[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 3 Episode 9, “Last Christmas.”]
At least for now, that wasn’t the “Last Christmas” the duty power shall be collectively for on Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Heading into the episode, the members of the unit thought the very last thing they’d do collectively can be to satisfy with Robert Silas (John Doman) and make a deal for the data he has. Things, in fact, went sideways — Sergeant Ayanna Bell (Danielle Moné Truitt) and her detectives, Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni), Jet Slootmaekers (Ainsley Seiger), Jamie Whelan (Brent Antonello) and Bobby Reyes (Rick Gonzalez) had been ambushed — however labored out ultimately. After that, Bell determined she wasn’t taking the brand new job and would as a substitute be staying proper the place she is — and meaning the duty power isn’t being shut down (however that cleanse with the sage Jamie gave her? Much wanted for the workplace).
“I think Bell is a woman of principle. I think she’s a woman that is gonna follow her gut. At the end of the day, even when she tries to do something that’s kind of outside of who she is, eventually she’s gonna come back to what feels right to her and what’s true,” Truitt tells TV Insider of that call. “And I think after going through a life and death experience with those other four people in the task force, it makes her realize this really is where she wants to be. Instead of [Deputy Inspector] Lillian [Goldfarb, played by Janel Moloney] being able to come in and say, ‘I’m shutting this down,’ she’s like, well, ‘I’m gonna go above you, and I’m gonna talk to the people above you to make sure this doesn’t get shut down.’”
Cara Howe/NBC
While luckily, there have been just some minor accidents sustained in that life-and-death scenario (amongst them: Bell sliced open her leg early on), the expertise did result in her “seeing things a little more clearly,” Truitt explains. She realized “there were more options for her.”
Furthermore, she’s realized she’s the place she belongs. “She’s like, ‘well, based on this situation that happened and us barely getting out alive, this is what I’m purposed to do,’” she continues. “This is her purpose in life. And whatever your purpose, it’s on you to figure out how to continue walking in that purpose because that’s what life is about: fulfilling our purpose.”
Things did get tense between members of the duty power within the fall finale: Stabler and Bell in regards to the job power shutting down because it began because of his spouse’s homicide, and Stabler and Jamie about handing over Silas in the course of the ambush. “Some stuff is sorted out. … I think they understand who Bell is, what her position is, and at the end of the day, they can be mad at her if they want. It doesn’t matter. Bell’s like, ‘I’m the leader, and I’m gonna do what’s best, and you guys will have to get over it,’” Truitt laughs.
“That’s part of family; that’s a part of working together. People have to put aside their egos. They have to put aside what they think is right. You have to do that in order to be a team,” she provides. “I think Bell is gonna move forward with her head held high. She’s gonna keep what is important in the forefront. And everybody, including her, will have to lick their wounds and do what’s best for the team.”
Bell did reach holding the duty power up and operating, however may there be any penalties consequently? It was going to be shut down, in any case. Truitt doesn’t anticipate there to be after the dialog she had (off-screen) with the chief. “In my mind, when she went to the chief, she explained all the work that they’ve done, the reason why this task force should not be shut down,” she shares. “And Bell is very persuasive, once she gets going and talking and explaining, plus [there’s] the passion attached to her wanting to stay in this position.”
That being mentioned, Truitt previews, “there’s always gonna be a little bit of the brass watching Bell and watching what she’s doing because they’ve given her another chance to keep the task force going. She’ll have to deal with a new deputy inspector [Ray Thurman, played by James Roch]. You will get to see that and how that relationship pans out and what obstacles are presented in that situation.”
As for her household — she’d mentioned that the opposite job would imply extra regular working hours, which was going to be higher in any fights with Denise (Keren Dukes) for custody of their son — Bell will determine one thing else out.
Law & Order: Organized Crime, Winter Premiere, Thursday, January 5, 10/9c, NBC