Law And Order’s SVU Crossover And Organized Crime Season 5 Premiere Watchalong: I’m Talking Mariska Hargitay Joining Maura Tierney And Stabler Finally Returning - Live Blog
Join the ride of NBC's big night of Law & Order action!
The Hype Is Real
Not only is tonight’s two-parter the first crossover between Law & Order and SVU in several years, but many cast members weren’t even around for that previous bloody event (which also included Organized Crime). While any case that needs all hands on deck from the detectives and ADAs of both shows is bound to be intense, a look behind the scenes proves that Reid Scott wasn’t kidding about the cast members having fun mingling:
Since Organized Crime isn’t set to be part of the crossover – although one promo suggests that Christopher Meloni might get a cameo on SVU if we’re lucky – the cast is missing from any crossover BTS pics. That said, another couple of photos prove that the Stabler brothers seem to get along swimmingly in real life!
Dean Norris spoke to CinemaBlend about Organized Crime getting “more realistic” with its violence, so I’m guessing we won’t see Elliot and Randall looking quite as happy as Norris and Meloni do in these pics, so let’s enjoy the smiles while we have them!
Starting With Law & Order!
The first part of the big three-hour event is called "Play With Fire Part 1," and it already feels more like an episode of SVU than Law & Order. I'd wish all of the cold open people well, but just like how nothing good happens at Hudson University, nothing good happens to guest stars in a Law & Order cold open. I'm just excited to see SVU icon Mariska Hargitay and ER vet Maura Tierney sharing the screen for two hours!
A Gruesome Murder To Start The Night
Okay, I see why Reid Scott told me "this particular body is unlike anything that I had seen in my two years here at Law and Order" when he was previewing the crossover. A burning body in a barrel is a lot for the 8 p.m. ET hour. Welcome to Law & Order, Silva!
Brady Should Have Taken This Inside
Brady is doing a great job of convincing this young man to talk to her despite pressure from the Latin Kings, but his point that the Latin Kings don't like people talking to the cops probably meant that they should have had their conversation indoors instead of in broad daylight, right? I'm no detective, but I do watch a LOT of people who play them on TV.
Price And Maroun With Bad News
The ADAs of Law & Order have bad news for Brady's white whale of a murderer, since they don't have any hard evidence yet. I do wonder how long Price and Maroun were standing out in that hallway, though.
Brady And Riley Bonding
Riley giving Brady a pep talk after she opened up was lovely to see, although he didn't seem to do much to lessen her guilt. I did get a laugh out of one of the lines he dropped to try and help:
This is really just a job.
Has that ever been true for anybody in the Law & Order world?
The Victim Is A Cop, And SVU Fans Might Remember Her Name
Eagle-eyed SVU fans may have recognized Maria Recinos from the promos for the crossover, but the confirmation in "Play With Fire" still stings. Maria was a victim on SVU way back in 2005 before returning in Season 25 as a new member of the NYPD. It's a tough development, and something tells me Benson is going to take this personally.
It Was Going So Well, So Briefly
Lt. Brady and Captain Benson seemed like they were going to be a great team and possibly even new friends... until Benson heard that Brady wasn't able to close the murder case years ago and therefore prevent the killer from getting to Maria. I'm not so sure checking in with Maria "every two days" should count as keeping a "close eye" on her, though, so that's a point against Lt. Gomez as Maria's supervisor. I can't hold one unclosed case against Brady when she faced so many disadvantages.
Baxter Meets The Rogue Version Of Captain Benson
Is Benson the most senior main character in the Law & Order world other than DA Baxter? Yes. Did that stop her from barging in and making demands of the District Attorney in his own office that would have crossed more than one line? It did not. Welcome to a case that Benson takes personally, Baxter!
Maybe Bruno Shouldn't Be The Go-To Guy For UC Work
Bruno, I love you, buddy, but... who wouldn't have made him as an undercover cop after that attempt to get information from the sex worker?
