Is Law & Order: Organized Crime Preparing to Lose a Stabler? Read Episode 12 Recap

On the heels of Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s official Season 5 renewal earlier today, I couldn’t help but watch this week’s episode with a burning question in my brain: What will the show be like when it comes back next season on Peacock?

Free of the strictures of broadcast TV, will the good detective and his Organized Crime Control Bureau colleagues curse? Will the gritty cases get that much grittier? (Though now that I’ve seen Joe Jr.’s detox up close, I’m not sure that I’d want a deeper level of gruesome detail.) And finally, the deeply journalistic question: Will we see more skin?

Ponder all of this while we review what goes down in “Goodnight.”

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HOW IT STARTED | In a flashback to Kabul 2020, Joe Jr. buys some heroin while playing pool. We see the moment he wins Emery’s loyalty by defending him when Emery gets into a scrape with some local unsavory characters at a bar. The incident also is the reason for his dishonorable discharge. Emery visits him in the brig and, brandishing a foil packet of drugs, says that Joe might need him as much as he needs Joe.

At the Organized Crime Control Bureau, Vargas is tracking Joe and knows that he recently returned to the United States. Bell assures Stabler that his brother couldn’t have known about Sam’s death, but that’s little comfort, given that there’s a shipment of weapons that’s unaccounted for — and Emery’s probably got plans for it.

The bearded dude who was on Angus’ farm identifies Joe as Emery’s liaison to Angus’ operation, and confirms that Joe didn’t kill Sam. He also confirms that Joe is an out-of-control addict.

Later that night, Joe is driving when black SUVs overtake him and corner his car. Masked men get out and grab him, hauling him away with a bag over head. When the bag is yanked off, he’s in a room with Elliot and Randall. He’s irate, telling them that the people he works for will come looking for him. “You’re a person of interest in a homicide, Joey. Do you get it now?” Elliot yells.

HOW IT’S GOING | So the youngest Stabler brother goes through withdrawal, handcuffed in a room locked from the outside, while Elliot questions him about Emery. El points out that he brought Sam into the OCCB to investigate the heroin trail, mainly because El was worried about Joe. “I love you,” Elliot tells him, putting his hand on his head. Later, Randall brings Bernie’s home health aide (who’s a former EMT) around to make sure Joe isn’t actually dying.

Meanwhile, Vargas and Reyes go on an op at a server farm to… get some info that they can’t otherwise get. (Yeah, I didn’t really follow the lead-up, except that Vargas’ “magic box” is busted.) They’re intercepted before Vargas can download everything he needs, and the comms are jammed, so Jet and Bell wind up running in and getting into a shooting match with the bad guys. Finally, Vargas has the data he needs, and he and Reyes creep out without further incident.

Elliot is (finally!) fielding a call from Eli when he’s distracted by some noise from Joey’s room and has to go. “I hope he likes surprises,” Eli’s girlfriend, Becky, says from the passenger seat of the car they’re driving.

TWO STEPS FORWARD, ONE SUCKER PUNCH BACK | In El’s defense, the distraction was a major one: When Randall took off Joe’s cuffs, the younger Stabler broke a window and tried to make a run for it. He was thwarted only by Elliot’s fast tackle and a syringe of sedative from the health aide. When things have calmed down and Joe is relatively back to normal, Elliot removes the restraints and the Stabler brothers joke around a bit. El runs out to get a pizza… and comes back to find Randall with a bloody nose and Joe nowhere to be found. “He sucker-punched me, and now he’s gone,” Randall says.

Next we see Joe, he’s cleaned up and boarding Emery’s plane. He announces that he was gone because he “locked myself in a room and got clean.” Emery accepts this explanation, and when Joe meets up with Elliot later, he proudly announces, “Now you’ve got a guy on the inside.” Elliot is angry, telling him to focus on staying clean, but his anger fades as he realizes that Joe has better intel than the NYPD. Then Joey starts apologizing all over again, and tells El to tell Bernie “that I love her,” and suddenly I’m worried we’re not going to finish this season with as many Stablers as we started it with.

The next morning, Joe is touring storage sites with Emery’s bodyguard, Tobias. He knows Joe was lying about his whereabouts, and he pulls a gun, demanding to know the truth. Stabler’s team, as well as Trisha from the ATF, is monitoring the situation, and Stabler and Bell start to rush in when things start going pear-shaped. But Joe salvages the situation before anyone needs to run to his rescue.

Stabler returns home to find Eli and Becky at his place. “We’ve got some news. We’re moving back to New York together. We’re living together,” Eli announces, adding that they’re hoping to stay with him until they can find a place. Stabler is confused — are they leaving school? — but before he can get an answer, his phone rings: Emery’s holding an online auction for the massive weapons in the incoming shipment.

Now it’s your turn. What did you think of the episode? Let us know in the comments!