It’s bad enough that Stabler doesn’t listen to Bell.
As of Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 Episode 6, she has two officers who do whatever they want rather than listen to her instructions.
Reyes’ disobedience was probably a one-time thing, but still.
Reyes went on a personal mission to stop Leonard from abusing a new generation of foster kids. Someone should have realized that’s what he was doing as soon as he went off the grid.
Bell knew his secret and that he would stop at nothing to get justice for his foster brothers, even the murderous Vaughn.
Rick Gonzalez’s acting was beyond impressive during this confrontation. It was impossible to tell whether Reyes’ tears over not being sexually abused like the other boys were real or fake. His eyes got incredibly huge when Leonard claimed he comforted broken boys.
If I were Leonard, I would have been terrified. Reyes was one intimidating figure! But Leonard was a sociopath who believed his own lies, so he didn’t blink before continuing to tell them.
This story began with Law & Order: SVU’s Rollins calling Stabler in on a robbery/rape case. It’s too bad there wasn’t more of a crossover with SVU because Reyes’ story was perfect SVU material.
Reyes nearly killed Leonard, but instead, he neutralized him. It was heartbreaking when, after all that, he learned that Dante had died.
Reyes may be left with survivor’s guilt once the dust settles. Dante, who was the best of his foster brothers, is dead, while Vaughn is in jail after killing many people.
Realistically, Reyes couldn’t have saved either of them when he was a little boy and couldn’t do it now. But he will probably wish he had done something more to help.
Whalen: What are you doing?
Stabler: Going for a little ride.
Whalen: I don’t think this is what Bell meant by sit tight.
Stabler also went on a mission. He wanted to discover Vaughn’s connection to the NYPD and arrest his associates. That didn’t do much for Stabler’s credibility with the brass, but who cares?
While cop culture often involves the pressure to be loyal to fellow cops, even dirty ones, the NYPD leaders on Organized Crime take things to extremes. It made me wonder how far the rot extends; there was no reason for that chief or whoever he is to complain that Stabler gets his cops in trouble.
Stabler also ignored Bell’s orders, but he and Whelan got Vaughn and Reynolds in the end, so it didn’t matter. Bell probably expects that from him by now; her “sit tight” order might as well have been code for “go after Vaughn as soon as you see an opportunity.”
Whelan’s freaking out about not listening to orders was amusing. Once he gets to know Stabler, he’ll realize that this kind of rebellion is par for the course.
Stabler is becoming more a part of the team, though. He gave Whalen credit for arresting Vaughn, and the two rebelled against Bell’s orders together. He also worked closely with Jet to investigate his hunch that Vaughn was connected to the NYPD.
Vaughn had made many connections within the NYPD or the police academy, all willing to do his dirty work. He had to kill a few people who wanted out, but most of his connections stayed loyal to him.
He may not have been popular with the brass, but he had a genius for finding other rejects willing to go along with his plans for revenge. He had at least one cop and one wanna-be cop on his side, one of his foster brothers, and several other random people.
Impressive! Imagine what he might have done if he’d committed himself to a legitimate career instead of a life of violent crime.
There’s one big question on viewers’ minds: What does this have to do with the Silas family?
This case felt disconnected from that larger investigation; will Vaughn turn out to have some connection to the newest mobsters the team is investigating or did these two episodes involve an unrelated case?
It’s possible the fake cop story was a one-off; it gave Reyes a compelling backstory, allowed Organized Crime to connect with SVU, and gave Whalen his first real experience partnering with Stabler.
On the other hand, this story came out of the blue and interrupted the investigation into Henry Cole’s death. It would make more sense if there were some connection between the two cases.
It’s realistic for cops to have more than one investigation going at a time, especially in a department like Organized Crime, where investigations could take months or years to bear fruit. But the lack of closure on the Silas case before we started this one feels jarring.
Either way, we’re getting back to that case soon. Pearl called at the end of the episode — what was that all about?
Did you like this mini-story, or did it feel like we abruptly changed gears in the middle of the Silas case? Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
Don’t forget you can watch Law & Order: Organized Crime online whenever you’d like.
Law & Order: Organized Crime airs on NBC on Thursdays at 10 PM EST / PST.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.