As if one of the greatest scenes in Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler history couldn’t get even greater… we recently learned some information from Mariska Hargitay herself that changed everything.
In the final scene of the third season finale of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” last May, which was a crossover event with the season 24 finale of “Law & Order: SVU,” Detective Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni) visited Captain Olivia Benson’s office with a gift – for her.
Stabler handed Benson a brown paper bag and said the contents were “a souvenir” before leaving town for a new case.
Benson opened the bag and saw a small jewelry box containing a gold compass necklace.
“Elliot, this is beautiful,” she told him, then asked if the necklace was meant to “lead her somewhere” – or to something.
“Lead yourself to happiness, Liv,” Stabler replied.
“I’ll definitely try,” Benson said.
Last summer, fans learned that Hargitay designed the necklace for her character.
She re-shared a post by jewelry designer Me&Ro in her Instagram story.
“So excited to see our custom compass pendant in the season finale of Law and Order: OC. A gift from Elliot Stabler to Olivia Benson,” the jeweler wrote.
On the red carpet celebrating the 25th season of “SVU” on Jan. 16 at the Edge at Hudson Yards, TODAY.com asked Hargitay about the story and why it was so important to her to help design this piece for her character.
“Well, actually Chris and I designed it together,” Hargitay revealed.
“We talked about him making a necklace for me and I wanted it to be a compass,” she explained, adding that she is in a relationship with Me&Ro designer and founder Robin Renzi.
“I wanted Chris’ influence because he’s so thoughtful and concrete and so deeply engaged with things like this that matter,” Hargitay continued. “I wanted it to mean as much to him as it did to me. So he was the one who came up with what the (symbols on the compass) represent.”
“It was a group effort,” she added.
A sneak peek of Law & Order from the upcoming Season 25 premiere showed a divorced man giving Benson romantic attention before asking her about her compass necklace and what each of the letters that weren’t the usual “NSEW” stood for. Benson explained that the “J” stood for joy, the “C” for compassion, and the “L” for love. She didn’t say what the “E” stood for, though. So we had to ask if we’re going to find out what the “E” stands for.
“Soon,” Hargitay replied, encouraging fans to keep watching.
“It will be a good season,” she said.
Fans can also expect Hargitay to direct again this season.
“I’m addicted!” she said.
Also, in the final episode of the last season, Benson was shot for the first time and Stabler picked her up and carried her to safety. It was only right that we asked Meloni about that scene.
“She’s as light as a feather. Have you seen the woman – come on,” he said with a smile.
Meloni said the “sneaky” writers came up with the idea.
“You need any excuse to hold this woman in my arms,” he added, “and that’s why I’m here!”
All three Law & Order series return on Thursday, January 18. Season 23 of Law & Order premieres at 8 p.m. ET, Season 25 of Law & Order: SVU premieres at 9 p.m. ET, and Season 4 of Law & Order: Organized Crime premieres at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. Episodes will also be available to stream the next day on Peacock.
(Peacock is part of our parent company NBCUniversal.)
This article was originally published on TODAY.com.
