Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 7 of Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4, called "Original Sin."
Law & Order: Organized Crime returned from a brief break in the 2024 TV schedule to continue the story of Stabler investigating a serial killer on Long Island while suspended from his work with the task force. Between his uncertain future with the NYPD and the arrival of one of Christopher Meloni's Law & Order: SVU co-stars on top of Stabler being in mortal peril in a church, "Original Sin" was an eventful episode, to say the very least! And the peril hasn't fully passed, as the promo for the next episode shows that Stabler may not have a way to come out on top, although there's also an easy-to-miss moment that could bode well.
First things first! Stabler's timing could hardly have been worse throughout much of "Original Sin," despite being warned that his meeting with IAB about his future with the NYPD could be called at any moment. He wouldn't have made a great impression by coming in wearing a borrowed jacket and an earpiece to listen in on the case during the meeting even if he'd been speaking to a room full of allies. And he certainly was not speaking to a room full of allies.
IAB's Moses Warren (played by iZombie alum Malcolm Goodwin) clearly had a vendetta against Stabler, and Stabler was playing right into his hands. On the plus side, SVU alum Dann Florek – who ranks as one of the Law & Order actors to appear in the most franchise episodes – made an appearance as Donald Cragen, who did a little digging into what Warren's problem with Stabler is.
According to Cragen, Stabler's dad's former partner Gus Hanson was Warren's mentor, and Hanson committed suicide just weeks earlier, with Warren blaming Stabler for the death after he started digging into the past earlier in Organized Crime. With the lead IAB investigator holding a grudge against Stabler, and Stabler giving him no shortage of valid excuses to punish him, it seems like he's in a no-in situation. Based on the promo for the next episode, his life will be in danger as well as his job. Take a look:
While the biggest moments of the trailer involve Stabler teaming up with Meredith Bonner to investigate her mother's death and Stabler being attacked in a restauraunt, my attention was caught by a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance from Cragen. It looks like he and Stabler were out together at a diner, and given that Stabler looks surprised that he's being targeted right at that moment, I'm thinking it may be closer to a social visit or a heart-to-heart about Joe Stabler Sr. than a case consult. (After the SVU/OC crossover last spring, I'm also thinking Stabler should avoid public restaurants while hanging with his former Special Victims colleagues.)
Does this translate to Stabler having an out when it comes to IAB, or even to Stabler coming out of the next episode unscathed? Definitely not, but my hopes are high for a Stabler/Cragen heart-to-heart after they shared the screen so frequently back in their SVU days. It was fun the last time Organized Crime brought in Cragen, and I have no doubt that it will be fun – by OC standards, anyway – to see them interacting again.
I'm not convinced that Stabler will be able to talk his way out of professional consequences for his actions over the past few episodes, but I am hopeful about Cragen and Stabler sharing a scene seemingly of just the two of them. (If you want to revisit their seasons of SVU together, you can find them streaming via Hulu subscription.)
See what's next for Elliot Stabler with new episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET, following SVU at 9 p.m. and Law & Order at 8 p.m., all on NBC. You can also stream the episodes next day with a Peacock Premium subscription.
