Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5 episodes 1 and 2.
Law & Order: Organized Crime has moved to its new home on Peacock, and if the opening episodes are something to judge, this series is going to be its best yet!
Law & Order: Organized Crime has always been different from other shows in the franchise. The focus on Christopher Meloni's Elliot Stabler working for a special Organized Crime Task Force doesn't do the typical "one and done" episode stories. It goes for long-range storylines over several episodes with story arcs of Stabler and his unit clashing with various crime organizations.
Season 5 wastes no time throwing us into things as Stabler is at home when he gets a call from Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt) on how the feds need him to go undercover as an ex-con turned trucker. Stabler soon works for a trucking company used by a biker gang supposedly for drugs.
Stabler befriends a young girl named Bunny while the rest of the unit makes the horrifying discovery of a score of unsolved female deaths across the country linked to the gang. It turns out they're trafficking young girls, with Stabler rescuing Bunny. The premiere ends with Stabler in a nasty truck crash.
That leads to hour two as Stabler is in the hospital, hit by strange dreams with Benson (Mariska Hargitay) checking in on him along with his family. Of course, Stabler isn't going to quit after this, and a tragic death spurs him on to go after that gang. It's a darker turn than usual for the show, which is fitting for its new home.
Why did Organized Crime move to Peacock?
The show's move from NBC to Peacock was a bit of a surprise when announced in 2024. The show was still doing well for NBC and anchoring Thursday nights with the mothership Law & Order and SVU.
According to Collider, the move was actually meant to help the show. President of Program Planning Strategy at NBCUniversal Entertainment Jeff Bader explained that 80% of the show's viewers did not come with live Thursday airings but rather watched it on Peacock. Thus, moving the show to a Peacock "original" was a better move to help the viewing numbers.
It also allows Organized Crime to embrace the freedom of streaming and be darker and grittier, which matches its tone. Not to mention, its long-range storylines work much better for a streaming platform than week-to-week episodic network TV. It was a bold gamble but going by the first two episodes, it's working well!
Why Organized Crime is better on Peacock
The show doesn't go too far with streaming freedom so far. Yes, a couple more expletives, but no f-bombs or nudity. There is a striking bit of someone being shot that's far more graphic than what you'd see on NBC. The real difference is in how stylish it now looks and a deeper push on the characters more than the crimes.
Meloni is always excellent as Stabler and seems to enjoy being even harder and more intense than usual. You feel for him wanting to help solve this crime and help a woman in need. This is a man who's always felt most alive hunting down crooks with Meloni showing Stabler risking all, including his own health, to get the job done.
The series also strikes an outstanding balance between Stabler's job and home life. Dean Norris is now in the opening credits as Stabler's brother Randall and his presence is much better (his meeting Benson was a fun moment) while Ellen Burstyn remains terrific as the Stabler matriarch handling this wild life. The idea Eli follows in his dad's footsteps as a cop promises some good drama down the line.
So far, we haven't gotten as much for Detective Jet Slootmaekers (Ainsley Seiger) or Bobby Reyes (Rich Gonazalez), but they get some good stuff. Indeed, Jet has a bigger focus in the second half of the second episode as the various traumas of season 4 come haunting in a harsh undercover job, leading to a big decision by her.
The Benson/Stabler scene is very well written (by Meloni himself) to capture their quarter of a century as friends and partners, and the actors are masterful in capturing that connection. Meloni also nails Stabler's (literal) haunting by a victim and why it drives him on no matter what. The idea that this plot is wrapped up in two episodes may seem surprising, but the psychological effects are likely to keep on Stabler for a while.
It's not a total reinvention as the show still plays for the most part as it did on NBC, but with a new drive, new energy, and far more gripping in the themes and crimes. Organized Crime was always the grittiest of the Law & Order shows and the move to streaming offers more freedom. It's a tricky sell so far, yet if the first two episodes are an indication, this show is going to be even better in season 5 for a Peacock exclusive expansion of the franchise.
Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5 airs new episodes Thursdays on Peacock.