‘Law & Order: SVU’ Season 25 Photo Hints at Olivia and Elliot Romance

For years fans have speculated, and now a new Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 25 photo seems to hint at a romance between Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson and Christopher Meloni’s Elliot Stabler, who is now in Law & Order: Organized Crime. Recently, Hargitay shared a behind-the-scenes photo from the SVU set, showing her and co-star Ice-T being playful between takes. Screen Rant pointed out that in the photo, Hargitay is wearing the compass necklace that Stabler gave Olivia, which could possibly indicate that fans are in for a romance between the two old friends.

Notably, almost two years ago Hargitay made a bold admission about Olivia’s feelings for Stabler. During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Hargitay opened up about the romantic tension between the two old friends, saying, “He is free, and I think he’s got eyes for me,” referencing the death of Stabler’s wife in the first season of Organized Crime. “But Olivia Benson is hurt!”

“I mean, he left me in a lurch for 10 years,” Hargity continued. “She’s frightened.” The Emmy-winning actress then added, “The energy’s there. Olivia’s been in love with him for many a year.” 

Organized Crime is the most recent Law & Order series, spinning out of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and featuring the return of Meloni as Elliot Stabler, a former SVU detective. In Season 1 of the series, Stabler aimed to take down figures involved in large-scale crime, while also searching for his wife’s killer. In Season 2, Stabler and Benson seemed to be dancing around the underlying attraction between them, and Meloni previously revealed that that there will be a “riot” when the letter Stabler wrote to Benson is finally revealed.

TV Line reported that Meloni was speaking during a Q&A at New York’s 92nd Street Y in September 2021, and when asked about the potentially plot-shattering correspondence, he replied, “The letter is addressed this season and I think [fans are] going to set [their] heads on fire when it happens.” He added, “I think there’s going to be a riot.” Meloni went on to address the letter further, sharing that only “parts” of the elusive message will be “doled out to the audience.”