There’s a lot to unpack in the season 2 premiere of Law & Order Organized Crime “The Man With No Identity”. It has several moving parts with plenty of new people. It’s important viewers pay attention, otherwise they may miss how these characters connect. The cast of characters is certainly interesting and I think this season is off to a good start.
Stabler is investigating drug traffickers, working undercover as “Eddie Wagner”, and Sergeant Bell is in charge of the operation. Jet is also still part of Bell’s office operation, which seems very small now. But before delving in to the new players, Richard Wheatley’s status is made clearer: All the charges against him – except one (the murder of Kathy Stabler) – are dismissed. Strangely, the prosecutor advocates for Wheatley, and it’s obvious Wheatley has pulled some strings. We also find out later that Angela Wheatley is alive but still suffering the effects of her brush with death in the season finale. I suspect we’ll see more of these two, especially since both actors names are still listed in the top billed credits.
Stabler’s undercover investigation drags him into a near war with two large, rival drug dealing organizations. Without one of the kingpin’s knowledge (Preston Webb, head of The Marcy Corporation, the former Marcy Killers), members of his crew steals drugs from the other group (the Albanians, headed by Jon Kosta). Once the Intelligence Bureau become aware of the issue, Sgt. Bell fights hard to make sure that no civilians get hurt in the crossfire. Her boss (I never know this guy’s name because they never seem to mention it) backs her up. Unfortunately, it means she has to work with Sergeant Brewster, her former narco boss, and there is some bad blood between them.
Surprisingly, the war seems to stop before any shots are fired. It’s a mystery to the team but, we later find that two rouge “employees” who stole the drugs decided to turn themselves in to Webb, and he makes them apologize to Jon Kosta. Webb then proposes a partnership between the two factions. Kosta knows this means no one could touch them. But Kosta doesn’t trust Stabler. One can only wonder what Stabler will need to do to gain that trust. And how will Richard Wheatley’s organization fit into all this? We’ll have continue to watch to find out!
Here is the recap:
(A recap of the events of the previous season is shown before the episode begins.)
Richard Wheatley is taken from his cell and then to the courtroom for the judge’s ruling on his sentence. The prosecution notes his help on shining a light on the darkest parts of the criminal underworld. Wheatley is thrilled as all charges are dismissed. He thanks the defense attorney and his boss “Vince”. While Sgt. Bell looks on, he tells the attorney what a pleasure it was. He adds to tell Vince he is making plans and intends to do more good than anyone ever imaged he could do and will be the enemy of any criminal organization on earth. He asks his own attorney what happens now, and she explains he goes back to Rikers to await trial on one last charge. Bell looks frustrated as she leaves and Wheatley asks her where’s Stabler?
Meanwhile, on the dock, a container is being off-loaded while a group of men watch. But the police arrive and say they need to inspect the container. The police enter it and find something, and then hand it to two people on a motorcycle who drive by. The men waiting for the container begin to beat the men who said they were officers while one of the group of men stays in the car. As shot is fired and the man in the car exits and runs to help. The profile looks like Stabler. More police arrive with guns drawn to break it up. Everyone exits the container and are arrested. One of them IS a bearded Stabler.
Back at Intelligence headquarters, Sgt. Bell challenges how the situation with Wheatley happened. Her boss says she is there to answer questions. She has to explain how Stabler – her UC – got arrested as part of the operation. She tells Chief Kirkpatrick says nobody was supposed to be arrested. She makes her explanation that she coordinated this with harbor control. Sgt. Brewster argues no one coordinated with them. She argues he had her UC arrested, and he said no, it was patrol unit responding to a call for help. Clearly there is an issue between these two and Bell explains Brewster was her commanding officer when she was a narco detective. Bell is asked if this operation is getting her anywhere – how many more months, shootouts in broad daylight and dead bodies floating up in the East River before she moves on these Albanian gangsters? She replies her UC is making headway and is cultivating a relationship with Reggie Bogdani, one of the Kosta organizations mid-level lieutenants.
In the jail cell, Reggie complains to the other members if his gang that the cops were suspects. An officer comes to get “Eddie Wagner” – who is Stabler. One gang member worries what Eddie will say and Reggie thinks he’ll say nothing, and vouches for him. He says back in the day they called him “Eddie Ashes”.
