Spoilers ahead for the episodes of Law & Order, SVU, and Organized Crime that aired on February 29.
The three shows of the Law & Order franchise are in full swing in the 2024 TV schedule, and the last episodes before a brief break were eventful to say the very least. After a Law & Order episode that left Mehcad Brooks feeling like he needed to "go home and unravel," SVU filled out Benson's squad room with some newcomers and Organized Crime ended on a reveal that likely means nothing good for Stabler.
That said, none other than Ice-T was missing from SVU this week and OC is set to move on without a certain detective, which left me flashing back to what Danielle Moné Truitt previously said about hanging out with the Special Victims squad.
Ice-T Was Missing As Fin
Law & Order: SVU had no fewer than four investigators working under Benson in "Carousel" on February 29, wasting no time in incorporating Agent Sykes after she helped find Maddie and utilizing Captain Curry after she transferred from IAB. The only downside was that Fin was nowhere to be seen, as Ice-T apparently had this episode off. It's not really a cause for alarm for a series regular to miss an episode here and there on a Dick Wolf show, especially after a report about the Law & Order and One Chicago shows back in the spring.
Still, Ice-T is the Law & Order actor who has been in more episodes of the franchise than any other star aside from Mariska Hargitay, so Fin was on my mind as SVU ended and Organized Crime began on Thursday night.
Reyes Says Goodbye
Rarely has the Organized Crime task force been more disorganized than in Season 4's "Beyond the Sea," with Bell still out of commission due to her gunshot wound, Stabler missing a meeting about his suspension to keep hunting the serial killer in Long Island, and the detectives just trying to keep up. As it turned out, Reyes couldn't really keep up. He told Jet that he and his wife were divorcing, and he needed to take a leave of absence to be with his kids.
Reyes also let Jet know that things had been rocky with his wife for a while, so hopefully Jet won't feel freshly guilty about their messy affair. A leave of absence isn't as final as how OC said goodbye to Whelan, and Reyes was clear that he intends to come back and perhaps lean on Jet as a friend, so hopefully he'll be back before too long in Season 4.
But his news of the leave of absence had me thinking about Bell again, as it was Stabler who Reyes spoke to before making the decision.
Why I Want To See Bell And Fin Work Together
I spoke with Danielle Moné Truitt, who of course plays Sergeant Ayanna Bell on Organized Crime, before Season 4 about Breaking Bad alum John Shiban as OC's new showrunner, but that's not all. I'd rewatched the SVU/OC crossover finale ahead of our interview and remembered just how much fun Bell and Fin were as an NYPD duo while Benson and Stabler were paired up again. The actress only had good things to say about teaming up with Ice-T, telling me:
"I love him! He's so fun. He's just so cool. I call it 'Black Man Wisdom.' He has so much Black Man Wisdom, just the way he thinks about life, the way he sees things. It's just really cool to just sit and talk with him. And he's so friendly and just warm and open with everybody! There's nobody that he won't talk to. He's not the type of person that he's like above talking to this or that person. He's just very down to earth, very cool. And he's a hip hop legend! It was very, very, very cool to be able to work with him and chat with him."
How could I not want to either see Fin cross over to Organized Crime or Bell cross over to SVU for another sergeant team-up after what Danielle Moné Truitt shared about working with Ice-T?! The actor/rapper/hip hop legend was honored on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2023, and had a hilarious reaction when looking back at where he started, so it's no surprise that she could describe him as "down to earth."
It remains to be seen if the two characters will share the screen at all this season, or if we'll just have to revisit the 2023 crossover via Peacock Premium subscription to get a fix of Bell and Fin as a duo. The time crunch from the WGA writers strike and SAG-AFTRA actors strikes might make it unlikely for anything big, although SVU's Peter Scanavino did appear on OC as Carisi this season. For now, we'll just have to wait and see.
The three Law & Order shows are going on a brief break so that NBC can air the State of the Union address on March 7, but will be back at their regular times on Thursday, March 14.
