Fans were devastated when “Law & Order: SVU” star Christopher Meloni left the hit crime drama back in 2011. Now, they wonder when Mariska Hargitay will do the same.
The two stars built up deep chemistry between their characters Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler for more than 10 years. But Meloni eventually left the show after Season 12, leaving “Law & Order: SVU” without a primary relationship to focus on.
Enter Rollins and Amaro.
According to “Express,” fans speculate whether the growing relationship between Danny Pino’s Nick Amaro and Kelli Giddish’s Amanda Rollins serves a bigger purpose. Not only to create drama on the show but also to fill the void left by Benson and Stabler.
The theory received more credence when Benson and Stabler reunited last season in an episode called “Return of the Prodigal Son.” The episode served as a transition to Chris Meloni’s new spin-off, “Law & Order: Organized Crime.” Now, fans wonder if the reunion points to Mariska Hargitay signing off on “Law & Order: SVU” to join Meloni on the new show. Fan-favorite ship Stabler and Benson could finally get together on the new show.
But where does that leave the original crime drama? Fans took to Reddit to speculate that show writers put Amaro and Rollins in place to replace Benson once Hargitay decided to leave.
“Were Amaro and Rollins written originally as the new Stabler and Benson? In their first season aka s13, they were close, similar to Benson and Stabler.” (sic) “Express” quoted one fan saying.
Another said, “I’m pretty sure there were rumors about Mariska leaving at one point around the time when Chris decided to leave, so it’s entirely possible they were setting up Rollins and Amaro as a ‘Plan B’ in case they lost [Besnson] too.” (sic)
What Else Do Fans Theorize About For ‘Law & Order: SVU’?
“Express” continued to follow the Reddit trail of breadcrumbs left by avid fans. The outlet cited some fans who were happy that a romance between Rollins and Amaro never officially happened, even though “the series hinted that Rollins and Amaro had a brief affair after the latter split up with his wife.”
Others wondered if Amaro was meant to replace Stabler because both of their character arcs revolved around anger issues.
But a prevailing theory dunked that thought. This fan really thought through not only the storyline but also the audience’s reaction to the Stabler-less storyline.
“My thoughts were that they felt like they needed to bring in two people to replace Stabler, because if they only brought in one character to be his replacement, if that character was anything short of amazing, they would always be comparing them to Stabler, and complaining,” the fan said.
“Although I will say, while I don’t love Rollins now, the writing on Rollins was phenomenal in her first 1-2 seasons. I think Rollins could’ve replaced Stabler and done a good job. Would’ve liked to see her and Benson partner,” the fan concluded. (sic)
All we know for sure is that Hargitay’s Olivia Benson will return for Season 23 of “Law & Order: SVU” this fall. And Chris Meloni will return for Season 2 of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” at the same time. The show runners’ plan for Benson, Stabler, Amaro, and Rollins is completely up in the air after that.
