Spoilers ahead on the Season 2 premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime on NBC, called "The Man With No Identity."
Law & Order: Organized Crime kicked off Season 2 with a time jump ahead to a point when Stabler was already deep undercover with the Albanian mob, trying to take them down from the inside without blowing his cover or letting things get out of hand. Although Stabler managed to convince Reggie that he's on his side, Reggie's bosses aren't so sure about him, and they're not afraid to get violent. Stabler has already had to assault a man just to prevent Reggie from killing him, and other elements of the premiere indicate that Stabler may have opened himself up to another tragedy.
While Stabler took precautions in separating his undercover life as Eddie "Ashes" Wagner from his work with his NYPD unit, he isn't wholly split from his personal life as Stabler. When he had a few hours of free time, he went to intercept Eli on his way home from school and suggest having dinner with him and Kathleen. And after Gina went to extreme lengths to preserve her undercover identity in Organized Crime Season 1, only to be found out anyway and murdered, I'm nervous for the people in Stabler's life! Stabler has ties around the city, and already encountered some other cops. Sure, they were Harbor Police who wouldn't have likely crossed paths with Stabler as colleagues, but that might not always be the case.
All it will take is for the wrong person to recognize "Eddie" and greet him as Stabler or follow him somewhere incriminating, and the jig can be up. Especially if he's followed when he goes to visit Eli, or one of his other kids. Seriously, if Stabler's identity is outed, his youngest son is literally named Elliot Stabler. Eli wouldn't be hard to find, and living with Kathleen wouldn't offer the most protection in the world. That's not to say that Organized Crime would kill off or even do something to another member of the Stabler family after the whole series launched based on Kathy Stabler's death, but Stabler is being too casual with his identity compared to Gina for me to feel 100% confident that nothing bad is going to happen for him.
Besides, somebody dying isn't the only kind of tragedy. Just look at what happened to Olivia Benson in the first half of Law & Order: SVU's Season 23 premiere, which SVU tied back to Wheatley on Organized Crime. Sure, Benson's broken ankle happened to accommodate Mariska Hargitay's real-life injury, but it was written as happening as part of Wheatley's vendetta against Stabler. Stabler is now making new potential enemies to go with whatever Wheatley may still have up his sleeve, and I'm just crossing my fingers that his kids aren't caught in the crossfire, or the rest of the Organized Crime task force. At least Mariska Hargitay starring on SVU presumably means there's no need to seriously worry about her fate!
Find out if Stabler is in for more personal tragedy with new episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime on NBC on Thursdays, normally at 10 p.m. ET. After Law & Order: SVU got a two-hour Season 23 premiere this week, however, Organized Crime is getting two hours on September 30, starting at 9 p.m. ET. The Dick Wolf universe is back in a big way this week, ranging from the FBIs over on CBS with their big crossover on Tuesday to One Chicago with all the game-changers on Wednesday to now both Law & Order series on Thursday.
