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Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 3 Recap: Stabler Revisits An Old Case While Pursuing Italian Mobsters in The US
Law & Order: Organized Crime didn’t waste any time before getting into a new, exciting case.
There are some new villains in New York City, along with a complicated case that includes a flashback to six years ago in Italy.
Don’t worry, though — we’ve got your Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 3 recap right here (and check out our review once you’ve caught up!)
Stabler’s Bad Morning
Eli is surprised that the Los Santos trial is beginning when the bust was six months ago (“Nine,” Stabler corrects him.).
The father and son annoy each other. Eli reminds Stabler he has a follow-up MRI, while Stabler aggravates Eli by giving him unwanted career and relationship advice.
After Eli goes, Stabler turns on a press conference about the case. Carisi calls him, and the news is bad.
Bryana has recanted, and now they have no case.
He’s gonna ask for a continuance so that Stabler can search for proof of witness tampering.
A Case Dismissal Leads To A Shooting
Carlos from Los Santos wants to talk to Stabler. He won’t tell him anything about Bryana, but says he didn’t mess with her because she’s family.
Carlos is concerned that a new player in town is breaking the rules and acting “like a bunch of wild animals.” He wants Stabler to fix it before there’s a gang war between Los Santos and the new guys.
In court, Carisi argues for a continuance, claiming that Carlos intimidated Bryana out of testifying. It doesn’t work — the judge agrees with the defense attorney that Carisi doesn’t have enough of a case and dismisses this matter altogether.
While Carisi is talking to Stabler about filing an appeal, someone opens fire in the court, killing Carlos, and runs away. Stabler chases the shooter and ultimately is forced to return fire, killing him. He finds a card in the suspect’s pocket that reminds him of something.
Flashback To Italy, Six Years Ago
Stabler (with more hair) arrests a woman, Isabella, for a shooting, both shouting in Italian.
During interrogation, the woman speaks impeccable English. She refuses to say anything beyond confessing to murdering her husband. She says that this way, her grandchildren at least have a fighting chance.
Kathy calls. She suggests Stabler give Isabella food to get her to talk.
Stabler follows Kathy’s advice and gives Isabella Kathy’s homemade pasta. They discuss their families. Isabella says that she couldn’t stop her son from becoming his father. Now, the grandchildren are her whole life.
Isabella loves having her grandchildren help with Sunday dinner. Stabler says she could have that again if she cooperates. She’s not interested until he arranges for a call with the grandchildren.
After the call, Isabella asks Stabler for a horse farm. It’s the only thing she wants. Stabler arranges for her to start over in America, with enough money for her to buy her own farm.
Back To The Present Case (And Stabler’s Annoyance With Randall)
Reyes has news: the bailiff was found dead in his car. That’s how the shooter got into the courthouse — but why target Carlos?
Beyond The Gates’ Tamara Tunie doesn’t appear, but Stabler mentions waiting for autopsy news from ME Warner before turning to the card he found. He says it’s a message from the Comorras, an Italian mob
Stabler says the card is a message from an Italian mob. After assigning Vargas and Reyes to help investigate this, Bell tells Stabler that reaching out to Isabella will have to wait. Randall told her about Stabler’s MRI appointment, and he is waiting outside.
In the car on the way over, Stabler starts up with Randall about getting Bell involved, but Randall doesn’t see what the big deal is. Stabler changes the subject to their mother, and Randall tells him that she insists she’s talking to Joey regularly.
The Unit Tries To Find Out Why Bryana Recanted, While Stabler Catches up With Isabella
Bryana insists no one told her to recant, while her daughter, Kiki, is openly hostile, threatening to sue the NYPD and the Organized Crime Unit for causing her uncle’s death.
Bryana refuses to tell Kiki to wait outside, instead saying she doesn’t trust the cops to keep her family safe. Her brothers in the Dominican Republic were blown up using a car bomb. She leaves with Kiki.
Meanwhile, Stabler goes out to the horse farm to meet Isabella, who treats him like family. After small talk about their kids and grandkids, she asks why he is here, and he shows her the card.
