The only crime being committed here is making fans drool.
On Saturday, Aug. 21, Christopher Meloni, 60, sent Law and Order: SVU fans into a frenzy after he posted a steamy behind-the-scenes photo of him and Mariska Hargitay, 57. Although it's unknown when their image was taken, one thing is clear: Chris set the internet ablaze.
In the snapshot, the two look deep into each other's eyes, as they embraced each other so close that their lips were almost touching.
So what caused Chris to bless fans with the picture in the first place? On Friday, Aug. 20, a Twitter user wrote, "Can y'all imagine if one day @Chris_Meloni and @Mariska posts a picture like this pretending they are kissing with the caption #Rehearsing. It would be the end of us and the end of the internet."
And that's exactly what Chris did, captioning the sizzling photo, "#rehearsing what @Mariska?"
Naturally, the Law & Order: Organized Crime star's post had his followers swooning.
"This warms my heart and makes smile," one person commented, with another replying, "Call an ambulance!"
One Twitter user summed it perfectly, writing, "You are abusing your power over us!! I am dying here! Hopefully you are rehearsing for a real scene that will literally send us to the hospital! Oh! How I love you guys!"
Luckily for fans, the dynamic duo kept their on-screen chemistry going in the new Law & Order spinoff, Law & Order: Organized Crime, in which Chris' character Detective Elliot Stabler is at the center. Mariska joined in on the first season as her beloved character Captain Olivia Benson.
But before the second season airs next month on NBC, take a look at our gallery below to get a breakdown of the television series.
Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) was first introduced to fans in season one of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The quick-to-anger detective was longtime partners with now SVU captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and a dedicated family man. Married at 17 to his sweetheart Kathy (Isabel Gillies), the Stablers have five children together: Maureen, Kathleen, twins Elizabeth and Richard and Elliot Jr.
Meloni played Detective Elliot Stabler from 1999 to 2011 as he departed the crime procedural after season 12. The last time SVU fans saw Stabler, he fatally shot a woman who was shooting up the precinct. Benson was later blindsided by the fact that Stabler retired before speaking with her.
10 years later, Stabler is out of retirement and back fighting crime. According to the show's description, Organized Crime will follow Stabler as he returns "to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. However, the city and police department have changed dramatically in the decade he's been away, and he must adapt to a criminal justice system in the midst of its own moment of reckoning. Stabler will aim to find absolution and rebuild his life while leading an elite new task force that is taking apart the city's most powerful crime syndicates one by one."
Meloni's return to the franchise as Stabler includes a Law & Order crossover event! This means Stabler and Benson will be on-screen together for the first time in a decade. Meloni's April 1 appearance on SVU will launch the new series, Organized Crime.
As Law & Order SVU showrunner Warren Leight teased in March 2021, the crossover event won't be the only Benson-Stabler reunion. He wrote on Twitter, "yesterday's scenes were for an svu down the road."
Dylan McDermott has been cast alongside Meloni on Law & Order: Organized Crime. While little has been revealed about his role, the production photo lists his character name as Richard Wheatley. The image also features Nick Creegan as Richard "Richie" Wheatley Jr.
Fans will get to know Danielle Moné Truitt as Sergeant Ayanna Bell in the first episode of Organized Crime.
In February 2021, longtime Bones star Tamara Taylor was confirmed as one of Meloni's co-stars on Law & Order: Organized Crime.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)