The guy in charge, is he in the building or–"
Obviously I'm not rooting for the trafficker, but no way was Bruno getting one over on the bad guy with that attempt at being smooth. He gets an A for effort?
The Hunt For A Burner Phone
You know you've watched a lot of the Law & Order world when you automatically think of prepaid phones as "burners." (It's me. I'm "you.")
Benson And Brady Are Not BFFs
I've been watching Law & Order: SVU since I was... well, probably too young to be watching the show about sexually-based offenses that are considered especially heinous, and I love Olivia Benson, but I'm with Brady on this one.
The SVU captain isn't necessarily WRONG about being the better one to speak to a rape victim, but she's making this needlessly difficult, and Brady doesn't seem to be wrong that Benson blames her.
Brady wants to do it right without any coercion; Benson wants to get it done. Maura Tierney and Mariska Hargitay are crushing it.
Welcome, SVU fans!
If you're a Law & Order: SVU fan who tuned in to NBC at 9 p.m. ET instead of 8 p.m. ET for Law & Order first, check out the first hour of our live blog for what's been happening!
Did Gomez Lie Or Just Made A Mistake?
I can't help but notice that in the Law & Order half of the crossover, Lt. Gomez said he checked in with Maria "every two days." Now in the SVU half, he said that they "only had check-ins every three days or so." What gives, Gomez? Lying or wrong?
Welcome to the crossover, Fin!
What better time for Fin to turn up in the SVU half of the crossover than to hear Benson say that she was disobeying direct orders? I can never get enough of Ice-T and Mariska Hargitay sharing the screen.
No One Expects The IAB Inquisition!
We've seen a lot of interactions between the Special Victims team and Internal Affairs over the past quarter century, but rarely do they actually lead Benson in a positive direction. This time, Benson actually connected dots courtesy of IAB that Gomez could be the bad guy of the crossover.
It did seem odd that a priest could wrestle a gun away from an NYPD lieutenant, and I had already clocked Gomez changing his story about how often he checked in with Maria.
Besides, this is the SVU half of the crossover, and I trust Olivia Benson's instincts on her own show. Would this case really be worthy of a Law & Order two-parter if the rapist/killer was just a random priest?
Welcome to SVU, Hugh Dancy!
Price and Carisi seem to be working together a lot more smoothly than Benson and Brady were to start the crossover, and it's good to know that the cop duo getting the blood sample via Benson's coat didn't break any laws.
I can't help but wonder, though: how strange is it for ADA Price, who's used to trying murders on Law & Order, to have NYPD officers walk in and start a conversation with "The semen found––" ?
Bringing In Noah Was A BAD Idea From Gomez
You know that Gomez doesn't know Olivia Benson very well if he thought targeting her son was a good idea. If she wasn't already determined to close this case as definitively as possible for Maria's sake, threatening Noah would have guaranteed it. Somebody is in T-R-O-U-B-L-E now, because he poked the mama bear.
At least Noah knows well enough after all the crises he's endured not to get in the car with any strangers. Am I the only SVU fan who did a double take at how old he is now, though? Time does fly in this TV universe!
Price Vs. Benson
While Price probably lost some points with Benson by suggesting that Benson recuse herself after Noah was targeted, he seemed to make a better impression by telling her that he's "infuriated" by Gomez betraying his oath to protect and serve.
Brady Gets Through To Benson
The two women finally seem to be on the same page after Brady offered to give advice about whether Benson should recuse herself once Noah was targeted. She told Benson:
I think you have two choices. You can either throw yourself into your work or throw Gomez out a window.
It's a good thing that Benson is the one who got this particular advice from the Law & Order lieutenant, because I can imagine Stabler thinking "Why not both?" if this happened on Organized Crime.
I Miss Melinda Warner
Benson got my hopes up that we were going to get a surprise guest appearance from Tamara Tunie when she mentioned a medical examiner, but alas, she said "ME Wagner" and not "ME Warner."
