[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 2 “Deliver Us From Evil.”]
Law & Order: Organized Crime officially introduces one of Detective Elliot Stabler’s (Christopher Meloni) brothers (Dean Norris‘ Randall) in the latest episode, and all you need to look at are two moments between the pair to completely understand their dynamic: Randall’s repeated “Go to hell” and Elliot’s refusal to say he’s glad to see him.
After Bernadette (Ellen Burstyn) recently thought he was his brother, Elliot calls up Randall, who greets him with, “What do you want?” There’s no small talk with the two; Elliot tells him that their mother wants to see him but likely won’t recognize him, and Randall says he has business in the city, so he’ll be there … but doesn’t tell him when. (There are no goodbyes either.)
With that in-person reunion on the horizon, let’s just say we’re happy that Elliot gets to have a much happier one (sort of) with ME Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie), for her expertise on the case (an assassination disguised as a hate crime). The bombing reminds Elliot of his wife’s murder, and to Melinda’s surprise, he gives her a long hug. He got her message after Kathy and meant to reach out. It’s clear she can tell something’s on his mind. (Unfortunately, we don’t get more of the two of them.)
The focus for Elliot off-the-clock then switches to Randall’s arrival, with Sergeant Ayanna Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt) and Detective Jet Slootmaekers (Ainsley Seiger) both shocked to learn he even has a brother. The brothers can’t even be civil when discussing how their mother’s doing (“How do you think she is?” Elliot asks, to which Randall counters, “If I knew, I wouldn’t have asked”), and it’s clear they fall on opposite sides when it comes to their father. Plus, Elliot’s surprised to learn that his son Eli spent a weekend with Randall last month (while he was undercover). Elliot drops Randall off at his place (their parting exchange prompts the aforementioned “Go to hell”), and Bernadette is surprised to see him. She also doesn’t remember he and his wife divorced two years ago… or that the man who was off with nurses was her husband, not son. (Awkward.)
And if nearly getting killed in an explosion isn’t going to get Elliot to admit he’s glad his brother’s in town, well, it’s going to take something big. He returns home at 3 a.m., and Randall finds him sitting outside in his car. Elliot brushes off the question of if he’s okay and can’t bring himself to finish “I’m glad” but instead tells Randall that their mother’s glad to see him.
Ralph Bavaro/NBC; Will Hart/NBC
That’s not the only messy part of the episode. There’s also the matter of Jet and Detective Bobby Reyes’ (Rick Gonzalez) affair, and we learn just how it started. Reyes spends the night in his car (he says he’s fine when Stabler asks how things are at home) and tries to talk to Jet in the middle of the investigation. Yes, they need to talk, and no, she doesn’t think tonight is a good idea, she tells him. “You did the other night,” he comments. “Don’t!” she says loudly, catching Bell’s attention. “If we hadn’t been in DC for Jamie’s memorial, this never would’ve happened. You are married, and I care too much about you to ruin your life,” Jet tells Reyes. Oh, this is definitely going to get much worse very quickly.
Law & Order: Organized Crime, Thursdays, 10/9c, NBC
