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Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Season Premiere Offers A Heartbreaking, Gritty Story Well Worth the Wait
After almost a year off the air, Law & Order: Organized Crime finally returned, and it was worth the wait.
The Law & Order: Organized Crime season premiere was a double episode that had enough action for half a season — plus a heartbreaking twist.
It loses points only for Stabler’s dreams and out-of-body experiences at the hospital, as those are well-worn tropes that didn’t add much to the story.
The Law & Order: Organized Crime Season Premiere Proved The Move To Peacock Was The Right Choice
I’d hoped that going to Peacock would mean that Organized Crime would become as gritty, violent, and expletive-laden as it needed to be.
It didn’t disappoint me in any of those areas.
The case gave me serious Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 2 vibes. The people Stabler was after were soulless.
The Kingsman brothers’ problem with Stabler was that stopping a rape meant interfering with their business plans, and all Vic said about the man being executed in front of their eyes was that it was messed up.
I’d bet anything that Mark knew the guy was going to be murdered and wanted Stabler to witness it, too.
Plus, they took a 12-year-old girl and planned to traffic her, eventually killing her in that accident that ran Stabler off the road, just so that he couldn’t stop their operation.
We Need To Talk About Bunny, Because I Am Not Okay (And Neither Is Stabler)
Bunny’s death hit me almost as hard as it hit Stabler, which doesn’t usually happen.
The Law & Order shows, especially Organized Crime, have made needless deaths a staple. There have been a ton of side characters that have been murdered, so many that I rarely feel heartbroken.
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Bunny, though… man, that one hurt.
Part of it is that she was a little girl who didn’t deserve any of this, and who Stabler was trying to save when Vic rammed into his jeep.
I knew the accident was going to happen because of the trailer, but I didn’t know that Bunny would be in that car too, and that made it worse.
The Law & Order: Organized Crime season premiere did a great job of humanizing Bunny and connecting her to Stabler.
She was a lot more than a child who was acting out and stealing things to make money.
She’d already been through a lot of trauma, including her mother disappearing, and Stabler was probably the first person in a long time who actually gave a damn about her.
Teddy even said that when he kidnapped Bunny, she went on and on about how great “Hank” was.
And Stabler got so close to getting her somewhere safe when that truck sped at them, making it even more tragic.
It didn’t help matters that we didn’t really know what had happened to Bunny until that moment during Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 2 when the nurses confirmed that she was dead.
Still, Stabler’s dream or ghostly visit or whatever the hell that was made it likely.
(As a side note, I didn’t like the idea of that visit being real. They do this on Days of Our Lives, but it doesn’t fit Organized Crime nearly as well!)
Anyway, that moment hit Stabler hard, probably for all the same reasons. It felt like a punch in the stomach for me during that scene.
I wonder if Bunny’s death will haunt him for the rest of the season. I’d be okay with that.
No one does trauma as well as the Law & Order shows, and Stabler’s PTSD after Kathy’s death was the strongest aspect of Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 1.
Hopefully, it won’t be like the disaster known as the Maddie Flynn case on Law & Order: SVU Season 25, which was an entire season of Benson being obsessed with a kidnapping victim.
I’d like to believe that Benson will be there for Stabler as he deals with this.
Bell: I want to thank you for your help.
Benson: I’m not done yet. I want in on this.
Bell: I’m glad to hear that.
She asked Bell to be part of the team for this case, but wasn’t really involved with its climax, so maybe she meant she wanted to support Stabler.
Benson’s Scenes Were Great, But This Shouldn’t Be A One-Off
Benson’s reunion with Stabler was everything it should have been.
She met his family, confirmed he was her close friend, supported them all, and did her best to keep an eye on Stabler when he insisted on leaving the hospital early to work on the case.
Law & Order: Organized Crime didn’t explain where she’d been for the last two years or why the first time her friendship with Stabler had been on-screen was after he was near death in the hospital, but maybe it’s better that way.
If the series had written it as if the relationship had fallen apart, but Benson realized she loved Stabler when he was hospitalized, that would have been super cheesy.
That said, this relationship needs to be on-screen.
I don’t particularly care if it becomes romantic, but it will be harder to believe this friendship is okay if Benson and Stabler interact only occasionally, especially if Stabler is still traumatized.
There Was More Than Enough Trauma To Go Around On Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Season Premiere
The scenes with Stabler’s family were well-done, though I wish we’d have had Eli’s reaction to learning his father was critically injured.
The two have been at odds in the past over Eli’s desire to become a cop and Stabler’s difficulty making time for his son.
Almost losing his father right after Stabler left a voicemail saying he was proud of Eli had to have hurt, but Eli’s reaction was off-screen.
That’s disappointing, though I loved Randall and Bernie’s reaction.
These beats were played perfectly.
Randall’s frazzled insistence on a priest and forgetting with TBI stood for, and Bernie’s confession at the end that she had been holding her breath for 70 years praying that everyone she loved comes home at the end of their shift, were standouts in an episode full of high drama.
But what in the world is going on with Jet?
She insisted she was fine after Lugnuts attempted to strangle her, and she’s been through worse situations.
Still, trauma responses are unpredictable, so in a way, it isn’t a surprise that she needs time after this case.
Ainsley Seiger is still part of the main cast, so I’m sure Jet isn’t going anywhere long-term, but it will be interesting to find out how this one plays out.
Your Turn, Law & Order: Organized Crime Fanatics
What was your take on the season premiere?
Vote in our poll to rate the double-header before hitting the comments with your thoughts!
Let’s keep the conversation going — it’s the only way the good stuff survives.
Say something in the comments, share if you’re moved to, and keep reading. Independent voices need readers like you.
Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 streams exclusively on Peacock. New episodes are released every Thursday through the end of the season.
Watch Law & Order: Organized Crime Online
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Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 1 Recap: Stabler Goes Undercover In A Case As Disturbing As It Is Dangerous
Our Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 1 recap highlights the important moments in this action-packed premiere!
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Law & Order: Organized Crime’s Season Premiere Offers A Heartbreaking, Gritty Story Well Worth the Wait
The Law & Order: Organized Crime season premiere was well worth waiting for, but it was one of the procedural’s most heartbreaking stories.
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Law & Order: Organized Crime Premiere Rollout Strategy Hints NBC Made a Mistake With Peacock Move
Law & Order: Organized Crime is destined for Peacock, but it will return to NBC for at least one episode. Did the network make a mistake?
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