who was the lesbian lawyer on law and order

by Mr. Deven Davis 6 min read

Serena Southerlyn

Full Answer

Who are the actors in the law and order movies?

Long-running recurring cast members on the series include John Fiore as Det. Tony Profaci (1990–1998), Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet (1991–2009), Leslie Hendrix as Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers (1992–2010) and J. K. Simmons as Dr. Emil Skoda (1997–2010). Exiled: A Law & Order Movie . Exiled: A Law & Order Movie . Murdered in 1991.

Is Law&Order SVU LGBTQ friendly?

Law & Order: SVU often breaks new ground when it comes to issues related to sexual assault, but it hasn't always written great stories for the LGBTQ community, especially in the early years. More often than not, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender characters are murder victims rather than full-fledged characters.

Who is Serena on law and Order SVU?

Serena Southerlyn is a fictional character (played by Elisabeth Röhm) on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order.

What was the most topical episode of Law&Order SVU?

Law & Order: SVU Season 19 Episode 18 was one of the most topical SVU episodes of that year.

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Who played Serena Southerlyn on Law and Order?

Elisabeth RöhmSerena Southerlyn / Played byElisabeth Röhm is a German-American television and film actress. She is best known for playing Kate Lockley in the television series Angel from 1999 to 2001 and Serena Southerlyn in the television series Law & Order from 2001 to 2005. Wikipedia

Why was Serena Southerlyn fired?

Branch dismissed Southerlyn because he felt that she was too sympathetic to the defendants. This self-outing is generally believed by critics and viewers alike to have been poorly handled in terms of both story continuity and character development.

Why was Elisabeth Röhm dropped from law and order?

Elisabeth Röhm felt like she couldn't offer her Law & Order character anything else. Elisabeth Röhm joined Law & Order at the start of season 12, and left three seasons later, bidding farewell to the role of Assistant District Attorney Serena Southerlyn in 2005.

When was Serena Southerlyn fired?

PROGRAM ORIGINALLY AIRED ON THIS DATE: Law & Order, “Ain't No Love” (Season 15, Episode 13).

Who did Jack McCoy sleep with on law and order?

Jill Hennessy ADA Claire Kincaid - did she or didn't she sleep with Jack McCoy? For us, Jack and Claire fans, yes they did. The best EADA/ADA pair in the flagship show! I was so heartbroken when they killed off Claire in season 6!

Why was Alexandra Borgia killed off?

Cast and crew changes Prior to the end of the season, Annie Parisse – who portrayed ADA Borgia – quit the series, wanting out of her contract. A show insider said to Fox News, "She saw the writing on the wall, they never treated her very well.

Why did Abbie Carmichael leave law and order?

April 10, 2001 -- Law & Order star Angie Harmon wants to let the prosecution rest after this season. The 28-year-old actress, who has portrayed assistant district attorney Abbie Carmichael for three seasons, wants to depart from the series. Sources on the L&O set say Harmon wants to focus on a film career.

Why did Chris Noth leave law and order?

As the Associated Press reported at the time, the reason Noth left the show was simply because contract negotiations broke down. The actor was reportedly entitled to a big raise if he continued with the show, but executive producer Dick Wolf admitted it would've been "impossible" to facilitate.

Why did Jill Hennessy leave law and order?

The Kincaid character was written out after Hennessy expressed concern about being typecast as an "uptight lawyer". Kincaid was originally intended to be portrayed as paralyzed and leaving the DA's office for private practice after the events of "Aftershock".

Did Cutter and Rubirosa date?

Jonathan Cake did a fantastic job at playing the former ADA now defense attorney, who seemed just a little to sure of himself in more ways that one. We find that he and Connie Rubirosa (Alana De La Garza) had a brief fling, a fact that takes Michael Cutter (Linus Roache) by surprise.

When did Arthur leave law and order?

2007He was elected in 2001 and replaced Nora Lewin. He resigned, for unspecified reasons, in 2007 and was replaced by Jack McCoy.

Where is Elisabeth Röhm now?

Actress Elisabeth Röhm has been in the public eye for years, thanks to numerous roles in movies and on TV shows (for four years, she starred as assistant district attorney Serena Southerlyn on Law & Order). She currently appears on Lifetime's The Client List.

Why did Claire leave law and order?

The Kincaid character was written out after Hennessy expressed concern about being typecast as an "uptight lawyer". Kincaid was originally intended to be portrayed as paralyzed and leaving the DA's office for private practice after the events of "Aftershock".

What happened to Ben Stone in law and order?

Stone makes his last appearance in the show in the episode "Old Friends," the final episode of season four. The episode portrays a racketeering case in which the main witness Ann Madsen (Allison Janney), whose testimony Stone had secured by threatening to send her to prison, is murdered by the Russian Mafia.

Who is the longest running actor on law and order?

In 2017, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) actor Ice-T broke the record for the longest-running Black character on TV with his role of Detective Odafin Tutuola for 18 seasons. The person who held the title before him was S. Epatha Merkerson, who played Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on "Law & Order" for 17 years.

Which ADA did Jack McCoy marry?

(L&O: "Pro Se") After a short period of time during which McCoy worked alone, ADA Jamie Ross became his partner.

Trivia

She is tied with Connie Rubirosa as the longest serving ADA on Law & Order, with 85 episodes.

