‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’: 4 Reasons to Be Excited About Move to Peacock for Season 5

Rick Gonzalez as Det. Bobby Reyes, Danielle Moné Truitt as Sergeant Ayanna Bell, Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler, Tate Ellington as Dr. Vargas, Ainsley Seiger as Det. Jet Slootmaekers in the 'Law & Order: Organized Crime' Season 4 Finale 'Stabler's Lament'
Virginia Sherwood / NBC

Sure, it won’t be the same now that there won’t be Law & Order Thursdays on NBC anymore, with Found taking over the third hour of the night with the original and SVU, but that doesn’t mean the move to Peacock is a bad thing for Law & Order: Organized Crime (the subscription fee aside).

The newest series in the franchise was the only one not renewed when NBC announced it was bringing back Law & Order, SVU, and the One Chicago series for the 2024-2025 season in March 2024. Then rumors started to circulate that Organized Crime could be moving to Peacock for Season 5, and that became official in May one week ahead of the finale. And yes, that does leave us a bit worried about the ease at which it will be to continue to bring former partners Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) back onscreen together, but rather than focus on what we’ll be losing, we’re taking a look at why this move could be a good thing for the series below.

The tone and format are made for streaming.

Because of the nature of the cases for the Organized Crime Control Bureau, this is the grittiest, darkest show of the current trio, and we can only imagine what being on streaming will allow for there going forward. (Think Criminal Minds: Evolution getting even more disturbing on Paramount+.)

While Law & Order and SVU, for the most part, have cases of the week, Organized Crime has moved away from that into more serialized stories, with multi-episode arcs. With longer seasons, that has meant more than one arc a season. But with seasons of streaming shows tending to be 10 episodes—an official count for Season 5 has yet to be announced—there could easily just be one or two with one leading into the other.

And while episodes could stay near 40-42 minutes, as they ran on NBC due to commercials, that doesn’t have to be true anymore. That should work especially well for this show.

There will still be crossovers.

For its first four seasons, Organized Crime aired after SVU, which made it quite easy to have a two-hour event crossover. Their cases easily bleed into one another, and who doesn’t love having Benson and Stabler back together onscreen? But just because that will presumably no longer be the case—episodes usually drop on streaming services at midnight PT, but drop times have been changing—doesn’t mean losing that seamless transition from one episode to the next across shows takes away the possibility of crossovers.

In fact, Meloni has revealed that he’s writing the second episode of Season 5—and fans will love who’s going to show up. “I know [Olivia] Benson will be with OC for a moment there,” he told People. “I’m going to have an opportunity to… hopefully, uncover, peel away a little bit more of the onion or uncover a little more depth of feeling between them.”

So while we have a feeling that getting another two-part crossover event like there have been in the past may not be in the cards, we do know that we’ll see Benson and Stabler sharing the screen at least once in the upcoming season.

Stabler can curse now!

Let’s be real: From his time on SVU, Stabler has been a character whose body language screams “f**k” at times. It may be a minor thing but let’s embrace that he’ll be able to say it now.

History suggests the show should stay the same — and get better.

Organized Crime is far from the first show to move from a network to a streaming service; Evil and SEAL Team first aired on CBS before going over to Paramount+. In both cases, the heart of the shows remained the same—they could just lean more into things they couldn’t on network television, such as profanity, horror, and in SEAL Team‘s case the gruesome nature of a potentially life-ending injury. There’s been nothing to suggest the same won’t be true for Organized Crime.

But what do you think? Are you looking forward to Organized Crime being on Peacock? Let us know in the comments section, below.

Law & Order: Organized Crime, Season 5 Premiere, TBA, Peacock




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  1. O

    OrangePopcorn

    Unfortunately I won't be watching. I already pay way to much for my cable bill as is! Now they want even more money. To watch something. That was perfectly fine. On Regular TV. Very sad to me.

    17

  2. O

    OrangePumpkin

    This is SO 😔 SAD, Remember Everyone Cannot Afford those NEW PROGRAMS/ Channels.. All those Years Law and Order etc.., NOW THIS..THINK OF THE ELDERLY PLEASE!!!!

    Much Love, Well Missed😭

    15

    1. C

      CyanWeights

      Thank you!!! It's hard enough paying for essentials when you're living on Social Security. Streaming services like Peacock just aren't essentials, as much as one might love particular programs. I got very caught up watching all three programs together -- these characters start feeling like friends, people you care about, and now they're disappearing. I almost wish they'd just cancelled Organized Crime, I would have been angry but you get over that eventually. Moving it to Peacock is going to be worse -- every time there's any mention of it, it'll be getting rubbed in my face that I'm missing something I really enjoyed and there's nothing I can do about it.

      16

  3. B

    BlueBullhorn

    I have been watching Law & Order, SVU and Organized Crime since their premieres. I am a HUGE fan of both Elliot and Olivia. In fact, I named my dog Elliot (😂🤣). I am quite upset that OC is moving to a network that is only available in the States. I dont think thats fair in the least to us Canadians.

    I will totally and completely miss Stabler. Totally 🥺🥺

    14

  4. C

    CyanController

    Exactly WHAT is the necessity of the "F" word in any situation⁉️

    14

  5. P

    PurpleBug

    I think this is a bad decision. We enjoyed watching all 3 of the L&O shows and now we won't be able to watch Organized Crime without paying for it, which we won't. Thursday night will not be the same.

