Whoa! Joey's intervention didn't go at all as expected.
Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 12 once again proved that this is the best series on television, at least until it moves to its new home on Peacock.
Stabler and Randall went vigilante to force Joey into sobriety, but they got a lot more than they bargained for. Now everything's in place for a season finale that may be literally explosive!
Stabler and Randall Made a Desperate Move
They'd had enough of Joey's nonsense, especially after learning he might have been involved in Sam's death, but also managed to break the tension with humor.
After Joey went on that high-speed chase and was overpowered by them, Randall walked in and casually said, "Hi, Joe." That had to be one of the funniest lines ever.
Joey's withdrawals were serious, though. His physical illness, anger, and violent attempts to escape felt realistic. That's how you write a compelling addiction story: by doing your research and depicting the correct details to make it as horrifying as it is authentic.
Joey's eventual escape wasn't surprising, though. He'd just tried to kick out a window, so there was no real reason to believe he was no longer a danger to anyone just because he said he was sorry about everything he'd done while high.
Elliot should have known better than to take off the cuffs so soon. Randall had already made that mistake, causing Joey to try to escape.
Elliot's sudden lapse in judgment came close to being a tired TV trope, but after Joey escaped, everything went topsy-turvy thanks to a shocking plot twist.
I'd never have guessed that Joey ran back to Emery to become a double agent and feed intel to the cops. Organized Crime pulls off these twists so often that viewers SHOULD see them coming, but most people never do.
Has Joey Reformed or What?
Joey has proven adept at hiding his true intentions. He fooled both Randall and Stabler into believing he was no longer interested in escaping, getting them to take off the cuffs so he could get violent and run away. Randall's street smarts are iffy, but Elliot Stabler is not easy to trick.
Stabler might have gotten fooled if this were a lesser show because the plot demanded it. Organized Crime is written better than that, though, so if Joey tricked Elliot, he's got some serious deceptive powers. If so, why should anyone trust that he's making amends rather than attempting to undermine the cops' investigation?
The preview for the season finale suggests Joey might be playing both sides, which wouldn't be surprising. The only thing I don't understand is why Elliot didn't anticipate this possibility.
Joey is his brother, so he wants to believe the best about him, but if anyone's every statement should be met with skepticism, it's Joey's! People who are addicted to hard drugs are often extraordinarily resourceful and know how to lie their way out of anything, and Elliot's already seen evidence of that with Joey.
That said, Joey risked his life confronting Tobias, getting into such a dangerous situation that Elliot and Bell almost burst in to rescue him.
Tobias and Emery likely suspected he was undercover. Still, they seem like the type of people to shoot first and find out the truth later, so it's bizarre they let Joey go... unless their suspicion was a cover and he's been working for them all along.
In A Real Sense, Joey Was Responsible for Sam's Death
We finally got closure on Sam's death. Tobias killed him because he didn't like Sam snooping around the wine warehouse.
What a waste! Sam was a great character who should have had a bright future with Organized Crime. Instead, he got killed because he was trying to find out for Elliot where Joey was getting heroin from.
Sam was new to Organized Crime and hadn't been prepared for what to do in this kind of situation. Still, he didn't deserve to die, and none of it would have happened if Joey wasn't getting high in the first place.
Did Anyone Follow What Was Happening In the Vargas Subplot?
The only weakness was that damn plot involving Jet, Vargas, and the root malware. It involved a lot of technobabble, and by the time Vargas and Reyes broke into the place where that server was stored, I had no clue what they were doing.
The darkness in the server room didn't help anything.
Were there actually people there besides the OCCB members? I couldn't tell if the shootout was between the OCCB and the bad guys or if it was a friendly-fire situation in which both halves of the team were shooting at perceived enemies and were lucky not to shoot each other.
However, Vargas's giddiness about being on an actual mission was cute and led to some humorous moments that broke up the tension.
A War Is Brewing Between Departments
Trish is an interesting character. She doesn't have much use for the OCCB now that Stabler doesn't need to watch her back at the farm, and she spent a bit of time throwing her weight around.
Trish: Want to tell me what that was about?
Bell: An interrogation.
Trash: My interrogation that you hijacked.
The bottom line is that the OCCB is going to do its investigation its way, no matter what Trish thinks. Elliot's promise not to keep secrets from her was more or less empty words.
Trish never wanted to share info with Elliot when they were both undercover. He had her six, but did she have his? She seems to have an egotistical streak and can't stand not knowing everything and not being in charge of the investigation.
What was with her saying she couldn't trust Elliot if he didn't tell her everything? Didn't he risk his life to save hers at the farm?
Bell took over her interrogation of Tyler and Stabler still isn't telling her everything about Joey despite his promise not to keep any more secrets from her. That's not going to go well.
Eli's Surprise
Eli's surprise was that he and Becky were moving back to New York, but there's probably more to it.
He successfully dodged whether he was dropping out of school, for now anyway. There's also another question he needs to answer: Is Becky pregnant? Is that why they're in such a rush to move back?
Hopefully, the season finale will answer some of this. Eli's surprise has been dragged out long enough.
Your turn, Organized Crime fanatics! Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button to let us know what you thought about this episode.
Law & Order: Organized Crime airs on Thursdays at 10/9c. New episodes drop on Peacock the day after they air.