‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’: Going Against Julian Emery ‘Puts a Lot of People in Danger’

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 4 Episode 11 “Redcoat.”]

Somewhere, Martin Whitly is proudly going, “My boy!” (Sorry, we simply had to get a Prodigal Son reference in.) Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s latest villain has made his onscreen debut, and Tom Payne‘s Julian Emery appears to have his claws in one of Stabler’s (Christopher Meloni) brothers.

Stabler’s undercover op comes to an end with Angus (Stephen Lang) in custody—and agreeing to share all he knows. But what Stabler doesn’t know is that his brother Joe Jr. (Michael Trotter) joins Emery on his plane in the final scene. Emery tells “Junior” to “buckle up.”

Below, Tate Ellington, who plays the team’s tech expert Vargas, teases what’s next in the case again Emery, how the season ends, and more.

The episode ends with the reveal of Joe on the plane with Julian, so how does that shake things up for the team? It’s one thing to discover that one of Stabler’s brothers works in the same warehouse where Sam’s blood is found, but this is on a different level.

Tate Ellington: That’s the thing. We’re basically really finding out how far this goes in the next few episodes. I think it definitely starts to hit home for Stabler, especially in that last episode with Dean Norris‘ Randall Stabler and finding Sam’s blood in that warehouse. We believe that’s where it took place, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of that. It definitely is headed for a trajectory that puts a lot of people in danger and I think really, really does get personal. And then as a team, we are all doing our best to understand what our teammate’s going through and try and help in any way possible and be there for them and be there for each other because it’s a difficult time. We lost a colleague in the last episode, and we’re all feeling that and feeling a responsibility for it and wanting to do anything we can to bring whoever did this to justice and try and set things right.

Does the team think they might be in the best position they’ve been in this season with Angus in custody and saying that he’ll tell everything he knows?

Absolutely. Especially for anything like this, if you have anybody who’s willing to be a witness or testify or to help you get to the bottom of it… I think right now we are in a good position because we have that. We have something that should help out that will be a force. It also helps us know the ins and outs of this organization as best we can. So we’re in a great position to try and get to the bottom of it.

Zach Dilgard / NBC

You said Vargas will be going into the field. Is that tied to anything revealed in this episode? Or anything that Angus is going to be telling them?

Not necessarily. We do run across some technical difficulties in this one that then will play into the next one. I get to go into the field with Rick [Gonzalez], Detective Reyes. I had an absolute blast because I don’t get out of the office much when we’re shooting and all the crew on set’s like, “Hey, you’re outside, this is great, you get to see the sun.” We were out in Long Island or Queens, at a very loud place. I can’t give too much away, but it was just an absolute blast. We had such an amazing time and especially I think Vargas, end of the day, thinks this is all really cool. As much as he maybe should be terrified of what’s happening, I think he thinks this is amazing and it’s him getting to feel as cool as the people he is around, which I can identify with, so it’s kind of easy to play. But yeah, it’s some fun stuff coming up, and I really like the dynamic between Vargas and Reyes. It’s a fun little bit older brother just kind of picking on his younger brother. So I’m very excited for that episode.

What’s next in this case and is the team going after Julian? Can you say anything about any of the team’s interactions with Julian? Are we going to see Vargas and Julian interacting?

I cannot give too much away, but it’s always weird when you’re with a cast that you don’t see very often. And so then a lot of times I haven’t seen half the cast that are on the show. I got to meet and do that scene with Dean. I passed Joe in the hallway. And also Ellen Burstyn, I worked with her 20 years ago. She played my mother as well and so still have not gotten the chance to go say hey to her. But yeah, Vargas definitely gets a lot more to do in these coming episodes and really starts to, I think, feel his place. So by the time we wrap up, it’s a really nice place to be.

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What can you tease about the finale and how it sets up another season?

I can tease that it sets up one in many ways, but I don’t want to give too much away because I want to make sure that everybody’s excited when it happens. It’s a power-packed episode. It is very action-packed. It leads to some excitement. So definitely gear up and be ready for it because it’s a nice build. This episode coming up builds into the next, which builds into the finale, so it’s a rollercoaster for the next three, which is great.

What can you say about the position that Vargas is in at the end of the season? Would we be seeing you in a potential fifth season?

Above my pay grade, I as a person who’s having a blast hope so. We’ll see. But I’ve had an amazing, amazing time with this cast and crew. I’ve been a fan of Law & Order and Law & Order: SVU for forever. I watched it when it aired 25 years ago at this point. And also a huge fan of Chris’. So that’s been a real dream come true, just to work with him. And so yeah, I am fingers crossed, but I never know until I know.

Law & Order: Organized Crime, Thursdays, 10/9c, NBC