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Its not difficult to understand.
Its a show about sex crimes after all.
Their worlds revolved around each other and didnt leave room for much else, especially for Benson.
A decade later, the reunion is finally happening.
Meloni will return as Stabler tonight in a two-hour event.
Hargitay will also be in both episodes.
In honor of the upcoming reunion, here are the defining episodes of Benson and Stablers partnership.
Law & Order: SVUis streaming onPeacock.
The relationship suddenly becomes the core of the show, whether its written that way or not.
Stalked is that episode.
When a perp becomes fixated on Benson, the entire squad is on edge.
But Stabler is the most concerned and becomes her de facto bodyguard.
Stabler argues that she would and takes a sip from the same glass.
For the first time, the show also juxtaposes the case with Bensons sex life.
She sleeps with Detective Brian Cassidy (Dean Winters), another young and single member of the squad.
Can you blame him?
Stabler gently says during a heart-to-heart about the situation.
He reminds her that theyre partners for better or worse and acknowledges that sometimes things just happen between co-workers.
For four years, Stabler was somewhat happily married and fully faithful to his wife.
When the case closes, Benson waits for Stabler on the steps of his house.
How could he not?
Its the very thing that has been slowly chipping away at his marriage.
Finally, Stabler admits, Kathy left me.
She took the kids and is living with her mother.
Nothing is resolved, but the partners reach an understanding.
Benson is fine, but the boy ends up dead.
Stabler blames the both of them, and fighting ensues.
Later, the man holds Stabler at gunpoint.
Benson has the shot but doesnt take it, too worried that Stabler will become collateral damage.
Stabler begs Benson to shoot, to avoid making the same mistake he made earlier, but she cant.
You and this job are about the only things Ive got anymore.
I dont want to wreck that.
Benson is destroyed and formally requests a new partner in the last moments of the episode.
She watches Stabler change his shirt appraisingly as they make small talk.
Finally, he asks why she didnt tell him that she was switching units.
We needed a change, she says.
I shouldve talked to you.
Its just just too complicated.
He jokes that its in her blood, and she says that thats the problem.
In the end, Benson is seen exiting the captains office.
Finally, Stabler asks what shes doing back in the squad room.
Benson replies, I work here.
Rather than a major cast shake-up, the eighth season ofSVUput Benson undercover with the FBI for several episodes.
Benson, of course, comes back and is thrust right into the case of a deadly love triangle.
They hurl unpleasantries back and forth, which concerns their co-workers.
You give him stability.
Elliot cant move on until he feels like hes on solid ground.
By the end of the episode, Stabler signs the papers.
Benson brings coffee for him and tea for herself.
Stabler is surprised that she drinks tea at night now, and its an acknowledgment that theyre both changing.
They come to an agreement and go out for a late-night bite.
Much of the episode sees Benson contending with being alone.
On the way there, they get in a car accident.
Kathy goes into labor while pinned in the car, and Benson works with the EMTs to stabilize her.
When Kathy gives birth and flatlines in the ambulance, Benson is there to hold her and the baby.
She tells him to shut up.
Finally she shares that she began looking into adoption a few months ago.
Theyre wrong, Stabler says, full stop.
The assuredness with which he says it is staggering but effective.
It stops both of them in their tracks.
Benson defends him and convinces her to stay.
When Benson shows up at Stablers undercover house, hes only wearing his boxers.
As she tells him hes on thin ice, two of the perps bust in.
One of the perps doesnt buy it, however, and shoots Stabler twice shortly after.
Hes projected to make a full recovery, but Benson still checks in on him.
Benson is fine with it and even a bit flirty.
She wears a nice dress and accepts flowers.
They drink wine and kiss.
All the while, Stabler is in her bedroom transferring the contents of Porters phone via Bluetooth.
Agent Porter takes the man out, but Benson goes down with him, covered in his blood.
She nuzzles into him.
When shes found inextricably linked to a dead man, Stabler stops by to brief her.
He checks her temperature, worries that she hasnt seen a doctor, and tucks her in.
He greets her with open arms and says, Its not a risk.
Benson finds Paxton bleeding out on the floor and holds her while she dies.
Shes a wreck after.
Unbeknownst to her, Stabler has rushed back.
They see each other in the hallway, and Stabler runs to her.
Benson, still half crying, says, Im really glad youre back, and falls into his arms.
They use their real names and hold on to each other lovingly.
The casual intimacy jumps out, and members of the club buy it immediately.
Its a familiar, well-rehearsed act at this point a tease, even.
But theyre so good at it that its impossible to look away.
Stabler has no choice but to shoot the girl, ultimately killing her.
He looks to Benson from across the precinct, both with literal blood on their hands.
Scorched Earth (Season 13, Episode One)
We never see Stabler again.
Benson excuses herself and breaks down in an interrogation room.
By all accounts, they appear to have never spoken again.
In leaving the police force, Stabler also left Benson.
He offhandedly remarks that he knows he wasnt what her old partner was to her.
That relationship, whatever it was, didnt allow for anything else.
Although its a kick in the teeth to some fans, shes not wrong.
What her partnerships since Stabler lack in chemistry, they make up for in the opportunity for growth.
Still, that magic element the shift in tension when her old partner is mentioned remains.
