Does Baxter still have a girlfriend after that ‘Law & Order’ ending? Tony Goldwyn weighs in

Nicholas Baxter’s usual moral balance involves the scales of justice at work in the district attorney’s office each week, but what happens when that delicate equilibrium tips over into his life at home?

It means things get “fun and kind of messy,” according to Tony Goldwyn, who has portrayed DA Baxter on “Law & Order” since the character’s introduction in March 2024.

“It’s just one of those episodes of ‘Law & Order’ that has a lot of dimension to it,” he explains in an interview with TODAY.com.

In the March 13 episode, “Crossing Lines,” James Powers, the son of a senator, is found dead. Julia Gallow, a journalist working on a hit piece about Powers, quickly draws suspicion. Baxter recuses himself from the case after the defense attorney he’s dating, Kate Norris (Maggie Siff), signs on to represent Gallow.

Baxter tells Executive Assistant District Attorney Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) to run point for the prosecution since he has to sit this one out.

“I especially thought this episode was so well done,” Goldwyn says. “It’s so nice because the cases are always interesting on ‘Law & Order,’ but to be able to bring in our personal lives and to discover more about the characters, it just makes it more interesting to play and explore.”

He also appreciates getting to work with “amazing co-stars like Maggie Siff.”

Goldwyn says he thought what was “particularly skillful about this episode” was it “very much integrated” Baxter’s personal life into “the story of the case.”  

“As opposed to something that would just be sort of tacked on as a, you know, a moment with Baxter outside of work, which is less interesting,” he adds. “This I thought was really cool because the case impacts the relationship in a really great way.”

What happens between Baxter and his girlfriend during the case on ‘Law & Order’?

Lt. Jessica Brady (Maura Tierney) goes over to Baxter’s place after police find the DA’s business card in a victim’s pocket. Baxter identifies the deceased as Powers, whom he says he ran into that morning. Then, his girlfriend enters the room.

“That your new friend, Kate?” Brady asks, continuing a playful exchange she had with Baxter in the last episode after seeing a bottle of wine he got from “Kate.”

Baxter confirms, and Brady responds, “Hm, punching above your weight.”

Tierney joined the cast this season, and Goldwyn says he was “very excited to work with her.”

“She’s sort of developing, in a subtle way, this kind of really interesting character with Brady,” he explains, “and similar to what we’re saying about sort of our personal lives, you’re getting a sense of a relationship developing between Baxter and Brady, which has a real sense of humor to it. They can kind of bust on each other. It takes away any kind of generic quality that can sometimes happen with procedural shows where you’re just so focused on the plot.”

During another scene at home, Baxter and Kate have to cut their chat about the case short because Kate says the defendant, Gallow, reached out asking if she could represent her in court.

“I’m actually feeling really excited about it,” Kate tells Baxter.

“And I’m feeling really excited,” Baxter responds, before they kiss each other goodbye.

“I was excited to work with her, and she’s, I thought, so good in this episode,” Goldwyn says of Siff, who’s more recently known for her work on “Billions.”

“We had great kind of chemistry,” he adds. “So, it’s nice.”

Baxter then takes Price to a diner to tell him he’s dating Kate, whom he says he’s known since their time together at the U.S. attorney’s office. Baxter reveals he will recuse himself but not the entire office.

“I recognize this puts you in an awkward position, so I don’t want you and (ADA) Sam (Maroun) to feel any added pressure. Just treat this like any other case, and treat Kate like any other defense attorney,” Baxter tells him.

“Yeah, easier said than done,” Price responds with an awkward laugh.

Goldwyn credits showrunner Rick Eid for building the relationship between Price and his new superior.

“There’s been a lot of tension between Price and Baxter,” Goldwyn explains. “We weren’t quite sure how they felt about each other. And now, you get these sort of back-and-forth glimpses of a real respect and connection between them.”

While “periodically, it goes a little south,” Goldwyn says, he enjoys the back and forth and “not feeling obliged to explain that too much.”

“That’s why I really like that little scene we have in the diner,” he adds, “where I just tell him, ‘I’m not going to give this to another prosecutor,’ which indicates that Baxter has a lot of respect for Price.”

Over dinner at home one night, Kate brings up the case, and Baxter tries to shut down the conversation, as they agreed not to talk about it.

Kate asks Baxter to let her client plead down to a lesser charge.

Baxter tells her to talk to Price, and Kate says Price “isn’t willing to negotiate.”

“Don’t do that,” Baxter says. “Don’t go over Nolan’s head, and don’t try to play me against him.”

Then Baxter gets a message and meets Price, who informs him Kate threatened their eyewitness and got him to recant.

Baxter returns home and confronts Kate.

“We’re still going to win, Kate, despite what you did,” he tells her.

Goldwyn says Kate puts his character in a “very tough spot” during “a tough time.”

“He found this substantial woman … this thing might work. They really connected with each other, and she screws it up,” he says. “She crosses the line, and I think it really upsets him.”

“It’s interesting, when we have the beginning of that fight, and I kind of shut her down, and then Nolan calls, and I go down to his car … and he mentions the case, and I snap at him, saying, ‘I told you I don’t want to talk about it.’ And I’ve just been upstairs talking to my girlfriend about it. That’s the kind of thing about where you get into the relationship dynamics that make it fun and kind of messy.”

Does Nicholas Baxter still have a girlfriend on ‘Law & Order’?

Baxter ends up being right — his team does win, and Kate’s client is found guilty.

The final scene of the episode shows Baxter and Kate outside the courtroom after the jury reads the verdict.

“It was a tough case,” Baxter says to Kate. “You did what you could.”

“You’re right,” she responds. “I did.”

Then Kate walks away leaving Baxter alone.

So, are they still together?

“I don’t know,” Goldwyn says coyly. “I kind of hope so. That’s above my pay grade.”

“I like the ambiguity of it,” he adds.

But “there’s definitely a problem,” he confirms.

“I feel like he’d be willing to (work it out), but she walks away from him,” Goldwyn says.

“It’s hard to mix business and personal relationships in that way,” he continues.

Baxter and his wife separated at the end of last season after their daughter was a witness in a case against his wife’s wishes.

“It felt not good for a guy who’s going through a divorce … and his work got in the way of his marriage and his family,” Goldwyn explains. “And that was obviously quite painful. So now, here we go again.”

He adds he feels his character “likes being involved with smart, dynamic, powerful women.” 

“He’s also very dedicated to his work,” he says. “I feel bad for him.”

“Law & Order” airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and streams the following day on Peacock.

(Peacock is part of our parent company, NBCUniversal.)