'Hopefully The Fans Have Had Fun': Law And Order: Organized Crime Stars Weigh In On Expanding The Stabler Family As Wait For Renewal Continues
Law & Order: Organized Crime hasn't held back from exploring some new directions under the tenure of Breaking Bad alum John Shiban as showrunner, including the introduction of the Stabler brothers. In true Stabler family style, their arrival has only increased the number of complications for Elliot in the 2024 TV schedule, while also dropping some details that longtime fans have been waiting for since Christopher Meloni's Law & Order: SVU days. Now, as the wait continues for whether or not OC gets a Season 5, actors Michael Trotter and Dean Norris have opened up to CinemaBlend about joining the family.
I spoke with the stars playing the Stabler brothers about the intervention on Joe Jr. that backfired pretty spectacularly despite Randall's best intentions, as well as Joe's "necessary" fight with their mother. When asked what it has been like to join the Stabler family that so many people are already so invested in, the actors shared their thoughts, with Michael Trotter saying:
It's been great. I mean, to get to work with [Christopher Meloni] every day and Dean has been fantastic. I don't think I quite understood the scope of the fandom, necessarily, but certainly recognized how iconic of a name Stabler is. And to be inserted into that sort of canon has been awesome. [laughs] And to kind of peel back the layers and start to really understand what his personal life and his past was like has been fun to be a part of, and hopefully the fans have had fun getting to know a different side of him that they hadn't necessarily seen before.
It's understandable that Michael Trotter didn't realize the "scope of the fandom," considering that it goes back to the SVU pilot in 1999 for the most diehard of longtime viewers! I can't speak for everybody in response to his hopes that fans have had fun with seeing Elliot alongside his brothers, but I certainly have and would love for a fifth season to bring Trotter and Dean Norris back as Joe and Randall, respectively. As for Norris, he echoed his co-star's thoughts and went on:
Yeah, it's been great. [Stabler]'s an iconic character in people's lives. People have grown up with [him]. I have an older daughter, who [has her] favorite story, and people have grown up with that character, literally. It's part of their lives. So it was with great respect and honor to kind of join it and hopefully help it along and nurture it along and people to explore new things about who this guy is.
It's safe to say that Randall and Joe have definitely helped to explore more about Elliot; whether that will continue beyond the Season 4 finale remains to be seen at this point. Danielle Moné Truitt, who plays Sergeant Bell, really summed up what sets OC apart even as one part of a nine-show Dick Wolf TV universe. Still, weeks have passed without news about Season 5 despite SVU and the original Law & Order (as well as the One Chicago trio) getting renewed back in March.
Earlier this month, the three FBI shows (which air as CBS' leg of the Wolf Universe) were also renewed, so OC really is the last show waiting. The Christopher Meloni-led drama reportedly could move to Peacock for a fifth season if NBC decides not to order another batch of episodes for broadcast. Every episode of Organized Crime so far is currently available streaming with a Peacock Premium subscription.
For now, just keep tuning in to NBC on Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of Organized Crime, following SVU at 9 p.m. ET and Law & Order at 8 p.m. ET. The next episode, called "Crossroads," will air on April 18 and continue Elliot's and the task force's story in trying to take down a large-scale drug operation. As for the other two Stabler brothers, Randall will search for Joe Jr. following the disastrous intervention, and I'm not sure it'll go much better than the intervention did! Be sure to watch or stream next day on Peacock to find out.
