Law & Order: Organized Crime's Eli Turns a Complicated Situation Fatal — Read Episode 4 Recap

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09-05-2025

It can't be easy, being Det. Elliot Stabler's youngest child and trying to forge a career in the New York City Police Department — and it's sure not going to get easier after this week's Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Eli takes action in the hour's final moments, and that action is likely to make things much more complicated, and potentially a lot more dangerous, for his pop as the season continues. Read on for the highlights of Episode 4, 'Promesse Infrante.'
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PIETRO JOINS THE FAMILY BUSINESS | At the top of the episode, Stabler is talking to a therapist. Bravo, Elliot! You're finally dealing with decades of trauma and grief, learning to forgive others and yourself and — oh wait, this is a department-mandated session, and you'd rather have food poisoning than talk about your feelings a minute longer. The shrink doesn't love Stabler's insistence that 'compartmentalization' is going to get him through like it always does, so she gives him a conditional release and says she wants to keep seeing him for the next three months.
Later, at the office, Stabler admits to Bell that he doesn't know yet if Isabella Spezzano is involved in the criminal activity they're investigating, but he's pretty sure her older grandson, Roman, is. Meanwhile, Reyes gets word that the destabilized Los Santos organization is looking for some new members, so he goes undercover with the gang.
As we know, Roman definitely is involved in the family business, and he soon has younger brother Pietro involved, as well. And when Pietro's twin sister tells Isabella that something's off about Pietro, Isabella searches his room and finds a gun.
WHO'S WATCHING STABLER? | Since the Spezzano's church seems to be ground central for the crime ring to recruit teens, Stabler pays a visit to the parish priest, Father Antonio. As they both sit on opposite sides of the confessional, Stabler is up front about the fact that he's a cop and he's going to do everything he can to stop the violence. As he leaves, someone watches him go on security footage. 'Who was that?' an unseen person asks the man watching the video. 'Someone who should be dead,' he answers.
Meanwhile, Los Santos accept Reyes into their operation and give him a pretty awful beat-down as part of his initiation. He's later able to give Bell some intel: A man named Angel Acosta is Los Santos' new boss, and they're preparing for a strike against the Camorra.
CASA STABLER HAS A VACANCY | Stabler returns home to find Becky and Eli moving out of the apartment. They found a spot in Randall's building, they sheepishly tell El, who isn't pleased. In their defense: They did just get shot at on their own front steps, no? Shortly after they go, Isabella swings by. Elliot mentions the imminent attack, which scares her, but she doesn't offer any specific information about the Camorra.
At the office the next day, Bell knows about Isabella's visit, which causes Stabler to guess that Eli (who saw her on his way out) mentioned it to his field training officer; word traveled, and now NYPD brass are involved, worried that Stabler is in too deep. He counters that he's pretty sure Isabella's stop-by was a strategic tactic to glean how the investigation is going. Bell trusts him but warns him to keep things with his Italian informant under control.
Stabler later brings Father Antonio into the station for questioning; he's made a lot of trips to Naples lately, though he claims they were just to tend to his elderly mother. Unbeknownst to him, Isabella watches from the other side of the two-way mirror and identifies him as a Camorra member who was a friend of her brother's and who could be serving as his eyes and ears while Rocco is in prison in Italy.
'IT'S MY TURN NOW' | Not long after, Los Santos and the Spezzanos get into a nighttime shootout; Reyes ends up with his gun trained on Pietro, but none of the Los Santos members are looking, so he (obviously) lets him go. By the time the police get there, there are a bunch of dead bodies and no suspects to nab. Eli is working the crime scene's perimeter; Elliot storms over and asks him about talking about Isabella with his superiors. Eli admits it came up during a conversation with his FTO… who's standing right there and shuts down the conversation.
After Pietro doesn't come home and the police bring Isabella to her local station, Stabler tells her about the boy being at the scene of a violent crime. This causes her to lay into Roman at home, demanding that he and Pietro cut ties with the Camorra. He says it's not that easy, and informs her that he's the new head of their family. 'You lost the right to make decisions for us,' he sneers. 'It's my turn now.'
ELI ACTS | Everything comes to a head when Stabler confront Roman at the brewery that's serving as a front for his crime operation. Pietro is there, too. Bell is able to give Stabler a tiny heads-up that Los Santos are on their way; when the other crime ring arrives, a shootout ensues.
Roman takes a bullet and runs out the back of the building. Pietro gets Reyes in his crosshairs just as the uniformed officers arrive; the teen is incredibly freaked out but also won't drop his weapon. And when he doesn't, a just-arrived-on-the-scene Eli shoots Pietro in the chest, killing him.
'He was going to… he was going to,' repeats a stunned Eli, who can't seem to fathom what he's just done. Stabler orders the other officers to take his son outside, realizing that this mess of a case just got a lot more complicated.
Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!
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