I am working my way through the later seasons of Law and Order. My favorite detective pair was Briscoe and Green because I love both of those characters and actors. Once Jerry Orbach left the show, Green (played by Jesse L. Martin) cycled through a couple different partners with my favorite being Lupo and the absolute worst being Nina Cassidy. Any time I see an episode with Cassidy, I get mad all over again. Because she is terrible. The actress was not great and the writing for her was never particularly strong. She is supposed to be a tough cop, but they never were able to make her more that one-dimensional character and therefore settle into using cliches (I don't know if the writers/producers told the actress to walk that way, but she walks in a way a woman thinks a man walks). Which makes me even angrier. In theory having a female detective would be great, seeing a woman in a male-dominated profession. But even from the beginning, the writers shoe-horn her into the squad. Cassidy doesn't earn her way onto the homicide squad (in a great scene with Van Buren, she (Van Buren) describes the years she working on Narcotics and undercover before transferring to homicide), she seems to be moved over to the homicide squad as a PR move. It seems like the writers want you to root for Cassidy and believe that she is a natural at being a detective. But it is not believable and you (me) just hate her. There is a reason she only lasted a season, which was a season too long. I think a better actress would have helped (Milena Govich can't pull it off) but even then, it might not be believable (although if Rosa from Brooklyn-Nine-Nine, played the character, I would have enjoyed the character much more).
I know it is ridiculous to complain about a (cancelled) show that aired almost a decade ago. But as I mentioned, I've just started Season 17, the season of Cassidy (the season I will totally watch because my love of Green (and McCoy) > my hatred of Det. Cassidy.