Olivia Benson On The Stand
Gone are the days when a defense attorney could shake Olivia Benson by questioning if she's too personally invested in a case. Gomez's defense attorney was never going to get a win in that way, and it's never good for the bad guys if Benson is on the stand.
Don't Sweat The Science
I still don't know about the science of the contents of a used condom being preserved well enough to then be planted as evidence, but I'll go with it for "Play With Fire Part 2." It just seems like there would be forensic evidence that it's not entirely... fresh, so to speak. I'd probably accept it from ME Warner, though, so why not?
SVU Continues To Cast Great Guest Stars
It wasn't long ago that I dubbed guest star Paige Herschell as the MVP of a big episode, and SVU continued that streak of great casting with the actress playing Cassie. She doesn't have a huge role in the crossover, but she's killing it. Those sobs might be as hard to forget as Paige Herschell's scream earlier in Season 26!
Welcome Back To SVU, Christopher Meloni!
As it turns out, NBC was NOT bluffing with the little moment of Christopher Meloni in the promo for the SVU half of the crossover. I can't say I expected his scene to involve confronting Gomez's goon in a men's bathroom about targeting Noah, but what a way to build anticipation for the Organized Crime crossover! He said:
Got your head smashed up against the cold tile under the weight of all your bad decisions and a 600 FICO score, which is why Paul Gomez owns you. You and I, we're just going to cut through the noise. If you ever go anywhere near my friend or her son again, I won't take you down. I'll take you apart.
That right there is the Elliot Stabler brand of chivalry! When I said "confronting," I of course meant that he came to Benson's defense by shoving the goon's face up against the wall of the bathroom. And he even washed his hands after.
The SVU Version Of A Happy Ending
Endings on Law & Order: SVU are never entirely happy due to what victims have to go through, but Benson and Brady got the evidence they both needed for closure, with Carisi and Price managing to close the case. Paul Gomez was convicted, and a rapist killer is off the streets of the Law & Order world.
Organized Crime Time!
For the first time in almost a full year, the Law & Order: Organized Crime team is back in action. If the opening scene of a body being burned alive is any indication, Christopher Meloni's show hasn't gotten any gentler with the move to Peacock. The premiere is called "Lost Highway" and is the first of the ten-episode fifth season.
What's "Stupid" On NBC Is An F-Bomb On Peacock
Fun fact: the scene with the young girl having a tea party with her toys goes a little bit differently in the version that's currently available streaming on Peacock. Specifically, this line from the NBC broadcast:
Are you playing with those stupid dolls again?
That's a line that fits right in with the kind of language that we might have seen on Law & Order or SVU earlier in the night. If you head over to Peacock to check out the Season 5 premiere, though, you'll hear this line:
Are you playing with those fucking dolls again?
Welcome, Organized Crime fans, to the era of streaming freedom on Peacock vs. what can air on NBC.
A Literal New Start For Organized Crime
Hello, new opening credits! Admittedly, most of them are the same as last season, but Ainsley Seiger is sporting a new, shorter haircut in her photo and Dean Norris makes his opening credits debut as Organized Crime’s newest series regular.
The OCCB Teams Up With The Feds... Reluctantly
Bell sends Stabler back undercover as Hank to help take down a smuggling ring alongside the feds, although the two teams have different priorities. There's evidently sex trafficking to go along with drug smuggling when it comes to the Mad Coyotes, so the stakes are sky-high now that Stabler is back in Hank mode.
This time, though, Hank isn't in the honey business. He's a long haul trucker, which unfortunately for Stabler means having to drive long distances as well as doing his undercover work.
Hank Makes A New Friend
Stabler doesn't have a lot of chances to interact with kids on Organized Crime, so I'm already loving his conversations with young Bunny. He's good with youngsters, and that's wholesome to see in a show that's generally not warm and fuzzy.
Elliot has a cute little pseudo-friendship growing with Bunny, who could probably use all the protection she can get, and I feel like her “Everything has a price” comment could be foreshadowing. Fingers crossed that nothing bad happens to Bunny!
