(NBC) – Tonight’s the season finales for both hours of NBC’s “Law and Order” franchise: longtime hit “SVU” and the new kid on the block, “Organized Crime.”
Actors Christopher Meloni and Dylan McDermott discuss Thursday’s season-ender for the rookie series “Organized Crime.”
When Christopher Meloni came back to the world of “Law and Order,” it may have felt like old times, but he says pandemic-stricken New York felt different.
“When I got here in June, it felt like a bad dystopian B movie, you know, the zombie apocalypse,” revealed Meloni. “It was weird.”
But enough normalcy returned to allow “Law and Order: Organized Crime” to get underway. And last week’s episode saw a subway showdown between detective Elliott Stabler and his target crime boss, Richard Wheatley, played by Dylan McDermott.
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME — “Forget It, Jake; It’s Chinatown” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC) 
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME — “Forget It, Jake; It’s Chinatown” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Geraldine Hughes as Dr. Katherine Carpenter-Grey, Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC) 
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME — “Forget It, Jake; It’s Chinatown” Episode 108 — Pictured: Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC) 
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME — “Forget It, Jake; It’s Chinatown” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Barbara Eve Harris as Athena Davis, Dylan McDermott as Richard Wheatley, Christina Karis as Dana Wheatley, Janell Sexton as Abeni Samuels, Hope Blackstock as Erica Yalskin, Nick Creegan as Richie Wheatley — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC) 
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME — “Forget It, Jake; It’s Chinatown” Episode 108 — Pictured: Danielle Moné Truitt as Sergeant Ayanna Bell, Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, Allison Siko as Kathleen Stabler — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC) 
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME — “Forget It, Jake; It’s Chinatown” Episode 108 — Pictured: Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC) 
LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME — “Forget It, Jake; It’s Chinatown” Episode 108 — Pictured: Barbara Eve Harris as Athena Davis — (Photo by: Eric Liebowitz/NBC)
“It was pretty cool right now that it’s over,” said McDermott. “Yeah, well, we defy you to have a, have a fight, on a moving train. It’s a lot. It’s a lot of fun.”
McDermott compared the experience to one of his favorite films as a kid, the ‘70s subway thriller, “The Taking of Pelham 123.”
“I’ve been really nostalgic lately, and I think maybe, you know, fighting on a train really did it for me as he brings it out,” said McDermott. “Brings it all out.”
And even though the episode ended with Wheatley in custody, McDermott says the character still has cards to play in tonight’s season finale.
“He just goes on and on and on,” said McDermott. “There’s not this is a guy that even if you riddled him with bullets, he still would find a way to come back.”
Meloni found his way back to a familiar role and turf.
“Law and Order is like New York’s hometown show,” said Meloni. “It’s very sweet.”
Except for the bad guys.
“Law and Order: Organized Crime” airs tonight at 10 p.m., preceded by the season finale of “SVU” at 9 p.m. and “Manifest” starts the night at 8 p.m.
Manifest wraps up its season next Thursday.
