Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
4.5
Yes! When they mentioned ME Warner on Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 4, I was disappointed she wasn’t on-screen.
I didn’t expect her to ever be, given Tamara Tunie’s commitment to Beyond the Gates, but I was thrilled about her cameo on Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 5.
It was exactly what we needed after a disturbing, violent, and all too realistic episode that resulted in multiple deaths.
(Virginia Sherwood/Peacock)
The Story About The Spezzano Family Took A Grisly Turn (And That’s A Good Thing)
Mob families are violent.
Law & Order: Organized Crime had to be careful when it was on network TV so that it didn’t run afoul of the rules, but even then, it depicted levels of violence usually reserved for cable-only or streaming series.
(Anyone remember that cut-off ear during Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 2?)
Now that the show is on streaming, there’s no holds barred.
I couldn’t look at the scenes of that nun cutting off Isabella’s fingers, but I appreciated they were included.
Bloody and disturbing? Yes.
But this is the kind of gritty, scary content I expect from a show about people attempting to rein in a dangerous organized crime family.
(David Holloway/Peacock)
Is Isabella Really Dead?
Her story is tragic.
She ratted out her brother in exchange for a new life in America — only to be murdered in a particularly gruesome way when said brother escaped from prison.
Law & Order: Organized Crime isn’t a soap opera, so I don’t expect many back-from-the-dead type stories, and I was in denial when Gina died at the end of Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 1.
(Side note: Why can’t Charlotte Sullivan’s characters on Dick Wolf shows ever stay alive?)
(Virginia Sherwood/Peacock)
Still, Stabler was expecting to see a hand with fingers missing, and in the morgue, he didn’t.
That could mean that Isabella ran away or was kidnapped, and another body was placed in the barn to make her appear dead.
I don’t want to get my hopes up too much, but the intact fingers at the end of the episode seemed like they should mean something.
Did We Need IAB Agent Warren?
I was as un-thrilled about Agent Warren’s return as I was excited about Warner’s.
I don’t enjoy obviously biased cops. Warren didn’t even try to hide that he’s on a mission to get Stabler.
He must have attended the same criminal justice program as Days of Our Lives‘ Melinda Trask. He was almost as subtle in his single-minded determination to use Eli to take Eli’s father down.
(Virginia Sherwood/Peacock)
Everyone pretty much held their own, so Agent Warren will likely come up empty-handed again.
I’d like him to evolve past being a mustache-twirling villain.
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Biased cops exist and should be part of stories, but there’s no need for him to be so obvious and one-note about it.
I hope he listens for once and investigates Eli’s Field Training Officer instead. I didn’t like the way that man discouraged Eli from asking for representation and told him to lie to ensure he didn’t get in trouble.
(Virginia Sherwood/Peacock)
Maybe he’s just a hardnosed, old school cop, but something seems off about him.
Eli’s Baby Drama Was Close To Real Life For Me
As soon as Eli told Agent Warren that Becky wasn’t due for another six weeks, I knew she’d gone into labor.
My sister went into labor six weeks early almost 15 years ago, so I was sure it was the same situation.
I’m thrilled for an actual NICU storyline.
Too many times, shows act like premature birth is no big deal. Preemies on TV often look like full-term babies and have no significant problems requiring them to be in the NICU.
I don’t know how Eli is going to focus on taking care of his girlfriend and stay in the loop with the baby, though.
(Virginia Sherwood/Peacock)
He’s too nervous about the investigation, plus he’s still not fully comfortable with Stabler being in his life — and he’s gonna need his dad more right now while he has a baby in the NICU and a career on life support.
His demeanor also makes it questionable whether he’s meant to be a cop. Bernie’s question at the end of the episode gave me chills.
Bernie: What is Eli going to be?
Elliot: I don’t understand what that means.
Bernie: Is he gonna be a cop like you… or a cop like your father?
Although Bernie seemed to be lost in the past for most of the episode, she was surprisingly with it when she spoke to Elliot about her grandson.
Finally, A Good Use For Vargas
I’m not a fan of Vargas and I don’t know if I ever will be.
(Virginia Sherwood/Peacock)
But Vargas and Randall are a good combination.
I liked them on Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 10 when Vargas expected Randall to fit in his tiny electric car, but that was pure humor.
This time, there was a point to it.
Vargas helped Randall find out about the calls from Europe coming to Bernie’s phone that might or might not be Joe, Jr.
(Randomly, this would have been a perfect time for a cameo appearance from FBI: International’s Smitty as the Europol agent Vargas contacts.)
Vargas wasn’t so great with Stabler — he shouldn’t have been surprised that his job duties included hacking into foreign feeds. Sheesh.
(Virginia Sherwood/Peacock)
Your Turn, Organized Crime Fanatics
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Law & Order: Organized Crime streams on Peacock. New episodes drop on Thursdays at 6/5c.
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