When
Law and Order's Assistant District
Attorney Serena Southerlyn was fired on this week's episode
of the long-running NBC drama Law and Order, no one
was surprised: the news of actress Elizabeth Rohm's impending
departure from the series after four years had been announced
months before.
But
almost no one was prepared for her final scene, in which Southerlyn
came out as a lesbian.
Elisabeth
Rohm (Angel, One Life to Live) joined the cast of
Law and Order in 2001 as ADA Serena Southerlyn, and
quickly became one of the show's more disliked characters
for what was perceived by many to be her cold and robotic
personality.
But
she did have some fans, including many lesbian viewers who
had their suspicions about Southerlyn's sexuality. Since the
writers have offered few personal details about Southerlyn
(or most of the other characters), this was only conjecture--until
last night.
In
the final scene of the January 12, 2005 episode ("Ain't
No Love"), District Attorney Branch (Fred Thompson) fired
Southerlyn for being too passionate and personally involved
with her work, telling her she would be better suited for
advocacy work than criminal law. Southerlyn asked "Is
it because I'm a lesbian?" Branch replied "No,"
and Southerlyn responded "Good...good" before the
screen faded to black and the credits began to roll.
That
was the end of the episode, and Southerlyn's career on Law
and Order.
Law
and Order is one of the most-watched series
on television, garnering millions of viewers every week on
primetime and in syndication. The series is also credited
with launching the popularity of the procedural drama on TV,
spawning a number of imitators in the last decade including
two Law & Order spinoffs, which have also gone
on to do very well in the ratings.
The
series has been criticized, however, for its lack of openly
gay and lesbian characters in the last fifteen years. There
have been plenty of lesbian guest characters--either as victims,
witnesses, or perpetrators--but no lesbians among its cast.
Then rumors began to circulate last year that one of the ADAs
would be outed, and we hoped we might finally get a lesbian
on Law and Order--although
not quite like this.
