Law & Order: SVU's Benson And Stabler: A Recent History Ahead Of This Week's Game-Changing (?) 'EO' Moment

The good people who craft NBC's promos know what they're doing, and we've all been burned by a slick "Next on..." misdirect before. But as Thursday's Law & Order: SVU approaches (NBC, 9/8c), we just can't get the episode's preview out of our heads.

You know, that tease. The clip that ran after the most recent episode. The one that shows us Mariska Hargitay's Capt. Olivia Benson and Chris Meloni's Det. Elliot Stabler perhaps — perhaps! — forging new territory in their complicated, decades-long relationship. The one about which Meloni recently was grilled on Today. (His response? "I want my lawyer.")

So before Liv and El get close — or don't! — in this week's episode, we thought you might want to reminisce about how Benson and Stabler got to this point. Care to take a perp walk down memory lane with us?

(Side note: We're aware that a vocal faction of SVU viewers do not want former law-enforcement partners Stabler and Benson to be anything more than platonic friends and occasional co-workers. And that's cool! This post is very much not for you. Instead, may we interest you in a look at the pair's first, absolutely-not-romantic outing, way back in the procedural's pilot?)

Scroll down as we touch on the highlights of their relationship, with a focus on what's transpired since Stabler came back to New York/Meloni returned to the franchise/Law & Order: Organized Crime premiered. Then hit the comments with your thoughts on the situation!

Those who've watched Law & Order: SVU from the start have seen Stabler and Benson grow from partners on the New York City Police Department to good friends to probably too good friends. But hey, Stabler was married, and though his union with Kathy wasn't smooth or perfect, it provided a useful barrier between Elliot and the other most important woman in his life. Hence, for years, the closest Stabler and Benson physically got to each other was hugs in times of crisis or their aftermath, such as when he thanked her for saving Kathy's life and delivering their son, Eli, after a car crash.

As Liv and El's partnership continued, the show's Powers That Be had fun with the idea that some fans wanted to see them together, resulting in one episode where the pair went undercover as a pair of swingers (above) and another where Benson stripped down to her bra and pretended to be a sex worker in order to save Stabler from serious trouble with the smuggling ring he'd infiltrated. (For NO REASON OTHER THAN HISTORICAL ACCURACY, we should note that El was shirtless at the time, as well.)

Benson and Stabler had each other's backs for 12 seasons... until Meloni's contract negotiations broke down behind the scenes. So he left the series, and Stabler retired, off-screen. When Benson learned her partner had taken off without letting her know, yeah, it was rough.

Fast-forward 10 years. Olivia has been promoted and is now captain of the Special Victims Unit. She's adopted a son, Noah, and has found a measure of real happiness and fulfillment in her life and her career. But then her plans are derailed one night in Season 22 when she's called to the scene of a car bombing... and runs right into Stabler: The explosive grievously injured his wife, Kathy, as they were on their way to a ceremony honoring Liv. At the hospital while Kathy rests in a nearby room, the former partners tearfully hash out exactly why Elliot ghosted Olivia for a decade. He apologizes. "Are you sorry for leaving, or are you sorry for walking, for not giving me the courtesy of telling me?" she says. "Both," he replies. She makes it clear that the betrayal stung. "You were the most, single most important person in my life, and you just disappeared," she says. "I know. I was afraid if I heard your voice, I wouldn't have been able to leave," he admits, thisclose to losing it.

Then Kathy's spleen ruptures during surgery, and she dies. When Olivia arrives at the hospital a second time, all she can do is hug Elliot as he falls apart in the hallway. And yes, we're ghouls, but we can't help thinking that that ultimate barrier between Stabler and Benson is no longer in existence.

After Stabler has recovered a bit, he gives Benson a letter that he wrote and planned to deliver the night of her awards ceremony. She doesn't read it immediately. Then, after she eventually does, he's too consumed with finding Kathy's killer to sit down and chat about it. So for a very long time, we don't know exactly what it says. (Don't worry, it'll show up again.)

As Stabler's obsession with bringing Kathy's murderer to justice gets more and more intense, he starts losing perspective (and skipping nights of sleep). His worried family stages an intervention and invites Benson, and Stabler is so out of sorts that he winds up confessing his feelings for his former partner... out loud... in front of everyone. "Elliot, tell us what you need," Liv says. "I love you," he blurts out, then it seems like he's going to cry, then he plays it off as though by "you" he meant "everyone in this room." Is it any wonder he bolts a few moments later?

A dressed-up Benson and Stabler are able to share a quiet moment — and some meaningful looks — at Fin and Phoebe's un-wedding. "To partners," Liv says, and as the pair raise their wineglasses, the toast works on several levels.

Later, Stabler goes undercover with an Albanian drug ring; one night, he finds himself dosed. In an effort to maintain his cover and not, y'know, die, he stumbles to Olivia's apartment and proceeds to ramble about the letter as he collapses against her. "I didn't write the letter," he confesses, adding that it was actually Kathy (!) who put pen to paper. The rest of the conversation unfolds like so:

BENSON | "Then what we were to each other was never real, and that we got in the way of each other being who and where we needed to be?"

STABLER | "That was Kathy."

BENSON | "And if there's a man in my life, you hope he's the kind, faithful, devoted man that I deserved."

STABLER | "Kathy."

BENSON | "But in a parallel universe —"

STABLER | "'It will always be you and I.' I wrote that. I slipped it in there before sealing the envelope."

Stabler meets Noah the following season, albeit accidentally when they run into each other on the street on Mother's Day. Elliot has just told Olivia she looks great when the conversation gets interrupted by work matters. Still, the moment feels like a big one.

In a session with Dr. Lindstrom, even Olivia's longtime therapist boards the romantic-advice train. "I think that you and Elliot either need to see if there's more there or move on," he tells her. "This idealized relationship that's hanging over you prevents you from true intimacy, Olivia, either with him or with anyone else."

A night of heavy imbibing with his Italian partner, Tia, leaves Stabler slightly hungover... and wondering how she knows that he has deep feelings for a woman. Though at first he can't recall the conversation — and she can't remember his object of affection's name — "You said there's a woman you're in love with," Tia says. As he visibly blanches, she continues: "Love shouldn't be complicated. Love affairs, yes. They can get messy. But love, that's different." Uncomplicated love? Have you even met Stabler?!

Around the holidays, Olivia and co-worker/friend Amanda enjoy a drink at a motel. (Long story.) When Rollins asks if Benson like-likes Stabler, Liv seems sad. "I did feel like Stabler was my home. But he left me, Amanda, and I'm not over it," she says, pointing out that things were easier when Kathy was alive. "With her gone, it's like there's nothing but possibility. It's paralyzing."

And now you're caught up! Hit the comments and let us know what you'd like to see happen — or not — between Benson and Stabler in this week's episode and beyond!