Appearances

Season 12: " Who Let the Dogs Out? " • " Armed Forces " • " For Love or Money " • " Soldier of Fortune " • " Possession " • " Formerly Famous " • " Myth of Fingerprints " • " The Fire This Time " • " 3 Dawg Night " • " Prejudice " • " The Collar " • " Undercovered " • " DR 1-102 " • " Missing " • " Access Nation " • " Born Again " • " Girl Most Likely " • " Equal Rights " • " Slaughter " • " Dazzled " • " Foul Play " • " Attorney Client " • " Oxymoron " • " Patriot ".

Who played Mike Logan in Law and Order?

Donald Cragen on the spin-off series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 1999 to 2014, and Chris Noth reprised his role of Det. Mike Logan on Law & Order: Criminal Intent from 2005 to 2008.

When did Law and Order start?

The American television police procedural and legal drama Law & Order (1990–2010) follows the cases of a group of police detectives and prosecutors who represent the public interest in the criminal justice system. Known for its revolving cast, most of the original stars had left the show within the first five seasons;

1. Prevalence of Gay People - Bad Blood

Law & Order: SVU Season 1 Episode 11 marked the first time the show addressed gay issues. After the son of a virulently anti-gay activist was murdered, the team discussed the irony of a homophobe having a gay child and provided the audience with statistics about the prevalence of gay people.

2. Transgender People In Prison - Fallacy

Law & Order: SVU Season 4 Episode 21 was the first of several episodes to tackle transgender issues. In this story, ADA Cabot struggled with guilt after sending a transgender rape victim to prison for killing her rapist, as the woman would be assigned to a male unit. As Cabot feared, the transgender character was beaten up in prison.

3. Conversion Therapy - Abomination

Law & Order: SVU Season 5 Episode 8 addressed conversion therapy -- the idea of giving gay people therapy to turn them straight -- and how damaging that can be for them.

4. HIV Status and Privacy - Lowdown

Law & Order: SVU Season 5 Episode 20 was ostensibly about the issue of some men having sex in secret with other men while married to a woman.

5. Parental Acceptance - Strain

Some of the best LGBTQ-supportive moments on Law & Order: SVU come from the detectives' personal lives, and Law & Order: SVU Season 7 Episode 5 was a case in point. In this story, Fin learned his son Ken was gay and struggled to accept Ken's sexual orientation.

6. Homophobic Ideas About Sexual Deviance - Alien

Law & Order: SVU Season 7 Episode 11 was the first to deal with homophobic beliefs that gay people are pedophiles. In this story, a young girl's grandmother manipulated her to make false allegations of sexual abuse against one of her lesbian moms.

7. The Danger of Outing People Without Consent - Closet

It can be dangerous to out someone as gay without their permission, as Law & Order: SVU Season 9 Episode 16 demonstrated. In this story, a gay football player was suspected of murdering his boyfriend and got beaten up badly when the press outed him as gay.

Storyline

Detectives Briscoe and Curtis investigate the murder of a man found in the trunk of a car. The driver was pulled over because the plates clearly did not belong to the car to which they were attached. Finding a body in the trunk led to the death of the driver, following a shootout with the police.

Did you know

First appearance of Carolyn McCormick (Dr. Elizabeth Olivet) since the season seven episode Mad Dog (1997). This episode also marks the first time that J.K. Simmons 's character, Dr. Emil Skoda, appears together with Dr. Olivet.

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Overview

Serena Southerlyn is a fictional character portrayed by Elisabeth Röhm on the long-running NBC drama series Law & Order. She appeared in 85 episodes.

Character overview

Southerlyn joins the District Attorney's office in the 2001 episode "Who Let the Dogs Out?" as an assistant district attorney, replacing Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon). She worked under District Attorneys Nora Lewin (Dianne Wiest) and Arthur Branch (Fred Thompson) and Executive Assistant District Attorney Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston). She was the second longest serving junior ADA in the history of the series, having served three complete seasons and half of a fourth.

Notable conflicts in the series

In the 2002 episode "DR 1-102", Southerlyn is brought before the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division's Disciplinary Committee after promising to get legal help for a murder suspect who had taken hostages, to get him to release his prisoners. The man had a knife to a woman's throat and demanded a lawyer. Southerlyn, who happened to be in the area, volunteered to enter the store where the holdup was taking place, to negotiate the hostage's release. Since the man h…

Departure and sexuality

Röhm left the show in the middle of the fifteenth season, and made her last appearance in the episode "Ain't No Love." She was replaced by Alexandra Borgia (Annie Parisse).
Her departure was noteworthy due to a surprising conversation between Southerlyn and Branch in the very last scene of the episode. At the close of the show, Branch dismisses Southerlyn because he feels she is too sympathetic toward defendants, and that her emotions get in the way of looki…

Critical response

TV Guide called Rohm "arguably the most inept cast member" in the series' first 18 years, with Ben Katner writing "we are dancing in the streets" upon her departure. Dusin Rowles of Pajiba described Rohm as a "disaster" and a "catastrophe". Entertainment Weekly called Rohm's performance and character "wooden". AfterEllen.com reported that Southerlyn was "one of the show's more disliked characters" due to her "cold and robotic" portrayal.

External links

• Elisabeth Röhm at IMDb