Hargitay.

Back in December, the two posted selfies on each others’ Instagram pages, showing how happy they are whenever they see each other.

Meloni left SVU in 2011, at the end of season 12, and the show has continued to find success without him as Hargitay proved she can carry the show without him. In fact, the show will start its historic 20th season in the fall, tying it with Gunsmoke and the original Law & Order as the longest-running primetime TV dramas in TV history.

Still, fans have never forgotten Stabler and have always dreamed of a reunion, especially since the character never got a proper send-off.

Back in 2016, that dream almost came to fruition. Before SVU was picked up for season 18, then-showrunner Warren Leight told The Hollywood Reporter they wrote a series finale where Stabler, Munch (Richard Belzer) and Amaro (Danny Pino) would come back. However, the show was picked up, and that series finale idea was scrapped.

“In hindsight, NBC, Dick, Universal and Chris all know they could have handled that better,” Leight said of Stabler’s sudden departure. “But I think Chris, over time from what I hear, began to realize that the fans were owed a little more.”

In recent years, Meloni has said he would be open to coming back to SVU.

“I have always said I would be open to it. [The] circumstances have to be right, that is all,” Meloni told Entertainment Tonight in April 2017. “We will see [if I return for the series finale]… It has never been brought up to me, so that is the kind of question that’s kind of out of my hands.”

Season 20 of SVU will start this fall on its new night, Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC.

Photo credit: Instagram/ Mariska Hargitay