Law & Order: OC's Chris Meloni, Dylan McDermott Tease Stabler/Benson 'Healing' in New SVU Crossover

Tonight’s two-hour Law & Order crossover event (NBC, 9/8c) once more puts SVU‘s Olivia Benson and Organized Crime‘s Elliot Stabler in each other’s circles, as the squad and the specialized task force look into a significant death from last season.

So, naturally, TVLine wanted to talk with OC stars Chris Meloni and Dylan McDermott to get to the bottom of how the latest crossover might tie Benson and Stabler’s worlds even tighter together.

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As it turns out, Richard Wheatley’s “affairs are somehow related to Olivia Benson’s brother’s death,” Meloni tells us in the interview at the top of this post. And investigating Simon’s fatal overdose “unfortunately pairs Benson and I under stressful circumstances between us, but I think it helps lead to a sense of healing.”

Speaking of healing… you know we weren’t going to let Meloni go without asking him about Stabler’s unexpected declaration of love to his former partner during an intervention in the previous episode. “Stabler’s not a dummy,” Meloni says, adding that his character understands that his family and Liv are highly worried about him. “He’s just a little hard-headed.”

And might Wheatley use Stabler’s emotional instability to his advantage in the episodes ahead? “Absolutely,” McDermott says. “He’s going to try to — and does — whenever he can.”

Press PLAY on the video above to hear more and to see what happens when we raise the possibility of Wheatley hurting Benson to get to Stabler. (Hint: It’s not pretty.) Then hit the comments with your thoughts!

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