Chris Meloni Discusses Major Benson-Stabler Scenes He Wrote for ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’

Note: This article contains spoilers for Season Five of “Law & Order: Organized Crime.”

The second episode of the newest season of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” showcased some atypical scenes for the series — a testament to the creativity of the episode’s writer, Chris Meloni.

Meloni, who serves as an executive producer and stars as Detective Elliot Stabler, emphasizes to TODAY.com that comedy is “always good drama.”

Titled “Dante’s Inferno,” this episode is not only interlaced with Elliot’s dreams but also features moments of humor rarely seen among “Law & Order” characters. Stabler spends part of the episode in a coma, experiencing these visions after a collision with a semitruck. The episode also features Meloni’s close friend, Mariska Hargitay, who guest stars as Capt. Olivia Benson, Stabler’s former partner in the Special Victims Unit. She is seen by his hospital bedside, accompanied by the Stabler family. 

Both Meloni and Hargitay, despite their characters dealing with dark themes, have a fondness for comedy. Meloni wanted to pen this episode partially because Hargitay would have a guest role, asserting that “there’s no one else alive” who understands Benson and Stabler’s relationship “as intimately and as well” as they both do.  

He mentions that his daughter, Sophia, once pointed out that the HBO series “Succession,” which explores the dynamics of an affluent media family, can be seen as a comedy.

“I cocked my head thinking, ‘Really? … That’s your take on it?’ She affirmed, ‘Absolutely,’” recalls Meloni. “And it is. There are genuinely funny moments.”

“I believe our show is enriched by the idea that even in the most horrific situations, if there’s a humorous angle, it never truly vanishes,” he says. “It surfaces in the oddest, most unexpected moments.”

One particularly humorous moment in the episode features Stabler in a hospital gown attempting to change and escape. When Benson walks in, she queries what he’s doing.

“You’re not going to cuff me, are you?” Stabler quips.

After a back-and-forth exchange, Benson holds Stabler’s face in her hands and states, “Why do you have to make everything so complicated?”

As she exits, Stabler offers her the choice to either assist him by starting her car or “just stand there and watch me get naked.”

“This was my way of declaring, ‘Look, I’m laying down the gauntlet,’” Meloni explains. “‘You’re either going to help me escape or you’re going to witness me getting undressed.’ It’s a subtle nod to the fans as well.”

Meloni wanted to write for Benson and Stabler as he often finds himself revising scenes for them regardless.

“It felt like a natural progression to delve deeper into their interactions—maybe not in terms of plot direction, but how they communicate and care for one another,” he says.

Another amusing scene features Stabler’s older brother, Randall (Dean Norris), who meets Benson for the first time at Stabler’s bedside while he remains comatose.

Randall inquires whether Benson and his brother are “partners,” to which she replies, “And great friends.”

“From the beginning,” she adds, when Randall probes for how long.

“You like brisket?” Randall then asks.

“I’m sorry?” Benson responds, baffled. “Brisket?”

“Yeah, I should cook you a brisket some day,” Randall says. “It’s world-famous, mouth-watering, with the perfect bark.”

After Benson mentions she’ll bring her coleslaw, Randall proudly states he makes his own.

Just then, Stabler wakes up from his coma, chiming in with, “Hers is better.”

Meloni praises Norris for portraying the scene beautifully.

“‘Oh, so you’re her?’” Meloni mimics, which illustrates how Benson holds an important role in Elliot’s life, one that Randall isn’t fully aware of, even though he has made some assumptions about their partnership.

During a break backstage on their April 14 visit to TODAY, Meloni encourages Norris to share the backstory of “the brisket scene.”

“I own a restaurant in Temecula where we serve the finest brisket in Southern California,” explains Norris, referring to his establishment, Swing Inn Café & BBQ.

Meloni humorously notes that Norris made sure to share details about the restaurant.

“That’s what writers do; they steal,” Meloni jokes regarding the brisket lines included in the script.

“So there I was, trying to impress Mariska by talking about my brisket,” Norris adds, laughing.

“The irony is that when he told me about the brisket, it put me to sleep,” Meloni quips, contrasting it with his character’s awakening after that conversation.

However, the episode concludes on a much more poignant note with a powerful monologue delivered by Bernadette “Bernie” Stabler (Ellen Burstyn).

Upon waking in his hospital bed after his final dream, Stabler finds his mother at his side.

When he inquires about her well-being, Bernie shares that she was “taught not to cry.”

“A policeman’s job is challenging enough without adding to it,” she elaborates, listing the officers in the family: her late husband, her son, and her grandson, Eli, who is Stabler’s youngest child.

“For 70 years, I was told to smile, just smile. I would hold my breath every time you went off to work, hoping I wouldn’t get that call or that visit,” Bernie reflects.

Stabler then embraces his mother, expressing his love for her.

“I believe that moment captured a powerful sentiment in a very brief interaction,” Meloni observes about the mother-son scene, “because there are no more critical circumstances than potentially losing your son. In such a moment, she is able to reveal a truth to herself.”

He recalls growing up in a time when “women had their place, and men were men.”

“That was the dynamic,” he continues, “and I’m not judging it — just reflecting on the world I came from. I think it’s meaningful to give voice to that experience for generations that might not have lived through it. I recognize that younger generations likely don’t share the same lived experiences I do.”

“No big deal, just a realization,” he adds. “But it felt like reliving history, sharing that story. You know, ‘Smile, smile.’”