Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5: Everything We Know So Far

After much crime — and not so much organization — in Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4, Detective Elliot Stabler has no idea what havoc lies around the corner. But he's about to find out: Season 5 will get underway on Thursday, April 17, on a new network: Peacock.

Season 4 of the Chris Meloni-led Law & Order spin-off ended with unfinished business between Stabler's team and savvy criminal Julian Emery (Thomas Payne, The Walking Dead, Prodigal Son) who managed to successfully escape capture with a briefcase full of Soviet chemical weapons. After overcoming his heroin addiction with the help of his family, Stabler's younger brother, Joe, opted to go undercover as an informant for the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau by working with Emery to secretly transport a stash of the illegal chemicals. 

While Joe was able to relay intel to Stabler's team about their whereabouts, the criminal mastermind outsmarted them and slipped their grasp with an extra stash of the deadly chemicals — and Joe by his side. Emery and Joe jetted off on his private jet while Stabler halted the delivery of some of the weapons and got into a shooting match that killed Emery's bodyguard, Tobias. The finale closed with Emery sure of a betrayal, but unsure if Joe was the culprit of such deceit. (Read more about the Season 4 finale here).

Read on for everything we know so far about what to expect from the new season, including a teased Law & Order: SVU crossover and details about the show's new residence on Peacock.

Season 5 will premiere with two episodes on Thursday, April 17, on Peacock. Subsequent episodes will follow weekly. Filming began in August.

Per the season's official synopsis, the new season will explore "the dangerous worlds of cross-border smuggling, high-tech domestic terrorism and a crime family intent on repaying Stabler for the injury he did them in Rome. As his worlds collide, Stabler will put everything on the line to protect the vulnerable and fight for justice."

The official cast for Organized Crime Season 5 includes Chris Meloni and fellow series regulars Danielle Moné Truit, Ainsley Seiger and Rick Gonzalez. Dean Norris (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) will be back in Season 5 after he was promoted to series regular after joining Season 4 as Elliot's older brother, Randall Stabler.

Oscar nominated actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Scarface and The Color of Money) will recur as Isabella Spezzano, who is described as "a figure from Stabler's past." Olivia Thirlby (Y: The Last Man) reportedly will guest-star in an undisclosed role, and Jason Patric (Speed 2) will recur as Det. Tim McKenna.

No word yet on whether Tate Ellington, who recurred in Season 4 as tech whiz Dr. Kyle Vargas, will return.

On a related note: In November, showrunner John Shiban — who joined Organized Crime ahead of Season 4 — left the series; he was the show's sixth showrunner in five years, and his successor has not yet been named. Matt Olmstead, who originally held the title and is now showrunner of CBS' FBI: International, will oversee production on the last few episodes of Season 5.

In Law & Orderverse crossover news, Meloni excited longtime fans when he teased an appearance by Special Victims Unit's Capt. Olivia Benson, played by franchise alum Mariska Hargitay, in the upcoming fifth season.

"Oh, girlfriend's coming on," he said during an August 2024 episode of Today. Before he teased her involvement with Season 5, Hargitay said she and Meloni had been planning their character's latest crossover on either Organized Crime or SVU — or both shows. 

"Chris and I were talking about it, and it's time," she told our sister site, Variety. "It's time now for us. This was a long time not being in each other's universe. That's why we did the calls and stuff like that. But we're excited to get back in there, get back in the ring."

After airing for four seasons on NBC, Season 5 of Organized Crime will exclusively stream on Peacock.

Yes, and you can watch it above!

Organized Crime's first four seasons are available to stream on Peacock.