A major TV controversy threatened to erupt over the past few months when NBC did not do the customary sweeping renewal of currently running Law & Order shows. The original (albeit revived) series got the greenlight, and SVU is naturally going strong, but a hang up went down for Organized Crime. That was an issue, obviously, for the rabid fanbase of Chris Meloni-heads out there, although the hesitation did make sense. Organized Crime is a darker show that takes Detective Elliot Stabler into grubby undercover mode and doesn’t run on a “crime of the week” format. For that reason, resolutions do not come easy, defendants are not easily put behind bars, and so on. Long story short, it’s an outlier in the current Dick Wolf universe, and there were honest-to-god fears that the show might not live for a fifth season.
Subsequently, NBCUniversal did appear to renew the Meloni-starring series as an exclusive Peacock streaming title, where it will hopefully encourage more membership signups. There’s every reason to believe that this could continue to be the show’s home for multiple seasons (much like NBC’s Criminal Intent), but if not, Mariska Hargitay (who embodies Olivia Benson) sees no barricade to moving Stabler back to SVU as she told Variety in a new feature interview:
“I don’t see why that wouldn’t happen or couldn’t happen… I think that we’re sort of irrevocably locked.”
As for why Stabler and Benson haven’t fully hooked up on crossover episodes yet, Hargitay declared, “Our chemistry is undeniable. It’s just the way it is.” Then there’s the subject of a teaser suggesting that The Kiss was coming, but that moment apparently disappeared at air time. Hargitay revealed that Dick Wolf shut the saliva swapping down:
“To be honest with you, Chris and I thought it should go one way and the powers that be didn’t, so it got changed at the last minute, that near kiss,” she says. “Obviously Dick gets final say. It’s his show and he didn’t want that.”
Meloni hasn’t appeared on Season 25 of “SVU,” but Stabler and Benson’s story remains open-ended. “We want to hold the tension,” Hargitay says, “and do what’s right and truthful for both characters.”
And so, the Unresolved Sexual Tension remains. That can only last so long after this “I love you” however…
(Via Variety)