Law & Order Thursdays will have a lot of deceit this week.
The mothership Law & Order tackles the murder of a judge with a lot of suspects. Meanwhile, Law & Order: Special VIctims Unit will have the team wondering if an assault claim is really a corporate power play.
The biggest is Law & Order: Organized Crime, with two main cops going deeper on dangerous undercover assignments.
This promises another top week of drama for the franchise as they enter the spring months.
Law & Order continues to shift in ratings
Law & Order Thursdays have been trying to make more of an impact in the ratings. After a rough second week, the latest episode of Law & Order finished with 4.11 million viewers with a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 age demo.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit earned 4.39 million viewers, outdistancing Grey’s Anatomy’s 3.76 million viewers with both tied for a 0.6 demo rating. Law & Order: Organized Crime continues a sharp drop-off from the preceding shows with 3.02 million viewers and 0.5 demo rating.
The episodes were intriguing as the mothership show had the detectives and prosecutors in the inevitable position of trying a murder case when they couldn’t actually find a body. While they succeeded, Maroun worried the victim’s parents would have preferred closure with finding a body over a conviction.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had the team once more clashing with Hudson University over a rape accusation. This had Carisi trying the novel approach of trying rape as a hate crime.
Law & Order: Organized Crime began a new story arc as Stabler went undercover in a band of corrupt cops, led by friend Frank Donnelly (Denis Leary). Meanwhile, Nova got deeper into her job with gangster Preston Webb (Mykelti Williamson).
This sets up further drama for the trio of shows this week.
What’s coming this week on Law & Order Thursdays?
This week’s episodes kick off with Law & Order Fault Lines as the cops investigate the murder of a judge with a long list of suspects.
“After a family court judge is murdered, Bernard and Cosgrove dig into the many grievances against him. When the DA’s office is faced with unforeseen challenges, Maroun takes matters into her own hands to save the case.”
The promo indicates that the motive for the murder may not be what it seems, making things harder for the prosecutors to make a conviction.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has Sorry If It Got Weird For You as what looks like a standard assault allegation turns into claims of a hostile takeover.
“The creator of a dating app is accused of using it to rape women. Velasco’s experience as an SVU detective is put on trial.”
As the newest member of the squad, Velasco is still getting used to SVU, and his mistakes may hurt the case. There’s also the question if this is a legitimate claim or the cops are being used in a plot.
The night finishes with Law & Order: Organized Crime as Guns & Roses continues the undercover jobs for both Stabler and Nova.
“The task force investigates a connection between the Marcy Organization and the murder of a lawyer and her client. Stabler settles into a new assignment. Bell reminds Nova who she really works for.”
The promo shows Bell warning how dangerous it is to forget your real identity when undercover. It’s unsure if she’s talking to Stabler or Nova as each feels an odd loyalty to the very criminals they’re trying to bring down.
This drama promises to push the night up as the trio of Law & Order shows are ready to push more excitement going into spring.
Law & Order Thursdays begin with Law & Order at 8/7c on NBC.