Isabella says she doesn’t know anything and reminds Stabler that he helped her get out of that life six years ago. She will try to translate the card, but it will take some time.
The Stakes Go Up After Another Shooting
While Bryana is reassuring Kiki that no one will go after them, she’s proven wrong by someone on a motorcycle driving by and shooting them both, in her case fatally (though Kiki is only shot in the leg and survives).
At the crime scene, Stabler and Bell agree it makes no sense for anyone to go after Bryana at this point since she recanted her statement. Meanwhile, Stabler sees Eli talking to his FTO near the crime scene and tries to ask the FTO about Eli’s assignment.
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Later, the shooter from the courthouse is identified as a young adult named Jason Conti, but the person who shot Bryana and her daughter are still at large.
Vargas has learned the bike had stolen plates. He has doorbell cam footage, which he knows isn’t kosher, but Bell doesn’t care. She asks Vargas to do facial rec while she goes to talk to Kiki.
A Tragic Confrontation With A Suspect
The bike shooter is identified. Stabler and Reyes go to talk to him.
While climbing some stairs (that Stabler is breaking doctors’ orders to climb), Reyes confides in Stabler that Jet broke up with him and he’s worried about her.
At the suspect’s house, Stabler asks a woman in Italian for her grandson, Fernando, but Fernando locks himself in a bedroom and runs out onto the fire escape.
Stabler chases Fernando to the roof, where Fernando insists he “can’t” talk to Stabler and that he won’t allow himself to be arrested. He climbs up onto the edge of the roof, ignoring Stabler’s commands to get down from there, and jumps to his death.
Stabler seems upset. He tells Bell that the grandmother knew nothing about Fernando’s activities.
Reyes finds a photo of Fernando, Conti, and one other boy in Fernando’s room — they were all altar boys at the same church.
An Interlude Filled With Family Scenes
Eli is annoyed that someone put a doll in his locker. The whole squad is calling him Baby Stabler because Stabler checked in with his FTO.
Stabler tells Eli to ignore the hazing, but Eli is aggravated and tells Stabler to mind his own business, which cracks Randall up.
Meanwhile, Isabella’s grandson, Roman, comes to see her. She warns him about the Comorra — they could come after her for testifying against Rocko six years ago. Roman reassures her that they are safe and goes to meet a vendor at his brewery.
Elsewhere, Randall hears a phone ringing while making his mother’s bed. It’s a restricted number. He answers and says, “Joey?” but the caller hangs up.
Bell Visits Jet
At Jet’s apartment, Jet seems depressed and quiet. However, she lights up when she talks about the computer setup she has in her home.
It’s an enhanced database so she can identify the other victims found along the interstate.
When Bell compliments her police work, Jet confides in her that she turned down an offer from the FBI. She doesn’t want to quit her current job.
However, Bell encourages her to move on, saying that she helped them out as a favor to Stabler and stayed four years — she shouldn’t hold herself back out of loyalty to them.
A Break In The Case Leads To Some Cliffhangers
Isabella calls Stabler. The messages were orders to take out Carlo and Bryana.
Rayes is confused by this — Bryana was not related to Los Santos. However, Bell sends him to find out which church Fernando’s grandmother attends since the killers both came from there.
After Reyes leaves, Bell has just enough time to update Stabler about Jet’s plan to leave the unit before Vargas calls them over.
He has discovered that Bryana was poor until a few days ago, when she got 2 million dollars from a shell corporation in Italy. One of the companies associated with the shell corporation is the brewery where Roman works.
Stabler realizes that the Comorra is in the US and that they paid Bryana to recant so that they could target Carlos in the courtroom, then later had her killed so she couldn’t talk.
Bell goes, planning to have farewell drinks with Jet, and Jet shows up to get her stuff. She hates goodbyes and planned to sneak in to pack up while no one was around.
Stabler hugs her and says he’ll miss her. He insists on waiting around to take her to the bar for her goodbye party so that she can’t sneak away.
Later, Stabler sees Eli walking down the street with his girlfriend.
A motorcycle speeds toward them. Stabler gets them all on the ground as the driver begins shooting.
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