Toby and C.J. share a truly platonic friendship. This doesn’t mean there isn’t flirtation and sexual chemistry, but at heart Toby and C.J. are friends. Friendship is complicated and the world has a hard time understanding exactly what it means. For Toby and C.J., it is a sense of partnership that builds each other up and pushes each other through the hardships before them. It feels important that, while they have chemistry and sexual tension, these two characters don’t have a romantic or sexual relationship. They love each other fully, but they love each other in a way that is not defined by those narrowing notions of nonsense. (Clay Dockery)
Benson and Barba naturally balanced each other. Benson cracked cases with empathy and ass-kicking, while Barba caught convictions with political maneuvering and diligent foresight. But the powerful chemistry between the two didn't just spring from the fact that they made up for one another's blind spots; more importantly, the duo learned from each other and pushed each other to grow. By the time Barba left the series in Season 19, he felt so much kinship with a mother fighting for her braindead infant's right to die that he risked incarceration to help her. Thanks to his years with Benson, he knew that empathy could be a source of strength instead of a weakness to exploit. And as for Benson, her time with Barba pushed her to achieve a rigor in her casework that bolstered her eventual promotion to captain of the SVU. With Barba, Benson evolved beyond the heart of the series into the brain as well. (Krutika Mallikarjuna)
