The best part of Law & Order Season 25, Episode 5 is the return of Ryan Eggold as Matt Riley, Detective Vincent Riley’s ne’er do well brother. The worst part of “Brotherly Love” is what happens to Matt at the end of it.

“Brotherly Love” begins after Matt’s release from prison, when he introduces his brother to his new boss, restauranteur Declan Dell. Declan is found shot to death three hours later—and naturally Matt becomes the state’s key witness, because he and Declan played in the same poker game that led to the murder. The script by Law & Order showrunner Rick Eid is a typical “boy who cried wolf” tale, with an added dose of TV drama… and it’s the latter that ends up derailing Matt’s character.

Ryan Eggold’s casting in the Law & Order Season 24 episode “Big Brother” was a pleasant surprise, because NBC viewers already knew him very well from his series regular roles on The Blacklist, its spinoff The Blacklist: Redemption and the medical drama New Amsterdam. After five years of watching him as the charismatic Dr. Max Goodwin, to see him play the more rough around the edges Matt Riley was a change of pace. His return in Season 25 is even more jarring because it comes after he portrayed the bone-chilling serial killer Ed Ramsey in Prime Video‘s Cross. To see Eggold as a vulnerable, wayward average dude after he disturbed half of Amazon’s subscriber base is a testament to the actor’s range, and also makes Matt almost more endearing. The audience wants to get back to the “good” Ryan Eggold they know and love.

That lack of synchronicity is also what makes Matt Riley a memorable character. This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last where a TV detective has a shady relative or friend who becomes involved in at least one of their cases. But Eggold has such an earnestness to his performance that even when Matt comes across as cynical or when he’s butting heads with Vincent (which is most of this episode), the viewer cares about him. Eggold’s approach to the role elevates the character into someone the viewer wants to see do the right thing, because they feel like it’s in him somewhere. He creates potential for Matt to be more than his criminal record. The reason Matt’s screw-up in “Big Brother” was so frustrating was that the audience knew he could do better than that.

“Brotherly Love” gives Matt that opportunity, but in the worst way. He’s able to redeem himself for his perjury in Season 24 by testifying as the star witness to get justice for his boss and friend. Unfortunately, Matt has to deliver his testimony from a hospital bed—because he’s stabbed three times before he can make it to the courthouse. This is a common trope in several genre shows: heroes’ family members wind up injured or dead to create angst for their relatives. Wolf Entertainment dramas have done this a few times, most recently Owen Manning being shot in the current season of Chicago Med. Shortly after testifying, Matt Riley ends up in a medically induced coma, caused by a bacterial infection. The doctor tells Vincent that Matt’s prognosis “doesn’t look good.”

At least Matt gets to testify first, and at least he’s still alive instead of being killed outright. But to follow this well-worn path shortchanges the character of Matt Riley, and what Ryan Eggold has been able to do with just two guest appearances. Matt’s story is worth following for a number of reasons: Eggold’s chemistry with Reid Scott, a chance to add more color to the Law & Order world, and the fact that it’s still uncommon to see plots about ex-cons who’ve been able to turn their lives around. In the crime genre, those folks are often depicted either as career criminals, or they try to help with a case and end up worse for it—like Matt getting stabbed.

It would’ve been a better final scene for Matt to be in the courtroom sitting next to his brother as his friend’s killer was convicted, to see him process that and see Vincent react to what his brother was able to do or encourage him about what to do next. The idea of “Brotherly Love” is that Matt has changed, but by hospitalizing him, Law & Order almost reinforces that his self-preservation in “Big Brother” was the right call.

It’s great that Eid thought to bring Matt Riley back, but to revisit the character only to put him on the seemingly permanent sideline is less than ideal. It’s definitely the most dramatic choice, but it’s the least fulfilling one. Here’s hoping Law & Order brings him out of that coma in a future episode, because his story is definitely unfinished.