All episodes Season 20 S20E11 2009-12-11 60 min 1990s NBC

Law & Order

Fed

TV Flash files “Fed” as hour 444 of 545 in the TV Flash guide — Law & Order (1990–2010) on NBC, season 20, episode 11, aired 2009-12-11, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S20E11: listed hour 444 of 545 in the Law & Order guide, hour 11 of 23 in season 20. It aired 2009-12-11 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Shotgun” (S20E10). Next is “Blackmail” (S20E12). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.

Law & Order — Fed (S20E11)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

As election day rapidly approaches, Detectives Lupo and Bernard discover the disfigured remains of a man with the word "FED" written across his bare chest. Missing a crucial piece of evidence, the detectives decide to retrace the steps of the victim, a campaign volunteer, to home in on the challenging investigation. After the victim's perplexing past emerges and the list of suspects multiplies, the detectives find themselves dealing with more than just dirty politics. They learn that the victim was secretly gathering incriminating information about the organization he worked for. Meanwhile, in the middle of the investigation, Lt. Van Buren gets a call from Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), who is in town with some bad news.

Viewer FAQ

Where does Fed sit in the Law & Order guide?

S20E11 is listed hour 444 of 545 — hour 11 of 23 in season 20, season 20 episode 11.

When did Law & Order S20E11 air?

Fed aired 2009-12-11 and is listed at 60 minutes.

Do I watch in order, or is it modular?

Modular is the point. Cases close. Casts change. Start anywhere in the original 1990–2010 run and you will understand the clang within twenty minutes. Order matters only if you care which partner is standing next to whom.

In the series

Why this series still plays

For the walnut that became a city: street then courtroom, a clang as civic punctuation, and two decades of interchangeable parts that taught TV how to clone a night. Comfort is the feature. The original 1990–2010 cathedral still teaches the form; the revival is the machine refusing to clock out.

Picture a Tuesday when the nation still had a cop show that split like a walnut: first the street, then the courtroom, a clang on the soundtrack that became civic punctuation. Law & Order premiered September 13, 1990, on NBC, created by Dick Wolf, and it did not invent the procedural so much as industrialize it. Prescription for Death is the template in miniature — a hospital night, a dead patient, cops then lawyers, no hug required. On the palate: newsprint, a New York that looks like a location budget with a…

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Filed against

Also in season 20

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