A chase turned deadly on this week’s Law & Order: Organized Crime.
The previous episode set up the first arc of the season as Stabler was convinced casino owner Teddy Silas was behind the murder of resident Henry Cole, who’d been blocking the casino.
While Bell was handling her marriage falling apart, the unit also welcomed new cops, Bobby Reyes and Jamie Whelan.
It led to a hunt for suspect Kenny Kyle, who took off running. Thus, Catch Me If You Can was an episode-long chase.
This led to some dark turns and Bell having to prove herself while Teddy and his wife Pearl made their own moves.
While a good thriller in itself, the implications for Season 3 make this episode an important step in the storyline.
The chase begins
Stabler met with Teddy and Pearl, finding it interesting Teddy owned the club. They claimed to have no idea who Kenny was as Reyes showed an envelope with $20,000 left in a bathroom they figured was Kenny’s payoff.
A patrol officer found Kenny digging up a box in the woods. When his partner realized who Kenny was, Kenny attacked the first officer, stole his gun, and shot the other. He then took off in the stolen car.
The team was at the hospital as the officer was in surgery. Whelan was affected as Stabler told him to just focus on the job.
Pearl met a woman in a limo, giving her money to find out if Teddy was involved in the murder. When she mentioned Teddy had secrets, the private investigator smirked, “I’ve never known a woman without one.”
Bell brought in Deputy Inspector Lillian Goldfarb (Janel Moloney) to help the team with the red tape of the case. They saw a video of Kenny at the club but had no way of finding out who he was meeting.
Ronald Buatsi called on how Kenny had attacked him, looking for medicine. He said Kenny was now suffering from delirium from his rat bites that would only get worse, and “from what I saw, that boy is as good as dead.”
Jet said that Kenny had been bailed out of jail before by Dede Hayes (Olivia Horton), who Stabler figured he’d go to for help.
Bell had forgotten she was supposed to watch her child today, with Denise asking why Bell was fighting for custody when she couldn’t do this. She hung up with Reyes telling Bell he was married with three kids and making it work was hard.
Dede told Stabler and Whelan about Kenny loving his little sister and protecting her from their abusive father. They were separated, and she was adopted by a family in Florida, leaving Kenny alone.
Dede assured the detectives she and Kenny were just good friends, and she tried to help him out of their bond. However, she had to cut him off after he got deep into the mob.
Whelan noted, “No way two people are that close for that long and don’t sleep together,” with Stabler smirking. Jet found that Dede had lied about once calling the cops on Kenny and Stabler told her to get a warrant on Dede’s phone.
A friend’s betrayal
At the construction site, Bell distracted a foreman while Reyes used his skills to pose as a worker. He brought Bell to a room where they heard moans behind a wall, only to be scared by a rat. Teddy showed up as Reyes knocked down the wall to find a man with rat bites lying on a cot.
Kenny broke into a house upstate to wash up and grab some food. He then called Dede to talk about how he felt horrible. Kenny told Dede, “It’s time,” as she said she was ready.
Stabler and Whelan watched Dede leave while Bell and Reyes talked to the wounded man at the hospital. He said a figure only known as “The Ghost” had killed Henry.
As Dede waited at a house, Stabler and Whelan realized they’d been tricked as Dede had put her phone into someone else’s car. Dede was really welcoming Kenny to a house in Yonkers.
Dede had some passports and money to head to Canada, telling Kenny she’d come with him. She then walked to another room, passing two sinister-looking men. She began crying as she heard Kenny yelling before a gunshot and the sounds of a struggle happened.
A few moments later, the door opened, and Dede was shocked to see Kenny had beaten back his attackers. She said they’d threatened her grandmother and cried she was sorry.
Stabler and Whelan showed up to find one shooter shot dead, Dede strangled, and they figured Kenny hadn’t taken her betrayal well. They also tracked blood and realized there had been a second shooter.
Bell told Stabler that Kenny had stolen an SUV and was headed to Canada. It was after nearly cutting off a truck that Kenny realized there was a crying baby in the car seat behind him.
Bell tries to save a baby
Bell comforted the distraught mother, Lisa (Erin Fritch), who realized her phone was still in the car to track. She added the baby had an ear infection.
They called up the phone, Kenny answering as Lisa begged Kenny not to hurt her daughter, Zoe. Thinking of his sister, Kenny snarled, “I’m not giving her up this time,” and threw away the phone.
The good news was the car’s gas tank was almost empty, so it didn’t take long for Bell and Reyes to find it pulled over by a park. Thinking Zoe was his sister, Kenny was giving her the medicine as Bell carefully approached him.
Despite being held at gunpoint, Bell remained calm, playing into his delusion by claiming the state would let him keep “Emily.” She even handcuffed herself to a table to get Kenny to lower his gun.
Bell finally got Kenny to hand over Zoe as Reyes tackled him for the arrest. Bell gave Zoe over to her happy mother, with Bell wanting to make sure Kenny stayed alive.
The media was hailing Bell as a hero, but Goldfarb was upset by Bell telling the press that Kenny was a suspect in Henry Cole’s murder. Denise was also unsure how to feel seeing Bell with another baby rather than her own.
Pearl heard from the P.I. that not only was Teddy behind Henry’s murder, but he had been cheating on Pearl for years. Teddy came in as Pearl pretended to be talking to a decorator about wanting all the “shipment information” fast.
Pearl was rocked as Teddy opened the door to show that very private investigator as he paid double to keep stuff quiet. He said the affairs were a lie and the whole thing had been a test of Pearl’s loyalty and showed how far Teddy would go to protect the family.
When Pearl asked about Henry, Teddy replied, “You don’t get to be royalty without chopping off a few heads.” Pearl was unsure even as she seemed to agree with him.
Bell and Stabler were toasting at a bar only to hear the police officer Kenny shot had died in the hospital. Stabler took out his frustration smashing a mirror as the pair knew Kenny had a boss and would find out the truth.
While Kenny is captured, the chase continues to get at Teddy Silas and may cause more danger to come.
Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 airs Thursdays at 10/9c on NBC.