Law & Order: Organized Crime airs its first standalone episode of Season 3, starting a new case for Stabler. Here's a spoiler-filled recap.
The following contains spoilers for Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3, Episode 2, "Everybody Knows the Dice Are Loaded," which debuted Thursday, Sept. 29 on NBC. This article also contains descriptions of assault and violence.
The newest Law & Order spinoff starts its first standalone episode of Season 3 with a surprising luxury casino presentation run by the Silas family -- the next Big Bad for Christopher Meloni's Detective Elliot Stabler to square off against. Stabler is Sgt. Ayanna Bell's less tha enthusiastic date to the launch event. He hates politics and quickly takes a disliking to Teddy Silas. Teddy's father Robert Silas warns him to play the game better. He warns his son to not screw it up by getting the cops suspicious. Teddy's weirdly doting wife Pearl re-hypes him up for his big speech.
But the next day, it's a different story as Henry Cole refuses to sell his apartment to make way for the billion-dollar Silas construction project to be completed. He has a crowd of neighborhood supporters, much to Teddy's chagrin. Teddy covertly instructs one of his men to take care of it how he told him to: "full steam ahead," which sounds nothing if not suspicious. That night, a hooded man takes a zipped bag into the apartment building -- then viewers see Henry drink something and quickly succumb to hallucinations and paranoia before falling out of his window.
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Another day later, Teddy makes a calculated call to apologize to Stabler for his attitude. He really hams it up, saying how important the police's support is to his family (he's a "Blue Lives Matter guy"), especially in light of Henry's passing. Teddy fakes concern over it by saying he's paying for funeral expenses, but Stabler's no fool. He brushes him off and hangs up on Teddy mid-sentence, calling Bell right afterward. In the task force room, newcomer Detective Jamie Whelan gets off to a bumpy start with Jet Slootmaekers by using her oat milk. Stabler comes in saying Cole's death was no accident and that the Silas family was behind it. When he notices Whelan, he's annoyed that he's too new and too young. Bell tells him to suck it up, get along with his new protégé and not investigate Silas. All the viewers know he's going to investigate Silas now, right?
Elsewhere, Pearl confronts Teddy about Henry's death. She knows her husband was behind it, but he assures her that he wouldn't put them in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Stabler drives Whelan around while they get to know each other. Whelan is looking for more action than his small-town beat, while Stabler simply doesn't like bullies. As SVU loses a familiar face, Organized Crime gets its newest detective. Elsewhere, Bell heads to a meeting with her and Denise's divorce lawyers. Things haven't gotten better since Denise chose a job with Congressman Kilbride over Bell's advising -- and Bell chose work over being a wife and mother. Bell asks her to pause the divorce, but Denise wants to move ahead.
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Stabler and Whelan search Henry's apartment, ordering a full forensic investigation. A rat scurries across the floor and a beat cop snidely remarks: "Not the only rat in here." Whelan just about loses it on him, already loyal to his new bestie Stabler. The detective duo finds Henry's daughter Janelle outside and tell her that the apartment building is a crime scene so they won't let it be torn down. Of course, at that moment, another construction site accident happens: steel cables crashing down almost hit Janelle and Stabler. What a totally not malicious coincidence.
The Medical Examiner reports that Cole's death was likely accidental because he had a high blood alcohol content. However, he was also covered in rat bites, which Stabler notes is a common mob technique -- they introduce rat swarms to force people out of places. He asks for a toxicology report on the rat bites. Henry Cole's rat bite-induced sepsis might even be a silver lining as Jet knows some research students who can run some helpful tests.
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It's sketchy father-son business bonding time as Robert berates Teddy for his poor performance. Pearl listens from around the corner as her husband takes a verbal lashing from the Law & Order version of Logan Roy from the Emmy darling Succession, and Patrick then pushes Teddy to give him a grandson. Under no circumstances should those genes be passed on. The rat scientists deliver: these rats weren't native to New York. They're a special type that create their own poison and can't be found in New York. People can only buy them illegally online from an African vendor.
Bell is unhappy with Stabler for investigating Henry's death against orders. New season, same Stabler dynamic. Everything connected to the proposed casino is political dynamite so they have to work with tact -- her strong suit and decidedly not Elliot's. Jet comes in with her murder-by-rats motive and evidence, and Stabler and Bell follow the lead to an exotic animal seller. In the car, Bell muses sadly over her failed marriage. Did she prioritize her career too much? It's a quandary Stabler can relate to, saying he was a crappy husband. Yay for more bonding.
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They arrive in the Bronx and find all sorts of exotic animals and specimens in too-small cages. The owner hides in the bushes until Stabler threatens a call to animal welfare, at which point he makes quite an entrance with handfuls of snakes. He's pretty compliant, though, and gives the officers footage of the man who bought the rats, saying he didn't get a name,. Elsewhere, Pearl practices yoga on the balcony as Teddy comes out all tough and macho to say how devastated he was that she thought he was a murderer. Then he calls her beautiful and gives her a ring. Ah, the narcissist's handbook: gaslight, gatekeep, manipulate.
Jet and Whelan review the footage of the mysterious rat purchaser as an electrician does some work behind them. He just so happens to casually mention that Jet should zoom in on the coffee cup. There's a name on it: Kenny. Jet goes to check out the nearest Starbucks while the electrician is revealed to be a man named Bobby Reyes. Bell and Stabler talk with him and he asks for them to hire him -- he's a cop who was able to undercover his way into their squad room. As they talk, Jet pulls the full name and address of their suspect, so Bell and Reyes go to investigate.
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They get there to find an ambulance pulling away and a neighbor confirms it took Kenny -- who had been twitching on the ground and foaming at the mouth. They go to the nearest hospital where the nurse calls Kenny "rat bite guy," saying that without immediate emergency care, his organs would've shut down quickly. That gives credence to the murder-by-rats theory because it's proof those bites would've killed Henry and the fall was just a bonus. The nurse takes Bell and Reyes to speak to Kenny... but they find his room empty.
He's more than on the run -- he's a mess as he stumbles up to a club. One of the bouncers mistakes him for an unhoused man but the other recognizes him and lets him in. Inside, Teddy talks business (and murder and crime) with an associate named Vince as Kenny approaches. Stabler and squad enter the club through the back. Stabler instructs Jet and Whelan to blend in as he and Bell fan out. Bobby, meanwhile, is working undercover as a bartender. Kenny locks eyes with Vince and gives chase to one of his men. He then sees Whelan and flees, hitting Whelan and carjacking a woman's car. He gets away,but for how long until the rat disease kicks in? The episode ends with further news: Henry Cole's death is officially a homicide.
New episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime air Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. on NBC.
Kelsey is a Boston & Baltimore-based Star Wars enthusiast, SVU aficionado, horror devotee and evangelist for sour candy. She has one young adult novel and a slight road trips problem. She can be found on IG: @itskelseyytime for weird travel, cheese and dog stories.
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