Organized Crime is back, and so is Richard Wheatley.
Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 2 Episode 10 could have kept viewers in the dark longer about what Wheatley was up to, but that wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.
In the space of an hour, the story moved from Stabler working with Wheatley despite his mistrust to a new cat-and-mouse game where he’s determined to prove that his old enemy is up to no good. This is going to be a fantastic arc!
Some viewers had grown impatient with the Eddie Wagner arc while waiting for Wheatley to appear. But the good news is that Wheatley’s new storyline was worth the wait.
At first, it wasn’t clear what Wheatley was up to. But did anyone doubt he had something up his sleeve?
Wheatley: Detective, I don’t expect you to believe or expect that you and I are on the same side, but nevertheless I am working with the FBI on this case.
Bell: I’m sure you’re not doing it out of altruism.
A reformed Wheatley permanently joining the task force would have made for solid drama, but come on! That’s not Wheatley’s character, and everyone knows it.
It only took Stabler three-quarters of the hour to figure out Wheatley’s new game. Wheatley is neither stupid nor careless, so that means only one thing: he WANTED Stabler to know.
Wheatley is unhinged enough to enjoy the attention that Stabler chasing after him would give him, plus his inflated ego makes him think that there’s no way in hell Stabler will win this one.
Man starts a fire… I’m gonna prove it.
Stabler
He’s amusing himself by rubbing Stabler’s nose in the fact that Stabler KNOWS Wheatley is up to no good but can’t prove it. Plus, it’s excellent revenge for Stabler’s constantly pursuing him in the hopes of finding something new to arrest him for.
Of course, Stabler is stubborn under the best of circumstances and twice as tenacious when it comes to Wheatley, but that inconvenient fact doesn’t cross Wheatley’s mind because of his narcissism.
Stabler vs. Wheatley 2.0 should be even more compelling than the original version. The stakes are higher now. Stabler and Wheatley know each other well now, plus Stabler will be twice as determined to nail Wheatley after Wheatley managed to wriggle out of trouble for killing Kathy.
There are still unanswered questions about that, too. It’s never been explained exactly why Wheatley targeted Kathy, and there’s still the question of how involved Angela was in the murder plot. Hopefully, we’ll get closer to the truth as Stabler again zeroes in on Wheatley.
Speaking of Angela, is Stabler onto her deception?
She had a perfect excuse for no longer wanting to cooperate: the NYPD won’t protect her anymore now that there’s no murder trial for her to testify in.
But Stabler’s words were telling. He said he believed in her THEN (during the trial), not that he believes in her now.
That in itself suggested that he was onto Angela’s schemes, but the whole thing with the sugar packet and the spilled water seemed like a test, and one she failed.
The question is, what will Stabler do with these suspicions? He’s determined to prove Wheatley is up to no good, and he may need to work Angela to do it. So will he pretend to believe she’s helpless and disabled, confront her with the truth, or do something else?
The Wheatley stuff was fantastic, but so were the subplots, for the most part.
Jett being forced to work with Adam again seemed like a parallel story to Wheatley’s involvement in investigating the events he put in motion himself.
I’m not sure where this is going yet, but I’m thrilled that Jett has a storyline now.
She’s one of the most underrated members of the Organized Crime team. She’s a full detective, but until recently, she’s done nothing but sit behind her computer doing hacking-related stuff that was only a tiny part of the story.
Things are going to be different now, though. McClain is a talented cybercriminal who not only knows how to evade capture but will do anything to beat the system — even smashing his nose in to trip up facial recognition software.
And he has Wheatley’s full backing, which gives him even more of an advantage.
But Jett is probably just as interested in this challenge as Adam is, and the two of them may make a formidable team. That is if Adam isn’t also playing both sides.
Either way, she’s motivated, highly skilled, and already a huge part of this case. Finally!
The Kilbride stuff was less compelling, but that’s only because we don’t know all the players yet.
Kilbride is left over from the last arc and will never be as interesting as Wheatley, and it doesn’t help that his latest scheme is confusing.
He apparently is trying to line his pockets by sabotaging the progress on the community library he’s put his name on so that a developer has to give him more money.
This weird scheme can’t work long-term. Surely both the constituents and the man he’s defrauding will notice that the library isn’t getting built, and there are only so many excuses his crew can give for the delays before it becomes a joke.
I’m not sure how this will connect with the main storyline or if it ever will. But I’d settle for understanding exactly what Kilbride is up to and how Novi plans to bring him down.
Your turn, Organized Crime fanatics! What did you think of the midseason premiere?
Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know!
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Law & Order: Organized Crime airs on NBC on Thursdays at 10 PM EST/PST.
Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.