‘Law & Order: SVU’ Showrunner Breaks Down Historic 600th Episode

(This story contains spoilers from the 600th episode of Law & Order: SVU.)

Law & Order: SVU hit a major milestone Thursday: 600 episodes, a number only two prime-time scripted shows have ever reached before. The cast and crew celebrated with cake on set during filming and dinner afterward — then returned to work. Six hundred episodes is an extremely rare feat for a scripted series (The Simpsons And Gun smoke are the only ones with more), but Thursday’s episode was also the sixth of season 28; 15 more are still to come.

“It’s just making television,” said showrunner Michele Fazekas. The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s our 600th episode, but it’s also just one episode of 21 episodes (this season). You’re working on five episodes at the same time at any given time – you’re in prep on certain episodes, you’re writing on certain episodes, you’re in post on certain episodes. Nothing has changed in that regard.”

Titled “Obedience,” the 600th episode brings Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) back to the Special Victims Unit after jury consultant Gwen Sharpe (J. Smith-Cameron, who also appeared in the season premiere) convinces Benson (Mariska Hargitay) to re-examine an old case. Gwen is convinced that the man in prison for the crime, the rape and murder of a young nun in 1998, is innocent.

Stabler is reluctant to revisit the matter – and for good reason, it turns out. He failed to follow some leads that might have pointed to the real culprit, a now-retired priest who led mass at the convent where the victim lived. He also excluded Benson from questioning about the case, which she agreed to at the time because she was new to the team. The affair arouses complicated feelings among the former partners; When Stabler asks Benson why she’s so interested in digging up the case, she retorts, “Why not?”

He eventually agrees to work with her, and the pair head upstate to interview people who knew the victim (including guest stars Laura Innes and Kathleen Chalfant) and track down the priest.

Fazekas, who wrote the episode (directed by Brenna Malloy), said she wanted to give the 600th series the feel of “an old-school Benson and Stabler episode” while looking at the people they have become in the years since. To that end, the final scenes of the episode will give viewers plenty to talk about.

Fazekas opened up about those scenes, reasons for returning to the show’s beginnings, and more in an interview with THR.

Given this stage, has there been any additional planning? Or have you had ideas on the board for longer than usual?

Probably a little. I think I had an idea at the beginning of the season what I wanted to do, and one of the first things was to say, “Can we bring back Chris Meloni?” Assuming this was the last centennial episode we were going to have, I feel like if we could do it, now would be the time to do it. So yeah, there have been some older ideas than you usually do to try to figure out what an episode is.

So Stabler’s return to the team was always part of the plan?

It was for me. There were a lot of things that had to happen for this to become a reality, including Chris having to be available – he’s busy. But he was. I also knew early on — because I was on the show the first time, seasons three through seven — that I kind of wanted to get back to an old-fashioned Benson and Stabler episode a little bit. SVU and honor this era of the show. I just had an idea, and I don’t usually come up with ideas that way, but I was like, “I want this to be a road show.” “I want them to be in a car, driving long distances and chopping things. I didn’t know what (the reason) was. I always find it interesting, just put two people in a place where they can’t escape, and then they have to get rid of their stuff.

The structure of SVU is such that cases are usually resolved and some sort of justice is served at the end of the hour. I found it really interesting that this one built on something they were wrong about in the first place. Why did you want to do it this way?

Part of it is because you have to explain why we’re bringing back Detective Stabler. He no longer works at SVU. He works in a completely different department. So what would be big enough for him to come back? It seemed quite organic that this was an old case, but it’s a case that actually predates the series. The show begins in 1999, and this case is from 1998.

What wasn’t expected but came out over the course of the story was that they were such different people back then. Benson was really new, and Stabler was the lead detective, and she evolved so much because at the end of the day, we’re still telling Benson’s story. It fits very well with what we’re doing with his character this season, and it made sense for why he’s back. But it also comes from the desire to do and from the old school SVU episodes, but let’s go back to before SVU it was even a thing.

I was also struck by the fact that Stabler admitted to Benson that his Catholicism might have prevented him from seeing who the real perpetrator of the crime was. Her religion has been a common thread throughout the character’s journey, but I think it’s always interesting when it appears explicitly in relation to a case.

Chris Meloni was also a big supporter. I think allowing your own preconceptions biases you; This concerns this whole issue (of blind spots) in general. Anyone who was raised Catholic sees that as a thing, and it’s very hard for people to accept that this thing that you think is a way forward has a really dark side to it. At that time (in 1998) it would have been very difficult for Stabler to understand.

You were on the show for a good portion of the Benson-Stabler partnership during your first tenure, and now you’re back as showrunner. What do you think of their relationship?

From what I’ve read, Stabler still has work to do on himself like Benson did. Benson has evolved in a way, and I love them together, and I love them as partners and scene partners. But I think part of this episode is about how she, in a way, overcame the struggles of the time. I think Stabler is still working on it. Stabler is still doing the same things he did 20 years ago, and he’s starting to realize, oh, I have to change this.

And seeing what happens between them in this episode – discussing his work and life, then inviting him to come to Arizona for a while – what do you think the audience will read?

Look, I think they love each other. I think they both know that. I think when he says, “Hey, do you want to come to Arizona?” he knows his answer will be no. It’s easy to ask this question when you know the answer is no. I don’t think he didn’t mean it, but he also knew what his response would be, and I think now is not the time. Is there time to come? Maybe, but I think he has work to do. She may also have some work to do, but I think she’s probably a little further along that path than him.

I always thought they loved each other in a way that transcended a sexual relationship. They love each other deeply, and they’ve already acknowledged that, and I think that kind of reinforces it. But I also think he knows I have more to do with myself.

Where are you in terms of production now?

We are filming episode 10 and are in preparation for episode 11.

What can you say about the next episodes?

We have a nice little arc that we started at the beginning of the season and continue, where the cases they face are complicated and don’t have easy answers. Benson really struggles with feeling like nothing has changed. No matter how hard we work, sometimes it doesn’t matter. I like the idea of ​​pushing her – the episode we’re shooting now and the next episode pushes her not only to the edge of what’s legal, but of what’s ethically and morally right to do, because she’s starting to not care.

In the episode we’re filming right now, the bad guy is so bad. We talk about “Why does he do what he does?” And she actually says, “I don’t care,” which is very important to her. But you also understand it because the guy is such a bad guy.

What can you say about how Stephanie March returns to the series as Alex Cabot?

Benson goes to her and asks for help. They didn’t end things on a totally happy note the last time she was on the show, but Benson is coming back to her.

Is Alex still doing the same kind of work as last time?

No, but there is a reason.