Note to all our posters:
This thread has been created as a place to discuss the character of Megan Wheeler and how Julianne Nicholson brings her to life onscreen. Thank you to DBZMerciter2005 for creating this topic.


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Is Detective Wheeler...

....A lesbian?

I was watching her first episode and I thought "wow she's either really comfortable with her hormones or she's a lesbian." I have a feeling she is but obviously nothing has been said so therefore nothing can be confirmed.

Any thoughts?

The inuendue was there... but the machanic could have been just barking up the wishfull thinking tree..

Perhaps, but it would be nice to have a lesbian that was outed before her final two minutes on the show...

*pokes Serena Southerlyn with a stick*

i didn't get that vibe from her at all, but who knows

Well she seems to fit the stereotypical mold of a lesbian: short hair, independent biker chick that flirts with girls. Ok so the flirting was probably just me but as I've said before and I'll say it again I want to see another lesbian that sticks around. Unlike Southerlyn who came out right after she got fired...

i don't mind one way or the other if they make her a lesbian, but i'm not much of a fan of stereotypes

I agree I'm getting a sort of lesbian vibe. ... can't tell for sure though. If she is a lesbian I will be sad because she's so stereotypical. I would like the Beauty Queen detective on Original Recipe to be a lesbian because no one would have guessed it. And it supports the idea that homosexuals are just regular everyday people. (and for me it would be more realistic because all of the lesbians I know look more like the Beauty Queen than detective tinker bell)

That would be nice too. I haven't really seen the new detective (her actress sucked in Conviction and she sucks now) but I'm sure that if I watch her a bit I could see some lesbian in her. I'm sure that DW is looking for a way to get the lesbian out of Olivia and into someone else in the series so that all of us little lezzies are fine and dandy .

If she's not a lesbian then whoo, she's breaking a stereotype but if she is I won't be too sad either.

Well, at least it gives some of us a reason to watch the Logan episodes

Hi, there! I'm not a lesbian, but I am pro diversity, so I'd love to see a lesbian or gay L&O detective (as long as it's not Goren! LOL) doing a great job. One thing just occurred me... Logan had a much better performance on the regular L&O because I think he functions better with male partners, he gets to be that flaming detective that smacks the truth out of the suspects. With a female partner, I think it would look rude of him to push suspects around the way he used to, so, in my opinion, he wasn't quite himself working with Barek, he was too "under control". So... Just a thought here, if Wheeler turns out to be a sort of masculine, somewhat stereotypical lesbian, it would allow him to be more comfortable around her and do things that wouldn't look very nice in the presence of a more feminine figure.

After watching Connie Nielson perform in this week's SVU, it hit home just how poor a casting choice Det. Wheeler is. She was awful in Conviction and is even worse in CI.
BTW, please, DO try to watch this weeks Law and Order, SVU and catch Connie Nielson's superb acting! She is such a winner. I wonder what they will do when Hargitay returns.
Regards
How786

Actually the girl doing Dt. Wheeler is a wonderful actress who I remember from Ally McBeal and her acting on Conviction was poor because 1. the writine was poor and 2. the other actors (even Stephanie March, ICK) were bad. I think she's got a lot of potential and playing a lesbian would add a nice twist to her resume if she keeps up the good work.

As for Dani and Benson, you need to read the SVU forums. MH is returning in 5 episodes.

To me, it appeared that that How786 was hoping that they'd find a spot for Nielson, somewhere. I'd love to see her in ANY of the L&O Franchise.
As far as Julianne Nicholson being a 'wonderful actress', I beg to differ. She is just another mediocre performer not even remotely in the class of Connie Nielson. I have seen her in a bunch of films and shows. I've not seen any sign that she is a 'wonderful actress'. Those words should be used with care.
Connie Nielson is a 'wonderful actress', a consumate performer. Nicholson is just another run of the mill talent.
Ginny

I respectfully disagree. I believe Nicholson's wonderful but hey, to each their own right?

I would love to see Neilson's character reappear in the orignal Law & Order and knock out that beauty queen they have, but I have a feeling that when she's gone, she'll be gone. Shame to, I like her character a lot.

I am sooo estatic Logan is back but seriously the chemistry is not there. Wheeler is a whiney baby. She seems like she just hates everybody, everything.

As my brother would say she just needs to get tore up. Maybe that'll shake the stick loose!

Wheeler, you are not a good actress. So much so I don't eveb bother to know your real name.

Now Chris Noth, Vincent, Kathryn you guys all rock!!!!

I like Wheeler and Nicholson, but I suppose everyone can't be pleased.

