Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 9 Review: Semper Fi

What starts off being about finding solid proof of Joe Jr.’s actions turns into an entire undercover operation for Elliot Stabler. Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 9, “Semper Fi,” proves that even the simplest case can turn into a mess.

Since his return on Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 4, “The Last Supper,” Joe Jr. has been extremely closed off and secretive. The writers have done a great job of building the suspense and intrigue about the bond between each of the Stabler brothers.

It’s something that now works in favor of the plot. By giving Elliot Stabler a new undercover project that is directly linked to his brother, the writers have allowed us to get all the action of his detective work with the emotionality of his family life.

Elliot Stabler Just Changes His Name

The great thing about this latest undercover operation is that Stabler doesn’t have to lie too much to be believed. He is pulling directly from his own experiences in the Marines to create this new persona called Hank.

What’s even better is Christopher Meloni is giving us all the goods and reminding fans why we’ve willingly followed his career for decades. The man knows how to mold into new personalities while still maintaining what is known about the character we love. 

Honestly, Elliot Stabler works as an undercover detective because of Meloni’s talent for being two people simultaneously with little to no effort. While other undercover operations have pulled Meloni’s talents to a more extreme, this one is still deeply impactful.

We easily believe that Hank is a real person who’s seen some horrible things because Stabler makes us forget he’s the man behind the mask. By the end of the episode, we are rooting for him and worried he won’t survive because we believe in Hank just as much as we believe in Stabler.

The Stabler Family Mess

The talents of Dean Norris, Michael Trotter, and Ellen Burstyn have a chance to shine in little pockets of normalcy throughout “Semper Fi.” One thing we’ve come to expect from Law & Order: Organized Crime over the years is its attention to character development and relationships.

The focus on the Stabler family, like never before, has been a key component to what makes Season 4 so compelling. Before Randall and Joe Jr. came on the scene a few episodes back, the most we had known about Elliot’s family was that he had brothers and a dad who died years ago. 

We knew his mom for years because Ellen Burstyn has been a staple recurring character all the way back to the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit days. Now, more than ever, we are ready to unpack every secret this disjointed family has.

Norris and Trotter have us believing the contentious relationship between Joe Jr. and his brothers because their anger at one another jumps off the screen and seems to go beyond the scene itself. 

Then, when Trotter, in a drug-fueled rage, goes to get money from Burstyn, the frenetic pacing makes us hold our breaths and hope that Joe Jr. doesn’t hurt Bernadette. The performance of Burstyn in this scene alone is Emmy-worthy due to the emotional confusion and concern she has for her baby boy.

But then Burstyn takes it up a notch when Norris comes by in search of Joe Jr. Her confusion and fear are so strong we want to just reach through the TV and wrap her in our arms. 

It’s truly a set of performances that have us falling even deeper in love with the Stabler family drama.

Samir is Missing, And Stabler Could Be In Trouble

As stated above, we end the episode completely concerned for the fate of Hank aka Elliot Stabler. But he’s not the only one we are holding our breaths about. The disappearance of Samir is very concerning.

Having only been part of the team a short while Officer Bashir has already made a deep impact on the team. His disappearance proves that the OCCB has only just scratched the surface of this heroin operation.

In the episodes to come, Bashir’s life will hang in the balance. I can only hope that he ends up coming home alive, especially for the sake of his pregnant wife and young child.

His disappearance could also spell trouble for Stabler because this drug operation clearly means business. The military honey operation portion of it seems to be just the start. 

If there is one thing Law & Order: Organized Crime is good at, it’s creating a multiple-episode arc. Let’s hope this one plays out as interestingly as the ones in the past have.

 

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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