Greetings,
I've noticed over the years that certain shows have felt the need to do musical episodes. When it comes to most of them, I have no idea why. Law & Order is a show that I always wanted to have a musical episode of. Why? Because there are a few musical people who have roamed the hallowed halls of this series. We've had Paul Sorvino, Jerry Orbach, Jill Hennessy and, of course, the actor who played the character who is our subject today, Ed Green.
Ed Green was portrayed by Jesse L. Martin from Season 10 to Season 18. He showed up to replaced Rey Curtis and was partnered up with Lennie Briscoe. Let me just say this right off the bat. Of all the cop couplings on this show, I think that Briscoe and Green had the absolute best chemistry. I loved them together so much. Of course, don't take this to mean that they didn't have their differences and always got along. They had their troubles, but they seemed like such good friends, despite all the teasing about age and other things.
From his very first episode, we learn that Green has a thing for the gambling. And he must be good at it because he's always got a Rolex on his wrist. We also learn quickly of his style when it comes to interrogation, and how flip-floppy some of his colleagues are. No lie. In his first episode, he got scolded for being a little too rough with a suspect, then, the next time, he got scolded for being too nice to this little girl he was trying to get a story out of. Seriously, people. Grow the heck up and choose a demeanor. Of course, Green probably ended up swinging a bit more towards the side of being aggressive. Not necessarily physically, but sometimes verbally. That gave us some memorable moments, and ones we'd get used to. I know I always looked forward to when he was alone in the room with some racist suspect. We all knew we were SO going to get a good line out it. Best one was when they were questioning some scientist who just, out of the blue, turned out to be racist. He learned quickly that one does not mess with Ed Green.
Anyway, as I said, Green and Briscoe had a great relationship, which led to him taking it hard when Briscoe retired. He was able to move on, though, to three more partners. I think he may have the distinction of having the most of any cop, but I'm not sure. That requires me to do math, and...no. So, after Briscoe, came Joe Fontana, who it took him a bit to warm up to. Same went for everyone there, I think. Then, he was partnered with Nina Cassady, making him now a Senior Detective and the only guy in the original show to have a female teammate. And, finally, he was put with Cyrus Lupo, and, next to Briscoe, I think I liked these guys together most. So, of course, we only got them together for like ten episodes or something. Thanks, Show.
I should probably bring up a little predicament Green had to go through in Season 15. That predicament is that he got shot and almost died. Well, it's a cruel world out there. Oh, and this was a crossover with Law & Order: Trial By Jury, so, if you didn't watch the episode of THAT that went along with THIS, you most likely sweated out the entire summer, wondering if Green made it. Anyway, he was out of commission and the show for about the last five episodes of the season. Apparently, this was written into his story arc so that Jesse Martin could go and be in the movie version of Rent. Well, I certainly hope that was worth almost giving me a heart attack thinking that Ed Green was going to die on me. Again...THANKS!
When he returned, Green was back for another two and a half seasons. Well, more like two and a quarter. Sixteen, seventeen and half of eighteen, which was only half a season so...Oh, crap! Math! Green's departure was not unexpected, as we had all gotten the news in the real world. It was quite emotional, though, and so much stuff came out about Green that we were not aware of. After Briscoe left and then passed away, he had started gambling again. Then, in this episode, he was getting charged with shooting some guy he used to know. And there was this woman who was a friend of his involved. I touched on this when I talked about the specific episode. Yes, it was a lot to take in. Still, very powerful, though, and a good way for him to go out, certainly from an acting standpoint.
So, thankfully, we got a good eight and half years with Ed Green. Very good. I certainly had an enjoyable time with him, and I loved watching such a complex character grow and change and learn over the years. Sure, he was a flawed man, but he was a good man. As far as I'm concerned, the only really unforgivable thing he did was be a vegetarian. Okay, fine. Since it's him, I'll let it slide. And I'm sure that one of the biggest reasons I warmed up to Green was because of Jesse L. Martin. I had known him from previous work, and I was so glad to see him to such a stellar job here with a character that was very different. That's what a fine actor can do, and so that is exactly what he did.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
