The stakes could hardly be higher on Law & Order: Organized Crime's fourth season, with the death of a fellow cop weighing on all the detectives while Stabler is undercover with the same people who disposed of Sam's body. That's not even to mention all the complications with the three Stabler brothers after their failed intervention on Joe Jr. earlier in the 2024 TV schedule! The task force has a new asset in Season 4 thanks to AI expert Dr. Kyle Vargas, and actor Tate Ellington spoke with CinemaBlend about his character trying his best. As for whether it's enough... well, only the next episode on May 2 can say for sure.
The new episode is called "Redcoat," and will see Stabler struggling with his place in the undercover group when they find out that there's a mole in their midst. The promo for the episode suggests that the mole they've uncovered is the ATF agent rather than Stabler himself, but he's certainly not safe even if he's truly not the #1 target. As for the rest of the task force, they need to do what they can on the outside of the undercover op to stop drug shipments.
All in all, it's a stressful time in the world of Law & Order: Organized Crime. Tate Ellington, who joined OC in Season 4 to play an AI specialist who nobody other than Jet seemed truly enthusiastic about having on the team, spoke with CinemaBlend ahead of "Redcoat" about what's in store. He said:
It's been pretty wild. I love [Vargas and Jet's] relationship too. I love that I feel like Jet and Vargas have a very nice [relationship]. Character-wise and in the show-wise, it was nice to have somebody on his side initially who did see him as valuable. I think it gave a nice connection to begin with, so he could kind of find his way in amongst the group.
While Bell invited him and Stabler was the most openly antagonistic of him, Vargas really only got a warm welcome from Jet since they spoke the same tech language. In more recent episodes, Vargas has gone above and beyond his computer screens, including bailing Randall Stabler out of jail, and Stabler has warmed up compared to how he started the season. Ellington, who also spoke about fan campaigns for OC to be renewed for Season 5, went on:
As far as anything with what he's doing, AI is an extremely hot topic, especially in our industry right now, and one of those things that I think will be pushing things forward. I think it's gonna be very prevalent in our day to day lives in the near future and even right now, but I think it's interesting to see how this can help. With anything new, everybody can be very resistant, and I think Vargas is trying his best to incorporate this technology to be helpful, to not be a hindrance and to not be seen as something to fear, that it is something that he thinks can desperately help and can help solve crimes, help bring people to justice and help give families peace of mind.
So far, I'd say that Vargas has definitely proven that his approach with AI can be a massive asset in the Law & Order world, and it's clear that he is indeed "trying his best" on Organized Crime. It just remains to be seen if trying his best is enough to help Stabler and the undercover ATF agent out of some very dire straits. For now, though, check out a clip from the May 2 episode for a peek at an unexpected way Vargas is coming through for Stabler:
Apparently, Vargas is the only one with a working knowledge of Morse code other than Stabler himself, and that could pay off in a big way with the "1013" alert. Whether that payoff will be enough to close the case, get Stabler back to relative safety, and get justice for poor Sam is now the big question. Unfortunately, it hasn't yet been determined if there will be more OC following the Season 4 finale.
Organized Crime has not yet been renewed for the 2024-2025 TV schedule, despite Law & Order and SVU being renewed back in March. The NBC drama reportedly could be renewed for a fifth season to release on streaming rather than continuing on network TV, but nothing has been confirmed yet at the time of writing.
Tune in to NBC on Thursday, May 2 at 10 p.m. ET for the "Redcoat" episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime, or stream it next day with a Peacock Premium subscription. Only time will tell if OC will be back in its usual time slot in the fall (if at all), but for now, you can still find it after SVU at 9 p.m. ET and Law & Order at 8 p.m., all on NBC.
