The Law & Order universe isn’t exactly a sunshiney world, but Organized Crime‘s tone is decidedly darker with Chris Meloni’s hilariously dragged Elliot Stabler diving into the criminal underworld with daring results. This spin off also isn’t as “episodic” as its predecessors (meaning that crimes are not handily solved within an episode, which happens plenty on SVU), and that structure lends itself to streaming success by encouraging bingewatching to keep following longer cases.
To that end, NBCUniversal made a call after Organized Crime finished a fourth-season run on NBC proper. The spin off will depart the NBC home of Law & Order and SVU (which were renewed weeks sooner) for a Peacock-exclusive move, after much extended speculation on whether the Stabler-centric show should continue. Fortunately, the latest cliffhanger finale will see resolution, and changes will come as well, so let’s talk about what could come next:
Plot
The series took off with octopus-fueled peril from Dylan McDermott’s villain (do you miss him?) and, more importantly, the death of Elliot Stabler’s wife, Kathy. This event has weighed heavily on Stabler’s mind, even amid sporadic suggestions that he and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) would become more than good friends and former detective partners. A mid-intervention declaration of love did complicate matters, but the franchise teases like that, and Stabler did bookend a fourth-season finale while visiting Kathy’s grave.
The cliffhanger ending of the fourth season, which saw Julian Emery/Redcoat and Joe Jr. (brother to Elliot Stabler) evade authorities, surely points to more family-linked drama (amid the drug-war-lording of the show’s current action) for the Peacock leg of the series. In actuality, Joe Jr. is now in great peril, and it remains to be seen exactly how much Emery has correctly deduced about their joint situation.
Of course, the resolution of this tricky situation will now take place at a new TV home, and the move to streaming suggests more freedom for the show to be more explicit, from language to racier content and violence. This bodes well for both more high-octane suspense on the chemical-weapon front but also — let’s face it — Chris Meloni does have a tendency to get undressed, so perhaps the spin off could lean further into the “zaddy” aspect of the leading man.
For now, a fifth season of ten episodes will surface, and we’ll see if this spin off finds future streaming seasons. If Organized Crime is ever cancelled for real, Mariska Hargitay has declared that she doesn’t see a reason why Stabler couldn’t move back to SVU if NBC and Meloni can arrive at a deal.
Cast
Chris Meloni will push forth with his second long-running stint as Elliot Stabler. The cast includes Ainsley Seiger, Danielle Moné Truitt, Rick Gonzalez, Brent Antonello, Jeffrey Donovan, and Nicky Torchia. Occasional crossovers from Mariska Hargitay are icing on the investigative cake.
Release Date
Currently, both Law & Order (Season 24) and Law & Order: SVU (Season 26) will return to NBC on October 3. However, Organized Crime‘s Peacock debut date hasn’t been released, so we don’t know if the three series will air simultaneously like in the past, or if Organized Crime will fill hiatus space.
Trailer
We can’t hope for a trailer yet, but there’s never a bad time to head back to a collection of first-season octopus scenes. Dylan McDermott, you are missed!
