Season 25 of Law & Order has delivered another grand slam after “Remedies” had the 27th Precinct A.D.A.s struggling to represent the murder victim at the center of the madness.
After a homeopathic social media influencer named Emily Starr was shot and murdered in cold blood, the fearless 2-7 investigated the mystifying chain of events that led to her death. Emily rose to fame online with her holistic remedies, garnering legions of followers thanks to Emily’s own success story of beating cancer.
What could have led to such a horrific death? After tracing the murder weapon to a recent gun show and buyer, the 2-7 detectives wasted no time arresting the culprit, Carol Massey, who confessed to the killing.
However, once A.D.A.s Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) and Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi) got to the courtroom, they discovered that Carol’s motive for murder was maybe a bit too convincing.
As the dial on the legal compass on Law & Order, Nolan Price has long prided himself in navigating trials by upholding the law with a stern fist, but questioned that infallible direction during Law & Order‘s latest. Here’s what happened:
The 27th Precinct lawyers had their work cut out for them in Law & Order‘s “Remedies”
During the initial trial, Price and Maroun were shocked after Carol’s defense attorney revealed that Emily Starr wasn’t as innocent as she seemed online. Carol claimed that Emily had become a deadly threat to her daughter, Lauren, who was battling cancer when she became entangled in Emily’s pricey wellness regime.
After Lauren passed out in a supermarket, Carol was devastated to discover that Lauren’s cancer had progressed under Emily Starr’s recommendation of PH-level balancing juice cleanses. Carol was devastated when Lauren continued to forego treatment as Emily claimed the cancer spreading was a natural “cleansing stage.”
Lauren Massey had already spent over $23,000 on a full homeopathic regime of diet and exercise, with no doctors backing the treatment plan. After actually touching base with Lauren’s doctors, Carol realized that if Lauren’s cancer remained untreated, her lifespan would be devastatingly slashed. But with Lauren still so ensnared in the Emilys’ cult-like rhetoric, Carol’s defense argued she only killed Emily due to the social media star being an imminent threat. Starr Serenity’s reckless remedies had forced Carol to intervene.
Stephanie Szostak as Carol Massey, Matt Walsh as Atty Siranni, Hugh Dancy as A.D.A. Nolan Price, Odelya Halevi as A.D.A. Samantha Maroun during Law & Order Season 25 Episode 14.Photo: Virginia Sherwood/NBC
While Price was quick to accept Emily as a snake oil salesman, Maroun reminded him that several jury members might sympathize with homeopathic solutions. Aside from the transgression of price-gauging her clients and brainwashing them with medical hogwash, Emily hadn’t physically forced anyone to purchase her wellness plans but was nonetheless murdered for her business dealings.
As Price worried, the jury was sympathetic to Carol’s testimony and was only more emboldened to pity Emily’s murderer after Lauren Massey was discharged from the hospital to testify about the extensive exploitation she faced from the TikTok cult leader. Lauren testified that Emily had preyed upon her vulnerability amid her chronic sickness, so Lauren was only grateful to her mother for what she’d done.
Once Price argued that Lauren had turned down chemotherapy voluntarily, Lauren claimed she’d been restrained psychologically after being isolated from her family and doctors due to Emily’s concerns of “fear-mongering.” Price asked why Lauren believed Emily, but she argued that she was indulging in wishful thinking due to a lifetime of chronic illness. Despite Price pointing out the voluntary nature of the dynamic, Lauren tearfully begged the jury not to punish her mother.
Nolan Price opened up to Maroun about his law-abiding instincts
Back at the D.A. Office, Price found himself remorseful for drilling Lauren too hard on the stand, surprising Maroun, the typically more empathetic lawyer of the pair. Price was teetering in his prosecution as he began seeing Emily Starr as a fraudulent con-artist who coerced Lauren into further sickness for financial gain, making Carol’s actions much more understandable.
“Nolan, what happened to the law as your compass?” Maroun asked.
Price was emotional as he shared that his mother had died of breast cancer. The treatments had been brutal, and since she’d been an energetic lawyer, his mother hated feeling so drained. Eventually, after reading about homeopathic treatments, Price’s mother fell for the “whole pitch,” quitting chemotherapy for a few months. His mother felt energized and even grew back some hair.
“But that cost her a year of her life,” Price revealed gravely. “When you are that sick, you are vulnerable.”
Maroun’s heart broke for Price, but she was eager to remind Price that, fraud or not, Emily Starr didn’t deserve to be murdered due to a scam. After debating the best options for the morally murky case, Price and Maroun extended an enticing plea bargain to Carol in good faith. But Carol argued that she’d only saved her daughter’s life, adding that there were many other Lauren Masseys in the world still following Emily’s twisted remedies.
Hugh Dancy as A.D.A. Nolan Price during Law & Order Season 25 Episode 14.
A.D.A. Nolan Price struggled to stick to the prosecution
Carol turned down the deal, forcing the A.D.A. to move forward with the murder trial. In an attempt to make the jury empathize more with Emily Starr, Maroun reached out to Emily’s former cancer support group member to get a full picture of the victims’ life and what first connected Starr to the wellness community. While speaking with Emily’s former friend from the group, Maroun learned that Emily had been a bundle of energy and positivity “at first,” making many friends at the support group before encouraging them to try her wellness drinks.
Clocking the “at first,” Maroun wondered what had changed when the woman nervously explained that despite Emily Starr famously beating stomach cancer — a brutal diagnosis that can take a visible toll — Emily’s support group never noted any physical symptoms like weight loss, abdominal pain, or even fatigue. Emily’s former colleague didn’t want to allude to anything, but found the entire dynamic strange.
A.D.A. Samantha Maroun (Odelya Halevi) and Ashley Dennison (Megan Elyse Robinson) appear in Law & Order Season 25 Episode 14.Photo: Will Hart/NBC
The A.D.A.s visited the morgue to speak to Emily’s coroner. As they expected, Emily’s autopsy revealed that she never had cancer, so her entire foundational story had been built on a lie. Upon this shocking revelation, Price instinctively began to think about how this development would help Carol’s defense, when Maroun grounded Price back to the root of their mission: prosecuting a murderer.
How was Emily Starr running an insidious wellness empire any justification for murder? Maroun reminded Price that they had no responsibility to report their findings to anyone and should focus on the straight-laced facts: Carol shot and killed Emily Starr.
Back in the courtroom, Price carried through on that duty, resulting in a guilty verdict. Price was troubled to see Lauren devastated at the sight of her mother in handcuffs, meanwhile, one of Emily’s Starr’s many followers thanked him for delivering justice. Oh, how the gavel lands. Maroun approached Price gently, echoing his own advice from their many courtroom showdowns together.
“As a great prosecutor once told me, a good person killing a bad person is still murder,” Maroun said with another case closed.