Law & Order Thursdays are upping the ante for the penultimate episodes of the season.
The mothership Law & Order has Price’s personal issues affecting a case, while Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has Carisi going against the New York Archdiocese.
Meanwhile, Law & Order: Organized Crime puts Stabler in the firing line on his case.
That promises to set the bar for the season finales and a lot of thrills.
How did Law & Order Thursdays fare in the ratings this past week?
While Law & Order Thursdays have been doing well in the ratings, this past week saw a good improvement for the shows.
The mothership Law & Order scored 4.1 million viewers with a 0.4 rating in the 18-49 demo. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit had 4.9 million viewers (almost a million more than Grey’s Anatomy) and a 0.6 demo rating.
Law & Order: Organized Crime saw a slight slump, but its 3.98 million viewers and 0.3 demo rating remained steady.
The mothership Law & Order had the investigation of a woman’s death leading to a man defending himself after suffering from a mental attack caused by his service overseas.
While Price was doubtful in this defense, it ended up having the man acquitted.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit focused on a missing teen, which led to a troubling case of a predator manipulating an entire family.
The ending led to Law & Order: Organized Crime as the two squads worked together to rescue a kidnapped girl.
Stabler discovered that Donnelly had ripped off a drug cartel, putting the Brotherhood in danger. He also discovered that Donnelly was framing Stabler for robbing Webb.
This sets up some big turns this week that will lead to the season finales.
What’s coming on Law & Order Thursdays this week?
The night begins with Law & Order as The Great Pretender has a murder lead to Price taking on the opioid crisis.
“Bernard and Cosgrove must sift through fact and fiction to find the killer of a young Manhattan socialite. The murder trial takes a turn that becomes personal for Price and puts Maroun in a compromising situation.”
It appears Price has a personal stake in this case which could compromise how he runs it and risk getting the killer acquitted.
There’s no promo for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit but the synopsis for Confess Your Sins To Be Free promises some fireworks.
“When the only evidence in a crime is a church confession, Carisi must find another way to prove his suspect guilty. Benson agrees to meet with an old friend seeking to make amends for past transgressions. “
The “old friend” of Benson is likely Burton Lowe (Aidan Quinn), Benson’s former lover. The character appeared in the 500th episode as he and Benson had been in a relationship when Benson was younger.
Coming on board as part of a case, Lowe and Benson reignited their affair. But it ended when Lowe was accused of assaulting various women over the years, with Benson breaking it off with him.
This makes for a very tense reunion while Carisi has to handle battling the Catholic Church over one of their most sacred tenets.
The night concludes with Law & Order: Organized Crime as Streets Is Watching puts Stabler in huge danger.
“When the task force discovers a threat to Stabler’s life, the pressure is on to gather all the evidence to put Webb away for good. Donnelly gives the Brotherhood surprising news. Nova is forced to take a drastic step to keep her brother safe.”
The promo shows Stabler battling an assassin while Nova tries to keep her brother from going after Webb over killing the sibling’s policeman father years before.
This promises some huge drama for the show that sets up the season finales on May 19 to build things for a huge climax.
Law & Order Thursdays begin with Law & Order Season 21 at 8/7c on NBC.