Why ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ Won’t Be on NBC After Season 5 Premiere

The fifth season of Law & Order: Organized Crime is arriving with a change that marks the end of its run on NBC’s linear network.

After the upcoming season premiere, the series will shift exclusively to streaming on Peacock, leaving behind its longtime Thursday night home.

The procedural drama, a spinoff in the Law & Order franchise featuring Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, Rick Gonzalez as undercover expert Bobby Reyes and Ainsley Seiger as tech genius Jet Slootmaekers, will kick off its fifth season in the familiar broadcast slot before transitioning permanently to the digital platform.

When Does ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ premiere?

Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 will premiere on NBC at 10 p.m. ET April 17. This episode will be the only one to air on NBC this season before the show moves to Peacock for the remainder of its run. The first two episodes of the season will also be available on Peacock on April 17.

A trailer released on March 19 teased high-stakes drama as Stabler navigates new personal and professional challenges, including fallout from the previous season’s intense finale.

Is ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ canceled?

No, the show has not been canceled—but it is being relocated. Following its NBC debut, Organized Crime will air all subsequent episodes of Season 5 exclusively on Peacock. This marks a first for a Law & Order series, as none of the franchise’s titles have previously aired exclusively on a streaming platform.

How to Watch the New Season of ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’

To continue watching after the premiere, fans will need to subscribe to Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming platform. The streaming service offers multiple subscription tiers, including ad-supported and premium ad-free options.

Episodes of previous seasons are also currently available on the service, allowing viewers to catch up or revisit earlier arcs involving the Organized Crime Control Bureau and its cases.

According to IMDb, the first episode of the new season is titled “Lost Highway.”

What Will Happen During Season 5 of ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’?

While fans will have to wait for the Season 5 premiere to understand exactly what’s to come, the end of Season 4—which premiered in May 2024—was a cliff-hanger. As Stabler grappled with devoting his time to work and family, his brother, Joe Jr., was in trouble.

In Season 4, Joey, played by Michael Trotter, got clean from heroin and went undercover to chase criminal drug supplier Julian Emery. The last viewers see of Joey, he was on board Emery’s private jet, handcuffed to a briefcase containing chemical weapons. It’s possible Stabler will work to save his younger brother in the new season.

In the Season 5 trailer, Stabler is asked to go undercover, as the OCCB appears to investigate an outbreak of serial murders. We also see a brief shot of Stabler in a hospital bed after what appears to be a car accident.

According to Peacock, Season 5 “explores 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.”

Fans of Law & Order: Organized Crime can catch up on old episodes of the series on Peacock.