[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 Episode 9 “Off the Books.”]

Law & Order: Organized Crime delivers a devastating blow to the Stabler family in the penultimate episode of Season 5 — and it sets Stabler (Christopher Meloni) on a dark path.

His brother, Joe Jr. (Michael Trotter), has made his way into the inner circle of crime boss Julian Emery (Tom Payne), and thanks to a call, Stabler now knows he’s in New York. But Emery tells Joe he knows his secret then brings him to see a demonstration of what happens to those who break his trust: They get killed.

Emery’s been taking hits lately, and it seems he’s back in the States to reestablish himself and get a big payday with a new drug, captagon, a highly addictive psychoactive stimulant. Stabler does eventually tell Tanner (Olivia Thirlby) that his brother is his CI and insists he trusts him. But is that the right call? The next time Joe reaches out and tells him where Emery will be closing a deal, the crime boss is watching. He promises it will be worth it. And so when the raid goes down, Emery’s nowhere to be found. In fact, he apparently used the NYPD to take his competition off the board. As he tells Joe, he’s not going to see his son again since they’ll have to disappear after the deal, though they will be very wealthy.

Randall (Dean Norris) ambushes Stabler at work upon hearing from Kathleen (Allison Siko) that Joe called. “This is our family,” he says. Furthermore, he’s been having premonitions. “It’s really dark. Something bad’s going to happen to Joe,” he insists. Stabler admits he doesn’t know where Joe will land and he’s making nonsensical moves. Randall, as the big brother, feels he needs to help, so Stabler has him sit on their mother’s phone in case Joe reaches out to her again. That works, with Joe telling Randall to tell their brother to meet him in their spot.

During the meet, Joe does as Emery instructed, sending Stabler to Staten Island so they can conduct their business in Bay Ridge. (He claims Emery got spooked, which is why he wasn’t at the previous deal, but he promises he’s not compromised.) He also tells his brother that Emery sees him as a confidant and the crime boss used the nerve gas he had to buy his way in with Syrian suppliers. Stabler remarks that he looks like he’s settling into his role, and Joe thinks he still sees him as a “f**k-up,” arguing he’s the one who’s put his life on the line and he’s about to give it all to him. Stabler apologizes and gives him a necklace from their mother. Joe wants him to make sure she knows he’s clean, and Stabler tells him that she never knew he was using. As they hug, Stabler tells him to come home when it’s over.

But then everything goes sideways. The necklace from Bernie — St. Christopher medal — is a tracker, as Emery discovers once his muscle reports that the police are on their way to their location. A shootout ensues, and Emery uses Joe as a shield before they leave in a car. Stabler follows, finds where they’ve stopped, and begins searching the area. Emery then calls him and offers a deal: remove the APB on him so he can leave town, or Joe dies. But with helicopters in the air, it’s too late, and Stabler can only follow the gunshot … to where he finds Joe, shot in the chest, bleeding out. He immediately calls for an ambulance, but it’s too late, and all he can do is hold his brother and beg him to stay with him as he dies.

It’s while Stabler’s sitting at the crime scene after that Bell’s (Danielle Moné Truitt) absence is really felt. Tanner sits with him and tells him to go be with his family, but the moment would be more poignant if it was someone he hadn’t just met with him,

Stabler then must tell his family, though we don’t hear what he says. We only see Randall’s reaction, then Kathleen’s.

The episode ends with Stabler meeting McKenna (Jason Patric). His old friend brought him a gift: Emery’s muscle. He caught him fleeing the shootout and was going to book him, then heard about Joe. They can take him in or go for a ride. “Let’s go for a ride,” Stabler says.

Were you shocked by Joe’s death? What do you think Stabler’s going to do in the finale? Let us know in the comments section below.

Law & Order: Organized Crime, Season 5 Finale, Thursday, June 12, Peacock