    13

  6. B

    BluePaw

    not happy about move dont have peacock

    11

  7. E

    Erica Brodie

    Actually I'm not I'm still going to miss seeing my boy Stabler and his team in action again along with seeing his family and Exspecially Olivia Benson beinging there right beside Elliot Stabler. No it won't be the same without Law and Order Organized Crime back to NBC this fall on the fall schedule slots after Law and Order SUV. I just sure hope that networks know what they're doing by moving Law and Order Organized Crime to Peacock instead of coming back to NBC this fall. We've written emails, made Politicians, made phone calls and it still wasn't enough to keep Law and Order Organized Crime back to NBC this fall in the fall schedule slots right after Law and Order SUV.

    10

    1. G

      GoldTrumpet

      Are you a bot. This definitely reads like a bit wrote it lol.

      1. E

        Erica Brodie

        Are you a Comedian? You've sound like some kind of a Comedian writing something like this. No I'm a real person who''ve written a reallife feelings on the matter of the show. Are you Robot? Gee I didn't know that C3 PO can write I don't remembering seeing him writing anything down.

  8. B

    BlueSailboat

    NO I AM NOT HAPPY THEY ARE MOVING TO PEACOCK+. I refuse to spend any more streaming fees so will no longer watch this show. I really did enjoy it but ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

    9

  9. G

    GreenBulb

    THANK YOU! I think it is REALLY Sad when THAT is listed as a “Plus” for a Favorite Program being moved to a Cost-Prohibitive Format! And; Another “Plus” alluded to earlier in the article referenced the newfound freedom w/Peacock to get more “dark & disturbing”! 🥴 I think we were ‘good’.. as in “bases covered/messages conveyed”.

    4

  10. R

    RedWrench

    Will miss organized crime, well we have law & order Toronto.

    Peacock is not available in Canada

    It will probably lose ratings

    4

    1. B

      BlueSailboat

      I know what you mean... Im in Canada too... it's frustrating that they make these decisions but don't care about the fan base :(

  11. B

    BlueFlower

    Disappointed. Really loved all 3 in a row and looked forward to Thursday prime time L&O. My favorites were the 2 hour crossovers. Hopefully, one of my kids have a Peacock subscription so I can watch.

    2

  12. G

    GreenBee

    This is very disappointing!! My husband and I loved to watch Organized Crime right after SVU on Thursday nights on NBC! We will not be paying extra to watch it elsewhere! Don’t know why they had to change this!! Who cares if Elliot can now say the F*** bomb! We don’t want or care to hear that language when we watch TV anyway! Wish they would have just left it they way it was, it was great just as is!👎🏼

    1

  13. O

    OrangeStrawberry

    Won’t watch Organized Crime. Don’t want to pay for it.

    1

  14. P

    PurpleCorn

    I think I will not be watching L&O OC. Cable bill is way to expensive as it is. Watching TV is becoming the biggest rip off. Shows we watched for years on regular TV, now we have to pay? I feel the same way about seal team, Evil and every show we have faithfully watched for years and now we have to payto see their conclusions. Just a note: the F word in NOT needed to enjoy any show.

    1

  15. B

    BlueChefHat

    Over-the-top unrealistic cop show.

    1

  16. G

    GreenFlask

    Yes, if you dont have Peacock, this is sort of a hit. But if you do, or have another way to watch.... this is a good thing.

    The show is grittier than its counterparts as is; now they can lean into that. In addition, from what I've seen... these first two episodes are actually better than expected. I think the show will genuinely get better in this new format. Yes, they can curse and show more realistic/intense images. But also, the writing feels more interesting; more intricate. This feels like a good thing.

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    GoldLeaf

    I think it’s an idiotic move on NBC‘s part… Look at all the comments of people that says they won’t be paying for more. That includes me … adios

  18. C

    CyanPopcorn

    I think it’s a bad idea. Too many shows are moving to different platforms which makes iti very difficult to watch them.

  19. O

    OliveCactus

    Use what they call "inofficial" streaming services, that's what non-Americans do ;)

  20. O

    OliveCactus

    You can always watch it from external streaming services where they are being uploaded, this is what foreigners who are not being allowed to pay for US streaming services do :)

  21. P

    PurpleHammer

    I totally agree

  22. O

    OrangePin

    Frankly..I'm really ticked off! I can barely afford what I have now there is no way I'll pay for peacock..!!!!

    I'm so sick of this happening. It's unfair to those who can't afford to pay for the extra subscription services..

    And even if I could afford it..I wouldn't.

    It's sad they did this..it's going to lose a lot of watchers with this move.!

  23. G

    GreenBulb

    AGREE One Hundred Percent. These are SUCH Hard times. What are they thinking?? Such Greed. 😔

  24. G

    GoldWheel

    The unfortunate thing is that Peacock is unavailable in Canada. So unless it's picked up by a Canadian network(🤞🤞🤞), we're out of luck.

  25. P

    PurpleRing

    Nope won't be watching it. I stopped watching Seal Team when it went over too. Didn't really miss it either....just saying.

  26. G

    GreenWrench

    I look forward to episodes on Peacock... Evil and Seal Team both dropped F Bombs their first episode and shows have been great on that platform... Seal Team is cleaned up language wise for syndication on weekend local stations...