Megan Russert

Lt./Capt./Det. Megan Russert
Capt./Lt./Det. Megan Russert
First appearance	October 14, 1994 (3x01, "Nearer My God to Thee")
Last appearance	May 17, 1996 (4x22, Work Related) (Regular) May 16, 1997 (5x22, Strangers and Other Partners) (Guest) February 13, 2000 Homicide: The Movie
Created by	Tom Fontana
Portrayed by	Isabella Hofmann
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Homicide Detective (formerly) Shift Commander of Homicide Unit (Formerly) Captain of Homicide Unit (Formerly)
Title	Detective Lieutenant Captain
Family	Eileen (Sister) Caroline (Daughter) Tim Russert (Cousin)
Spouse(s)	Mike (First Husband, deceased) Unnamed French ambassador

Detective (formerly Lieutenant, Captain) Megan Russert is a fictional character on Homicide: Life on the Street played by Isabella Hofmann.^[1] At the time of her introduction in the premiere episode of the third season, she is a lieutenant who takes charge of the homicide unit's second shift after the previous commander's retirement. Later in the season, a vacancy opens up in the chain of command and she is promoted to captain on a trial basis, as a token of the city's commitment to diversity and equal opportunity.

Although she and Al Giardello get along reasonably well, he resents that she was promoted before him even though he had seniority over her. For her part she occasionally feels that he is diminishing or ignoring her authority. Her "softer" personality and ethical concerns about Frank Pembleton's interrogation methods also put her at odds with others. Her connections to national security officers, however, made her a valuable addition on certain cases.

She is a widow, with one daughter named Caroline (played by Sasha Miceli), who was born in 1988. Her husband was a tax attorney named Mike, introduced to her by her sister Eileen at a holiday party for the CPA firm where Eileen worked.^[2] Russert for the most part did not date during her two seasons on the series, though she did have a brief affair with Beau Felton, played by Daniel Baldwin. She ended it for a variety of reasons, but supported him as a friend after the breakdown of his marriage.

She is a first cousin to the real life Tim Russert, who appears in the third season episode "The Old and the Dead." In a later episode titled "Stakeout" she mentions her famous cousin to a one-shot character named Cathy Buxton (played by Kate Walsh), but the character is unimpressed as she watches a news show that competes with Russert's.^[3]

She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1983.^[4] During the 1980s, she worked in the Naval Intelligence Service and spent seven months and nine days at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.^[5]

In season 4, Felton is suspended, ending their connection. In the first of two episodes concerning a sniper, she angers her boss, Colonel George Barnfather, due to problems at a press conference she held and the later suicide of the first sniper. Barnfather swiftly demotes her three ranks to detective; when the shootings begin again, she joins Giardello's shift and eventually gets the second sniper to confess. For the remainder of the season, she is partnered with John Munch.

Her apparent disappointments led her to start a new life in Europe with an ambassador to France, and she was gone from Baltimore at the start of Season 5. Other than an appearance during this season's finale in which she briefly returned from France to mourn and investigate the death of Felton, this ended the role of her character in the series. She returned in Homicide: The Movie, a post-series reunion released in 2000.

References

1. J Bobby. "The HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET Glossary".
2. Homicide: Life on the Street episode "All Through The House", originally aired December 16, 1994.
3. Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Stakeout", originally aired March 15, 1996.
4. Homicide: Life on the Street episode "Map of the Heart", originally aired April 26, 1996.
5. Homicide: Life on the Street episode "For God and Country", originally aired February 9, 1996.