‘Law & Order’ Season 24 Finale: Did [Spoiler] Really Kill Out of Revenge?

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Law & Order Season 24 finale “Look the Other Way.” The following post contains discussions of sexual assault.]

The Law & Order Season 24 finale title is exactly what Maroun (Odelya Halevi) is hoping that Price (Hugh Dancy) will do — maybe more than once?!

Shaw (Mehcad Brooks), Riley (Reid Scott), and Brady (Maura Tierney) investigate after a 19-year-old woman, Georgia, is found brutally beaten, with a traumatic brain injury the cause of death. Their first suspect is her stalker; they went on a couple dates, and he fell in love, but she didn’t. But he has an alibi (his wife). He does put them on the path of their killer, Carter (Jordan M. Cox), a young man he saw her talking to at an art gallery. At first, Carter insists he just briefly spoke to Georgia outside as she was catching a cab and he has a girlfriend.

However, digging into Georgia’s texts reveals that she was talking to a friend about some sort of incident that should involve the police, so they think she was raped. Brady uses a private database to look for a match the DNA found on the victim, and they land on a familial one, an aunt, Vanessa. She points them to none other than Carter. There’s video of him with Georgia the night after the art gallery, proving that he lied to them. He then claims they had sex three days before she was killed, but it’s clear that he’s lying. He raped her, then killed her to cover it up. He asks for his lawyer.

Brady then alerts Price and Maroun to the fact that his DNA was found on another homicide victim, an unsolved case: Maroun’s sister. When Price checks on her, Maroun admits that she’s been thinking about this day for years, and now that it’s here, while it’s great news, her sister’s still dead. Price promises to nail Carter on both murders but makes it clear that she can only work behind the scenes. Maroun agrees, and he hugs her.

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However, that’s when things start going the defense’s way. Carter’s lawyer, Potter (Anna Wood), successfully gets the judge to throw out the DNA evidence due to the way the match was acquired. Because of that, the blood on his shoe is also out, since it was based on a search warrant predicated from the DNA match. With the DNA evidence out from Maroun’s sister’s case as well, she must accept that case has disappeared. And so she throws herself into finding a way to nail Carter for Georgia’s murder.

Maroun does find something but doesn’t tell Price: Carter spoke with a doorman on the street the night of the murder. She goes to see this potential witness, who doesn’t seem so sure about identifying Carter. However, when Maroun brings this lead to Price — they crossed paths 15 minutes before the 9-1-1 call and a block from the scene of the murder — she says that he can ID Carter. And when it comes time for the lineup, that’s just what he does. (But something seems off, doesn’t it?)

Though Maroun originally planned to stay away from the courtroom, she does show up in time to hear the lawyers’ opening statements. She’s also certain they need more evidence of Carter at the crime scene. When Carter sees her outside the courthouse, he approaches her to tell her how sorry he is about her sister and Georgia but insist he had nothing to do with either crime and they have the wrong guy. “I have the wrong guy?” she exclaims, advancing towards him. Price holds her back and then suggests she stay away from court until the verdict. She agrees.

But then Price talks to the doorman and learns that Maroun did coach him, describing Carter and insisting that they knew he was the killer. He immediately goes to the other ADA and confronts her, but she argues that they know he’s guilty and have his DNA. Maybe she went a little too far, she admits, but does it matter? Price argues that she undermined his testimony. Maroun reminds him that they’re talking about her sister and suggests he forget about the law and think about her and trying to find a way to win the case, not lose it. He walks out.

Will Hart / NBC

Price then meets Baxter (Tony Goldwyn) for a drink, and the DA agrees that Maroun went too far and tainted the ID. It could cost them the case, yes, but… Baxter tells Price of a case he worked years ago, of a man who raped and killed a seven-year-old girl. Her blood was found on his shirt and pants, but the cops entered his apartment without a search warrant, claiming the manager gave consent. That evidence was tossed. The morning of closing arguments, Baxter found a note on his desk of someone else confessing to the crime, but he knew with 100% certainty the defendant did it, so he ignored it. Price thought the point of all this was to avoid those kinds of human choices, of playing God. Baxter agrees, though allows that there are certain times in life when it’s impossible to do that and the right thing to do is to look the other way. This might be one of those times. He leaves Price to think.

And so the next day, Price doesn’t call the doorman to the stand, even as Maroun asks him to just look the other way for once. The jury finds Carter not guilty, and Maroun is visibly bothered. Carter just looks smug.

Baxter later finds Price in his office and tells him he admires his decision. Price isn’t sure if he did what was right, but it was the only thing he could. He tried to look the other way but couldn’t. Price also notes he looked up the case that Baxter spoke about and couldn’t find anything anywhere. Baxter just tells him to have a good night.

Then comes the shocking phone call that brings Price to a crime scene, where Carter has been found dead. He immediately goes to see Maroun, pounding on her door. She’s visibly upset when she opens it. “Please tell me you had nothing to do with this,” he pleads. She just looks at him, then away, then back. “Oh, for God’s sake, Sam,” he says. She closes the door on him, and, after a moment, he walks away.

Do you think Maroun killed Carter? Let us know your thoughts on the Season 24 finale in the comments section below.

Law & Order, Season 25, Fall 2025, Thursdays, 8/7c, NBC

If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network‘s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.