- John Clark, Jr.
John Clark, Jr. was a fictional character in the television series "
NYPD Blue ". He was played byMark-Paul Gosselaar from season 9 until the end of the series.Clark Jr. was partnered with the rough but friendly detective
Andy Sipowicz after Sipowicz's previous partner,Danny Sorenson was murdered in an undercover sting gone bad. He earned his detective badge after his courageous action in an undercover operation.Sipowicz became a kind of mentor for the young detective, and much of the veteran detective's skill rubbed off on Clark.
His father, Clark Sr,. was a rule-abiding detective who disapproved of his son's choice of precinct. He referred to the 15th Precinct as a "hellhole" and held a strong dislike for Sipowicz, who he knew from previous experiences. These difficulties came to their pinnacle when his father threw him out of the house due to his choice to work at the 15th. Clark Sr. later let his son down by showing he was a drunk and especially when he nearly let his son's career be ruined over his own behavior, before Andy pressed him to clear John Jr.'s name.
Tragedy later struck when his father had to quit the force and later committed suicide over an
IAB trial, and hisbipolar ex-girlfriend, Dr. Jennifer Devlin died of a prescription drug overdose. This caused a brief but ugly period where Clark was often drunk and had sex with anything that moved, leading to at least one case to be ruined in court. However, Clark cleaned up his act and began dating ADA Laurie Munson.Despite these troubles and some early mistakes in his career, Clark Jr. soon had an excellent interview manner and attitude, and even
Sipowicz noted this when he observed an interview conducted solely by Clark. Clark became the lead detective for the 15th after Andy was promoted to Sergeant.
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