LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: Tamara Taylor on Angela’s Drive to Protect Her Children

As Angela’s (Tamara Taylor) not-exactly-willing entanglement with her former husband Richard (Dylan McDermott) deepens on LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME, there’s a dangerous wild card that hasn’t come into play: their children.

In the first season, Richie (Nick Creegan) and Dana (Christina Karis) were firmly entrenched in Richard’s world, with Dana running much of the Wheatley family business, and Richie doing everything he could to prove himself to his father.

Now, Richie is in jail, last seen opting to not testify against his father, while Dana is on the run after seemingly setting up Elliot’s (Christopher Meloni) son Eli (Nicky Torchia) for murder.

But Angela’s first son, Raffi—who was later adopted by Richard—remains a sore spot…and was what kicked off the entire mess they’re in: After discovering Raffi had double-crossed him, Richard had him killed. But Richard blamed Raffi’s death on Elliot, prompting Angela to wish the cop would suffer like she was.

One murder later, Elliot became entrenched in their lives. Unfortunately for Angela, she learned the truth about her ex’s role in her firstborn’s death a bit too late.

So, how far will Angela go to avenge Raffi’s real killer? And after Taylor teased her character “will find a way out, one way or another” with Richard, would she even be willing to sacrifice her other children to take down the man who has derailed her life and murdered the son she called the love of her life?

“I would say she’s not willing to give up any of her kids,” Taylor says. “Raffi was her first, and as she said, the love of her life—and will always hold that part of her heart. But I don’t think any mother would give up her other kids in order to seek justice for the one that she lost. I can’t imagine that would be a choice that a mother would make. The opportunity to protect her children in present time, if anything, [now] she would go out of her way, and go above and beyond, in order to protect [them] because she couldn’t or didn’t protect her first son.”

With things spiraling around the family, in this case, protection might be keeping a distance. “It seems like she’s certainly willing to let them go to keep them safe,” Taylor acknowledges. “Unfortunately, she knows Richie is in jail for the foreseeable future. It is what it is, but at least she knows that he’s somewhat safe there. And she’s willing to send Dana away, as we see, in order to protect her. It’s like, ‘I don’t care where you go, just stay safe.'”

Of course, even if Angela wants to protect her children, there’s the very real question of if they’ve crossed a point of no return and can be saved.

“That’s been her concern since last season, when she witnessed how close Dana was getting to her father,” Taylor admits. “She’s been very well aware that Dana may have gone too far already. Angela’s an interesting character to me, very complex, because even though she knows her beloved daughter may be too far away for her to reach, she’s not going to stop trying.”

As the latest Wheatley arc approaches its end, Taylor has been relishing the twists and turns she’s gotten to play over the past year.

“The unfolding of Angela has been so deliciously unexpected,” Taylor gushes. “It’s been such a fun ride to take. From [showrunner] Ilene [Chaiken], who I just absolutely love, and our talks about who Angela is, because there’s definitely more to her than meets the eye—and it feels like she’s evolved as well.”

“I think the writers thought she was one thing, and Ilene’s described it as characters come to life; Angela has taken taken this different and unexpected path,” she continues. “And it’s just been so much fun getting to play with incredibly talented people. I mean, I just adore Chris Meloni. Dylan is an incredible dance partner. Creatively, it just couldn’t get better. It’s been so much fun.”

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

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