What a night last night for Benson and Stabler on “Law & Order SVU.” They got all gooey, almost kissed, kind of professed love for each other.
And the fans went batshit crazy. The episode scored a season high of 5.6 million viewers. Advanced warning of this “SVU” romantic non event made viewers tune in early for “Law & Order” at 8pm, pushing that show’s ratings up over 5 million. Yee-hah!
That’s the biggest total viewer number since April 1, 2020, which was 8 million, when Chris Meloni returned as Elliot Stabler, his wife was killed off, and Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson got misty eyed after 12 years of not thinking about him.
But the glow subsided when 10pm came and “Organized Crime” followed. Around three million people left do other things. “OC” pulled in just 2 million fans.
“SVU” is now so different from its origins. If you look at reruns, it was a hardcore procedural. Now it’s a Regency Romance novel. Very weird. But it works, brings in viewers, and just keeps going.
Will these two ever consummate their thang? Probably a May season ending cliffhanger. But that will take all the wind out of these sails. I call it ‘Benson Hedges’ after the long ago cigs, Benson & Hedges.
