Law & Order Organized Crime “Dead Presidents” Recap, Review, Discussion

Law & Order Organized Crime “Dead Presidents” puts Stabler in deep trouble. On a job for Preston Webb to recover his stolen cash, Stabler convinces Webb to put up a million dollars more, and that money, along with the money originally stolen from Webb, are taken before Stabler and Donnelly can break in and steal it back.  Making matters worse is someone is setting up Stabler as being that thief.   It’s concerning for many reasons:   There was only a limited number of people who knew about the job, so who is the traitor in their midst;  and Webb, now with suspicions about Stabler, may try to take him out in typical Webb fashion.  

Bell and her spouse Denise are at odds over the job offer from Congressman Kilbride made to Denise.  Bell finally explains to Denise that Kilbride has been under investigation but Denise thinks she’ll be able to leave easily if she detects any questionable activity.   I suspect this will not end well for her at some point. 

Nova’s pastor brother, Derrick, after hearing in the previous episode that Webb killed their father, decides to buy a gun through illegal means.  Nova hears about it and she buys his lie that he never went through with the purchase.  I suspect this will not end well either. 

Stabler confronts his dad’s former police partner, Gus,  who tells Stabler that his dad earned the combat cross properly, and he did not stage the shooting.  It’s hard to tell if Gus was rattled at the accusation, or if Gus is worried that he may be implicated in an impropriety.  Stabler clearly is not going to give up on getting definite proof that his dad was a good cop. 

There are only three episodes left this season, and one has to wonder how these stories will wrap up.  As the show revolves around Stabler we know that Webb won’t take him out, but that doesn’t mean Stabler won’t come out of this unharmed in one way or another. Stay tuned!

Here is the recap:

Two guys working for Webb are shot at – one escapes -  and they are robbed of a ton of cash. 

Sometime later, Webb enlists Stabler’s  help to recover the cash. They discuss why Webb should deal with Stabler and  not Donnelly, and Webb sounds suspicious.  Stabler convinces him to continue to deal with him. Webb knows of a guy named Rutger Ulrich – a crime banker who does money laundering – and Webb heard whoever stole from him put the money with Ulrich. A million in cash was taken but Webb worries more about his reputation. He wants Stabler to steal it back. 

Meanwhile, Bell and Denise argue about Denise taking a job with Kilbride and Bell has to tell her they have been investigating him as he is linked to organized crime.  Bell promises to come home early on Friday so Denise can dig into other options. 

At the Organized Crime task force, Jet explains to the  team about Rutger Ulrich and they discuss his connection to money laundering.  Stabler heard he personally keeps the La Familia cartel afloat.  Stabler think it’s worth it to take down both Webb and Ulrich. Bell calls Ulrich the “Fort Knox” of organized crime and says she’ll discuss this upstairs and tells Stabler to set it in motion. 

Elsewhere, Pastor Derrick Riley, after being unsuccessful in backing out of the transaction,  buys a gun off the street.  

In the evening, Stabler and Donnelly drink beer as they sit outside chatting.  Stabler mentions Webb approaching him about recovering this money and Donnelly seems annoyed that Webb contacted Stabler.  Stabler seems to reassure Donnelly and then explains Ulrich has the money and they can recover Webb’s money and take whatever they got on the top.   Donnelly agrees. 

Later, Stabler discusses the plan with Webb and says this is not going to be just a smash and grab. He needs a million dollars to get them in to Ulrich.

Afterwards, Stabler has the cash and takes photos of some of what is in the bag.  With Bell and members of the task force observing,  as are members of the Brotherhood.  Stabler and Donnelly, who both have cameras on them which the task force has tapped in to,  talk their way inside Ulrich’s building. The bodyguard screens for weapons.  Ulrich calls down from a balcony and tells them to open the bags and then guesses it’s about a million and says he’ll pass.  He’s insulted they brought such a small amount.  Stabler and Donnelly tell them it’s Webb’s money and just a fraction. Stabler calls Webb and puts him on the speaker to talk to Ulrich, and Webb convinces Ulrich to handle his money.  Stabler and Donnelly enter Ulrich’s office, recording the layout via their secret cameras.   Bell asks Jet to pull up the room blueprints and realize the room is smaller than the blueprints and there is a concealment room.   Ulrich agrees to handling Webb’s money.  Stabler and Donnelly exit the building. 

Later,  Stabler and Donnelly speak with the Brotherhood and discuss the concealment room.  Stabler convinces them to use Malachi to help them get the safe open in that room.   They discuss the plan to break in and that there is no room for error.   They share a toast. 

At a later time, Bell and Jet are observing the location as Ulrich and his men exit the building.  Bell reassures Malachi.  Stabler radios Malachi and asks them to make the location invisible, and he does so, jamming wireless activity to the camera and anything else  electronic nearby.  Stabler and Donnelly enter the building easily as locks and alarms have been disabled.  The enter Ulrich’s office  and find the switch which opens the concealment room.   As Ulrich heads off to a restaurant, watched by the task force, Malachi realizes he has to cut into the safe to get access.   But one of Ulrich’s security stops back at the location and Jet must enable the alarms.   They go off and the guard disables them. Stabler and Donnelly hide behind the doors of the office and Malachi is in the concealment room. The guard checks things and sees nothing and leaves.  Malachi gets into the safe, and when they open it, all they find is $700 and a watch.  Donnell thinks it is sick joke. 

