There's a meme showing a guy in utter collapse as he realizes that 24 years ago isn't the 1970s but the year 2000! I'm similarly gob-smacked about how rapidly time has sped by as I settle to watch the premiere of season 24 of the venerated Law and Order.
“Catch and Kill” – LAW & ORDER, Pictured: (l-r) Katharine McLeod as Stella Myers, Tony Goldwyn as DA Nicholas Baxter. Photo: Scott Gries/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
The show opens with District Attorney Nicholas Baxter being interviewed. This interview serves a couple of purposes. You may recall that Baxter's election was too close to call in the previous season's finale. So, the first thing this interview does is bring the audience up to date. Baxter won! He is the newly elected Democratic Manhattan DA, and is now being interviewed in an attempt, in my opinion, to seduce the media. It's hard to imagine his predecessor, Jack McCoy, doing this. But we know Baxter is a horse of a different color. He's much more a political animal than McCoy and even his second in command, Executive District Attorney Nolan Price. McCoy and Price are legal purists and politics-be-dammed type prosecutors. Baxter establishes that his office will not be hyper-partisan. To prove it, he dabbles in 'bothsidesism,' stating that both political parties are weakening institutions like the courts. Therefore, the second purpose of the interview is to further differentiate Baxter from McCoy. I’ll be paying close attention to how Baxter’s mindset plays out throughout the season.
As always, in Dick Wolf’s storytelling formula, a crime is committed. It's a domestic violence case that I personally found hard to watch. I was recently appointed to the Board of a sexual assault agency and know all too well the non-fictional brutality of this kind of violence. The episode centered on a female Brooklyn District Attorney, Macy Harper, and her rich fiancé. The biographies of these victims elevate the case to a higher profile.
The crime facilitates the entrance of the 27th Precinct Homicide Division’s new lieutenant, Lt. Jessica Brady. Brady made an impressive, unapologetically intelligent entrance. The women in Dick Wolf’s pantheon of police officers are always badass. For example, back in the day on Law and Order, S. Epatha Merkessen played Lt. Van Buren, as pragmatic and wise. Presently on Organized Crime, Danielle Mone Truitt, plays Detective Stabler’s boss, Ayanna Bell, as a ride-or-die, protector of her team. Of course, on SVU, Mariska Hargitay imbues Captain Olivia Benson with empathy as her superpower. But, back to my point. Maura Tierney’s portrayal of Lt. Brady, stand out in a Sherlock Holmes way. For instance, when she has the conspiracy theorist suspect in the interrogation box, she quickly susses out that he isn't the killer. She says this to Detectives Shaw and Riley, who are skeptical. A moment later, CCTV confirms that the perp was on the train at the time of the crime.
“Catch and Kill” – LAW & ORDER, Pictured: (l-r) Maura Tierney as Lt. Jessica Brady, Ari Blinder as Jeff Sanders: Photo by: Scott Gries/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
To nip any conflict and tension in the bud, Brady calls out Riley. She senses his mistrust. She makes him aware that she is aware of his close relationship with the departed Lt. Kate Dixon. Recall that Dixon recruited Riley following his six-month suspension. Brady let Riley know that she's alert to his potential credibility issues and is concerned about any kind of stink rubbing off on her, especially since she is new to the job and the case is high-profile. Call me crazy, but the 'fire' between those two got me feeling…
Eventually, Riley and Shaw, arrest the rich, jerk fiancé, Dylan Phipps. I say 'jerk' because it's not accidental that the boyfriend is conveniently out to dinner with a right-wing publisher, Kenneth Lane, who, when questioned, suspiciously mentions a case the victim was working that dealt with a sex trafficking rapper. In my head, this is 'a black guy did it," red herring. Later, it was confirmed that the fiancé, Phipps, and the publisher, Lane, were in cahoots. The publisher had suppressed not one, not two, but seven stories of the fiancé attacking the victim. One was a Diddy-Cassie style video. The publisher was paid $100,000 per story, David Pecker-Donald Trump, catch and kill style. I object! Twenty-four seasons and Law and Order has never felt more contemporary, more relevant. Too me, Catch and Kill is too damned relevant!
“Catch and Kill” – LAW & ORDER, Pictured: (l-r) Charles Gray as Jimmy Boyd: Photo by: Scott Gries/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Rather than face a trial, the fiancé hangs himself. Baxter and Price conclude that justice has been served, but not for Assistant District Attorney Sam Maroun. Frequently finding it challenging to control her emotions, Maroun is highly pissed! So much so that Price must explain to Baxter why she’s so upset. It’s here we learn that Mauron’s sister died as a result of domestic violence. She gets a visit from the victim's sister, who is enraged by the absence of justice. Maroun appeals to her bosses to go after the publisher, Lane as an accomplice. To their credit, they grant her the chance to link Lane to the crime scene. Price and Maroun find a driver who places Lane at the scene and hears him utter,” I’m going to kill that bitch.” Maroun gets excited, she feels like justice is coming. But, as the title (Catch and Kill) suggests, when Price and Maroun return to reinterview the driver, he’s been caught (lawyered up) and killed (paid to keep silent about what he saw and heard). Without the testimony of the driver, the DA has no case. Baxter drops the charges.
“Catch and Kill” – LAW & ORDER, Pictured: (l-r) Adam Thompson as Attorney Cooney, Charles Gray as Jimmy Boyd: Photo by: Scott Gries/NBC @2024 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Maroun snaps and is ready to burn her career down. She's in free fall, triggered by the lack of justice for the victim, Macy Harper, whom she knew; for her sister, whom she cherished; and for the thousands of nameless, faceless victims she will never know. Price catches her figuratively and literally as the episode ends with Maroun crying in Prices' arms. Call me crazy, but the 'fire' between those two got me feeling…Just kidding!
It was a great premiere chock full of up-to-the-minute news. If you love Law and Order like I do, share your thoughts about the main character’s relationships. Will Baxter and Price clash over politics? Will Riley and his new Lt. Brady get along? Is Maroun stable enough to do her job to Baxter’s satisfaction?
Rating 8/10.
Lynette Jones
