Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Complicated New Case Connected Smoothly To Stabler’s Missing Years In Europe

The Organized Crime Unit deals with complicated cases that take a long time to solve and can be hard to follow if you don’t know all the players.

Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 3 introduced a new case involving a mob hit on a gang leader. This meant introducing new characters who were involved in a seemingly convoluted plot, but it all made sense in the end.

[Note: If you’d like the play-by-play, be sure to check out my Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 1 recap, which summarizes the action.]

Law & Order: Organized Crime’s New Case Connected To Stabler’s Past In An Interesting Way

After a shooting in the courtroom, I was initially confused as to why we were suddenly jumping back six years, but in retrospect, I’m grateful for it.

Stabler was in Italy for 10 years between leaving Law & Order: SVU and returning to join the Organized Crime Unit, and we know virtually nothing about what happened during those missing years.

This particular case showed Stabler at his best. I loved the way he connected with Isabella, his CI (though it annoyed me that it took the whole episode for them to reveal her name!).

• Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Complicated New Case Connected Smoothly To Stabler’s Missing Years In Europe
  by Jack Ori
• Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 19 Confirms Toya Turner’s Kiana Is the Gift That Keeps Giving
  by Jasmine Blu
• Chicago Fire Season 13 Episode 19 Serves Up Next to Nothing for Our Viewing Pleasure
  by Carissa Pavlica

As an aside, it’s too bad FBI: International isn’t continuing, as I’m sure Stabler crossed paths with them when investigating mob activity in Europe.

Anyway, when Stabler came to visit Isabella in the present, she treated him like family, and even her grandson thought he should have been invited to Sunday dinner — even though he was the kind of criminal Stabler is looking for!

That demonstrated how important Stabler was to her. Additionally, her status as an ex-mob boss who got a fresh start in America was fascinating.

Keeping Track of The Players Was The Most Difficult Part Of Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 3

I’m terrible with names and not much better with faces, so the beginning of a new case is always difficult for me.

This is doubly true on Law & Order: Organized Crime because the cases always involve dozens of people who are loyal to the big fish Stabler is after, and cases can last weeks.

I’m not complaining, though. I love these gritty, complex, mob cases.

This sort of thing is what Law & Order: Organized Crime was supposed to be about.

It took most of the episode to learn Isabella’s name, and I still don’t know all her grandsons’ names, but at least I understood the basic plot!

It didn’t help that this story was a sequel to the original Los Santos story, which aired over a year ago!

Stabler and the team were dispatched to protect Bryana for Carisi on Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 4.

• Are the Days of High Quality Sci-Fi and Fantasy Shows Like Heroes Long Gone From Broadcast Television?
  by Joshua Pleming
• Enough is Enough: We Need a Kerry Washington & Tony Goldwyn Onscreen Reunion
  by Jasmine Blu
• How Hacks Has Been Building Toward Its Incredible Fourth Season All Along
  by Joshua Pleming

Stabler said the case began 9 months ago, but in real time, it’s been 14 months, and I had no memory of the events of this episode at all.

In some ways, that didn’t matter. Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 3 provided enough context to make the story make sense, and it wasn’t really about Los Santos.

Bryana and Carlos were both collateral damage in the plot to take over Los Santos’ territory.

Paying off Bryana to recant so that the mob could shoot Carlos just as he thought he was a free man seems unnecessarily convoluted — why not just shoot Carlos in court and not worry about whether he was currently standing trial?

When villains start engaging in overly complicated plans for no good reason, Law & Order: Organized Crime starts to feel more like a Marvel story than a realistic crime drama.

The series will need to watch for that as it progresses.

Wait… Did Jet Just Leave Law & Order: Organized Crime?

This feels like the kind of fakeout The Irrational Season 2 did by having Phoebe “quit” but be on-screen dealing with a different professor.

• The Studio Is Funny but Is It Just a Vanity Project for Seth Rogen to Hang With His Famous Friends?
  by Joshua Pleming
• Has American Horror Story Been Canceled? I’m Concerned Season 13 Isn’t Happening
  by Joshua Pleming
• Love Island: Beyond the Villa Could Go Horribly Wrong
  by Whitney Evans

Ainsley Seiger is one of the few people who is listed in the opening credits, so I refuse to believe she is going anywhere long-term.

I hope not, anyway. Jet is one of my favorite characters and the procedural would lose a lot if she were to exit stage left.

I’m not averse to Jet joining the FBI instead… if she stays on-screen.

She could even jump networks and join Jubal and the others in the New York Field Office on FBI, since that office is perpetually short-staffed.

Jet: I have a job and I’m not a quitter.

Bell: Stabler asked you for a favor, and you gave us four years And you’ve knocked it out of the park every time. But sometimes you gotta move on to a different park. You don’t owe us anything; don’t hold yourself back for us.

I loved Bell’s advice, but on a selfish level, the more Jet I have on my screen, the better.

Maybe she’ll cross paths with Stabler on an undercover assignment. That would be cool.

Miscellaneous Thoughts About Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 3

A couple of things that occurred to me that didn’t really fit anywhere else:

• Days of Our Lives Spoilers For The Week of 4-21-25: New Writers Kick Off Their Run With An Iconic Character’s Return
  by Jack Ori
• Days of Our Lives Spoilers for the Week of 4-14-25: Sami Kisses the Wrong Guy (Again), Xander’s World Comes Crashing Down, and More Suspects on the Hot Seat
  by Jack Ori
• Chicago PD Season 12 Episode 18 Spoilers: Can Voight & Chapman Take Reid Down?
  by Jasmine Blu

• Was I the only one who heard Stabler say they were waiting for a report from ME Warner? I know Tamara Tunie is busy with Beyond The Gates now, but I hope she’ll make another cameo on Organized Crime soon.
• What was the point of Bell taking Stabler’s gun, and him being quickly cleared off-screen? We don’t NEED another story about the IAB being after Stabler for nefarious reasons, but it seemed like we had procedure for its own sake with this one.
• That mysterious dropped phone call suggests that we’re working toward bringing Joey’s disappearance back to the forefront. I’m glad. Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 ended on a cliffhanger that should be resolved sooner rather than later.
• I’m not surprised Eli doesn’t get along with Stabler. Stabler is too busy trying to control everything to establish a real relationship. I hope Randall’s laughter was partially because Ei’s “Mind your own business!”‘” mirrored what Stabler had to say to Randall on the way to his MRI appointment.

Your Turn, Law & Order: Organized Crime Fanatics

Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Whether you nodded your head in agreement or passionately disagreed with everything I said, I want to know your thoughts. Sharing them is one of the best ways to help us keep this site going, so let’s hear what you have to say!

Don’t forget to vote in our poll to rank the episode.

Law & Order: Organized Crime streams exclusively on Peacock. New episodes drop on Thursday mornings at 6/5c.

Watch Law & Order: Organized Crime Online

TV Fanatic is searching for passionate writers to share their voices across various article types. Think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.

The post Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Complicated New Case Connected Smoothly To Stabler’s Missing Years In Europe appeared first on TV Fanatic.