While Ice-T and Mariska Hargitay’s SVU may currently be the longest-running of all the Law & Order shows, the franchise will no doubt always be synonymous with longtime star Sam Waterston, who first started donning Jack McCoy’s suit and tie back in Season 5. Now 83 years old, Waterston officially exited the L&O universe once more, with the show saying goodbye to Jack with the fifth episode of Season 23 (now available to stream with a Peacock subscription). And it allowed the Emmy-winning actor to reflect on bringing the character back despite his initial wariness about doing so.
During the installment “Last Dance,” Jack offered up a solid summation with the line “It’s been a hell of a ride,” but it was a ride that Sam Waterston might not have agreed to take on had circumstances been different. Speaking with THR about his character’s swan song, the Grace and Frankie vet was asked if he experienced any hesitation about jumping back into the district attorney’s shoes for the NBC revival, to which he responded by saying:
Sure I did. It’s really good to find your groove, but you don’t want to let it turn into a rut. So that was one worry. And then there was the feeling that I had already been there, already done that.
Certainly not an unfounded worry, considering the Law & Order franchise comprises more than 65 seasons of television, with the mothership and SVU offering up 492 and 542 episodes, respectively. The majority of series that aren’t centered on yellow-hued animated families wouldn’t have the story legs or the followings to stick around for that long, and given that neither of those primetime stalwarts are following Waterston into the sunset, it’s safe to say neither are in danger of being in a “rut.”
Waterson, who’d previously reflected on being “bowled over” by his first days back on the set in 2022, continued, explaining why he inevitably chose to reprise the role rather than sticking to the shadows:
But I really think it’s a great show, and I really wanted to be part of seeing if I could give it a leg up in coming back. Because who does this? Dick Wolf never quit on the show. And it’s all down to his persistence and perseverance that this came back. [Law & Order] was a great episode in my life. I’m not sure exactly how many seasons I’ve done, but I think 400 episodes is about right. And it’s over a 30-year period. It’s a gigantic piece of your life. So I wanted to be there.
As disappointing as it might be that Jack McCoy won’t be sticking it out for the revival’s full run, at least viewers got to spend two more seasons watching him in action. And now that legacy can be passed on in full to new Law & Order star Tony Goldwin, of Scandal and Oppenheimer fame.
To be sure, Law & Order’s revival wasn’t the first time that Waterston returned to the role of Jack McCoy in the years since the flagship drama wrapped its initial run. He also brought Jack back for SVU most recently in 2018, and a handful of times before that. And for all intents and purposes, the actor could feasibly still make one or two more small-scale appearances in the future if he so desires. We’ll be looking for him.
Law & Order airs Thursday nights on NBC at 8:00 p.m. ET, followed by new episodes of L&O: SVU and L&O: Organized Crime, with episodes of each available to stream on Peacock.
