Alright, Bensler fans. A lot has happened between Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler since his return to the police force during Season 22 of Law & Order: SVU. Everything may have been set off by his wife, Kathy, being brutally murdered, but it's led to some very intense conversations between the former partners and deeply-connected friends. There's one element of their renewed friendship, though, which is still a mystery, and Mariska Hargitay has now taken the time to expertly troll SVU fans who are desperate to read that letter Elliot wrote to Olivia.
If you don't remember (Who are we kidding? I know it's all you've been thinking about!), in the premiere of the spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Elliot gave Olivia a letter he had written, which he'd prepared after being asked to speak at her award ceremony. Olivia read the letter shortly after, but when she tried to talk to him about, Elliot brushed her off because he'd just found a very bad guy very, surprisingly, dead. So, um...WHAT WAS IN THE LETTER?!?! Well, Mariska Hargitay has decided to give fans a hard time about wanting an answer to that exact question. Exhibit 1? This video, which she posted to Instagram:
Ms. Hargitay! I'm just shocked, shocked, I say, at your cheek! Especially after all of the well wishes for your poor legs! We only wonder about the contents of said letter because we care about Olivia and Elliot and want then to be happy! Well, happy and horizontal, but I suppose that's a topic for a different article...
Truthfully, though, Mariska Hargitay really did execute the perfect troll move on us, didn't she? There really isn't a single SVU fan around who hasn't been going quite crazy without the knowledge of what was inside that letter, and there are at least two big reasons for that.
First of all, even though we haven't seen Olivia and Elliot together on screen for 10 years, as soon as they were back together and had a minute to really talk with one another, it got emotional and intimate very fast. All of the old sparks were, clearly, still there, even with Kathy in a hospital bed and fighting for her life. Once she lost that battle, Elliot's anger / sadness / determination to figure out the who and why of the car bomb which took her life didn't dull his feelings about Liv one bit, either.
I'm sure you recall that awkward moment when Elliot blurted out that he loved Olivia in front of her and his kids, shortly after Kathy died, correct? He tried to roll it back, immediately, and say he loved her like family, but, uh, nobody with a brain is falling for that.
Secondly, and most maddeningly, well, no one has brought up that letter on screen since the April 1 debut of Organized Crime. I know it's basically been a bad time every time they've been near each other since then, but we are virtually dying over here from the not knowing, alright?
For what it's worth, Mariska Hargitay knows she was being bad when she decided to troll SVU fans. Observe, Exhibit 2:
OK, OK. You got us, Mariska! We surrender to your powers of trollocity and are all glad you're soooooo proud of yourself. Now, if you could just see fit to make sure that someone tells us what's in that letter before both shows end for the season. You will? Gee, Mariska Hargitay, I knew you were a swell lady!
Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime will both wrap up on Thursday, June 3, at 9 p.m. EST and 10 p.m. EST, respectively, on NBC. For more to watch in the coming weeks, check out our 2021 summer TV premiere schedule!
