‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’’s Christopher Meloni Does Not Ship Benson & Stabler
Since the premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime, Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) hasn’t been able to catch a break. His ex-wife was killed in a car bomb meant for him, international crime syndicates have placed targets on his back, and he is a 58-year-old in a 26-year-long situationship (with his former SVU partner Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay). To make matters worse, Season 5’s premiere episode ends with a suspect ramming into Stabler’s car as he escapes with a victim, leaving him in critical condition. The crash sets up the series’ intense second episode, directed and co-written by Meloni, which takes a deep dive into a comatose Stabler’s psyche.
The pitch, Meloni explained, went like this: “What do you think if we have Stabler do something superheroic, gets injured in the moment, and it’s Benson who is there to bring him back to life with her presence?” The pair hadn’t seen each other since the SVU season 24 finale, when Benson pulled away from Stabler when he went in for a kiss, leaving their unresolved feelings to linger. Benson’s confession in his hospital room this season only deepens the characters’ will-they-or-won’t-they dynamic, which Law & Order producer Dick Wolf has been teasing across various shows since 1999.
As for Meloni’s perspective on the show’s romantic tension, he’s leaving the shipping to fans. “I’m not a shipper. I see the characters and I don’t yearn for shipping,” he states. He adds, “I let characters play out as the writers want them to play out.” Ahead of the Season 5 premiere of Organized Crime streaming on Peacock, the L & O multiverse veteran walked GQ through his Organized Crime directorial debut, Stabler’s complicated past, and tweeting through fascism.
GQ: How has playing a detective on TV impacted the way you view the world?
Christopher Meloni: The impact has been more on how I view the profession of law enforcement and their mindset, or how I portray the mindset and the difficulties, the stresses, and the world that they live in. I’ve found a kinship in that. I think my worldview has always been a bit jaundiced.
I meet an awful lot of detectives who, even though they’ve seen some things, still swim through the world with a clearer eye as to human nature. I’m always impressed when I meet detectives and they’ll tell me the stories that they’ve gone through, and they’re really solid and adjusted and focused and clear. It hasn’t broken them or spoiled their opinion of humanity.
Are you as religious as Stabler?
No, but we’re both still on a quest for the meaning of it all. I think we both share those questions: God, where are you? I want to have a relationship here, and I don’t, what is it? Do I not have the tools? Am I not looking hard enough? Am I going about it the wrong way?
