Crossing Jordan

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This show has nothing to do with traversing a country bordering Israel (although the title comes from crossing the river of the same name) or with a certain former Page Three Girl.

Instead, it is an ensemble Forensic Drama centered on the life of Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh (played by actress Jill Hennessy), a rather tempestuous medical examiner in the Massachusetts State Coroner's office. Jordan is something of a Cowboy Cop, due to the murder of her mother as well as considerable additional exposure to police files and procedures at a young age by her now-retired cop father, Max Cavanaugh. As a result, she regularly ends up trying to solve homicides and other crimes herself.

The rest of the main cast consists primarily of Jordan's coworkers at the morgue and colleagues on the Boston PD, who get roped into helping with Jordan's investigations on a surprisingly regular basis:

• Dr. Garrett Macy, Jordan's crotchety superior (played by Miguel Ferrer).
• Dr. Mahesh "Bug" Vijayaraghavensatyanaryanamurthy, a fellow medical examiner (played by Ravi Kapoor).
• Nigel Townsend, the morgue's resident lab rat and hacker (played by Steve Valentine).
• Lily Lebowsky, a sweet but eccentric grief counselor (played by Kathryn Hahn).
• Woodrow "Woody" Hoyt, a detective for the Boston police and Jordan's on/off love interest (played by Jerry O'Connell).

Tropes used in Crossing Jordan include:

• Ambiguously Gay: Nigel. An entire episode is devoted to this. It isn't until several seasons later that the question is finally answered. Ironically, he's not.
• And I Must Scream: More on the trope page.
• Ascended Extra: Steve Valentine's Nigel was just a background character for a handful of scenes in the first episodes, but the producers liked the way he demand your attention on just those scenes, and turned him into a regular.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Kate and Nigel.
• Berserk Button: Bug in an episode where a murder appeared to be racially motivated.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: Pretty much everyone at the morgue.

Lily: He died because he had a big heart.

• Casting Gag: In Real Life, Steve Valentine is a magician as well as an actor. Several times on the show, his character Nigel can be seen doing card tricks.
• Cliff Hanger: Several. Subverted in the final episode which was originally written to be a Cliff Hanger but was then rewritten into a Happily Ever After when it became apparent that the series would be canceled.
• Cop Boyfriend: Lieutenant Woody Hoyt.
• The Coroner: Jordan, Garrett, Bug, numerous others
• Cowboy Cop: Jordan constantly, Woody on a couple occasions as well.
• Crossover: With Las Vegas.
• Deadpan Snarker: Nigel and Bug.
• Enhance Button: Nigel, constantly.
• Epunymous Title
• Facial Recognition Software
• Fairy Tale Motifs: A series of murders based on The Wizard of Oz.
• Foe Yay: Between Jordan and a female serial killer in one episode.
• Forensic Drama
• Heel Face Turn: Subverted. An imprisoned serial killer genuinely wanted to make amends, and strived to become a better person, eventually becoming a model prisoner and devout Christian... too devout. When he caught a pair of guards getting frisky in the prison chapel, he was enraged that they would dare desecrate a house of God, so he murdered one of them, and tried to frame the other for it, completely convinced he was doing the right thing.
• Homage: An episode with Quincy star Jack Klugman as an aging medical examiner.
• Impersonating an Officer: Jordan, in almost every episode.
• In the Blood
• It's Personal: Jordan's half-brother.
• Jerkass: Detective Matt Seely.
• The Lab Rat: Nigel, Bug.
• Locard's Theory: Mentioned by name in the episode "Locard's Exchange".
• Love Dodecahedron
• Magical Database: Nigel, constantly.
• Naive Newcomer: Woody in the first two seasons.
• Necro Cam: Pretty much every episode.
• No Social Skills: Almost every female medical examiner on the show: Jordan, Dr. Devan Maguire, and Dr. Kate Switzer.
• Odd Friendship: Bug and Nigel.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Nigel.
• Overly Long Name: Bug - that's "Dr. Vijayaraghavensatanaryanamurthy" to you.
  • And on a side note, the guy who plays Trey Sanders -- Mahershalalhashbaz Ali.
• Perky Goth: Lily, especially in the first couple seasons. And Nigel, a rare male example.
• Poorly-Disguised Pilot: "Sunset Division", though it was never picked up.
• Put on a Bus: Max, several minor characters.
• Regularly-Scheduled Evil: The Blue Moon Killer.
• Temporary Love Interest: J.D. Pollack, Jeffrey Brandau, numerous others.
• There Are No Therapists: Subverted -- morgue employees are required to go through a yearly psychiatric evaluation, which they all dread.
• There Is No Kill Like Overkill: One episode had a crooked FBI agent being hired to take down a high-profile witness, which he tries to do by shooting up the crowded diner she is in... he ends up killing everyone but her.
• Throwing Out the Script: In the first episode, Garrett is supposed to do a presentation about coroners at a career day. So he starts off with a fairly dry presentation with no enthusiasm, and then ends up in a rant practically driving people away with the lucid descriptions of his work.
• Tyrant Takes the Helm: Dr. Jack Slocum and Special Prosecutor William Ivers star in two such story arcs.
• UST: With pairings almost too numerous to list, but especially between Jordan and Woody.
• Western Terrorists: On at least two or three different occasions.
  • Subverted in one episode, where it was just some kind of government sponsored test (which severely pissed Macy off).
• Will They or Won't They?: Jordan and Woody, as Jordan's inability to commit to a relationship is best described as "homeric". During the Las Vegas crossovers, they would frequently hook up with Danny and Sam, respectively.