Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 Episode 22 Review: With Many Names

The Law & Order: Organized Crime and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit epic crossover concludes with the loudest bang and the softest whisper. 

Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 Episode 22, “With Many Words,” proves that these teams are here to help each other through the most significant victories and the hardest goodbyes possible.

Though the task force and the Manhattan SVU work within the same city on entirely different planes, they are all willing to go to bat for the other when someone is terrorizing their own backyard. Fans of the franchise, of course, are eager to see the continued partnership between Elliot and Olivia play out to one of the biggest takedowns of their career.

Ohio Isn’t Quite In the Heartland

It isn’t often that we get to see either team travel outside the jurisdiction of NYC, but when they do, important things happen. When a hit gets put out for Benson and Stabler during Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 24 Episode 22, “All Pain Is One Malady,” the team immediately heads to Ohio.

Naturally, things get hairy when Benson and Stabler step onto Ohio soil because Kyle is out to terminate them specifically.

This kid is genuinely David going up against the giant with this one because, as anyone knows, Benson and Stabler are so in-sync with one another that they are nearly unstoppable. However, unlike the case of David and Goliath, Kyle fails to take down the giant with his shot(s).

Benson isn’t going to lie down and let some tear gas stop her from finding her gun and shooting the man dead. After all, this woman has survived inexplicable horrors in her past, not least of which was surviving a rapist who kidnapped and tortured her for hours.

To see her and Stabler work together to not only take down the wannabe killer but also escape that diner in one piece was the Bensler moment we have been dying to see for years. 

I mean, come on, Elliot bridal style carried her out of the diner while she directed him since her eyes weren’t affected by the tear gas like he was.

The moments for them don’t stop there, but what is important about this episode is how they showed their growth — Stabler’s within the past year and Benson’s from the past decade or so without Stabler as her partner. Despite their years apart, these two still know the best way to reach Kyle and get him to do what they want — take down the site.

Even when it seems the kid is done for, Stabler pulls out all the stops to ensure his life doesn’t end there in the woods. Despite being injured, Benson is there in spirit and helps close out this momentous case. 

Kyle thought he could survive anything and go out on his terms, but he hadn’t planned on these two. Fans know no perp can survive the detective skills of Benson and Stabler; it’s nice to see the suspect realize it, too — in real-time.

Ultimately, Law & Order: Organized Crime proves that even if we didn’t get the emotional confession between Bensler that we wanted, we still win. After all, Stabler tells Benson he is going undercover this time.

And in reply, Benson wishes him well with a twinkle in her eye that implies something more is on the horizon.

You Are A Real One, Jamie Whelan

To counter all the Stabler and Benson joy we get during this crossover conclusion, there must also be heartbreak. Unfortunately, we aren’t expecting that heartbreak to cut so deep.

In probably one of the most heartbreaking send-offs the Law & Order franchise has ever done, Kyle shoots Jamie Whelan in the woods.

His chanting that he can’t feel his legs and begging the medic to leave him and save the suspect is gut-wrenching for Reyes and us. These two have been through a lot together as partners for the past two years.

If Jamie has to be shot in the line of duty, I am glad that Reyes is there for him every step of the way and never leads his side. As sad as it is to witness his downfall, keen viewers could guess something was coming down the pipeline.

After all, everyone knows that the minute a character starts talking about a fun thing in their future during an intense moment, they aren’t going to see that fun thing happen. For Jamie, it comes when he’s talking to Reyes about this trip across Canada he has planned for right after this case wraps up.

Law & Order: Organized Crime even throws us a bone by giving us false hope when Bell and Stabler get a call stating that Whelan is out of surgery. Being paralyzed can be devastating for anyone, let alone an enthusiastic cop like Jamie.

What isn’t expected — or maybe it is — about Jamie’s prognosis is his adamant decision to end it all. Watching Reyes’ heart break right before our eyes when he realizes his best friend, his partner, doesn’t want to live a life paralyzed is the most heartbreaking.

The actors, Rick Gonzalez and Brent Antonello give us everything they have during this scene and the silent goodbye after. Reyes leaves Whelan to meet with his father, knowing full well his partner will convince his father to “pull the trigger” since Reyes can’t.

A song lyric comes to mind when thinking of this farewell scene: “I’ve never heard silence quite this loud.” There doesn’t need to be any tearful goodbyes because Reyes knows it’s in the best interest of his partner, even if it’s not what he wants for Jamie.

How the writers set up the team discovering Jamie is gone will stay etched in our minds for a long time. This team has slowly grown into a family over the past couple of years, and they are now a man down. 

It all brings this season to a bittersweet end, to say the least.

 

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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