Back at the task force, Stabler and Bell discuss this and Stabler says the only people that knew about the job  were the task force, the Brotherhood, and Webb.  Bell thinks Webb wouldn’t steal his own money after sending Stabler in there.  Stabler adds Donnelly was with him the whole time they were planning it and the Brotherhood couldn’t  pull off a job like this.  They wonder if he moved it or laundered it but Ulrich couldn’t have done it that fast. Malachi had said the safe had not been hacked before.  Whoever opened it had the code.  Stabler and Donnelly are laying low, and Bell says that is not a plan. Jet looked at video before Stabler and Donnelly arrived and see someone taking bags of money out of the building hours before. They get a license plate from the van, and the plate is no registered.  They put out a citywide BOLO on that plate. 

Meanwhile, Nova visits Derrick and knows he bought a gun.  She know he bought it to murder Webb and she argues against it, saying she dreams herself about doing it every day but that’s not how she wants it to end.  But he lies and says he doesn’t have the gun, showing her the text he sent to call it off, even though he bought the gun anyway.  She hugs him and seems relieved. 

Jet finds that the BOLO has returned information that the van found abandoned in a ditch, and the plates were fake and the vin number registered to a rental company.  Bell tells Jet to call the DA’s office to get a subpoena for the credit card records.  Jet thinks the credit card will come back to Raymond Moss, who left  print on the GPS screen.   Moss is on parole for burglary and they know where he lives.   Bell says she will call Stabler. 

Bell and her team burst into Moss’s apartment and he climbs out a window on the room. He turns back and shoots at Bell, just missing her.  He runs off but Jet cuts him off and as he moves towards her, gun in hand, she shoots, hitting him - and he’s down.  Jet is stunned. 

Later at the hospital, Bell tries to get Moss to talk about taking Ulrich’s money. Instead he calls for a nurse and then asks for a lawyer, saying the nurse is a witness. Bell says she’s leaving but he should have killed her because she’ll  make sure he’ll spend the rest of natural life behind bars.   She exits the room and tells Stabler it’s no good, he’s not talking. Stabler stays an attempted murder of a police officer and he’s staying quiet.  She thinks he is more afraid of the person that hired him.  Bell looks at her phone and says the van at the robbery was rented by Stabler.  He realizes someone is setting him up. 

Stabler meets with Donnell in a bar and explains he is being set up. Donnelly seems surprised, and worried that someone will think they were both in this together. Stabler wants to tell Webb and Donnelly wants to kill him first, thinks Webb will want restitution.  He tells Stabler if he goes to that meeting, he comes out in a body bag.  Stabler says they can’t keep dodging him, but Donnelly says they can until the find his money. 

Later, Stabler is walking down the street and Webb pulls his car over and tells Stabler to get in.  Webb is clearly suspicious about his money and Stabler explains they had complications. Stabler says he is on the road to finding it and getting it and Webb says it better be a short road. Stabler explains someone stole the money before they got there.  Webb says he has never been this unlucky and Stabler says he would never double cross him, and Webb  says money turns men into fools and liars.  Stabler explains the guys who ripped him off used his credit card number, asking if that sounds like something he would do.  Webb wonders if that’s what he wants him to think, then says his patience will expire and he will never know when it does.  Stabler gets out of the car. 

Meanwhile, Jet sits alone in her apartment and hears a knock on the door. It’s Malachi, bringing food, and he tries to comfort her about the shooting.  He explains how Jet has changed his opinion of law enforcement and she made him believe too.  If says if there is part of her that needs help to process this and she says she doesn’t think it’s hit her yet.  He says when it does he is here, and they share a passionate kiss. 

Elsewhere, Bell comes home to a testy Denise who announces she’s taken the job with Kilbride and is on her way to meet him.  She thinks she has sacrificed enough and that Bell is overreacting.  She’ll walk if she gets uncomfortable but she’s taking the job. She leaves. 

Stabler is showing videos to his father’s partner Gus and questions him about the combat cross and whether his father and Gus staged the shooting, Gus gets upset and when Stabler says he heard this from Donnelly,  Gus says Jack Donnelly was scumbag. Stabler says Donnelly told him his dad took a bullet to cover up the wrongful shooting of a suspect and that Gus was the shooter.   Gus is incensed and says he will only say it once – that was a good shoot. He adds his father was a good cop and he earned that combat cross.  Stabler said he meant no disrespect and he appreciates his time.  He closes up the computer saying it was great to see him and to take care of himself.  He shakes Gus’s hand and Gus says, “you too.” 

Back at home, Stabler looks through file boxes and brings out a folder with the commendation certificate and articles about the shooting.  He sees a gun in the box in an evidence bag and recalls it as the gun his father gave to him when he showed him how to shoot when he was a young boy.  He finds the video of that time which shows him shooting into a nearby tree. As he watches the video, we move to black.