Anita Van Buren

Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. By episode count, she is the longest-running character on the show. Medical Examiner Elizabeth Rodgers, portrayed by Leslie Hendrix, joined the show a year earlier in 1992, but she appears in fewer episodes.

Character history

Van Buren joins the cast in the 1993 episode "Sweeps", succeeding Capt. Don Cragen (Dann Florek) as commander of the 27th Precinct Detective Squad after Cragen transfers to the Anti-Corruption Task Force. Throughout her run on the show, she oversaw the work of detectives such as Lennie Briscoe, Mike Logan, Rey Curtis, Ed Green, Joe Fontana, Nick Falco, Nina Cassady, Cyrus Lupo, and Kevin Bernard. Van Buren focuses on salvaging investigations when her detectives make mistakes, rather than focusing on their failures.

Van Buren is known for her toughness, but she often pays a price for it. In the 1994 episode "Competence", for example, she shoots and wounds a would-be mugger who attacks her at an ATM, and kills the mugger's partner, who turned out to be a mentally retarded teenager. She was investigated, and absolved, by the Bureau of Internal Affairs.^[1] In the 1997 episode "Burden", she nearly loses her job when she sues the NYPD for promoting a white woman with less seniority ahead of her.^[2] In the episode "Monster", the Chief of Detectives tells her she will have to resign to get her squad the resources it needs to apprehend a child rapist.^[3] A judge eventually dismissed her discrimination suit.

During a murder case, Van Buren learns that the case that led to her promotion to lieutenant was tainted by a dishonest fingerprint examiner's report. The expert, a friend of Van Buren's, had been falsifying various other reports and is tried for her actions, saying that she was just doing what Van Buren wanted. No action is taken against Van Buren, but the scandal continues to haunt her.^[4]

In the 2006 season, she is forced to accept Nina Cassady as the replacement for Det. Joe Fontana upon his retirement. Van Buren believes that Cassady is too inexperienced to be a homicide detective, creating a risk to her partner. Van Buren had a "hand-picked" replacement for Fontana who was much more experienced than Cassady. She eventually learns to tolerate (and perhaps accept) Cassady as a member of her squad; however, this acceptance does not seem to last long and in the seventeenth season finale "The Family Hour", Van Buren berates the detective for her inability to keep her temper in check and suggests that Cassady has no future in the 27th Squad.

Van Buren appeared in 390 episodes of Law & Order and is the longest-running regular character in any of the Law & Order franchises.

Merkerson was also seen in the first season of the show in the episode "Mushrooms", where she played Denise Winters, a murder victim's mother.^[5]

Personal life

A graduate of John Jay College (as is Ron Carver from Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Van Buren is divorced from Donald, who owns a hardware store (L&O: "Scoundrels"). They have two sons, Ric (who is diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of six in 1995) and Stefan. She spent five years as a patrol officer and seven years in undercover narcotics (L&O: "Fame"). It is revealed that she enjoys the poet Langston Hughes, and that she is left-handed (L&O: "Slave").

Her father was wounded in Wasu, Korea during the Korea War in 1952. He spent time at Tulsa VA Hospital in Oklahoma (L&O: "Over Here"). Her sister lives in Queens (L&O : "Whiplash"). She was affectionately addressed as by two shortened versions of her rank: earlier on, many of her detectives, including Ed Green, Lennie Briscoe and Rey Curtis, called her "Lieu"; Dets. Cyrus Lupo and Kevin Bernard call her "L.T.", a nickname Briscoe and Curtis had been using since at least Season Eight (L&O: "Navy Blues").

In Season 20, Van Buren was diagnosed with Stage-II cervical cancer, caused by the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus — which she had contracted from Donald, who had been cheating on her. She later began chemotherapy (L&O: "Just a Girl in the World"). In the following episode, L&O: "Great Satan", one of her sons (it is unclear which one, as he is not named onscreen), is portrayed by Sean Nelson. Due to the chemotherapy, she has lost her hair and began using a wig (L&O: "Human Flesh Search Engine"). In that same episode, her boyfriend Frank (portrayed by Ernie Hudson) appears for the first time. It is revealed in L&O: "Boy Gone Astray", that she has not been eating that much since she began chemotherapy; her son tries to help by offering her some medical marijuana, which she initially rejects because it is a crime in New York and she is a sworn police officer. Later in the episode, it is revealed that she has been using, as the Chief of Detectives stops by and tells her that someone in the building smelled marijuana on her. To her surprise, the Chief gives her mints and directs her to someone who sells medicinal drugs and is careful and discreet. The Chief did this because he had testicular cancer three years ago and the marijuana got him through the treatments. In "For the Defense", she regained her appetite for the first time in six weeks. Unfortunately, by the episode "Fed," her treatment is apparently not progressing well and she is becoming increasingly worried at her chances of survival. However, in the final episode of the series, "Rubber Room", her health appears to have improved: she received a call from her doctor, looked back at her colleagues and whispered "Thank you...Thank you" to herself. The series ends with a fund-raising party that her colleagues had organized in order to help her pay for the expensive treatment. It was Lupo's idea after he had overheard Van Buren's phone conversation in which she mentioned growing medical bills. On the same occasion it is revealed that she and Frank are engaged (that episode turned out to be the final episode of the entire series).

Work history

References