The two-hour Law & Order Organized Crime “New World Order” and “The Outlaw Eddie Wagner” was full of tension, and peppered with some personal problems for Stabler. It moved quickly and was packed with a lot of moving parts.
I generally liked both episodes but had one major dislike. The likes: It’s an interesting, gritty story with a layered crime that continues to build. There are complex characters and some surprises. It’s very different from the normal Law & Order-type formula and it exudes a very dark “feel”, both visually and dramatically. Meloni fits this role very well and is able to bring to life all the emotional baggage that Stabler is carrying. The criminals also seem less “cartoonish” than in the first season. The dislike: The contrived, corny “Kathy wrote The Letter” reveal, coupled with Meloni’s cringe-worthy drugged performance during that scene. I couldn’t wait for that scene to end. More on this later.
No Wheatleys appeared in this episode, although Manfredi Sinatra was mentioned, along with issues with the Italian gang. I suspect at some point the Wheatleys will be entered into the mix.
A lot happened in these two episodes so it’s best to break down the episodes in key story segments before going into the undercover operation.
“The Letter”
It’s finally revealed what was in “The Letter” that Stabler gave to Benson. In a drugged stupor (not of his own making), Stabler goes to Benson’s apartment. Benson worries about protocol that must be followed when a UC has been given an uncontrolled substance and wants to call it in. (She doesn’t.) But Stabler says he and Benson never talked about what happened between them. Here’s how the reveal went:
Stabler: I didn't write the letter.
Benson: What?
Stabler: I didn't write the letter.
Benson: The letter that you gave me when you came back from Rome?
Stabler: Kathy.
Benson: Kathy, your wife... Wrote the letter that you told me that you wrote?
Stabler: Yes. It was her idea. It would be easier to talk when...we see each other after so much time. I tried and I tried, and ... Kathy helped dictate.
Benson [saying what was in the letter]: That what we were to each other was never real. And that we got in the way of each other being who and where we needed to be.
Stabler: That was Kathy.
Benson: And if there was a man in my life, you hope he's the kind, faithful, and devoted man that I deserved.
Stabler: Kathy.
Benson: But in a parallel universe...
Stabler: It will always be you and I. I wrote that. I slipped it in there before sealing the envelope. Liv. (He collapses into her arms and reaches up to stroke her hair.)
I can only conclude that at the time the letter was written, Kathy was hoping this would put the brakes on any deepening relationship between Elliot and Olivia, and that Benson would move on. Stabler, however, still wanted her to know she will always be the one. Why he gave it to her is a mystery to me, now knowing the content. In my opinion, it was just a way for the relationship to drag on and continue to rope in the Benson/Stabler shippers. But the awkwardness of the now-revealed content of the letter made me feel like they painted themselves into a corner with it when he first gave it to her, and needed a way out for now. Regardless, I never cared for the whole “letter” thing to begin with and would like them to move on from the whole Elliot/Olivia “will they won’t they” thing for a while.
By the way, what kind of security is in Benson’s building that Stabler can just get in an elevator and head right up to Benson’s front door? Is this normal in New York City?
Stabler’s Mother
Stabler’s bi-polar mother Bernadette returns (with Ellen Burstyn reprising her Emmy-winning role from the season 10 episode “Swing”). She gets arrested when she slaps a child in the park (at one point calling him Elliot) and Sergeant Bell helps to get her out of jail. Stabler and his kids are surprised to find her house is a mess, filled with cats, and that she fired her caregiver. It’s clear Stabler’s undercover work has taken his attention away from her, and his kids also seemed to have dropped the ball. Stabler decides she can move in with him and Kathleen offers to help in the transition. Maybe it’s just me, but Stabler seemed upset with his kids when it came to watching out for his mother, but him putting his work above all else is the real issue here. Hopefully they’ll drop this issue for a while too; the Stabler family has always been a bit of an annoyance to me. Ellen Burstyn was excellent in this episode, by the way.
Sergeant Bell
Her wife’s nephew’s lawsuit, which at present is a distraction to the main story, now brings Congressman Kilbride into the mix, and he seems to have his eye on Bell. He makes it sound like his intentions are good and he thinks Bell has great potential. I can’t help but be suspicious. They either need to move quickly on this lawsuit issue or just drop it already and move forward faster on what Kilbride wants out of this.
Nova
Surprise! Nova, one of the Marcy Killers gang, is really an undercover officer, working for Sergeant Brewster. This is without Bell’s knowledge and she is rightfully pissed. But for being undercover for 6 years with the Marcy Killers, she doesn’t seem to have accomplished much except for putting her girlfriend in an environment where she gets killed. Bell helps Nova to decide to come back and finish the UC assignment.
The Case Recap
Stabler gets deeper in with the Albanians by torching a building where Reggie has already had two men killed to let people know the KO’s are running the city now. (This is after Reggie bites off one man’s ear.) Nova, one of the Marcy Killers, is also there, saying this is the “New World Order.” Stabler wisely kept some of the men’s body parts to help identify them.
Bell’s task force knows the two groups are only expanding their base and turning Nova is suggested.
Things get rockier when another man’s place is burned – he says the fire was accidental. The Albanians just took over his protection payments from the Italians, and Stabler waffles on whether the fire was accidental or not. He asks for more time to be sure but Albi doesn’t wait and shoots the store owner dead on the spot and says to call it arson.
Stabler is feeling guilty about hesitating and “confesses” this to Bell in a church confessional. Bell later talks to the store owner’s wife who complains about the Albanians taking their money.
Bell tells the task force that the KO likes to kill and put the bodies on display and destroy the crime scenes. The eventually find out the two bodies are high level people from the Italian gang. The KO and the Marcy Killers are working together to go after the Italians and their territory, weakened by Manfredi Sinatra’s death, It’s a killing spree.
