Directed by Michael Pressman Original air date March 1, 2010 | Production code 20013 | |
Episode no. Season 20
Episode 13 (#446 overall) Written by Christopher Ambrose
Julie Martin
Richard Sweren | ||
"Steel-Eyed Death" is the thirteenth episode of the twentieth season of NBC's long-running legal drama Law & Order.
Contents
Plot
A family of four is found murdered in their home by a boy experiencing symptoms of a type of post-traumatic stress disorder.
In this episode, Detective Lupo admits he had PTSD and a drinking problem after seeing a horrible crime scene on a past Christmas.
Production
"Steel-Eyed Death" was directed by Michael Pressman and written by Christopher Ambrose, Julie Martin and Richard Sweren.
Reception
"Steel-Eyed Death" drew criticism from Juggalos and fans of horrorcore hip hop music, who felt the episode unfairly equated the music genre and its fans with violent crime and murder.
In its original American broadcast on March 1, 2010, "Steel-Eyed Death" was watched by 7.58 million average households over the hour, and received 1.9/5 aged between 18 and 49, according to Nielsen ratings. The episode had outperformed Life Unexpected on The CW, which drew only 1.88 million households. "Steel-Eyed Death" had 0.98 million viewers less than the episode of 24 that aired on Fox that night which drew 8.56 million viewers.