Law & Order: Organized Crime 4×03 “End Of Innocence” is yet another win in our book. (That’s three for three so far this season, for those of you who are keeping track.) The case has enough moving parts to keep it interesting and entertaining without making everything else suffer, and the continuing Stabler family saga continues to be incredible. Throw in Bell and Stabler giving the younger members of the squad a good talking-to over their recent mess, and you’ve even got some pure fun in the middle of all that action and angst.
So, yeah. A win. Given the task of juggling multiple storylines — especially a combination of personal and professional — some procedurals crash and burn. But not this one. And we’re incredibly grateful for that at this point. It’s a breath of fresh air at 10:00, just after…whatever we watch before it.
Unlike in the previous episode, Randall is actually…not terrible in Law & Order: Organized Crime 4×03. Sure, he’s still giving Elliot a hard time (“well, you look like hell.” “I almost got blown up last night. What’s your excuse,” if you will). But it’s actually being done out of concern and these two brothers showing emotion in their weird macho way now, as opposed to…whatever that was in the car when our boy first picked him up. All that tension Christopher Meloni and Dean Norris carried in their interactions before is gone. Mostly, at least. It still rears its ugly, testy head when Randall mentions Joe Jr. having been back in New York for months, something that clearly takes Elliot by surprise and hurts.
Meloni’s movement nearly stops, all urgency for Detective Stabler to get back to organizing crime gone, and all we’re left with is this pain and loss in his eyes. Loss of whatever relationship he thought(?) he had with his little brother and loss of…any clue what to do next. Unlike the story about fishing with Eli and meeting his girlfriend, though, it’s obvious Randall wasn’t actually trying to make El feel terrible for being out of the loop. It’s like he’s at a loss for a moment, too, to the point where he does the Elliot Stabler “deep breath out when no one’s looking” thing to gather himself and try to move the conversation back along.
There’s something so natural here, of the older brother falling right into that caregiver mode despite having been out of touch for so long. In fact, Randall even…offers to throw a big ol’ Stabler family hootenanny, do all the cooking himself, and basically have El’s only responsibility be showing up. (A thing that’s sometimes difficult for this man, as we know.) But, at this point, Elliot himself is doing a very-and-true Elliot thing. (Namely, “Stabler pointedly doing a bad job of avoiding the issue because he’s upset and can’t deal with his shit.”)
The real bickering starts back up when Randall talks about giving Bernie a “nice send-off.” And it’s not remotely surprising that this is where things start to go wrong. Because, again, Elliot…can not deal and will do everything from outright avoidance to picking a fight in order to keep up his denial. Whatever his faults may be — and we saw them when we first met him — Randall, at least, can accept reality. Bernie wants to go. It does not matter what he wants, or what Elliot wants.
Later, after yet another difficult day at work, Randall arranges for the Stabler brothers to have a break. Which, first off: That is not in Elliot’s vocabulary when it comes to himself. Second, we meet a third Stabler brother – one with hair! — in Joe Jr. Adding him to the mix is fascinating, even in the very short time we get with him. In the first place, Meloni’s reaction as Elliot sees him again for the first time is…wow. Just. There is a lot going on there. But also, unlike the two older members of the Brothers Stabler, he’s not bald super upbeat and just…unfazed. Even when El starts in on him, asking what the hell’s wrong with him and how long he’s been in New York — basically acting as his parent — he’s just…all shits-eating grins and giggles.
It’s impossible to watch “End Of Innocence” and not wonder about what was and what could have been. How hard did Randall and Elliot have to work to protect Joe Jr. from all the things that made them so worn down — how much extra weight have they carried his whole life so he could be…this? And seeing all the unbothered, fun energy coming off his little brother, we get the impression that this is who El could have been, without so much being dumped on his shoulders too soon. Because he does, in fact, show that goofy side in rare, precious moments.
