Law and Order To Repeat Its Good-Bye To Jesse Martin

Posted by Alan Childress

Last week I blogged on Kelly Lynn Anders' (Washburn) interest in lawyers' portrayals in movies, TV, etc., and her Karen Silkwood article. She is also, unsurprisingly, a big Law and Order fan, as are many of my students who literally grew up on it and decided via Sam Waterston's Jack McCoy to go to law school.  They seem disappointed we offer no thunk-thunk sound when they say something dramatic in class. 

Me, not so much.  Not a big fan.  My fandom, if any, ended while cringing at envisioning one of their ripped from the headline stories based on a real Seattle D.A. event.  But I am a big fan of Jesse L. Martin, particularly on-stage and in film as Tom Collins in Rent (left), and I do look forward to his playing Marvin Gaye in an upcoming biopic.  So I took notice when Kelly told me he is leaving (now, has left) Law and Order.  She thought the episode was excellent and she reminds our readers that it will re-air on NBC Sunday Saturday night.  She writes:

    In typical revolving-door fashion, another “Law & Order” regular leaves the series in tonight’s episode. Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), who was the last detective to partner with the late Jerry Orbach’s unfortgettable Lenny Briscoe, ends his run Apr. 23 in what promises to be a powerful episode that reveals some disturbing secrets behind Green’s professional demeanor.

    As TV Guide’s Matt Roush advises, “I’m truly sorry to see Martin go at this juncture of the show’s history. After a number of seasons of uneven cast chemistry…this season righted itself with the strong additions of Jeremy Sisto as Green’s new partner, the war-haunted Cyrus Lupo, and Linus Roache as scrappy new ADA Michael Cutter, working under the often dubious supervision of newly promoted DA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). The show, which even in its off years was never less than intelligent and compelling, has felt newly re-energized of late, and it’s too bad we couldn’t have enjoyed at least one full season of the refreshed stability.” (Source: “A Dramatic Exit for Jesse L. Martin” at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tvguide/360246_roush23.html.)

    Additional details about the series are available at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098844/. The “Trivia” section is especially interesting. The show’s official site is available at http://www.nbc.com/Law_&_Order/.

Correction:  Look for the show Sunday Saturday night on NBC, at 10:00 p.m. EST.