Photos
Video
RSS
Twitter'L&O's' new order
The times aren't really a-changin' that much in the world of Law & Order, but the faces sure are. All three shows in the franchise -- 'scuse me, brand -- have new cast members (SVU temporarily, while Mariska Hargitay is on maternity leave). All are female, and as of Tuesday they've all made their first appearances. First impressions:
On the mothership, Conviction refugee Milena Govich is playing the show's first on-the-street female detective, Nina Cassady. As a character, her lack of experience is more notable than her gender: There's always been a sense that the other homicide detectives, even younger ones like those played by Benjamin Bratt and Jesse L. Martin when he joined the show (a full seven years ago now), had paid their dues. Not so with Cassady, who's dismissively referred to as "Detective Beauty Queen" because she happened to be a client at a salon that was robbed and nailed the perps. We've never really seen a green detective on the show before, so that could make for an interesting wrinkle in the future.
L&O classic also has a new assistant D.A., Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza, late of CSI: Miami). The premiere didn't give her a whole lot of screen time, but she appears to be in the Angie Harmon, "Yes, I'm gorgeous, but I'll put you on death row as soon as look at you" mold.
On SVU, Connie Nielsen is taking over for Hargitay for the next several weeks. Nielsen had but one scene Tuesday, but based on that, she's pretty much a female Stabler (Chris Meloni). here he and Benson have a yin-yang, tough-sensitive relationship, the next several episodes look to be full of bad cop-bad cop.
Another ex-Conviction star, Julianne Nicholson, is Logan's (Chris Noth) new partner on Criminal Intent. This was a piece of casting I couldn't quite see when I heard about it. I've always kinda liked Nicholson, but CI is often the darkest of the three shows, and given her past credits, I couldn't quite see her in that world.
I see it better after Tuesday's episode, and she and Noth convincingly brought off the awkwardness that's inherent in any new relationship. Her character, Megan Wheeler, isn't quite as steely as Kathryn Erbe's Eames on the Vincent D'Onofrio half of CI, but you get the idea that she's insightful and maybe has a background in psychology, which would be a useful counterpoint to Logan's old-school approach to detective work.
And what about you, you L&O obsessives out there? What are your impressions of the new folks?
Post a comment
Zap2it Twitter Talk 
I liked Nicholson and her character very much. Unfortunately, she and Chris Noth had the misfortune of being in one of the more poorly plotted LOCI episodes. I'm a Goren/Eames fan myself, but I like Chris Noth/Mike Logan the more I see them. The new team deserves better writing.
Connie Nielson seems like she is going to be likeable in the show. But she's no Mariska Hargitay, and i will be anxiously awaiting her return.
I like Jesse new partner, I like her attitude, but I think Jack's new partner is to soft for the part she is playing, but I am willing to give her a chance.
The new A.D.A is solid. Looking forward to more of her.
PLEASE Bring back Mariska Hargitay!
She makes the show.
First off, what happened to Dennis Farina? He was only on L&O a few years. He beat George Dzunda's and Paul Sorvino's runs, but there was no reason I heard of for his leaving. Same with Annabella Sciroa on CI.
I think the L&O teams seem a bit mismatched. Maybe because the women seem a bit stiff in their roles, but I'll give them a chance to loosen up.
My big question is why they don't kick Sam Waterson up to Fred Thompson's job after all these years and get a young D.A. to take his place? Same with Van Bruen. Shouldn't she be Captain by now?
Julianne Nicholson will probably work out on CI, but I'll miss Logan's last partner. She was actually as eccentric as Goren in her own way. And I agree about Connie Neilson. She looks like someone as tough, if not tougher, than Stabler. Mariska, come back!
The one person I don't like is none of the above. It's Eric Bogosian as the new Captain on L&O: CI.. He almost seems to resent the officers under him. At least Jamey Sheridan didn't seem at odds with his officers.
What happened to Chris Noth partnering with Annabella Sciorra? What did I miss? She was PERFECT counterpoint. Which episode explained her disappearance, and will she be back at some point??
Mike Logan/Chris Noth has a real edge to his character. They should be using it a lot more than they do. Megan Wheeler/Julianne Nicholson seems to have a little more oomph to her than the way they wrote Barek/Sciorra. But she does look like she's in high school.
Goren/D'Onofrio needs go back to surprising you every episode like he did the first couple of seasons. His character is brilliant and he plays him to perfection. Show off his talents! God knows he has plenty!
At this summer's TCAs, **** Wolf would only say that Annabella Sciorra leaving was "a mutual parting of the ways," so take that how you will.
Bogosian's character made a reference to Barek in Tuesday's episode, and Logan kind of winced at her name. I read that as maybe the characters didn't get along all that well, but I didn't see too many of their episodes last season, so I'm not sure.
I think Connie Nielsen is signed for six episodes of SVU, so Mariska will probably be back sometime during November sweeps.
I want Mariska back on Law and order SVU... I can wait for her return, with out her SVU is not the same.