Warning: SPOILERS ahead for Law & Order: Organized Crime and Law & Order: SVU season finales
The crossover event between Law & Order: SVU finally concluded and was chock-full of shockingly harrowing moments that included Olivia Benson's life-threatening close call and the death of a Law & Order franchise familiar. The two-week crossover event started in SVU's season 24 episode "Bad Habits," where a series of assaults with the same M.O. encouraged the Special Victims Unit to call on the OCCB of Organized Crime. In Organized Crime's season 3, episode 21 "Shadowërk," both precincts came to the realization that the string of assaults linked to the crime-for-hire website, Shadowërk, and a much larger ring of criminal activity than they could ever imagine.
Both season finales made do on the high intensity circumstances set up in their respective, penultimate episodes - Shadowërk was lethal, and the vast network of criminals needed to be dealt with swiftly. On hand to assist SVU and OCCB in the unprecedented probe was the FBI and Interpol, with the case even requiring the assistance of old acquaintances; to the satisfying amazement of fans, the Law & Order crossover called for the return of Amanda Rollins. With the scale of crime and the defense required to contain it being considerably large, the season finales - SVU's "All Pain Is One Malady" and Organized Crime's "With Many Names" - were sure to be intense and heartbreaking.
How & Why Olivia Benson Was Shot In The Law & Order Season Finale Crossover
The closer the precincts came to unmasking the originator of Shadowërk, the more dangerous the stakes became. Before in "Bad Habits," when Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Elliot Stabler's teams got closer to uncovering the inner workings of Shadowërk, the website that allowed ordinary persons to hire murderers and rapists to enact revenge on people they know, a federal judge was targeted by the database in retaliation. Similarly, as the finales unfolded and inched closer to resolution, Benson and Stabler (Christopher Meloni) had marks placed on their heads by the site's creator to deter them from pursuing further; this lead to Benson being shot by a commissioned rogue assassin.
Shadowërk emerged from the mind of a young psychopath named Kyle Wilkie (Winter Andrews) in a bid to make the world suffer as he did in life. The site's objective meant more to him than his very own existence and any interference with his creation was met with a fierce fight on his behalf. The lengths that Wilkie would go to protect Shadowërk meant that however much Organized Crime and SVU had set up a huge crossover event was negligible; although Wilkie didn't shoot Benson by his own hand, he had a long retainer of criminals who would for him.
What Benson's Fate Means For Her & Stabler's Law & Order Futures
Benson ultimately sustained a flesh wound in the hip as a result of Wilkie's hit on her. The last episode of the two-week crossover event, Organized Crime's season finale, found Olivia defending Stabler and herself from the commissioned criminal sent out to complete Wilkie's bid. Although retaliation was expected and the two were seemingly protected by a group of officers escorting them, Benson and Stabler were met with tear gas and bullets from the armed assassin and looked to each other for protection.
The moment was especially unsettling, as viewers would loathe seeing the death of either Benson or Stabler, no less the obliteration of a chance to see them happy together in a relationship one day. The franchise has previously teased a potential relationship between Benson and Stabler, and Benson's injury may have hinted at what's in store for them beyond the crossover. Stabler lost his wife to criminal lawlessness before and still grieves the trauma of the incident; to witness Benson agonized by another criminal occurrence would've been significantly upsetting to him, and whether it brings them closer or pushes them apart will eventually need to be considered by Law & Order.
The True Impact Of Law & Order's Crossover Event Villain
Benson's injury wasn't the only extent of Wilkie's aggression, but may have been a teasing precursor to the true hell the crossover event's villain would unleash on Law & Order's cast of characters. Even before Benson was shot, Wilkie was held able for the countless rapes and murders conducted on victims through Shadowërk. But further to the point, an Organized Crime detective was also shot during the Shadowërk investigation, and in this case, by the desperate psychopath himself.
Organized Crime's Detective Jamie Whelan (Brent Antonello) was one of the officers responding to Wilkie's attempt to escape and was shot in the crossfire between Wilkie and the pursuing envoy. The stray bullet caught him in the neck, almost instantly paralyzing him. With medical assistance diverted to Wilkie (who stabbed himself to protect the integrity of his crime-for-hire website instead of being taken in for questioning), it looked like Whelan would succumb to his wound and fall victim to Wilkie like the many before him.
Jamie Whelan's Death In Law & Order: Organized Crime's Season 3's Ending Explained
Astonishingly, Whelan did not submit to the bullet that struck him; however, he was deeply aggrieved by the diagnosis of his paralysis. The extent of paralysis for Whelan meant that he could never live his life the same, especially as an NYPD detective. In a truly heartbreaking Law & Order moment, Whelan begged his Organized Crime partner, Detective Bobby Reyes (Rick Gonzalez), to unhook him from the machine utilized to keep his body alive and functioning.
When Reyes refused and left Whelan in the company of his father, viewers could only assume that he would ask the same of his dad. The crossover season finale event featured a few instances that expressed the dynamic between a parent and their child, particularly when Wilkie's mother struggled to turn him in out of love, and it looked like Organized Crime would continue the trend with the Whelans. After news of Jamie Whelan's tragic ing reaches the remaining OCCB team , Law & Order confirmed that Whelan was killed by the loving mercy of his father.
What To Expect From Law & Order: Organized Crime And Law & Order: SVU
Many questions still remain at the conclusion of Law & Order's season finale crossover event. Both the Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized crime teams will definitively face change within the future of their precincts - Organized Crime will need to mourn the death of one of their very own, while SVU will require a shift in the makeup of their team as a result of Detective Muncy's surprising transfer. To some good fortune, Law & Order: Organized Crime and Law & Order: SVU have been renewed for additional seasons, but both procedural dramas will be expected to answer the hard questions that emerged in the crossover season finale event.
