Christopher Meloni Admits He and Mariska Hargitay Were ‘Attempting Something’ That ‘Didn’t Work’ for SVU Near-Kiss Scene

• Christopher Meloni addressed the the steamy kitchen scene from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s season 24, during which Elliot Stabler leaned in to kiss Olivia Benson before she pulled away
• Stabler and Benson reunited during Law & Order: Organized Crime’s season 5 premiere episode on April 17
• Meloni and Hargitay have often joked about the former NYPD partners’ on-screen romantic tension in the real world

As Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler reunite — and reignite their chemistry — after two years apart for Law & Order: Organized Crime’s fifth season, Christopher Meloni is looking back on those characters’ near-kiss scene.

Meloni, 64, recently addressed Benson (played by Mariska Hargitay) and his character Stabler’s long-running will they, won’t they dynamic, particularly the steamy kitchen scene from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s season 24.

“I’ll go into the kitchen thing,” the actor said at the TVLine Spotlight conversation in New York City ahead of the April 17 premiere of Organized Crime season 5. “Guys, we were attempting something. I don’t think it worked, but I’m not going to tell you why it didn’t work. Have your opinion.”

“I know what transpired,” Meloni continued, admitting that they filmed things but didn’t know what would make it into the episode. “We don’t have that power. We do the best we can to be honest with the scenes we’re given. … We’re doing the best we can to make it honest, not make it baited. If we do bait, at least for me, I always do it with a wink.”

“I think it’s good-natured, but maybe you guys are over that, and that’s valid,” he added. “But what can I tell you, you give us too much credit for the power that we might have — will they, won’t they and all that stuff.”

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In the SUV season 24 kitchen scene from episode 12, titled “Blood Out,” Stabler leaned in to kiss Benson, with their foreheads touching, after years of romantic tension. But Benson pulled away.

“I want to — I want to, but I can’t,” Benson told him. Stabler then asked, “Why not?” She replied, “Because what if it doesn’t work out? I’m not ready for this. I’m not ready for this, not ready for this.”

Meloni and Hargitay, 61, have often joked about the former NYPD partners’ tension in the real world. One time, they poked fun at the characters’ dynamic with a near-kiss spoof at the 2022 Emmy Awards.

Hargitay previously addressed the kitchen scene in 2024. 

“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 told Variety of the moment, which creator Dick Wolf “didn’t want.”

“Our chemistry is undeniable. It’s just the way it is,” Hargitay added.

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At this month’s TVLine Spotlight event, Meloni addressed their wishes for the characters versus the powers that be’s creative decisions. 

“Okay, here’s the real deal. Where they’re going, I have no idea,” he said. “Understand this. I’ve had eight showrunners in about four seasons. Each new person comes in, they got their own ideas, they got their own views … so we’ve had the confabs about where are we going, what are we doing?”

“And it’s like every meeting, it doesn’t go anywhere! So on the day you get what you get and you do the best you can to make sense of it and you push back or you advocate for something,” he explained.

Law & Order airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, followed by SVU at 9 p.m. ET. Episodes 1 and 2 of Organized Crime are available to stream exclusively on Peacock.