Spoilers ahead for the fall finale of Law & Order Season 24, called "Bad Apple," which will be available streaming with a Peacock subscription.
Law & Order may not be known for its cliffhangers as a longtime procedural, but the Season 24 fall finale guaranteed that there are some big unanswered questions ahead as the 2024 TV schedule wraps. In "Bad Apple," Jessica Brady was back to working with her old narcotics team when one cop was shot in the back and killed. What initially seemed like a pretty straightforward joining of forces when sideways when it became clear that another cop was dirty and his superiors had a history of covering for him... including Brady.
Ultimately, she made a call that ended the careers of the killer and his boss, and possibly her own as well, with an IAB detective visiting her office. And dang it, I didn't realize until now how invested I was in keeping Brady!
What Happened In Law & Order's Fall Finale
Det. Miles Brandt was on trial for killing his partner, Det. Harrison, on top of his history of corruption, but none of that corruption was on the record because cops like Brady and their boss Captain Stockwell had just looked the other way even when Harrison complained. When Brandt threw Harrison under the bus to try and at least escape the murder charge, Brady knew that somebody was going to have to testify about Brandt's true nature.
Stockwell refused, since he was a week away from retirement, and the point was made that cops don't testify against cops. There's a line – "the blue wall" – that the NYPD isn't supposed to cross, according to Stockwell, and he just wouldn't do it.
So Brady decided to fall on the sword. She took the stand and told the truth, although she avoided blaming Stockwell as much as possible without perjuring herself. Although she admitted to Price on the stand that she'd taken Harrison's complaints to her boss and he'd done nothing to address them, she took full responsibility for Brandt never being formally sanctioned, saying that she was "the one that talked Harrison out of pursuing the matter." She went on:
The truth is everybody knew Brandt took liberties. Nobody thought it would go this far... There's an understanding amongst officers. Harrison couldn't stomach it. He thought that being a good cop meant making sure the cops you were working with were good too. And I now realize he was right.
The result was Brandt being convicted for first-degree murder, marking an end to his own NYPD career and surely Stockwell's too. As for Brady... well, the last scene of the fall finale featured her walking down a hallway at work, among officers who weren't exactly friendly, and even Shaw was abrupt when he said "Got a visitor, Jess" and brushed past her. All Riley had for her was a nod towards her office, where IAB Det. Jason Cassidy was waiting for her, saying "We need to talk about Miles Brandt."
Normally, I'm nothing but excited when Law & Order delivers a cliffhanger that could carry on beyond just the case of the week, but Brady's fate being left undetermined just made me realize: while I very highly doubt she's going anywhere, I really, really don't want to lose her from the show.
My Realization About Brady
Look, I knew that I was predisposed to like Brady, because I'm an unabashed ER fan who loved Maura Tierney's work as Abby on that long-running NBC drama. That said, I was also invested in Dixon's story as the lieutenant of Law & Order, and Camryn Manheim helped reestablish the show as a primetime mainstay after it was off the air for several years. Dixon also didn't get an on-screen exit at the end of Season 23, and the only closure came in the Season 24 premiere when Riley got a text from his former lieutenant.
Of course, Mehcad Brooks was hyping how Tierney fit into the cast before Season 24 even premiered, but I just wasn't sure how well Brady would gel with the rest of the unit. I was on board during the first set of episodes this season... and then the fall finale aired with the possibility that Brady tanked her own career to get justice for a slain cop, and I realized how much Maura Tierney has added to the show this season.
Fortunately, Brady appears in the promo for the second half of Season 24, and it doesn't appear that she's been demoted. Take a look:
Law & Order returns to NBC in the new year on Thursday, January 16 at 8 p.m. ET, ahead of new episodes of Law & Order: SVU at 9 p.m. ET as usual. It remains to be seen if Law & Order: Organized Crime Season 5 will have any episodes ready early in 2025; either way, that spinoff will release on Peacock instead of air on NBC with L&O and SVU.
