Law & Order Season 23 Ending Explained: Why Baxter’s Fate

Law & Order Season 23 introduced a new DA to replace Sam Waterson’s Jack McCoy, but will Baxter be written out as quickly as he was written in?

The season finale was a Baxter-centric story about catching a potential assassin while he was running to retain his position as District Attorney.

The ending was meant to be a cliffhanger that made our jaws drop to the floor, as Baxter’s political fate was unknown as the credits rolled.

Let’s look at what happened at the end of the episode and where things will likely go from here.

Baxter Had To Choose Between His Family And His Career

Technically, the episode was about the search for the person who had shot someone else while trying to kill Baxter during a political rally. Still, it was really about politics vs. family.

Baxter’s wife wanted him to drop out of the race for Manhattan DA after the assassination attempt.

She didn’t think a political job was worth risking his life and was angry that he disagreed.

This conflict took a turn for the worse when Baxter’s daughter, who Tony Goldwyn’s real-life daughter played, became the star witness against the killer.

In what is a bit of a tired TV trope, Carrie had seen the defendant in the crowd right before the shooting and was the only one who could identify him.

Related: 13 Tired Tropes TV Can Turn on Their Head

To make matters worse, Carrie had a record, one that would be humiliating for her and her family if it were exposed, and the defense attorney was sure to do so to poke holes in her credibility. 

This was a classic conflict, though it was silly for Baxter’s wife to think she had any say in what happened.

Carrie agreed to testify despite the risks, and she was an adult.

Mrs. Baxter could have been the type of villain we love to hate, doing the wrong thing for the right reason,  but she looked ridiculous.

It wasn’t up to her whether Carrie testified, and her insistence that justice not be served to protect her daughter’s reputation was silly.

Did she want a violent criminal who was hellbent on killing her husband on the loose instead?

Carrie’s Testimony Probably Hurt Baxter’s Career More Than Anything Else

The DA’s office won the case against the shooter, but at what price?

Carrie was forced to admit on the stand that when she was in college, she ran someone over while drunk and that her father used his influence to get her charges reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Baxter’s wife stopped speaking to him after this became public, supposedly because she was angry that her daughter was humiliated.

Baxter ended the night with election results that were too close to call.

Corruption in politics is a big concern nowadays, both in fictional New York City and in the real world, so people were probably dubious about whether Baxter was the best man for the job if he did this favor for his daughter.

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However, it’s not likely that Baxter will lose the election despite the odds against him.

Why Baxter Probably Isn’t Done

Baxter came on board after Jack McCoy’s powerful exit, and it would be silly to write him out so soon after he came.

He’s worked hard this season to clarify that he is different from McCoy.

He often butts heads with Nolan Price over how to handle cases and cares more about optics than McCoy ever did.

These compelling conflicts give new life to a show that had fallen into a rut.

As incredible as Sam Waterson was, the writing for his character was not great toward the end of his run, and he seemed to have the same conversation with Nolan in every episode.

Hiring a new DA so soon after Baxter’s first appearance wouldn’t make sense.

It was a lot to ask of viewers to accept a new DA in McCoy’s place without making them do it all over again as Season 24 begins.

In addition, there’s been no news about Tony Goldwyn leaving Law & Order, so Baxter will likely win his election.

However, it may take a few episodes to count votes, or there may be questions about who the incoming DA is during the first few stories of the new season.

Why Didn’t Dixon Get an Exit Story?

Camryn Manheim announced she was leaving soon after the 500th episode of Law & Order, yet nothing special happened for her character on the season finale.

Dixon helped direct the investigation, clarified how important it was to solve this case, and disappeared from the screen, never to be seen again.

The decision to proceed without Manheim was likely made at the last minute after the episode was written and filmed. Season 24 will likely begin with a new person heading the unit and an explanation in dialogue about where Dixon disappeared to.

Related: Disappointing and Downright Offensive Character Exits

Those kinds of exits never work, and neither do planned endings, but at least Dixon wasn’t killed in the line of duty, so she can visit occasionally if the story wants it.

Over to you, Law & Order fanatics. Do you think Baxter will be back, and do you want him to be? Were you hoping for an actual exit for Dixon?

Hit the big, blue SHOW COMMENTS button and let us know.

Law & Order Season 23 is streaming on Peacock. Season 24 will air on NBC on Thursdays at 8/7c and premiere in the fall of 2024.

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Jack Ori is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. His debut young adult novel, Reinventing Hannah, is available on Amazon. Follow him on X.

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