Time heals (almost) all wounds.

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I just remember that.

It was so hard because that happened, she says of Melonis departure through tears.

Mariska Hargitay cries rewatching Meloni’s exit exclusive EW video

Ice-T and Mariska Hargitay.Mariska-Hargitay-SVU-020524

Just brings me back.

It was a hard adjustment, because there was so much unknown.

Ice-T is quick to echo his friends sentiment.

Law and Order: ORGANIZED CRIME “Takeover” Episode 215 – Pictured: (l-r) Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson, Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler

Virginia Sherwood/NBC

We just didn’t know how the deck was going to get shuffled at that point, he says.

Mariska is now out there, she has no partner, who’s going to be her partner?

So it was going into uncharted territory, she says.

Nick Amaro and Kelli Giddish as Det.

Hargitay calls their company a true silver lining.

We’d done something for 12 years beautifully.

And then off we were, the show was different.

We were losing one of our main characters.

Can we morph into something that keeps the fans intrigued and watching?

So there was doubt.

But Mariska, for lack of a better word, manned up and took over the damn place.

And now all of a sudden, now we got a captain, he says.

And I’m just so glad that it did.

I look back and think, everything that we were scared of worked out and then some.

For moreLaw & Order: SVU,read EW’s latest cover story.