Don’t ever let it be said that crime doesn’t pay. That’s the lesson in the long-awaited reappearance of this fan-fave series. More than a year after NBC transferred the show to Peacock, Law & Order: Organized Crime has returned with some true grit.
“The changeover is significant,” says Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), now a series regular as Randall Stabler, the older, long-estranged brother of the Organized Crime Control Bureau’s Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni). “It allows the show to explore darker elements,” he adds. “We’ll quickly notice the difference in tone and language.” (The first two of 10 episodes stream April 17; the remaining eight drop weekly after that.) Happily, OCCB’s roster remains intact as Sgt. Ayanna Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt), tech expert Jet Slootmaekers (Ainsley Seiger), and Det. Bobby Reyes (Rick Gonzalez) are back.
David Holloway / Peacock
As the season begins, Stabler remains a hard-nosed cop willing to do anything necessary in pursuit of justice. However, as conditions change, “Elliot must face the fact that his dedication to his family and his health should be as much of a priority as the police,” says Norris.
Trouble comes when Stabler goes undercover as a big-rig driver for a violent group that smuggles weapons and women across borders. His search for a missing sex worker is derailed when a truck hits his car, leaving him gravely injured. Jet agrees to undertake a risky mission to help locate a suspect in the woman’s disappearance. And OCBB focuses on an apparent serial killer who could be involved with the truckers.
The Stabler clan must also deal with matters beyond Elliot’s near-death: Randall and Elliot’s younger brother Joey Jr. (Michael Trotter), struggling from PTSD and addiction, is MIA. Though their mother, Bernadette (Ellen Burstyn), who suffers from dementia, claims she’s getting messages from him, the family doesn’t believe her — at first.
There is some good news for the family: Elliot’s son Eli (Nicky Torchia) is following in his dad’s footsteps and graduating from the police academy, just as he and his girlfriend Becky (Kiaya Scott) are about to have a baby. Will the kid’s grandfather be around to see it all? If not, it would be a crime indeed.
Law & Order: Organized Crime, Season 5 Premiere (two episodes), Thursday, April 17, Peacock
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