I have to agree with ADAMaloney, I like Wheeler. I watched Country Crossover again last night, and definitely am warming up to her. She has a very flat affect (poker face), so her intonations and expressions are much more subtle. But it reminds me of the difference between someone who yells and someone who whispers. You cringe at the yeller, but you lean in to hear the whisper. I will take each episode as they come, and see where season 6 lands on the gonna-buy-it or never-really-want-to-watch-it-again scale, lol.

Cheers!

i dont like her. she is not very good at reacting to action, and she seems like she has not had fun ever. i kind of feel bad for her. but hey maybe she will get better...she hasent yet been totaly off my likable list.

Still waiting to find out if we can get seasons 5 and 6 half-price if we only want the Goren eps

(And just to stay on topic - I'm still withholding judgement on Wheeler, but I didn't like her in Maltese Cross).

I liked her in Maltese Cross. She did the smart thing by calling for back up. Only if she was an idiot would she have just jumped into that fray. They were horribly out numbered and it's not like they were perps or something and she could fire a warning shot or something (they were frickin fire fighters). I think she is a good foil for Logan, who has always seemed a bit like a chauvanist in the past.

I must say that I was so unhappy with Barek, (Logan's oringinal partner), that I was so happy they changed her for Wheeler.
I guess that's a good way to make you like someone, offer you someone worse first...lol..
I just hope that with a lil time she gets more comfortable with the role so she can show a lil more depth.
Please don't take offense anyone who did like her 'Sciorra'. I don't have any specific/good reason for not liking her other than she never smiled, kinda seemed like she was always annoyed...
Hey wait, that kinda sounds like me? No wonder I didn't like her.

I Like Wheeler. I like the way Nicholson plays her. She's attractive without being provacative, small in stature, (especially next to Logan), but unafraid, and willing to take risks for her partner on the street and with the department. The character's development is progressing and she makes a good match for Logan. Nicholson steps into a difficult role and pulls it off like a pro. I agree there may be a lack of "chemistry", but I think that is by design. Wheeler has made the move with Ross to a new unit and is partnered with a rather infamous detective trying to make his second chance with the department successful....not exactly a comfortable position. Nicholson plays her as intelligent, self-confident but careful. I like that. I agree she makes a good foil for Logan who has displayed chauvinist tendencies in the past. "Maltese Cross" was excellent and Nicholson took advantage of the plot and really added more dimension to the character. I look forward to seeing more of her on the show.

She couldn't have discharged her weapon, and she did the right thing by calling for backup, but she shouldn't have curled into a ball with her eyes shut - she should have jumped in and done her best...even if it meant kickin' those boys where it hurts. Not jumping in to help your partner will get you blackballed at the least...and possibly even fired.

btw, ADA, I like the new sig!

Thanks.

By curling into a ball are you referring to the part where two of the firefighters were trying to wrestle her walkie talkie away from her? Because that is the only part of the scene where I saw her do any sort of curling action. And at that point she was trying to kick off of the ground to knock the guy glued on her back off balance so she could get a better position so that she could elbow him or kick him.

I think she did jump in and do her best. And obviously her partner and colleagues thought so to.

When I was in the Academy, they taught us that deadly force is appropriate if your partner is in serious jeopardy. They also taught us how to fight like dogs. I guess I just expected her to be more vicious.

Wheeler has taken a lot of flack for what she did or didn't do in MALTESE CROSS. I don't think we saw enough of what she was doing to make any judgements. What seems clear is that Logan doesn't seem to have any problems with what she did, and neither does the Captain.

Patcat

Wow, I didn't realize so many people thought she made, or did, anything wrong in that matter. I guess if you actually have gone through the academy, then you probably see alot of things a lil different then on tv, but even though I haven't re-watched it since it aired, I thought she was the only one that did the right thing.
While everyone else was only concerned with fighting, she made a smart, quick, decision, that resulted in the end of this fight, without any major injury to anyone. Which I believe could easily have happen with all the weapons around, even as an accident. I don't remember anything about her curling up into a ball with her eyes shut, but as far as jumping into this fight, I think that would have been a really bad idea. Not only that, but these guys were firefighters. They are all suppose to be on the same side. They have to be able to count on each other in many situations, I'm sure. I think they meant to show that when Logan refused to name the guy that threw the first punch. IMHO.

are we watching the same show?
i haven't seen her express hate for anybody
i don't see her as a whiner either, she's a scrappy little thing
even though she doesn't seem to sure of logan she doesn't throw him under the bus, but she's not afraid to speak up if she disagrees with him

I think the woman who plays Wheeler is a horrible actress!!!! She needs to go!! But, Vincent and Kathryn are the best anyway!!! We changed channel we thought Wheeler was so bad!!!

