Law & Order: Organized Crime: Is Angela Wheatley the villain or a victim?
Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 1, Episode 6 revealed why Angela Wheatley had Kathy Stabler killed. But was she really the villain here?
At the end of the most recent Law & Order crossover, we learned who killed Kathy Stabler: Angela Wheatley. Maybe it was because Tamara Taylor’s face is so recognizable as the beloved Cam from Bones, or maybe it’s just that Richard Wheatley has been set up as the Big Bad in Organized Crime Season 1, but something just didn’t add up.
So, was it a great twist? Was Angela the criminal mastermind all along, buddying up to Elliot Stabler and sharing one of the grossest on-screen kisses in recent memory just to keep him off her trail?
If her confession was any indication, the answer to that question is more complicated than a simple yes or no. Aside from Christopher Meloni’s constantly rolled-up sleeves and all the intense feelings that come with having Stabler back on our screens, that’s one of the best parts about Law &Order: Organized Crime.
Did Law & Order: Organized Crime reveal who killed Kathy Stabler
Before we get into the deep dive on Kathy’s murder here, let’s give Detective Stabler a round of applause for, you know, not being overly emotional and/or violent when he was present for Angela’s arrest. The man has come a long way, and the whole “ice water in his veins” thing was super attractive.
Of course, it would’ve been way more attractive to see Elliot, not the random dudes he later had to fight, in nothing but a towel…But that’s beside the point. Back to dissecting what part Angela played in Kathy’s murder and whether or not she’s actually to blame.
After being arrested, Angela only wanted to talk to Elliot, but he spent a little bit of time pouting and giving her the silent treatment. (Ok. Maybe he hasn’t grown up that much.) Once he took off his petty pants and remembered he was a seasoned NYPD Detective, though, Stabler was ready to ask just one question: Why?
Angela’s story looped back to her “rage and grief,” emotions with which Elliot is familiar (especially lately), after the death of her only son. There was a lot, however, about her confession that didn’t add up:
"I was insane. Inconsolable with rage and grief…Richard told me that it was a targeted hit by police as part of an anti-drug operation: Harlem Heat. He said—Richard said—that this operation was led by a detective by the name of Elliot Stabler…Detective Elliot Stabler, one of those faceless officers who guns down young Black men with impunity and expects never to face any consequences. Richard asked if I wanted him to die, this detective. And I said no. I wanted him to suffer, like I’m suffering. I wanted him to feel…this pain, worse than death."
Elliot congratulated Angela on her success in making him suffer, but as viewers of both Law & Order: Organized Crime and SVU know, all roads lead back to Purple Magic. Here’s what actually happened to Angela’s son. He was selling his own, knock-off, version of the drug, which cut into Richard’s profits.
Sure, his death was all about cracking down on Purple Magic sales. But it wasn’t Stabler, or any other NYPD officer for that matter, who thought his crime was punishable by immediate death: It was Richard Wheatley.
The other part of the confession that just didn’t make sense? Angela claimed she didn’t want anyone else to die, but knowing Richard and having said she wanted Elliot to suffer like she had, what exactly did she expect to happen? It doesn’t take a PhD, something Angela has in a logic-based field like Mathematics of all things, to figure out how he’d go about granting her wish.
In some sense, we can see Angela as a victim of her own misplaced trust in accepting Richard’s story. And she’s certainly a grieving mother.
But is she as innocent in all this, not intending for anyone else to die, as she claimed? Is her cooperation for the remainder of Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 1, Episode 6 really genuine, or is it more manipulation?
With two episodes left this season, there are sure to be more twists along the way. So, only time will tell. Either way, any relationship Angela had with Elliot, friendly or otherwise, had better be out the door. It’s not like she stood a chance against Olivia anyway.
You can catch Law & Order: Organized Crime on NBC, Thursdays at 10/9c.