Law & Order: Organized Crime is finally set to return for Season 5 on April 17 in the 2025 TV schedule, nearly a full year since the end of its fourth season... which also happened to be the last season that would air on NBC. Christopher Meloni's crime drama is moving to streaming as an option for fans with a Peacock subscription, and it turns out that there are some boundaries that can be pushed on streaming that can't be pushed on network TV.
New series regular Dean Norris spoke with CinemaBlend about what's changing from NBC to Peacock, and the gist leaves me a little more concerned for the accident that is going to land Elliot in the hospital, as revealed in a trailer. The Breaking Bad alum, who plays Elliot's older brother Randall, shared:
I think going to Peacock and the streaming universe gave us a lot more leeway. I think it's edgier, a little grittier. The violence is a little more realistic. The depths of our characters, in terms of our relationships, get to be explored more, because it's more of an entire arc of a scene, of the story that's told over these ten episodes. It's more cinematic, and I think it allows the show to breathe more. And I think the writers really took advantage of that and we see it with a really great season.
It remains to be seen if releasing on Peacock means F-bombs will be dropped (although Law & Order: SVU's Peter Scanavino thinks Carisi would swear on Organized Crime) or get significantly more gory, but more edge, more grit, and more realistic violence could mean that Stabler's upcoming injury will cause more damage than past incidents.
The detective was great at powering through pain and shaking off injuries on NBC; what we know about Mariska Hargitay as a guest star on Organized Crime suggests that his car accident is going to be quite serious. Stabler also isn't as young as he was back in his SVU days; should we worry that his recoveries might not be as smooth for any future injuries on Peacock?
We can only wait and see on the front, but I'm not sure that we should count on Dean Norris' character being involved in much of the show's violence. After all, he's one Stabler man who stayed out of the NYPD. In fact, a lot of his scenes in Season 4 either involved trying to intervene on Joe Jr. or adjusting to the new status quo of life with his ailing mom as her memory fails her.
Dean Norris went on to share that more of that relationship will be featured in Seeason 5, and I can't help but wonder if the show is taking a more realistic approach on that front as well. The actor raved about Ellen Burstyn's performance as Bernie Stabler, which certainly matches with what his on-screen brother said about working with The Exorcist legend. Norris told me:
One of the great things about doing the show is getting to... know her, and getting to act with such a legend. She's just spectacular. I love every day I go to work and I'm working with Ellen, [it’s] a good day. It's a great day, and I learn so much from her just by being in the scenes with her. Very excited about that, and particularly in this season, we get to do a lot more of that.
Considering that the 62-year-old Under the Dome vet has a long list of credits going back to the '80s, Dean Norris saying that he still learns "so much" from Burstyn is quite a compliment to the actress. Of course, Burstyn does have a distinction within the franchise that not many stars do: an Emmy for her work as a guest star on SVU back in 2009.
Fortunately, the long wait for Law & Order: Organized Crime's return is almost over. The first two episodes of Season 5 become available streaming on Peacock at midnight PT on April 17, with new episodes continuing to launch weekly on Thursdays. The fifth season premiere will also air on NBC in its old 10 p.m. ET time slot.
That episode immediately follows the first Law & Order crossover with SVU in several years on April 17, and one Law & Order star has already raved about Mariska Hargitay in it. The crossover previews also hint that Christopher Meloni may turn up on his old SVU stomping grounds to rough up a suspect, but fans will have to tune in on NBC starting at 8 p.m. ET to find out.
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