Fandoms are incredibly stubborn and patient, and shippers even more so. Fans will wait literally years for romantic developments, hoping to finally see the spark between their favorite characters. Alas, their high hopes are often crushed.

The police procedural genre is no exception when it comes to shipping. Such is the case with some of the most popular characters of the Law & Order franchise created by Dick Wolf. We're talking about Special Victims Unit protagonists Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), who left SVU more than a decade ago and got his own spin-off, Organized Crime, in 2021.

The chemistry between the two is undeniable, and fans have spent nearly 25 years pushing the writers to give them some closure on the nature of their relationship, which almost happened in OC's third season finale. Only, based on Meloni's own words, we may never get it.

The prospect of Benson and Stabler's romantic development has been a mainstay of Special Victims Unit since the early seasons, thanks to the great dynamic Hargitay and Meloni have built between their characters. Even other cast members have swooned over Benson and Stabler's chemistry.

When Meloni returned to the franchise after 10 years and Stabler joined the organized crime task force, viewers finally saw a glimmer of hope.

Though the new storyline was horribly disastrous for Meloni's character, as the mob tried to kill Benson but ultimately killed Stabler's wife, fans were happy to see the much-needed reunion between the characters, which also opened up the possibility of their romantic entanglement.

Things heated up in the Organized Crime Season 3 finale when Benson and Stabler finally confessed their feelings for each other. However, the creators decided to postpone the long-awaited kiss.

Speaking to Parade, Christopher Meloni discussed why the writers decided to tackle Bensler and shared his opinion on whether it will happen on screen at all.