All episodes Season 20 S20E13 2010-03-01 60 min 1990s NBC

Law & Order

Steel-Eyed Death

TV Flash files “Steel-Eyed Death” as hour 446 of 545 in the TV Flash guide — Law & Order (1990–2010) on NBC, season 20, episode 13, aired 2010-03-01, 60 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S20E13: listed hour 446 of 545 in the Law & Order guide, hour 13 of 23 in season 20. It aired 2010-03-01 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Blackmail” (S20E12). Next is “Boy on Fire” (S20E14). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.

Law & Order — Steel-Eyed Death (S20E13)

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

When a family of four is found murdered in their home, Detectives Lupo and Bernard discover that the deaths may be related to the deceased teenage daughter's troubled friend, Bonnie Jones (Emily Meade). As Lupo and Bernard track down Bonnie, the detectives become aware of another suspect, Justin Sachs (Michael Oberholtzer), who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, making the case more complicated when both suspects' mental states come into question. As the case is tried in court, EADA Mike Cutter is up against a famous defense attorney, Veronica Masters (Rebecca Creskoff), who had a history with Detective Cyrus Lupo, who reveals a secret to his partner, Bernard.

Viewer FAQ

Where does Steel-Eyed Death sit in the Law & Order guide?

S20E13 is listed hour 446 of 545 — hour 13 of 23 in season 20, season 20 episode 13.

When did Law & Order S20E13 air?

Steel-Eyed Death aired 2010-03-01 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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