Stabler and the rest of the task force of Law & Order: Organized Crime are fighting criminal organizations on two fronts in the final arc of Season 2. While Stabler is infiltrating the Brotherhood gang embedded within the NYPD, Nova is undercover with the Marcy Killers at Preston Webb’s right hand. The pressure is growing, and the two halves of the investigation are going to start to mix more than ever, with a new clip for the April 14 episode (seen above) revealing a confrontation between Webb and Stabler. According to actor Mykelti Williamson, crossing Webb means a “precarious position” for Stabler, and that’s not all.
Mykelti Williamson plays Preston Webb, and he shared how the “collateral damage” of the Marcy Killers might be too much for Webb and wife Cassandra to recover from. It’s looking like his sincere desire to do good might not work, and that could mean bad news for Stabler. When Williamson spoke with CinemaBlend about all things Organized Crime, he previewed what’s on the way with the two characters:
Stabler's after Webb, so you'll see Stabler close in. That's all I'll say [on that]. I'll just leave the tease there, but you will see Stabler draw closer to Webb and find himself in a very precarious position by doing so.
The actor of course wasn’t going to spoil all the juicy details about what happens as Stabler closes in on Webb, but precarious positions on Law & Order: Organized Crime can be pretty harrowing! Mykelti Williamson and Christopher Meloni haven’t shared too many scenes compared to Meloni and Denis Leary’s Donnelly, with Williamson interacting more with Nona Parker Johnson’s Nova, but that may change sooner rather than later.
Webb has largely kept his people under control – with the exception of Nova due to her undercover work, although Williamson's character doesn't know that just yet. Still, the actor shared that the upcoming episodes are going to see Webb under more stress than ever, and it could show a side of the character that hasn’t appeared so far. He shared:
I think the next couple of episodes, I want the fans to watch closely, because they're going to see Webb under pressure and how he responds to pressure when he starts feeling that parts of the world around him have begun to turn against him. I want them to see how he navigates that. I think it'll be a lot of fun.
Organized Crime has certainly shown how Preston Webb reacts to his underlings trying to undermine him! His genuine emotional investment in trying to do good definitely doesn’t match with how he takes care of business, and two people died because of it in the previous episode. He is emotionally invested in Nova, and even donated money to set up a clinic at her brother’s church. I asked Mykelti Williamson how his character would react to finding out that Nova is an undercover cop at this point, and he weighed in:
Hurt. Tremendously hurt and brokenhearted because Webb, when he loves, he loves hard, and he'll put his life on the line. Webb is that panther that will kill to protect the cubs. And there would be tremendous hurt there if he found out that he had been betrayed because he genuinely loves her and has let her into his world.
There’s no guarantee that this betrayal (as Preston Webb would see it) will actually happen, as Nova’s secret is safe so far. She did tell her brother the truth, which could be dangerous. Her fellow cops may be good at lying and concealing the truth, but her pastor brother who just accepted donation money from the Webbs may not have the same talent for deception. It does seem that there will be plenty of material left for Nova and Webb, and Williamson had nothing but praise for actress Nona Parker Johnson:
I think she's a really wonderful human being, first of all. She's without a doubt a talented actor, but she reminds me of my own daughters. I'm a father of three daughters, and I've got daughters in her age range. My daughters are 22, 23, and 28. So it's like I'm working with one of my own daughters. It's really something, and she's just a beautiful human being, and so creative. So it's very conflicting. There's a lot of conflict there. It's like, how am I influencing one of my daughters, or my young proteges? And that's something that I live with, within the confines of the character on our journey. We've got some really interesting stuff coming up, so stay tuned.
The stakes are higher than ever on Law & Order: Organized Crime at this point, so “stay tuned” seems like some pretty stellar advice! For now, you can look forward to new episodes of Law & Order: OC with Mykelti Williamson as Preston Webb on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on NBC, following Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. and Law & Order at 8 p.m. The new episode on April 14 is called "Change the Game," and you won't want to miss it. If you need to catch up on episodes that you might have missed, you can find Season 2 so far streaming with a Peacock subscription and/or a Hulu subscription.
The show is as dangerous as ever for the heroes of the Organized Crime Control Bureau, but there have been bright spots for them. Former SVU actor Dann Florek reprised his role as Cragen for a heart-to-heart with Stabler following an unfortunate story about his father. Plus, the end of Richard Wheatley (with Dylan McDermott heading over to FBI: Most Wanted as the new lead) was good news for Stabler. Also, the upcoming crossover between OC and SVU on March 5 will involve some serious “girl power,” according to one star.
