LAW & ORDER Season 24 Finale Recap: ‘Look The Other Way’ Delivers a Deadly Twist

[Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Thursday, May 15 season finale of LAW & ORDER.]

LAW & ORDER’s Sam (Odelya Halevi) found the man who seemingly killed her sister on the Thursday, May 15 season finale…but bringing him to actual justice was much harder than she anticipated.

After the cops found evidence on a murdered model, thanks to a genealogical database which identified their suspect’s aunt, they were able to identify Carter Mills (Jordan M. Cox) as her killer…and his DNA was also found connected to Sam’s sister’s unsolved murder.

At first, Nolan (Hugh Dancy) tried to tie the two cases together, but the sketchy way the DNA was utilized was overruled by the judge and the DNA evidence was tossed. That meant Sam’s sister’s case was effectively buried, putting all the pressure on Nolan to get him for the modern-day crime.

Though Sam largely stayed out of it, she found a doorman, Dagnello (Kyle More) who might have spotted Carter. But when Price went over the testimony with the doorman, he acknowledged that Sam coached him.

Nolan confronted his friend at her apartment, but she denied actually crossing the line.

“Nolan, for God’s sake, this is me,” Sam said. She acknowledged maybe she went too far, but, she asked, did it matter? 

“That’s not how this works, you know that,” Nolan said. Sam argued they should be trying to find ways to win the case, not lose it, but Nolan stormed out. 

Nolan went to Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) to get his guidance on what to do next. Baxter told Nolan about a difficult case he tried back in the day: They knew the man they were trying was a rapist-killer, but the evidence was tainted. They made their case the best they could. But then, Baxter said, he found a note on his desk taking responsibility for the crime. Baxter said he knew for sure the note was wrong, so he ignored it. 

Sometimes, he cautioned Nolan, “The right thing to do is to look the other way. This might be one of those times.”

But Nolan couldn’t do it. He didn’t call the doorman to the stand and Carter was found not guilty.

Later, Carter was murdered in cold blood; Nolan, naturally, rushed to Sam’s apartment after visiting the scene of the crime.

“Please tell me you had nothing to do with it,” Nolan asked a visibly emotional Sam. 

“For God’s sake, Sam,” Nolan tried again, before she shut the door in his face. An upset Nolan walked away.

LAW & ORDER, Thursdays, 8/7c, NBC

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