I’d Wondered If Law And Order’s ‘Betrayal’ Would Change One Key Relationship, And I’m Not Surprised By The Answer š Read full story here šš
Law & OrderĀ spanned the end of Season 24 to the beginning of Season 25 with a rare serialized case, with the return in theĀ 2025 TV scheduleĀ picking up where the spring finale had ended: the murder of the man who had assaulted and killed Marounās sister. The evidence all seemed to point towards Sam, with Price questioning if sheād had something to do with it. That element of the crime wasnāt resolved until about halfway through the premiere, and their working relationship was rocky. So, I had to wonder: would they continue to be rocky after whatĀ Hugh DancyĀ said about the relationship?
Well, part ofĀ Law & Orderās longtime popularity goes back to the procedural style that debutedĀ with the pilot back in 1990, which means that most cases begin and end within the span of one hour. Still, considering that Hugh Dancy as ADA Nolan Price and Odelya Halevi as ADA Samantha Maroun are the only remaining cast members who have been around from the revivalās start, these characters have the longest-running relationship on the show since its return in 2022.
With Sam upset in the premiere that Price had lost the case against her sisterās killer and then suspected her of murder, and with Price dealing with his loss as well as the possibility that sheād killed somebody, they werenāt on the best terms. When I spoke with Hugh Dancy at NBCāsĀ Law & OrderĀ press event ahead of the premiere, heād said this about that sense of betrayal between the two:
āI think thereās obviously a big question mark hanging over the case itself, and about the fact that the defendant of the case from our finale last year is now dead, and how did that happen? And was Sam involved? But then thereās also the personal betrayal that sheās feeling, that I basically flunked the case of this person that she knows, is responsible for her sisterās death. Thereās a lot of stuff to clear up, and we get into all of it.ā
They did ultimately close the case by the end of the first episode back this fall, but charactersā personal storylines arenāt necessarily closed just because a plot wraps up, and they had some loaded personal interactions in the previous finale and Season 25 premiere. So, how do they see each other ā friends, or colleagues, or mentor/mentee? Hugh Dancy explained:
āI think all the above, and I think youāll see in the first episode, we are able to talk to each other in a way thatās, as it were, outside of work. Ultimately Iām able to ask her the difficult questions and sheās able to confide in me, whatever that may be. I think all the above, but then I do occasionally threaten to fire her. [laughs] So I donāt know what that means, but I think theyāre close.ā
Then, immediately after the premiere, theĀ promoĀ for Episode 2 aired on NBC with Maroun teasing her boss about being smitten with his new love interest, making me curious about whether weād see any lingering effects from that murder case on their relationship. As it turns out, Episode 2 wasĀ notĀ an episode that ended with Price threatening to fire Maroun or withĀ one of their many clashes. Sam has always struggled to remain objective the mostĀ when her sisterās case was involved, and that may be over after her killer was killed himself.
Basically,Ā Law & OrderĀ wasted no time in settling my question about whether Price and Marounās working relationship would be damaged after their conflict at the end of Season 24 and start of Season 25. All seems to be well between the duo, and the most conflict in the latest episode was actually between Price and Baxter, with Baxter determined that the 15-year-old killer would be tried as an adult, while Price wasnāt so sure.
Iām definitely not mad that the procedural format applies to Price and Marounās relationship so far, since Iāve enjoying seeing their usually solid but occasionally antagonistic working relationship over the years. With the question of that ābetrayalā settled, Iām now curious if weāll see his new girlfriend back again this season. Their courtroom clash didnāt end in a breakup, so maybe Nolan really will find lasting love this time.
Find out with new episodes on Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, ahead ofĀ Law & Order: SVUĀ at 9 p.m. ET andĀ Law & Order: Organized CrimeĀ at 10 p.m. ET. You can also revisit earlier episodes streaming on Peacock