Spoilers ahead for the 500th episode of Law & Order, called "No Good Deed."
Despite a long delay in getting started due to the WGA writers strike, Law & Order returned in the 2024 TV schedule with enough time to reach a major milestone: the 500th episode. In "No Good Deed," a therapist was brutally assaulted and murdered by a man who had just gotten out of prison, and the timing of the case raised the stakes in more ways than one. The result was a confrontation that has arguably been inevitable ever since Tony Goldwyn joined the show as DA Baxter, and a question was raised that might not be answered for months.
Baxter And Price Butted Heads
ADA Price (Hugh Dancy) was in hot water in "No Good Deed" when it was revealed that the murderer had been convicted of aggravated rape but made a plea deal to serve only five years. Price was the one who made that deal, which led Baxter to decide that the optics required him to try the case with Price sitting second chair.
Price wasn't thrilled about it, and the two men got off on the wrong foot pretty quickly when Price suggested Baxter would be too busy to try the case, while Baxter shot back that nothing was more important than getting justice for a woman who had been assaulted and killed.
Their disagreement turned into a shouting match later, when Baxter was frustrated with the lack of information Price brought him and Price was trying to tactfully point out that Baxter fast-tracked the case. Baxter said "that is not an excuse," to which Price shot back that it's "a fact."
And all bets were off! Price believed that Baxter was only trying the case to try and score points with voters ahead of the election for District Attorney. For his part, Baxter made the point that he's not Jack McCoy and not trying to be, and each man believed the other was judging him. Baxter told him that he could feel "free to get the hell out" if Price couldn't respect him as DA.
This confrontation has felt inevitable ever since McCoy dropped the unwelcome news on Price that he was retiring, and the relationship with the new DA hasn't felt entirely smooth. The two men did find common ground of respect before the end of the episode, however, with Baxter asking Price to handle a key part of the trial and the duo getting the conviction.
The episode didn't come to a fully happy ending, as a woman who they'd needed to revisit her own assault on the stand attempted suicide. Still, I'm glad that Price and Baxter hashed out their differences before the end of the season.
Who Will Win The Election?
There is one matter that almost certainly won't be settled before the end of the season. While the looming election overshadowed a lot of "No Good Deed," the characters also established that it was still a month away. Since "No Good Deed" was the penultimate episode of Season 23 as well as 500th episode of the series, it seems unlikely that the election will happen before the end of the season finale. The Law & Order shows seem to more or less keep up with real time; unless there's a time jump, summer hiatus will start before Baxter's fate as DA is confirmed.
I'm pretty confident that Season 24 will kick off in the fall with the news that Baxter won the election, since I'm guessing Law & Order isn't looking to say goodbye to Tony Goldwyn after less than one full season. Still, for a show that doesn't often deal in cliffhangers, this seems likely to be an unanswered question by the end of Season 23. Based on the promo for the finale, Baxter might have bigger problems than uncertainty over his professional future. Take a look:
The Season 23 finale of Law & Order airs on Thursday, May 16 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, ahead of Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. ET and Law & Order: Organized Crime at 10 p.m. ET, although Organized Crime is moving to streaming for Peacock Premium subscribers for the fifth season. Past episodes of all three shows are available streaming now on Peacock.