Stabler Still Has His SVU Instincts
Elliot Stabler has come a long way since his days as a Special Victims Unit detective, but his SVU instincts were activated in the OC Season 5 premiere. Don't risk any sexually-based offenses that are considered especially heinous when Hank/Stabler is around!
An Update On Joe Jr.
Thank you to Randall and Bernie for the update on the youngest Stabler brother! While the matriarch was confused about her son’s status and believed he was in Switzerland after Season 4 ended on a cliffhanger for Joe Jr., Randall cleared the matter up by saying that “No one’s talked to Joe Jr. in months.”
That’s not true. He calls me all the time.
Bernie was insistent that she frequently talked to Joe and he was in Switzerland. It would be an interesting twist if it turns out that Bernie really isn’t confused about Joe Jr., but correct and nobody believes her.
Stabler's First Near-Death Experience Of Season 5
Stabler didn't make any friends among his new bosses by beating up the attempted rapist who also happened to be their new business partner. He was brought along to make a deal, and it looked like he was about to take a bullet for causing a problem. Instead, the would-be rapist was the one who caught the bullet, and Elliot is alive with his cover intact. This is the first but surely not the last close call for the cop this season!
Randall Stabler + Ayanna Bell = BFFs?
I don’t know when over the time jump Randall and Bell got on texting terms, but sign me up for finding out! She teased Elliot that she’s “got a lot of besties you don’t know about.” In all seriousness, Randall sending the photo of Eli in his NYPD dress blues allowed for a vulnerable moment between Elliot and Bell.
It's bittersweet to see Eli celebrating his accomplishment of joining the NYPD without his dad around for the milestone. The timeline has never really been seamless with Eli, since he was born on SVU in late 2007, but he really is – to quote his dad in the Season 5 premiere – "all grown up" now.
Reyes Remembers Whelan
A couple years have passed since Organized Crime killed off Brent Antonello’s Jamie Whelan in a rare Law & Order franchise moment to actually make me cry, but Reyes evidently hasn’t forgotten the tragic death of his partner. “Det. Whelan” is still listed in his phone contacts, which really says something. After all, the contacts are clearly not in alphabetical order. I doubt we should take this to mean that we’re about to learn that Whelan secretly faked his death, but what a reminder!
Bunny Is In Trouble
Organized Crime did not waste any time in putting Bunny in serious danger, and Elliot didn't hesitate to beat the truth out of the brothers running the truck yard if that's what it took to get information on what happened to her. Honestly, I think there should be a new rule when it comes to those three – every time one of them refers to a sex worker as a “lot lizard," Elliot should get to punch a rapist.
Fortunately, he did get to the young girl in time to save her from immediate danger and use Chekhov's baseball bat on her attacker, but that didn't mean they were safe as soon as they were in a getaway vehicle. The chase is on!
A Bad Car Crash For Stabler And Bunny
Well, Law & Order: Organized Crime kicked off with a cliffhanger! As spoiled by the previews for the premiere, Stabler was unfortunately in the front seat of a car when it was slammed by a truck. What wasn't obvious in those promos was that a young girl was in the back seat, and I'm not sure that her position lying down will do her any favors in the wreck. We can count on Stabler surviving; how worried should we be for Bunny?
How To Watch The Next Episode ASAP
In a treat for fans, the Season 5 premiere wasn't the only episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime that released on April 17. Both the first and second, the latter of which features Mariska Hargitay herself as Olivia Benson, are currently available streaming. The only wait you'll have to do to find out what happens next after the NBC broadcast is however long it takes you to either sign in to your Peacock subscription or sign up for one.
The Law & Order crossover with Law & Order: SVU will also be available streaming next day on Peacock, with new episodes airing on NBC Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET and 9 p.m. ET, respectively. New episodes of Organized Crime Season 5 will debut on Thursdays on the streamer. Thanks for joining with me for this watchalong!
