Benson and Stabler could be reaching a significant turning point in the next Law & Order crossover.
Promos for the next episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime show Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay’s former partners seeming to bond even deeper than ever.
A rough start for both Law & Order shows
The season premieres brought some major shifts for both Law & Order shows.
The Season 23 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiere opened with Benson being run off the road and sustaining a leg injury. While it was blamed on a drunk driver, Benson couldn’t help but wonder if it was a “warning shot” from gangster Richard Wheatley (Dylan McDermott).
Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Season 2 premiere opened by revealing Wheatley had cooperated with the feds so almost all charges against him were dropped. He is still facing trial for the murder of Stabler’s wife, Kathy, with Wheatley’s ex-wife Angela (Tamara Taylor) to testify against him.
The SVU unit faced off against corrupt Congressman Howard (Ben Rappaport), who appeared to be involved in a major trafficking ring and “cleaning up” by eliminating witnesses against him.
It turned out Howard was just a moron and “puppet” with his lawyer Myron Gold (Glenn Fleshler) the real power player.
Gold offered to give up info on scores of powerful people involved, but instead, the feds made Howard the sacrificial goat. This was the final straw for Garland to quit. Meanwhile, after barely surviving a shooting, Kat decided she would also leave the team.
On Law & Order: Organized Crime, Stabler was going undercover in the Kosta Organization, connecting with young Reggie (Dash Mihok).
It appeared the Albanians were about to go to war with the Marcy Killer gang, led by Mr. Webb (Mykelti Williamson). Instead, Webb and Kosta formed an alliance with Stabler in the middle.
The promos for both shows this week promise some very dramatic developments.
What’s coming this week on Law & Order?
On Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’s episode, I Thought You Were On My Side, Benson has to handle Chief McGrath taking over with a mantra of only going after “sure thing” cases.
With Kat gone, Joe Velasco (Octavio Pizano) is assigned to help the unit as a mobster’s girlfriend is assaulted. However, Bell and Stabler reveal the mobster is under investigation and want the SVU team to back off, putting the former partners at odds.
Law & Order: Organized Crime will have back-to-back episodes in New World Order and The Outlaw Eddie Wagner. They include the return of Ellen Burstyn as Stabler’s mother.
The promo shows Benson stopping by the Organized Crime unit as the two teams clearly have tension dealing with the case, although Stabler tells her, “I give you my word I’ve got your back on this.”
The dramatic moment comes at the end as Stabler knocks on Benson’s door to talk about the letter he gave her in Season 1 of Law & Order: Organized Crime, with Benson replying, “I have nothing to say to you,” although the two are shown in a powerful embrace.
The Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 2 premiere had a scene where Reggie’s mother uses an old “ground reading” fortune-telling technique to ask Stabler why he “hasn’t told the woman you love how you feel.”
Meloni and Hargitay have been noting the two partners’ growing connection, and this promo indicates this week could see a major turning point in the Benson-Stabler relationship.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 23 airs Thursdays at 8/7c with Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 2 at 9/8c on NBC.