[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 5 “Lago D’Averno.”]
Isabella Spezzano (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) takes matters into her own hands (er, finger?) in the Law & Order: Organized Crime episode that dropped on Peacock on Thursday, May 8.
It was a family affair at her house when her brother, who paid someone off to pose as him in prison in Italy, showed up to kill her grandson, Roman (Alberto Frezza), who was not doing well after being shot in the shootout in Season 5 Episode 4. Though Isabella tried standing her ground, armed, she was overpowered and tied to a chair — and her finger cut off! Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) did show up to help, only for Isabella to be killed anyway … or so he thought, at first. (A positive ID was tough, due to the extent of the gunshot to her face.) But once she was at the coroner’s (Welcome back, Tamara Tunie!), he realized this body had all her fingers…
Below, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio reacts to that twist, ponders her character’s future, and more. (This was her last episode, at least for now, she says.)
First, I was like, shocking twist, Isabella is dead. Then it turns out she’s alive and it becomes more of a fun twist. What was your reaction?
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio: Well, it’s great, but I mean, I have to say at the time, it was, “Wait, I’m being overpowered by this woman. Wait a minute, wait a minute. First of all, I’m raising horses, so I would say I have a muscle or two. Second of all, okay, but I’m going to go along with this.” It was great. It’s fun. She’s somewhere.
Virginia Sherwood / Peacock
She has to know that Stabler would realize she’s still alive due to the finger. What was she thinking?
I think she was thinking that the only way this ends is if I disappear and he doesn’t need to know, and then I don’t incriminate him either. I don’t endanger him if nobody knows where I am. But you can’t really prove that because he could always say, I don’t know where she is. But if you don’t give anyone information, then they’re not liable, not co-conspirators or whatever. So she just leaves.
What can you say about what she’s up to?
I don’t know what she’s up to. I think she’s trying to keep her remaining grandchildren alive and just to end this whole thing. I mean, she can’t end the whole organized crime. That’s not what she’s up for. She’s trying to save probably her granddaughter, God knows what the older boy is up to anymore. And at a certain point, you have to just also — they’re just going to come for her again if they know where she is. She should have entered the witness protection program, but she’s sort of self-imposed her own witness protection. She’ll just go now.
Isabella doesn’t know it was Eli (Nicky Torchia) specifically who shot Pietro (Luca Rickman), right? Because she says it was the police, but she blames her brother. So it seems like she wouldn’t hold any ill will towards Stabler or his son if she knew, right?
I don’t know. Does she know? She doesn’t know. He’s not told her.
Yeah. It feels like at least to this point, Isabella and Stabler’s dynamic is as amicable as it can be considering everything. Would you agree?
I do agree. He needs her professionally, and she needs him just — It’s the only decision she’s been allowed in her life, apart from whether or not she actually killed her husband. I think she just snapped. But the only decision she’s been unwittingly allowed in her life is to get out of Italy and go with the feds, actually go with the Americans just to try to get out of this. Otherwise nothing’s going to change. And they’re all going to go anyway. So everyone’s going to get absorbed into this crime family, blah, blah, blah. So she says, well, let’s go. We’re all in. And maybe even in her most pragmatic, which people tend to be as pragmatic, I say, well, I’d rather get killed there than get killed here than to languish here in some prison. Then I’ll just go try something else. So that’s what she does, and it starts to backfire. And the only way out is just to let everyone think she’s dead.
What do you imagine the dynamic between Isabella and Stabler will be like the next time they cross paths?
Well, it’s interesting. I never really thought about it. There’s a part of me that wishes she would just, or thinks, well, maybe it’s just best if one day, what if she knew where he was all the time and he had no idea where she was and that finally he sees her across Madison Square Park or wherever they are, and all she does is wave and then disappears. Or he thinks he sees her, well, he actually does, and then she just disappears again. So she’s stalking him. That would be interesting.
So we’re not going to see you again this season?
No, I’ve only done three. That was my contract. If there were four, I might’ve said no. It’s such long days, I have to tell you, if people only knew. I was on set one day, and I thought, you know what? Working in television’s like sitting, you’re looking in this big room, it’s organized, it’s clean, but it’s like sitting in someone else’s very cluttered but clean garage for 12 hours in the dark. That’s what working on television is. You’re on the set and it’s great and you’re in this chair and there’s things everywhere and there’s people and you just keep going like this little automaton. It’s long, long days.
Talk about working with Christopher.
He’s great. He’s great. He’s so committed to this — well, I suppose always to the franchise. He’s been doing it most of his career and he loves his family and he likes everyone around. He’s very respectful. He’s not a chatterbox – no one has that kind of energy during the day, but he’s very funny as well. I mean, just really funny. And he’s great to be with, just great to be around and is always thinking ahead, is this going to make sense with that? Is that going to make sense with that? And just keeps at it. God bless him.
So Roman is going to turn evidence against the Camorra. How might Isabella feel about that? Because I feel like her feelings about him are the most complicated of all the grandkids.
Yeah. Well, if he does, he should. I mean, that’s all that’s left, and that’s what she’s done. So we’re either going to do us, we’re either all in or not. And I don’t know what she thinks he’s going to do. He can just remain tight-lipped about it all and that’s OK because she will have gone and he can take care of his sister.
Who would you say is the most dangerous member of the family? Isabella was worried about her brother, but I’m leaning towards it being her actually.
Well, that’s very interesting now. I think she knows really how ruthless they can be. So she is willing, more than willing, to meet them. However low they go, she’s willing to go there because that’s the only way to stop it. Otherwise, she leaves the children — and she’s left the children vulnerable anyway, which is the sad part. It didn’t quite work, but she’ll move — I don’t know. She’ll go live someplace quietly.
What was your favorite scene to film?
There was a scene in [Stabler’s] apartment, which is so, and I don’t even know if — it’s funny because I think they changed one of the lines, which would’ve been the reason she was at his apartment. And I thought, well, why did she show up at his apartment at 10 o’clock at night? This is kind of odd, guys, but I just like sitting opposite Chris, just sharing lines, sharing thoughts and information, and it was just nice. It was quiet.
How much experience had you had horseback riding before this?
Sometimes I have a dream that I’m still on that damn horse. I don’t know why I had to be on a horse. Years ago, I actually, I had to barrel ride. I had to charge out on a horse. So for that, I’ve never been more sore in my life. I could not walk up the steps of my house. I could not get up the steps. But then I was OK. Now as an older person with no hormones, I am terrified of these. I love them. It’s the only animal I’ve ever wanted. But I know better than to think I know horses. Yeah, I shouldn’t be on a horse ever again. [Laughs]
Law & Order: Organized Crime, Thursdays, Peacock
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
