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Law & Order: Organized Crime Recap: After a Death in the Family, Will Stabler Turn to the Dark Side?
The Stabler family tragedy some of us feared upon seeing the title of the Season 5 finale — 'He Was a Stabler' — comes to pass in the season's penultimate episode this week: Joe Jr. dies after being shot during a drug bust gone wrong.
The youngest Stabler brother dies in Elliot's arms, setting the bereft detective on a path that is potentially illegal and definitely immoral. Olivia Benson, take the wheel! (No, seriously, can you please show up next week to set your boy straight?)
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Read on for the highlights of 'Off the Books.'
EMERY KNOWS |Early in the episode, Emery lets Joe know that he's very aware of the youngest Stabler brother's contact with Elliot. So he makes sure Joe is present when Emery has his thug kill a man who reneged on a deal. The unspoken message: Fear my wrath. On Emery's orders, Joe trashes the place afterward, but makes sure to leave a little clue for his brother before he goes.
Det. McKenna is first on the scene and finds the foil-wrapped packet of drugs Joe placed at the scene. While McKenna doesn't know the ins and out of Joe's involvement, he knows enough to call Elliot to let him know what they found. The substance is something brand new, and when Det. Tanner gets wind that McKenna gave Stabler a heads-up, she wants to know why. Oh, and she also informs him that they're now working the case together.
Stabler makes reference to his confidential informant being on the inside of whatever's going down, but when she presses him for more information, he's squirrelly. Eventually he lets her know that his CI is his brother, and I'm grateful for her very important reminder that THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.
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WHO'S USING WHOM? | Joe calls Elliot to give him a heads-up about a big drug deal that's about to go down, but after they get off the phone, we see that Emery is forcing Joe to feed his brother misinformation. There is, indeed, a drug operation at the address Joe gives Elliot. But when the New York Police Department rolls in to shut it all down, it's not quite the huge deal Joe implied. Tanner quickly realizes that Emery used them to take out his biggest competition in selling the new drug, and as much as Elliot doesn't want to admit it, it seems like his brother is playing him.
'COME HOME' | Meanwhile, Randall finds out that Joe called Elliot — thanks, Kathleen — and storms down to the office to yell that he's having premonitions that something bad is going to happen to their little brother. Elliot lets him know that Joe is back in town, and tasks him with telling Joe to call Elliot the next time he rings Bernie's cell.
Randall does as instructed, which leads to Elliot and Joe having a rooftop meet-up. Joe gives El the location where Emery is going to seal a gigantic drug deal the next day. El gives Joe a medallion — likely the same one Bunny gave him in the season premiere, no? — and says that Bernie wanted him to have it. Joe desperately wants his mother to know he's clean, but Elliot reassures him that she never knew he was using heroin in the first place. They hug before they part, with Elliot telling his brother, 'Come home.'
GOODBYE, JOE | Thing is, Joe lied to Elliot to keep the cops away from where the deal is actually going down, in a whole different borough. But ANOTHER thing is, Elliot is a lot smarter than his Guy Fieri-haired sibling. And when the cops creep in with a caravan of backup, Emery figures out that Joe's new medallion has a tracker on the back of it.
An incensed Emery, Joe and Emery's thug make a run for it; Elliot is desperately searching the warehouse when he gets a call from Emery. The rich Brit, who has a gun on Joe, offers a deal: 'Remove the APB on me,' which will allow him to leave town unencumbered, 'or he dies.' Stabler stammers that he'll work on the situation, but as a helicopter circles overhead, it's too late. Emery hangs up, and Stabler hears a gunshot in the vicinity soon after.
He runs to find Emery gone and Joe bleeding out from a gunshot wound to the chest. 'I mailed it,' the younger Stabler gasps, blood trickling from his lips, as Elliot pulls him close and begs him to stick around because 'Mama's been waiting for you.' But things are going downhill very quickly. 'Tell her I was clean,' Joe whispers, then he's gone. Elliot puts his face very close to his little brother's and sobs.
'LET'S GO FOR A RIDE' | Later, Stabler breaks down again when another officer asks if he moved the body. 'I held him,' Elliot barely gets out, crying as he looks down at Joe's blood on his hands. Tanner arrives and sits with him, telling him to go be with his family. We watch (but do not hear) as a montage shows him telling Randall and Kathleen. (But not Eli and Becky? Or BERNIE?)
Then Stabler pulls his car into an alley where McKenna is waiting for him… with Emery's thug tied up in the trunk. 'I was going to book him, but then I heard about your brother. So, we can take him in, or we can go for a ride,' McKenna says. He's barely done speaking when Stabler makes his choice: 'Let's go for a ride.'
Now it's your turn. Will you miss Joe? Do you think Stabler ultimately will make the right choice? Are you ready for next week's finale? Hit the comments with all of your thoughts!
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