Law & Order Season 23 Episode 13 Review: In Harm’s Way

Much like all of Season 23, Law & Order Season 23 Episode 13, “In Harm’s Way,” fails to leave a lasting impression on viewers. The episode isn’t terrible, persay, but it’s also nothing of major note either.

What starts off being a case of celebrity murder ends up being a case of the wrong place at the wrong time. While it’s intriguing that the real target is DA Baxter, that’s where the interest kind of drops off.

The writing loses steam as it tries to convince us we should care that someone is trying to kill this DA who has been contentious since he arrived. It highlights the show’s inability to build up these characters in a way that allows viewers to connect with them.

The Trouble With Character Building

Since the show has come back, Law & Order has thrown a series of characters at us and expects us to care when something happens to them. The only time this tactic ends up being successful is when it is Det. Jalen Shaw or ADA Nolan Price because they’ve been around the longest and have been given the most outside character development.

That being said, it’s still not much, even for them. And while the show is centered on the case of the week, there still needs to be some attention placed on the characters if we are expected to care about them.

Therefore, when this case comes to light in which DA Baxter happens to just narrowly miss a bullet that is meant for him, it shows how much the writers have failed. This type of attempted murder plot should have us on the edge of our seats, and instead, we find ourselves watching it unfold as we would with any other case.

The only characterization we’ve been provided about DA Baxter hasn’t particularly convinced us to like him. He came blazing into the DA’s Office in a post-DA Jack McCoy world and immediately butted heads with ADA Price, who fans love.

Their heated conversation during Law & Order Season 23 Episode 12, “No Good Deed,” set the record straight on what Baxter wants but didn’t endear viewers to him any further. Some probably walked away from that discussion thinking he still can’t be trusted to have the DA’s Office’s best interests at heart.

The Problem with Baxter and This Case

Now, we are presented with a case where he is the intended target due to a past case he tried as a prosecutor, and we find out he manipulated the system to protect his daughter. Since we don’t feel connected to him in the slightest, this action comes off as privileged and disingenuous.

Fans of the Law & Order franchise are familiar with situations where detectives or other law enforcement characters have used their influence to manipulate the system for their family. In fact, Det. Stabler has been known to do it many times between his run on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime.

The difference with Stabler is that this character and his family are built up and expanded on long before his position helps his family get out of legal trouble. Meanwhile, Baxter’s daughter has only just been introduced, and this is the first we’ve ever heard of Baxter’s life outside of being a DA.

So, instead of feeling compassion and understanding for Baxter’s actions now, withholding evidence to keep his daughter out of court, and in the past, getting his daughter’s accident plead down, we are left feeling hurt. If the writers had taken the time to build up Baxter some more before throwing this information in about his actions, we might have seen it as less white privilege and more as a man protecting his family.

As it stands, Baxter’s fate in the election at the end of this episode isn’t compelling enough to go into the hiatus wondering about. At this point, if Baxter does lose and is replaced, it will just be another day on this show.

After all, Law & Order actors have been coming and going multiple times in the 3 years since the show returned. We’ve had 3 different detective pairings, a new DA, and soon a new Lieutenant at the precinct.

Stray Thoughts

• It’s disappointing that this is Camryn Manheim’s final episode on the show because it proves just how underutilized her position was to the show overall
• Matt Bennett and Merritt Clark – a sports star and a pop star. Hmm. I wonder who that’s a nod to. We see you writers and your love for Taylor Swift

 

What did you think of this episode of Law & Order? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Law & Order returns in the fall on NBC.

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