Law & Order: SVU — 5 Times We Loved Elliot Stabler (& 5 Times We Hated Him)
For 12 seasons on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Detective Elliot Stabler combed the streets of New York City, looking for perpetrators of especially heinous sex crimes. When he found a suspect, he tag-teamed their interrogation with his partner Olivia Benson, but Stabler often put aside the playbook to take out his personal aggression on his captive audience.
There's no doubt Stabler was dedicated to his job, and has saved countless people by bringing the worst kind of criminals to justice, but SVU shows many instances of when he took things way too far. Here's hoping Stabler doesn't repeat these unsavory tendencies in his upcoming spin-off series, Law and Order: Organized Crime.
10 LOVED HIM: WHEN HE SAVED OLIVIA'S LIFE
In the Season 7 episode "Fault", Detectives Stabler and Benson are hunting convicted sexual predator Victor Paul Gitano after he kidnaps two children and murders their family. During an altercation, Benson's throat is slashed and Stabler rushes to her aid, costing him his chance at catching Gitano.
Later, when it's Stabler's life on the line, Benson can't take the shot at Gitano because he may kill her partner. Though it's clear the two detectives put their personal feelings for one another before their commitment to their job, watching Stabler's face when he thought he was going to have to watch Benson bleed out explains why.
9 HATED HIM: WHEN HE ALMOST KILLED A SUSPECT
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has a black-and-white way of portraying the justice system which, while satisfying to an audience who wants to see good triumphing over evil, isn't grounded in reality.
As much as fans love to see Stabler stick it to a bad guy, there are times when he goes too far. In the episode "Annihilated" in Season 8, he locks a suspect in the interrogation room and almost kills him.
8 LOVED HIM: WHEN HE PUT BAD GUYS IN THEIR PLACE
Detective Stabler doesn't need to be violent all the time to prove how much disdain he has for perps who think they operate outside the consequences of the law. In the case of the wealthy elite who think a different set of rules applies to them, Stabler demonstrates just how wrong they are.
In the Season 1 episode "Slaves", an affluent attorney deep in the fetish community, who kept his housekeeper tied up as a sex slave, finds that money doesn't fix everything when he faces off with Stabler in the interrogation room.
7 HATED HIM: WHEN HE TOOK IT TOO FAR
Elliot Stabler is infamous for his short fuse when dealing with the worst kind of perps. In the Season 4 episode "Pandora", he debates whether or not he should kill a suspect after he's already sent him into a table and delivered an elbow to the guy's throat. In Season 10, after Stabler's found in the home of a suspect, he's seen covered in blood after having severely beaten the tenant. No matter how awful the criminal, this is just not okay.
6 LOVED HIM: WHEN HE WENT UNDERCOVER TO CATCH A CHILD MOLESTER
Whatever fans think about Stabler's violent side, there's no denying he'll do whatever it takes to stop stomach-churning sex crimes, especially if they involve women and children. In Season 7, he goes undercover as a sexual predator to see if a recent parolee is back to his old tricks.
As he gets closer to Ray during their time together, his life is put in increasing danger. When a young girl is almost violated by Ray, Stabler has to reveal himself in order to save her.
5 HATED HIM: WHEN HE KISSED DANI
When Stabler's partner Olivia Benson goes undercover in Season 8, she's replaced by detective Dani Beck, a recent widow who joins the Special Victims Unit after her husband's murderer is put behind bars. Dani does the job differently than Stabler, and as a result their personalities often clash over cases.
Their fiery exchanges signal a burgeoning romantic tension, and the two share a kiss (Stabler is going through a divorce at the time). Fans who long-awaited the time when Stabler and Benson would finally get together were furious that he'd choose Dani over Liv.
4 LOVED HIM: WHEN HE PRETENDED TO MARRY LIV
During one memorable episode, Stabler and Benson pose as a swinging married couple. They go to a popular and trendy nightclub to meet other interested parties, and it's the closest fans get to seeing the two in a romantic relationship.
The closeness the two exhibit is only possible because Stabler and Benson have been best friends and partners for over a decade, and their connection is so deeply rooted that their chemistry comes off as effortless.
3 HATED HIM: WHEN HE RETIRED FROM SVU
Stabler and Benson were partners for 12 seasons, and over the course of that time they became incredibly close, and knew each other better than even their romantic partners. When Stabler was written out in the Season 13 premiere, fans were enraged.
Actor Christopher Meloni chose to leave the series for other acting opportunities, and therefore Stabler had to be given a plausible reason for leaving. He retires from the force without ever even telling his partner, leaving Olivia to pick up the pieces emotionally.
2 LOVED HIM: WHEN HE TOOK A BULLET TO SAVE ANIMALS
Stabler goes undercover frequently throughout his 12 seasons on the series, and every time, he puts his life on the line in pursuit of justice. On one particularly harrowing occasion, he infiltrated an exotic animal smuggling ring in which unlucky critters were slaughtered for fancy dinners.
His advocacy for his furry friends ended up getting him shot, and Olivia was there for him in what could have been his final moments. Luckily her ingenuity saved both of their lives, though it required some fast-thinking and role-playing from the both of them.
1 HATED HIM: WHEN HIS RELIGIOUS VIEWS GOT IN THE WAY OF A RAPE VICTIM'S ABORTION
Every once in a while Stabler's strong religious views interfered with his work as a detective. While they gave him a powerful moral compass, they also didn't leave very much room for a gray area where a black-and-white view of the world wasn't possible.
When a victim of sexual assault ends up becoming pregnant with her attacker's child, Elliot doesn't believe she should get an abortion. It's not his decision, and ultimately forces the victim into a corner.