Law And Order: Organized Crime's Ainsley Seiger Shares Story Behind The Christopher Meloni Earrings And 'Admiration' For Benson And Stabler

law and order organized crime season 2 jet slootmaekers ainsley seiger
(Image credit: NBC)

Law & Order: Organized Crime has returned to NBC for Season 2 with the whole team back in action with Stabler undercover, with the exception of course of Morales after the Season 1 finale. Stabler is in more danger than ever immersed in the Albanian mob, but Ainsley Seiger's Jet Slootmaekers is working her hacker magic to make sure that his technological bases are covered as much as possible. Seiger recently spoke with CinemaBlend about Organized Crime Season 2, and she not only shared her admiration for Stabler and SVU's Benson, but also dropped some details behind the famous Christopher Meloni earrings.

Ainsley Seiger made a splash on social media back in July when she debuted a pair of earrings featuring Christopher Meloni from one of his very un-Stabler photoshoots, with costar Danielle Moné Truitt hilariously revealing how long it took Meloni to notice. When I spoke with Seiger ahead of what will be an exciting episode for Jet this week, she shared how it felt to see Meloni blow up and go viral on social media, leading to the buzz over the earrings:

Weird. I was talking to a friend the other day and I told them, it never stops feeling weird. Or at least it hasn't stopped feeling weird yet. But as far as the earrings thing goes, it was exciting for me to get to spotlight one of my favorite creators personally who made the Chris Meloni earrings, who is a huge fan of SVU, and getting to make friends with her has just been one of those wonderful connective lines that really only comes out of getting to be on one of your favorite TV shows.

When Ainsley Seiger posted the photo of herself sporting the Chris Meloni earrings, she made sure to credit the artist who made the jewelry (and shared her own excitement about seeing all of the excitement over the Meloni frenzy). Seiger has said before that she was a big fan of Law & Order: SVU before she even landed the job on Law & Order: Organized Crime, and it certainly shows! In case you didn't get a look before, check the earrings out now:

A photo posted by on

As part of the newest installment in Dick Wolf's long-running Law & Order franchise, Ainsley Seiger's Jet actually fills a role that was never needed on any of the shows that premiered decades ago as a computer hacker. The task force never would have gotten the evidence they needed to nail Richard Wheatley in Season 1, and can anybody doubt that she'll be key to any successes that they find in going after the Albanian mob in Season 2?

That said, joining such a long-running franchise filled with characters who had been around for many years before Organized Crime even received a series order isn't something that many actors ever experience, and Ainsley Seiger went into OC as her first series regular role. With Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay SVU Emmy-winning guest star Ellen Burstyn appearing in the next episode, Seiger shared what it has been like heading into Season 2 with characters who already have so much history:

For me, speaking as Ainsley now, a dream come true. I've been a fan of the show for such a long time. I have so much admiration for Chris. And I have so much admiration for Mariska, as well as a lot of admiration for their characters, and what they've managed to do in creating these now iconic television characters. It's really exciting to be a fresh face in this franchise. And on the flip side of that, really scary because I know I know my stuff. And I know that I've done my homework. And I know that as a fan of the show, I know about the show and I know about the characters, but there's always this lingering fear of I want to make sure that I'm putting respect on the name of the Law & Order franchise, always. Because it's brought me so much joy over the years and it's also brought me the greatest blessing of my life so far.

The Law & Order franchise definitely has earned respect, as it is going strong with SVU and Organized Crime in 2021, more than 30 years after the original Law & Order premiered in 1990. In fact, SVU has already lasted longer than the original series, which ran for 20 seasons compared to SVU's 23 and counting. There was little doubt that Organized Crime would have a future beyond Season 1 even before the backdoor pilot that brought Elliot Stabler back. According to Ainsley Seiger, she not only admires Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay, but also their iconic characters as Stabler and Benson who debuted in 1999.

Law & Order: Organized Crime and SVU will be sharing characters when Organized Crime airs two hours of action on September 30, and Ainsley Seiger's Jet will have a particularly important role, so be sure to tune in and see everything that Organized Crime (and SVU) have in store. Also be sure to check back with CinemaBlend for more from Ainsley Seiger! The Law & Order night begins at 8 p.m. ET with an episode of SVU, followed by two hours of Organized Crime starting at 9 p.m. ET, all on NBC on Thursday, September 30.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).