Summary

Collider’s Marisa Williams talks with Rick Gonazalez for Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5.

Season 5 brings a new tone with more freedom to push boundaries on Peacock.

Gonzalez discusses what he wants to explore with Reyes going forward, his parallels with Elliot Stabler, and more.

Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 has officially reached the midway point. So far we have seen an old-new threat, the Camorra, coming in as the Los Santos gang experiences a power vacuum. In order to figure out exactly where things sit, Detective Bobby Reyes, played by Rick Gonzalez, is sent undercover once again. Gonzalez has been with the show since Season 3.
Ahead of the midseason of Organized Crime, I sat down with Gonzalez to talk about where things have been for Reyes, what he wants to see with him, and the real-life skill that Reyes could take on.
Rick Gonzalez Talks ‘Organized Crime’s Most Fun Change

“As I should.”

Image via Peacock

COLLIDER: I’ve been loving everything I’ve been seeing so far from this season. Organized Crime moved to Peacock. What has been the biggest change you’ve seen with the show since moving?
RICK GONZALEZ: We’ve found some sort of tone that brings the edginess and a bite to it. I feel like it’s always been there, in a way, but I think now we have the freedom to push those ideas that we’ve wanted to do. I feel like the season’s indicative of that. I feel like we’re really allowing ourselves to just tell the story the way we want to. Here we are. God willing, we get another season, and we’ll be able to even push it further.
Seasons and seasons and seasons to come, please. There’s so much more of a grittiness, but you’re right, it’s always been there. You guys get to swear now, and that’s fun.
GONZALEZ: For me, seeing Stabler curse, that’s great, right? That’s what we were waiting for!
Oh, yeah. I think the internet went into an absolute frenzy the first time.
GONZALEZ: I was on set telling them, “No, give him the F-bomb. No. Make him say it. I don’t want to say it. Make him say it.”
I think you dropped the first F-bomb of the season.
GONZALEZ: As I should. [Laughs]
That’s been so great. Reyes went back undercover with Los Santos. As an actor, how do you tease out the mindset between your character versus your character going undercover, or is it more like you’re basically playing two different characters that would be on the same show? What goes through your mind as an actor with your craft?
GONZALEZ: It’s really in the writing, so it’s sort of what they create for the character. With specifically the Los Santos character, it felt like a Dominican gang. So, for me, I understood what that meant a little bit, just creating a guy who came out of jail and needed a job. He knew how desperate this gang was for soldiers, so what does that guy sound like, feel like, his energy? What does that mean? I feel like that’s who Reyes is, someone who understands people in so many different walks of life.
In Season 3, I literally, in my mind, saw him as someone who had a trunk full of clothes and different items and things that he could use at his disposal if he needed to go undercover at a moment’s notice. I just felt like it was easy. I don’t want to say “easy,” but I feel like Reyes understood and was excited about the idea of having to go undercover for the Los Santos because he knew culturally what that meant in terms of that world. That’s very close to him. So he just knew, “Okay, I know the energy. I know what they’re looking for. I know their soft spot. So, here I go.” I felt like as an actor, in terms of the writing, it makes it easy for me because they create these characters as we go undercover. Then it’s obvious to see Reyes dive into those people’s.
Rick Gonzalez Wants To See More of Reyes’ Home Life in ‘Organized Crime’

“There’s so much that’s happened in his life.”

Image via NBC

Absolutely. You’re talking about how in Season 3 he had all of this at his disposal. What’s something with Reyes that you feel like you haven’t gotten to do yet?
GONZALEZ: That’s a very good question. I feel as though maybe seeing what his home life is more, and dive into what that means and what he’s dealing with emotionally, and the toll that losing his safety net with Jet [Slootmaekers (Aisley Singer)] now means for him. He’s alone again. He’s just been divorced. He saw his foster brothers betray him. He got really close with his partner, Detective Whelan, and then he passes away. There’s so much that’s happened in his life. What does that mean? How is he dealing with that? I would like to see more of that and see what he’s dealing with at home.
Could Rick Gonzalez’s Real-Life DJing Skills Come Up on ‘Organized Crime’?

“I just wrote the episode. There it is.”

Image via NBC

I grew up watching the franchise as a whole, and I’d always seen this parallel between Reyes and Stabler, and you and Chris [Meloni] always have these amazing scenes. Talk about that, in terms of what you want to explore.
GONZALEZ: I want to be correct in understanding Stabler and his journey. I feel as though he is a family man, and he ended up losing his wife, so there is loss there. He still has his family unit, and he’s worked hard to protect them and keep them together. I think they’re both similar in that they’re relentless and care so much about what they do, regardless of the pain that they have to deal with. I think there are a lot of aspects to Reyes that may be a little bit different in terms of what Reyes has had to lose, and the way they were raised. I think Stabler had a dad who was in the force, Reyes grew up in foster care, so, already, Reyes was working from a depleted place. Somehow, some way, Reyes was able to hit the straight and narrow and figure out his life and find his purpose. But I think they’re both strong individuals, and they respect each other in terms of their purpose and what they need to do. I think that’s kind of how they’re similar.
You DJ, so when are we going to see him go undercover as a DJ?
GONZALEZ: [Laughs] I know! I’m going to tell the writers, “Hey, can we create a moment where Reyes is in the club and trying to get close to the promoter who’s a serial killer-slash-business tycoon?” I just wrote the episode. There it is. Done.
You can watch episodes of Law & Order: Organized Crime now on Peacock. New episodes air on Thursdays.

Law and Order: Organized Crime

Release Date

April 1, 2021

Network

NBC, Peacock

Showrunner

Bryan Goluboff

Directors

John Polson, Jean de Segonzac, Jon Cassar, Stephen Surjik, Sharon Lewis, Simón Brand, Bethany Rooney, Jonathan Brown, Milena Govich, Ken Girotti, Gonzalo Amat, Tess Malone, Alex Hall, Anna Dokoza, Brenna Malloy, Monica Raymund, Sarah Boyd, Nelson McCormick, Leslie Hope, Rob J. Greenlea, Oz Scott, Michael Slovis, Alex Zakrzewski, Kate Woods

Writers

Amy Berg, John Shiban, Liz Sagal, Nichole Beattie, Will Pascoe, Emmy Higgins, Candice Sanchez McFarlane, Katrina Cabrera Ortega, Bridget Tyler, Davon Briggs, Alec Wells, Michael Konyves, Josh Fagin, Sean Jablonski, Gwen Sigan, David Graziano, Daniel Beaty, Katie Letien, Rick Eid, Nick Culbertson, Jean Kyoung Frazier, Christina Piña