TV News and Reviews

Argh. I adore Sam Waterston, I really do. His stint as ADA Jack McCoy on NBCs Law & Order has been amazing, and he was always a large part of why we tuned in. Waterston’s portrayal of McCoy’s dogged determination, willfulness, and snarkiness was pitch perfect and we the viewers enjoyed watching him get the bad guys week after week.

Now that he’s moved up to DA, they’ve brought in Linus Roache as Michael Cutter to fill his old slot. I adore Linus Roache. He’s a great actor, he’s great with the snark, and he’s handsome to boot. The problem is, each episode is a constant tug of war between Waterston and McCoy for screen time. Previous DAs were involved here and there in cases, offering sage advice or political maneuvering. But they seem to be trying too hard to maintain Waterston’s star status, inserting him into the plot much too often, and taking the bite away from Cutter.

Watch Roache in action:

Roache and Waterston play well off of each other, and I don’t mind the bit of rivalry they have going. I think I’d just rather it was one way or the other. I’d have been happier if Cutter had come on in the assistant position to McCoy and have McCoy grooming him for the ADA spot. That would have offered a different twist to the typical male ADA/sexy female assistant formula Law & Order has had going for so long. But Waterston’s age is a factor (as is Roache’s), and it was getting to the point where McCoy really did need to advance. And that’s fine, but he unfortunately needs to slip into the background more often and let Cutter take the lead.

Law & Order needs a hero ADA, someone we can get behind. But if we always feel like Cutter is being spoon fed by McCoy, and McCoy gets all the good ideas, then McCoy is still the hero–but he isn’t the one the majority of the story is following. I think it just confuses the arc of the plots. It also seems like Waterston is overacting the bits that he’s on, trying to make them larger than they are, and that makes it more jarring to me, too. It’s like the seams are showing on the plot.

I still enjoy Law & Order, but I feel like it’s one step shy of where it could be. The show runners went to the trouble of getting a fine actor like Roache…so they should do something with him. Let him have the run of the second half of the show, as he should, without having to check in with McCoy every five minutes.

Law & Order airs on NBC Wedneday nights, 10/9c.