When NBC announced its fall schedule in two parts last month “Law & Order” was obviously absent from the first announcement. While few observers really thought NBC would dump it, the timing left matters twisting in the wind until the network confirmed it will indeed return next year for season 20.

Last episode displays as if it were written and filmed during that waiting period where at least two levels of the drama involve efforts to force a flourishing character out of a position in which he has performed well.
The first target runs a charity organization. He is stabbed to death when he does not accept the retirement package. Detectives Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard take the case and find evidence that the murder might have roots in the fraudulent administration of Gov. Shalvoy.

Second it’s Jack McCoy combating to hang on – in a reelection race that seems to be a dead heat. Halfway through the episode the murder seems to be forgotten as the focus shifts to Jack McCoy’s own clash against those who would throw out him against his will. This pushes McCoy into a high-stakes political chess match where whoever makes the first wrong decision will probably end up wrapped in trash collectors.

All this happens too quickly so one does not know that it’s totally resolved which we know will be resolved next fall.