Mariska Hargitay: Olivia Benson's Been In Love With Stabler For 'Many A Year'

Mariska Hargitay dished on what’s going on with Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU

For as long as Law & Order: SVU has been on television, fans have been waiting — dying, actually — to see Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni‘s Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler to get together, dammit. Now that the show killed off Stabler’s wife and after a recent episode saw Stabler and Benson have a tender version of the “what are we?” conversation, the fans are literally besides themselves waiting for that fateful day when these two finally kiss/fall in love/do something and Hargitay basically confirmed that it’s coming.

Hargitay visited Drew Barrymore’s talk show when the conversation turned to the chemistry between Benson and Stabler.

“No one will forgive me if I don’t ask about Christopher Meloni,” Barrymore said. “What is going to happen? He’s back, the kiss still hasn’t happened…People have waited for 25 years.”

“Listen, we’re trying to figure it out, what to do,” Hargitay replied. “We’re really trying to figure out what to do.”

Referring to the fact that Stabler’s wife Kathy Stabler died when he returned to SVU last April, Barrymore said that the character was “free,” meaning free to get together with Benson, finally.

“He is free, and I think he’s got eyes for me,” Hargitay added. “But Olivia Benson is hurt! I mean, he left me in a lurch for 10 years. She’s frightened. [But] the energy’s there. Olivia’s been in love with him for many a year.”

Many a year? More like 25 years, but sure, we’ll allow it.

“I think that we are slowly finding our way back to it,” Hargitay explained, “but I want to give [Stabler] the amount of time he needs to grieve Kathy Stabler.”

Then Barrymore said what we were all thinking and shouted, “All I know is that this Earth is literally going to shake when that moment happens.”