LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME Post-Mortem: Tamara Taylor Breaks Down Angela and Richard’s Messy Dynamic

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Thursday, January 20 episode of LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, “As Iago Is To Othello.”]

The twisted, convoluted relationship between LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME’s Richard (Dylan McDermott) and Angela (Tamara Taylor) took some dark turns on the Thursday, January 20 hour, “As Iago Is To Othello.”

With Richard on a high over an apparent win—both getting his fortunes back and thinking he reunited with his ex, Angela—he was ready to celebrate. But when Angela rejected him, romantically, Richard spiraled. “The idea of you with another man—I can’t tolerate it,” he said, threatening her with a knife.

“It was really fun to be Dylan’s dance partner [in filming the sequence], because we were asked by the director, Fred [Berner], to sort of riff a little bit and lengthen the scene, because there were a whole bunch of cutaways,” Taylor shares. “We just needed more than was on the page. And Dylan just sort of rubbed his hands together, and was like, ‘Yay, this is what I love to do, this is my favorite part.’ And so I said, ‘Well, I will be your Ginger Rogers. I will follow your lead—I’ll just be here responding.’ And he went for it.”

“It definitely felt—and I don’t know how the audience will read it—but it felt like it got a lot darker than it was on the page,” she continues. “And it actually it went to this glorious place that maybe encapsulates their sort of twisted dynamic in one scene. I think some people think—and I’d like to think—Angela runs Richard. She’s smarter than him, she’s out in front of things, for the most part. She’s the one that got away, for him. But you do see a different dynamic emerge, where you’re like, oh, there might be a little sort of crazy, scary, power dynamic that these two have. Because as powerful as she is, I think she is a little afraid of him. And certainly, at this point, he’s tried to kill her twice. I think she might have thought she was bulletproof before last season’s finale, but, now, I think she realizes she is definitely not special.”

But still, Angela clung to possible control of her life, going on a job interview in an attempt to reclaim her teaching career. However, Richard, jealous after seeing her on a date with Elliot (Christopher Meloni)—a set-up designed by the detective entirely to push his foe’s buttons—tanked the interview for his ex, leaving Angela out of options yet again.

And after Richard was physical with her, McClane (Robin Lord Taylor)—who was forced into a partnership with the crime boss—taunted him, attempting to goad Richard into killing him. To save McClane’s life, Angela reunited with Richard.

“It’s interesting, because I do wonder if there’s a certain level of…I don’t want to say surrender about it, [but] there are certainly some things that she does in these upcoming episodes, and you wonder, ‘Why is she doing this?'” Taylor admits. “And even the audience is like, ‘Doesn’t she remember that he killed her kid?’ She absolutely does. But Richard’s attempted to kill her, twice, and will do it again. She’s kind of trapped. And I think, you know, aside from McClane being this wonderful potential beacon of light and escape, she’s just kind of sticking close to Richard as much for herself as to keep other people safe at this point.”

It wasn’t the only blow Angela received during the hour: During the “date” with Elliot, he made it clear they were done.

“I would say I don’t think Angela’s entirely [surprised],” Taylor says. “I think she knows Elliot enough to know that there’s no coming back or no reclaiming whatever initial spark or feeling they had for one another. She knows him well enough to know he’s not coming back. I think she, of course, holds out a secret hope, because she’s still in love with him; she hopes against hope that maybe she’s wrong.”

“Doing that scene was really interesting, because I think she tries to take it in stride,” she continues. “It’s the first time he’s ever really come out and said it like that. It was a little bit of an, ‘Oh.’ It was a little bit of a punch in the gut. But she’s grown and she kind of expected it to some degree.”

With Angela now firmly entangled with Richard, whether she likes it or not, how will she be able to try and save herself moving forward?

“As an actor, you’re doing one thing, [but] you don’t know how it’s going to be perceived,” Taylor teases. “But…she’s playing chess now. Every move is as calculated as it can be. There’s no opportunity missed. And I think she will find a way out, one way or another.”

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, Thursdays, 10/9c, NBC

RELATED:

• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Robin Lord Taylor Teases a Potential Interaction Between McClane and Jet
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: ‘As Iago Is To Othello’ Photos
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME Post-Mortem: Tamara Taylor and Robin Lord Taylor Break Down Angela and McClane’s New Connection
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Tamara Taylor on Angela (Accidentally) Blowing Her Cover
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Robin Lord Taylor Previews McClane’s Complex Relationship with the Wheatleys
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: ‘As Nottingham Was To Robin Hood’ Photos
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: ‘Nemesis’ Photos
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Which Wheatley is the Most Dangerous?
• LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT’s Peter Scanavino on Filming the Massive Crossover with OC, and the Case That ‘Outrages’ Carisi
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME Post-Mortem: Ilene Chaiken Teases What’s Next for the Mysterious Wheatley Women
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME Scoop: Robin Lord Taylor to Recur
• LAW & ORDER: Ilene Chaiken and Danielle Moné Truitt Preview Wheatley’s Return in the SVU-ORGANIZED CRIME Crossover
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Ilene Chaiken Teases a ‘Very Christmas-y’ Crossover Hour, Stabler Family Drama
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME’s Danielle Moné Truitt and Ilene Chaiken Preview Bell’s Career Ambitions, New Dynamic with Brewster
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME Post-Mortem: The Team Breaks Down ‘Ashes to Ashes’ and What Didn’t Make the Cut
• NBC Boss Teases Potential LAW & ORDER and ONE CHICAGO Crossovers
• LAW & ORDER: Raúl Esparza Sets Return for SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT-ORGANIZED CRIME Crossover
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME’s Ilene Chaiken Teases the Next Step in Elliot and Olivia’s Relationship
• The LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME Team Teases the End of the Kosta Arc
• LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT and ORGANIZED CRIME Bosses Share How They’ve Crafted a Shared Universe
• LAW & ORDER Stars Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni Weigh in on a Potential Benson/Stabler Relationship: ‘It Just Has to be Earned’
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Danielle Moné Truitt and Tamara Taylor Reflect on Their Favorite Season 1 Scenes
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Tamara Taylor on How Angela is Handling Richard’s Revelation About Elliot’s One True Love
• LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME Boss on the Botched ‘I Love You’: ‘It Now Lingers in Their Relationship’

Follow @GiveMeMyRemote and @marisaroffman on Twitter for the latest TV news. Connect with other TV fans on GIVE ME MY REMOTE’s official Facebook page.

And be the first to see our exclusive videos by subscribing to our YouTube channel.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases made through links/ads placed on the site.