Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Law & Order: Organized Crime, season 5, episode 9.It was a shocking ending to the penultimate season 5 episode of Law & Order: Organized Crime, as tragedy strikes Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and his family again. In the culmination of the season 4 story arc that saw Joe Stabler, Jr. (Michael Trotter) escape with Julian Emery (Tom Payne) and Redcoat, the delicate tightrope that Joe balanced between law enforcement and the criminal underworld catches up to him. Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5 hinted at dire things ahead for Joe Jr., and indeed that was the case, with his shocking - but perhaps not surprising - death.

With one episode left in Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5, the Stabler family, and Elliot specifically, must deal with the fallout from Joe's death in his personal life and between the walls of the Organized Crime Control Bureau. As his grief takes hold, Elliot finds himself in a precarious and dangerous situation thanks to Tim McKenna (Jason Patric), one that could change the course of his life and career permanently in the season finale.

Joe Stabler's Redemption Results In His Death

Joe's Decisions Catch Up With Him In Episode 9

In one of the most emotionally charged moments of the season, Joe finds himself in the crosshairs of Julian Emery in Law & Order: Organized Crime season 5, episode 9, and ultimately gunned down, after they were tracked to their major drug meeting by Elliot's gifted necklace. Joe's death is tragic and heartbreaking, one that seemed unlikely to be avoided given his balancing act as both Emery's right-hand man and Elliot's informant. Emery didn't think twice about ending Joe's life, showing no emotion prior to pulling the trigger, even after telling Joe he was his best friend in the car on their way to the location.

Joe struggled through the episode with the decision to throw off Elliot and the OCCB, evading them from their initial drug bust that Joe assured him Emery would be at. Although no indication was given as to why Joe was working with Emery to throw off his brother, even as he worked quietly as Elliot's informant, he seemed to be making a good-faith effort to right his wrongs with both his brothers and their mother, Bernadette (Ellen Burstyn). His death brings both the culmination of a tragic life story, and the beginning of dangerous territory for Elliot, seemingly hellbent on revenge that may see him step outside the law while potentially blaming himself for it.

The Significance Of Joe & Elliot's Final Conversation Explained

Elliot And Joe Make Amends, But With A Caveat

The relationship between the Stabler brothers has been a fragile one at best, as all three have their share of secrets, traumas, and resentments that were revealed throughout seasons 4 and 5. As Elliot and Randall (Dean Norris) worked to help their baby brother through his drug habit and extract him from the underworld, Joe found himself in an unwinnable situation, pitting him against his law enforcement brother in favor of Emery and the underworld dealings of Redcoat.

Joe found himself in an unwinnable situation, pitting him against his law enforcement brother in favor of Emery and the underworld dealings of Redcoat.

Their rooftop meeting allowed the two to share a brief, final moment that was filled with both cautious apprehension and concerned love for one another. Elliot gave Joe a parting gift: a necklace that he said came from Bernadette, which contained a tracking device attached. Joe's previous actions caused Elliot to doubt him and his information on the location, and by planting the tracker on his brother, Elliot may have inadvertently cost him his life, a point that will likely ripple through the season finale and beyond, should Law & Order: Organized Crime season 6 happen.

What Joe's Death Can Mean For Randall's Future

Randall's Anger Could Extract A Heavy Toll On Their Relationship

One of the deeper and more contentious relationships in Law & Order: Organized Crime is the one between Elliot and his older brother, Randall, which has been marred by years of resentment and anger between the two. Outside a rocky re-establishment of their relationship in season 4, the brothers have become closer through season 5 with a shared mission to help their mother through her health challenges, as well as to help Joe break free from the jaws of the underworld.

Although the two seem to be on a slightly more stable foundation, Randall reacts with anger and accuses Elliot of placing him in harm's way when it's revealed that Joe is his informant for Redcoat. As more details are revealed about Joe's death to the family, they could cause their fragile truce to implode, as Randall may blame Elliot for Joe's death and drive a wedge further between them and cause additional strife for Elliot in the season finale.

How Joe's Death Sets Up The Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Finale

What Is Elliot's Plan With Victor Now That McKenna Has Him?

The season finale of Law & Order: Organized Crime is now set with a major question about what Elliot plans to do with Victor (Paul Gorvin), who was last seen in the trunk of the car driven by Tim McKenna (Jason Patric) and offered to Elliot to enact street justice. Elliot's no stranger to operating outside the bounds of his badge when it's necessary, but this is a space fans have not seen him in before, and the duality of his grief and his need for justice in the legal method will likely tear at each other throughout the finale.

Whether Elliot stays within the lines of his badge will depend completely on where Julian Emery's whereabouts are, and how quickly he can bring him to justice. As Peacock has allowed Law & Order: Organized Crime to navigate many darker tones and stories, we can expect to see a conflicted and struggling Elliot leaning hard into Victor in order to get Emery. The only question for fans to see is whether Elliot will stay within his legal parameters, or whether the death of Joe will be too much for him to handle, especially if Randall places the blame on him.

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