Christopher Meloni & Mariska Hargitay Pose In New Selfie, Benson & Stabler’s Reunion Is ‘A Little Bit Closer’

In May of last year, longtime fans of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit were given the surprise of a lifetime when it was announced that Christopher Meloni would be reprising his role as Elliot Stabler. A slight blow was dealt when it was revealed that he would be joining a new Law and Order property as the character, and not running alongside former partner Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) on SVU.

Law and Order: Organized Crime is one of the newest series launching from executive producer Dick Wolf and will premiere on NBC in a few months. Production of the show had been pushed back due to issues in the writers’ room and the COVID-19 pandemic, but things are finally back on track. Meloni has shared some photos on his Instagram timeline, suggesting he is back filming as Stabler, and his newest post suggests he and Benson have already united.

On January 15, Meloni posed a selfie alongside Hargitay, and the two looked to be in clothes that resembled that of their characters. It did not appear to just be a friendly hangout, but a work-related shot. Meloni snapped the photo with a closeup of his face, while Hargitay sat crouched in the background in front of steel wall paneling.

In the caption of the post, Meloni suggested to his followers that they were a little bit closer to seeing the reunion of the two beloved characters. In under an hour, SVU fans filled up the comments section with over 1,200 messages and gave the photo over 30,000 double taps. Stans of the hit crime series have been eagerly awaiting the reunion of “Bensler” since last spring, and it looks like it’s coming sooner rather than later.

“I’m a little bit DEAD,” one fan wrote.

“I speak for EVERYONE when I say we can’t wait!!!!” a second added.

“I’M FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW!!” a third follower said.

“Reunited and it feels so good,” a fourth user commented.

Several Instagrammers called the two characters “mom and dad,” and are hoping for some sort of romantic connection between the pair when they finally come together on screen. For years, viewers of the show wondered if Bensler would be more than just partners on the job, and time will tell if a new relationship is possible.

Law and Order: Organized Crime was originally supposed to premiere last fall, but now the release is still up in the air. Stabler was reportedly going to be on SVU‘s first episode of Season 22, but that unfortunately never happened.