The season 5 finale of Law & Order: Organized Crime took Elliot Stabler to a dark place that will shift him up for a long time! We take a look at the events of the episode.
Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for the Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5 finale
If there’s one thing fans of Law & Order: Organized Crime know, it’s that Stabler can be intense going after a perp for someone he doesn’t know. So, one can only imagine Stabler’s reaction when searching for Julian Emery after the crime boss killed Stabler’s younger brother, Joey.
What happened in the Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5 finale?
The Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5 finale picked up right where the last episode ended as Stabler and Detective McKenna (Jason Patric) were interrogating Emery’s thug, Vincent. Stabler bent the line by dousing Vincent in lighter fluid and holding up a match to get him to talk.
Bell was back in town and doubtful of Stabler being on “bereavement leave.” That was a good instinct as Reyes was called by Stabler for a lead on Emery. Stabler still hadn’t told his mother Joe was dead with McKenna warning him about going too far for revenge.
Stabler met with Randall who shared a flash drive Joe had mailed before his death. Stabler pushed Randall to take the family to their old place in Montauk for a few days with Randall likewise warning his brother about crossing the line.
The lead is found in Law & Order: Organized Crime
Finding a lead at a construction site owned by Emery, Stabler threatened the foreman to give up his location. Stabler told Reyes to give them some time to run down the lead, only for Bell to tumble onto how Reyes was helping Stabler. Stabler and McKenna found the location clear of Emery but his phone was left behind.
They used the info on it to find Emery’s ex-wife, Allegra, who quickly saw through their claims of a bomb threat to call Emery up. Emery and Stabler bantered for a bit, with Emery seemingly set to let his ex and son be arrested, although Stabler didn’t believe it.
Stabler was interrupted by a call from Randall with the surprising discovery that years before Joey had applied to the NYPD. That got Stabler to finally decide to loop Bell in on the search. While ticked at Stabler going behind her back, Bell was ready to follow, tracking Emery’s phone down.
The cops raided a warehouse where Emery was hoping to get a transport out of town. Stabler had him at gunpoint, seemingly torn on whether or not to kill the guy. The choice was taken out of his hands by Bell showing up to arrest Emery herself.
Did Stabler get payback?
Emery had an ace up his sleeve, offering information on the top leaders of Hezbollah. To Stabler’s anger, the FBI was willing to give him immunity. Thankfully, Vargas decoded the flash drive to show that Joe had spent months collecting evidence on Emery’s deals, meaning he had nothing to trade for.
While Emery mocked Stabler for Joe being a failure, Stabler dropped the bomb that Joe had given them everything needed to ruin Emery. “Whatever else about my brother, he was a Stabler.”
The final scene had Stabler with his family showing a memorial plaque for Joey at NYPD headquarters. They toasted his heroism as the season ended. That leaves it up in the air if Stabler will face consequences for his actions but season 5 closed out Law & Order: Organized Crime’s first season on Peacock with its typical strong manner.
Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5 is now streaming on Peacock in full.
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