Last week’s back-to-back episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime included the long-awaited reveal of what exactly was in the letter that Stabler gave to Benson. In the series premiere earlier this year, a mourning Stabler gave Benson a letter he had supposedly written shortly after being asked to speak at her award ceremony. Though Olivia read the letter not long she received it, fans didn't learn what was written within until last week. Unfortunately, Kathy Stabler actress Isabel Gillies took a lot of heat for it online, despite her character being murdered already, and she has a message to the fans after the online hate.
The truth about the letter Elliot Stabler had given Olivia Benson? It was revealed that his late wife Kathy was the one who wrote it, which was evidently a punch to the gut for many fans. Kathy posed as her husband when crafting the letter, saying that the two detectives had gotten in the way of each other, and that "he" hoped any man Benson had in her life would be "kind, faithful and devoted" to her. Even if the Stablers might have thought it was a good idea, fans were on the opposite side of that. In a powerful blog post, Isabel Gillies wrote about the hate she’s been getting from fans who were not happy with what Kathy did, and explained that she just wants the world to be a better place. In her words:
Can we please all take it down a notch? No matter what our personal views are about TV love stories or climate change or the Senate parliamentarian, can we pause? There is the acronym T.H.I.N.K. Is it thoughtful? is it honest? Is it interesting? Is it necessary? Is it kind? I’m going to try to put everything I say or write through this little fail-safe. Goodness knows we’ve all been through the ringer. I often feel the urge to spew a nasty rant as much as the next person, but if a second-tier character on a primetime drama can be the victim of a ferocious online melt-down because of make-believe, it kills me to think what actual important civil servants must have to endure. It seems we’re all screaming at each other all day, every day. Is it worth it? Can we stop? Can we think?
It's known that Bensler fans can be quite the opinion-driven fandom, with passionate takes on just about everything related to Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni's fictional (and real-life) kinship. Kathy being dead clearly did not stop fans from coming at Isabel Gillies following the letter’s reveal, either. They will stop at nothing to keep others from getting in the way of Benson and Stabler’s relationship, even if that means sending hate to an actress whose character can no longer read such things, because she's dead.
Social media can be harsh and it wasn't even a thing that existed when Law & Order: SVU first premiered. So while it’s not easy being in such a negatively skewed spotlight like this, it looks like Gillies is doing it with as much ease as a human being can. Hopefully this message will make people think about their actions and the people they’re hurting in sending messages online.
Law & Order: Organized Crime airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST on NBC!
