Nick Falco

Det. Nick Falco
Law & Order character
First appearance	"Publish and Perish"
Last appearance	"Hindsight"
Portrayed by	Michael Imperioli
Time on show	2005
Preceded by	Ed Green (temporary replacement)
Succeeded by	Ed Green

Det. Nick Falco is a fictional character on the NBC crime drama Law & Order, portrayed by Michael Imperioli. Falco appears as the junior partner of Det. Joe Fontana at the end of season 15 after Fontana's partner, Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), was shot in the line of duty. He first appeared as Joe Fontana's partner in the last four episodes of the show's 15th season while Martin took time off to film the movie Rent. Falco would later be the focus of the season 16 episode "Hindsight" when he is accused of murdering a woman.

As has often taken place in the Law & Order franchise, Imperioli first appeared on the original Law & Order series in an episode of season six Atonement, playing limo driver Johnny Stivers.

Characterization and production

Imperioli was brought in to play Falco after Ed Green was shot.^[1] While Falco can appear to be a "loose cannon" type, he has been known to take extra precautions when interrogating suspects or executing warrants that sometimes annoy other detectives. A part-time law student, Falco tends to know more about the "fine print" of the law that could sink otherwise good-faith arrests.^[2]

On playing Falco, Imperioli said, "I think what I find interesting is that the character of Nick Falco probably comes from a similar background as my character on The Sopranos; economically and geographically and kind of culturally. The differences: they're both Italian-American; they're both New Yorkers; they come from middle class backgrounds....The character I'm playing on Law & Order, has a real passion for making the world safe and making the city safe for people. He wants to make sure that the bad guys go to jail and that justice wins out and I think he grew up with that reverence and lives with it."

Fictional biography

Falco appeared again near the end of the 16th season, when a woman he brought home was found dead in his apartment's bathroom.^[3] Falco, in an effort to clear his name, tried to investigate the murder on his own, which taints the investigation Fontana and Green were conducting. Falco's name was later cleared; detectives learned that the murdered woman was part of a criminal gang which routinely committed robbery. The leader of the gang, the wife of an incarcerated criminal, had asked the woman to go home with Falco and put Rohypnol in his drink to knock him out. The woman was later murdered (by the girlfriend of another gang member) and left in Falco's apartment in an attempt to incriminate him. Her son was in on the sting to get her only to prove to the police and Falco that she did not do it.^[4]

Reception

Brian Holcomb of Slant Magazine did not regard the character in a positive light, noting that "Milena Govich's Nina Cassady...can be placed on the same trash heap as Michael Imperioli's temp job as Detective Nick Falco."^[5]

References

1. ^ Kohanik, Eric (December 8, 2007). "Sopranos role way behind Imperioli". The StarPhoenix. http://www2.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/weekend_extra/story.html?id=4521af6b-e6a2-4c97-8cd5-b407e5c15b74. Retrieved 2009-05-21. 
2. ^ "Publish and Perish". Tom Szentgyorgi (writer) & Constantine Makris (director). Law & Order. NBC. 2005-04-20. No. 21, season 15.
3. ^ Shattuck, Kathryn. "What's On Tonight", The New York Times, 10 May 2006.
4. ^ "Hindsight". Chris Levinson (writer) & Jean de Segonzac (director). Law & Order. NBC. 2006-05-10. No. 21, season 16.
5. ^ Holcomb, Brian. "Review of Law & Order: Season Eighteen", Slant Magazine, 25 February 2008.

External links

• "Nick Falco," Law & Order Wiki
• "Detective Nick Falco (Character) from "Law & Order" (1990)," the Internet Movie Database