Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 Episode 16 Review: Chinatown

Emotions run high for the task force when a politician’s wife is shot during a campaign event. It’s been a few years since Stabler lost his wife to a violent crime, but based on his actions, it still sits just below the surface for him.

Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 Episode 16, “Chinatown,” proves that grief knows no boundaries and looks the same no matter your race or affiliations. While allegiances run tight within Chinatown, Stabler and Lee are able to connect through their experiences with their wives — which ultimately helps the case.

The Quandary That is Mrs. Lee

The most baffling thing for the team with this case is Jennifer Lee’s selfless actions within her community. If she is doing nothing but good things for the women in Chinatown, why would someone want her dead?

It’s a fascinating case that makes several left turns until the task force finally finds the center. While many in the Asian community don’t trust cops — especially non-Asian cops — Mr. Lee continues to advocate for his wife and her innocence.

We rarely see Stabler connect with the victims or potential suspects of a case they’re working on. He’s well-known for keeping himself at least 3 degrees of separation from anyone they speak with regarding an investigation.

Stabler’s willingness to connect with Mr. Lee and divulge to him the information about Kathy shows the work Stabler has been putting in through therapy. He is becoming more of a human and less of the brutish cop he used to be — which isn’t the worst thing in the world.

I bet Season 1 Stabler would’ve balked at the idea that talking through his grief about Kathy with a victim’s family member would help a case. Even in her unconscious state, Mrs. Lee helped to move her case along — she truly is a beautiful soul.

The Crooked Ways of Chinatown

While the investigation involves multiple suspects during its run time, the true culprit still slightly shocks viewers. We are conditioned to believe that gang-affiliated characters should automatically be assumed guilty. 

It’s lovely to see Law & Order: Organized Crime turn that concept on its head and, in a way, point our own biases out to us. After all, when the episode starts, does anyone genuinely believe Mr. Lee’s campaign manager would be the one who is responsible?

He’s a respected businessman that no one suspects could be anything but a decent human. Instead, he shoots not only Mrs. Lee but a woman she helped as well — all to protect his human trafficking operation.

In this case, the gang leaders, while guilty of other crimes, are not guilty of committing the most terrible act of all — murder. While the show is still unwilling to dive in on other significant issues, it’s nice to see that the show is willing to challenge us a little with these unconscious biases.

After all, if you think about it, the level of crime and deception within Chinatown isn’t much different than in any other neighborhood in New York. Crime and violence can happen anywhere — it just looks slightly different depending on where you are.

All Roads Lead to Quan

Stabler’s statement toward the end of the episode brings the case into perspective. We are likely to see more regarding the takedown of this human trafficker, but how much this case will expand is the actual query on all our minds.

When Law & Order: Organized Crime first premiered, the seasons were split into two segments. Each half had its case that dived in deep and gave oomph to the stories it was trying to tell.

Unfortunately, Season 3 has had more cases than we can count within the last 16 episodes. It’s a shame because it means the show is starting to stand out less and less from its other franchise iterations.

I would love to see this Chinatown case take on a deeper life of its own and draw us to the conclusion of this season. Unfortunately, I don’t see that happening, considering how fast the show moves through cases now.

This is an organized crime task force, which means their cases should have more longevity than a typical sexual assault or murder case. And yet, the last 4-5 episodes have contained 3 cases. Everything is moving too fast and comes to the show’s detriment overall.

Give us some more Russian mob or Silas crime family and less of these nothing cases.

 

What did you think of this episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Law & Order: Organized Crime airs Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC.

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