Stabler, close to being recognized in a restaurant, with Reggie, are nearly shot when a drive by shooting occurs. Nova’s girlfriends is killed and Nova is hit. It’s the people from whom the KO’s hijacked their guns.
Bell tries to turn Nova to their side, and shortly thereafter, Nova appears at the task force and is outed as a UC for Sgt. Brewster. Bell is incensed.
Jet says the Albanians are headed somewhere with a duffel of guns. Stabler moves to join them and tells Nova to be safe out there. At a gas station, the KOs and Marcy Killers have a standoff with the Italians with John Kosta present. Things look bad when the Italians show up with more guns, but Stabler arrives with the rocket/grenade launcher and threatens to blow them all up, calling it the solution to the impasse. The Italians leave.
Afterwards, at a celebratory party, a woman sprays something into her mouth and then kisses Stabler. She’s drugged him and he later stumbles out of the bar, but not after Kosta gives him a cell phone for Stabler to use to keep in touch, also being told to relax, he’s in the family now.
He stumbles around outside and finds his way to Benson’s apartment and he tells her to open up. (This is where “New World Order concludes.)
Inside, Stabler, clearly out of it, discusses “The Letter” (see separate summary above) and collapses into Benson’s arms.
The next day, Stabler wakes up in Bell’s apartment (her partner Denise is not thrilled about it) and she explains Benson didn’t report the drugging so he still has his cover.
Later, Albi wants Stabler to help him dispose of another body, by fire. But Stabler convinces him to bury it in an out of the way place. He does. But he’s tipped off Bell who dig up the body and Stabler explains he doesn’t know who the body is. He also asks Jet to check out the phone that Kosta gave him – he can’t make calls, he only gets incoming and outgoing texts. She clones it to her laptop so she can further check it out when she gets back to the city.
Jet finds that the phone has been modified to be stripped of its GPS, internet camera, and microphone. You can’t make calls or track it. From deleted texts she can tell the decryption can’t be broken and is unbreakable but she found a current portion that leads her to a signature of who did the work. The person’s code name is Malachi. She asks to attend a “capture the flag” competition that weekend, a hacker community. Malachi will likely be there.
Bell and Denise meet with Kilbride.
At the gym, Albi’s wife Flutura comes on strong to Stabler. Bell also hears who the guy is that Stabler had to bury in the woods.
Later, a cop pulls Stabler off the street and while he frisks him, a woman says that’s not the guy, the guy that hit her has hair on the top of his head and he’s way younger. But it’s just a ruse, the cop passed Stabler a message – the ID on the man he buried is Yujac Tristan, with his address.
Stabler later tries to get into his apartment but is spotted in the act. The building manager tells him the place is Flutura’s.
Meanwhile, Brewster waits for a meet with Nova and she doesn’t show.
Back at the task force Jet preps for the hacker convention. Brewster tells Bell that Nova missed a meet-up and has never done this is 6 years. When Bell tells Jet to try to track her, she explains she is waiting right outside. Nova enters and she explains she was at church for Penda, her girlfriend. Nova wants time for the funeral but Brewster says no as Hugo is getting out of prison. Nova turns in her badge. Bell tries to talk her out of it in a separate conversation but it appears unsuccessful.
Stabler explains to Bell that Flutura Briscu’s name is on the apartment of the dead man and he may have been her boy toy that Albi found out about.
At the hacker meet, Jet goes through the hacker competition and when only few are left she knows who is Malachi. He runs, Jet chases, but Detective Maldonado catches up with him and stop him.
Stabler connects with Flutura while walking on the street and he explains he was told to stay away from her. He doesn’t want to make an enemy of Albi but she says theirs is a marriage of convenience. She plays dumb when Stabler asks about Tristan. She clearly wants to get together with Stabler.
Later, Stabler tails Albi and is surprise when Albi ends up in a gay nightclub. Stabler tries to make an exit without being noticed, but as he heads out a back door, he finds Albi waiting there, wanting to know why he is following him. Stabler says he isn’t, he was worried about him after he came to him with that body. Albi denies being a “fag” and then orders Stabler into the trunk of his car, at gunpoint. They end up at an isolated area and Albi has a shovel and has a gun on Stabler. But Stabler manages to talk his way out of it, saying he has nothing on Albi, he holds all the cards. He is only asking for his life and will protect his secret with his life. Albi backs down.
Elsewhere, Bell has another talk with Nova (who later says her real name is Carmen) in a church and convinces her to stick with the UC work.
In holding, Jet speaks with Malachi and explains how much dirt she has on him and he inadvertently gives her a clue about who he is. She later explains to the team his real name is Adam Mintock, the app he made for the Albanians is called “speak low” and he will give them the decryption key in exchange for a lighter sentence on some “other” crimes.
At Rikers, Hugo is released and Nova is there to greet him. He heard about Penda and she says they have to make this right. Stabler and Bell watch from a car nearby and see that Nova is back in the game. Bell comments with Nova inside the Marcy Killers gang and Stabler in the KO, they are back on track. Stabler asks if Brewster and she are good, and Bell explains he wants to be chief of detectives someday so anything that gets him closer to that, he’s good. She might have bigger ambitions. Stabler exits her car and gets into his.
At the gym, Stabler has been sparring with Reggie and Kosta is there, surprised that he turned the woman down cold. Stabler says he would have slipped her a mickey but someone slipped him one. He adds he wished Albi would have called him, he had three girls back in his hotel room. Kosta says it’s time to talk business, and Albi moves to go into the other room. When Stabler stays behind, Albi comments to Stabler that he heard the boss, what is he waiting for. Stabler moves quick to join them – he knows he’s finally made it in.