I thought Nicholson was great tonight. And Wheeler didn't seem wooden or anything. I'm like this paring a LOT more than the Borgia/Logan pairing.

me too! i totally did wheeler with logan

She was almost cute when Logan made that remark about having her "gumshoes on". She looked a little flustered and surprised, like she almost thought he was flirting with her.

wheeler.; do not know if is swings another way, witch would be no big deal, but i think ihis former partner was much better!

I don't know or care if she's a lesbian or not, I'm just trying to determine if she's Howdy Doody or Peter Pan! I liked Barek a little better. She just needed to liven her performance a bit.

omg. Too funny.

I missed that entire episode except the last 5 minutes...I broke out in a fit of giggles and looked insane to the rest of my friends.

Well, during the episode entitled Blasters, Wheeler does confess to having had a high school crush on Kurt or Kurk, whatever his name was, who played Skater's buddy on the show ( the guy who always got the girl).

I've been told that gay chicks can have heterosexual crushes, but it's unlikely that Dick Wolf knows that, so my guess is that they've decided to make her straight. Too bad, it would be more interesting the other way.

Nope, I saw it too.

a newb...

I think it's just the actress, although Dick may have something else up his sleeve, but I've known of her for a while now and this is the way she always acts.

she's cute to watch, but I avoid the CI episodes with Chris Noth....It's just doesn't seem like CI with him on it......Though if she is a lesbian, it would be nice if she would come out before she leaves the show

i can agree but also at least he's willin lol
cus goran would weve us if he was'nt on lol

and if she is an if she comes out on the last ep lol it 'll be in the closing as they go to dark lol

Didn't she mention dating a guy who was a musician or somehow involved in the music industry in one episode? Never really thought of her as possibly being a lesbian but then I can see why people might assume the character is with the stereotypical look.

Maybe...just MAYBE..she's bisexual They do exist you know...

LOL Yeah, I thought about that after I posted. Ah well, should be interesting to see how things play out with her.

It would be interesting to see how Logan would react to something like that. He's an old-school guys' guy, so I don't know if he'd be a little freaked out by it, or if he'd just make his usual snide remarks. Actually, I was a little surprised they didn't make more out of Logan having a female partner last year. All the previous partners we've seen him with have been male...and he seems like the type who would prefer it that way.

I can see what you mean musicwench

Lesbian or not - I don't care.

I really really LIKE Wheeler - I think Julianne Nicholson is doing a GREAT job with the character and I love her fun and relaxed chemistry with Logan.

I AGREE! And I really, really like that her character's sexual orientation is ambiguous, regardless of whether it is deliberate by the writer's or not. What the h**l does it matter?

I have posted on this particular topic on another board. Interestingly enough, several gay women responded to my comments about how Wheeler must be straight since she mentions during the Blasters ep of having had a crush in high school on a male character from a show (sound familiar, ladies?). Anyway, they enlightened me (& others) to the fact that lesbians sometimes have crushes on guys. Didn't know that!

herehere I agree it should'nt and don't matter if your gay or not

I never really liked the Barek character, though I do, as a rule like Annabella Sciorra. I've seen her in a lot of independent films and she is a very good character actress. Just felt Det. Barek was not someone I could ever get interested in. She was flat and cold - a female Goren but with no true people skills. It's one thing to read people, it's another to get them to trust you and open up to you. Barek didn't strike me as completely engaged.

I like Wheeler with Logan, and I like Julianne Nicholson's subtle acting. In that first epi, I did suspect the whole lesbian vibe, but that may have just been to throw us off balance a little -- question Wheeler's backstory. Good way to get people talking and taking an interest in the character development. I think Det. Wheeler is understated but warmer than Barek ever was. She's got a wry sense of humor and I think there's good chemistry with her and Logan. I also like how she has a history with Ross and gets to be teacher's pet because of it. Could be interesting if they do a crossover epi (like ITWSH) with Goren and Eames - to see how they react to the way Ross treats Wheeler.

Don't get me wrong I am a Goren/Eames a-holic and PROUD of it!!!!

However I see Wheeler being discussed and it's rarely anything complimentory. I watched two episodes with her and Logan. One was The epi. with the FDNY and Logan getting into a battle of the All-Stars, and the other was the "kidnapping caught on web-cam. In both I was pleasantly surprised with the dialogue between them. Logan had most of the one liners but she had some good comebacks.

I think mostly people long for the personality of Goren (and the famous "lean") and Eames's style in responding to him, and their style of working over a suspect together. So when completely different characters like Logan/Wheeler go into the mix it's hard to bring people over with them. As for Wheeler she is a brand new character like Ross, and before we turn on her I think she should have the same chance to develop as a character as the others did 6 years ago. Julianne Nickelson has a almost impossible task of stepping in to a delevoped and loved drama. It's not her fault that she is taking Goren/Eames space in our galaxy! LOL!!

What do you think?

Does anyone remember her from the short lived series The Others?