Law & Order: Organized Crime Finale Recap: Joe’s Gotta Go — Plus, Grade It!
There may come a time when the Stablers hold a family dinner that’s free of drama, but Season 4 wasn’t it.
So when Elliot decides to have Randall and the rest of his brood over for a meal in Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s Season 4 finale, we brace for impact. Remember what happened last time?!
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Indeed, another family secret — though this one much more recent — was unearthed before the steaks even hit the grill. And
In a moment, we’ll want to know what you thought about the finale. But first, let’s review the highlights of “Stabler’s Lament.”
Stabler and his team still don’t know exactly when or where the gun shipment is going to show up, but they do know that Emery’s hustle has shifted from wine to expensive tires. Joe is late to meet with El because Emery suddenly shows up in his room and leaves some heroin behind. Joe hands it to El and lets him know that, given Emery’s increased scrutiny, they won’t be able to see each other for a while. They embrace. Later, Bell raises the possibility that Joe is using again and lying about being clean, but Elliot says he believes his brother.
Eli and Becky visit Randall and Bernie and Bernie only needs one glance at Becky to know what they’ve been hiding: “You’re pregnant!” She’s thrilled; Eli jokingly asks Randall to tell his dad for him, and Randall demures. Meanwhile, Bernie decides that it’s time for everyone to get together at Elliot’s for a celebration of the newest little Stabler. “We’ll do family dinner at his place like last time,” she says, beaming. “Maybe not exactly like last time,” Randall mutters under his breath to Eli.
At dinner, Eli announces that he’s planning to become a cop. Bernie is happy about having another police officer in the family, Elliot, less so. “Don’t transfer your fears onto Eli. It’s not healthy,” Randall counsels. “I am this close to punching you in the face,” El shoots back. They all get into whether or not it’s a good idea, and then Stabler receives a work call and has to leave. “Again?” Eli asks, angry. “Yeah,” Elliot responds. “You want to be a cop? This is what it looks like.”
Emery summons Joe to dinner, where we meet his son, Giles, who loves Joe. That might be because Joe is the only person in his life who shows the boy any affection; Emery’s definitely not winning any Dad of the Year prizes. Emery tells Joe that he and Tobias are going to retrieve the cargo they’re waiting for, and not to eff it up, because “It’s worth more than you can imagine.”
When Elliot catches up with his team, they’re watching Joe retrieve the cargo. The online auction is about to start when Emery shows up and, to prove he’s got the goods, uses a Soviet chemical weapon on Tyler, the bearded guy from Angus’ bee compound while livestreaming the whole thing to everyone watching the auction.
El and his team immediately snap into action, storming the warehouse where they thought the auction was taking place. Meanwhile, Tobias tells a stymied Joe that there’s been a change of plans, and they drive off. That change of plan is that they’re going to leave town immediately. Joe does some very smart, very quick thinking and — under the guise of trying to help Giles beat his video game — DMs Vargas via the game’s messaging capability to let the Organized Crime Control Bureau know where Emery is.
Stabler, Bell and the gang show up just as everyone is boarding Emery’s private jet; Joe and El exchange a long look before Joe reluctantly scoots into the plane right before it takes off. Meanwhile, Emery’s security team on the ground shoots the ATF boss in the throat and engages the OCCB team in a gunfight. The good news? The briefcase full of chemical weapons is still on the ground, awaiting delivery, and Reyes manages to take down the guy tasked with delivering the illicit goods. Soon after, Stabler and Bell shoot Tobias, Emery’s main bodyguard/Sam’s murderer, to death.
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Emery gets word of Tobias’ death/the failed delivery while he and Joe are on the jet. He knows someone tipped off the Feds, but does he know it was Joe? Unclear. Then he announces that because Colin, who was supposed to deliver the goods, is in prison, Joe’s been promoted to delivery guy. And oh look: Emery happens to have a backup briefcase of chemical weapons right there on the plane! “Your wrist please,” Emery says, literally handcuffing the youngest Stabler brother to a really awful fate.
When El gets home, Eli is up making tea. He knows Becky is pregnant — he inferred it from their weird behavior when they first arrived, and the fact that Eli is brewing ginger tea — but he wonders why Eli told Randall and not him. Eli doesn’t have a good answer; he just kind of looks sheepish.
At the start of the episode, we saw Stabler talking to a grave and musing about his life. He ends the episode there, as well, and we see he’s talking to Kathy’s stone. “You’re not going to believe this,” he says. “Guess who’s having a baby?”
Now it’s your turn. Grade the finale and the season as a whole via the polls below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!
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