Danny Ross

In Major Case Squad

He is introduced in the episode "Blind Spot" as the successor of Capt. James Deakins (Jamey Sheridan). He is given the position of captain of the Major Case Squad as a reward for a successful three-year stint as head of the NYPD's Joint Task Force on International Money Laundering.

Ross takes a more "hands-on" approach to the administration of Major Cases than Deakins. He often goes out into the field, especially for arrests, and occasionally participates in direct interrogations of suspects. He is far less tolerant of the unorthodox methods of Det. Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio), though the two eventually come to a better understanding and relationship. Ross also uses his prior relationship as supervisor to Det. Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) at the Joint Task Force to keep close watch on "loose cannon" Det. Mike Logan (Chris Noth). In the episode "Rock Star", he remarks that he was at one time partners with Logan's replacement, Zach Nichols (Jeff Goldblum). He frequently lectures his detectives on being kept "in the loop" and updated on every development of each case. In the episode "Purgatory" he assigns Goren to go undercover without telling Goren's partner, Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe).

In the episode "Betrayed" he runs interference when his ex-girlfriend is accused of being a two time killer. In "Major Case", he says to Nichols (who risked ruining his career over a murder case) that he himself came close to being suspended at least once a month while they were partners, due to Nichols' behavior.

Captain Ross is killed in the line of duty in the first part of the season 9 premiere "Loyalty" as a result of working undercover with the FBI on a RICO case. He is given a 21-gun salute at his funeral, with the entire Major Case Squad and many other NYPD officers and staff members in attendance.

Personal life

Ross was divorced and had two sons, ages 14 and 10. He was very protective of them; during a case involving a teacher having an affair with one of her students, Logan asks him what he would do if he found out a teacher was having sex with either one of his sons. Ross replies that he would "break them in two...male or female." In another episode ("Albatross") Ross and his sons witness a murder during a re-enactment of the famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton. Ross keeps his kids busy by having them collect the video cameras of all the other witnesses so they wouldn't be near the body. In the season 7 opener "Amends", Ross reveals that his older son Jeremy, age 15, has been caught in bed with a girl, and that Ross' ex-wife wants him to have a talk with their son. Despite being divorced, Ross maintains something of a friendship with his ex-wife, Nancy, and her new boyfriend, Todd. In a 2006 episode, the whole family is seen eating Thanksgiving dinner together before Ross is called away to a crime scene. In the second Nichols/Wheeler team episode, "In Treatment", Ross mentions to Zach Nichols that he has a cousin, Rita, who for 20 years has sent him cat toys for Christmas because he said she was pregnant when she wasn't.

Ross frequently makes cultured references to cases. In the episode "Neighborhood Watch", after his detectives close a homicide involving a very ignorant murderer, he refers to the killer as "the banality of evil", quoting the sub-title of the book Eichmann in Jerusalem by political theorist Hannah Arendt. In "30", when a prime suspect believed to be a KGB agent is revealed to be a fraud living in Brighton Beach, Ross calls him a "Brighton Beach Walter Mitty", referring to the main character of the short story by James Thurber. He also refers to the influential Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon in "Weeping Willow", which involved several unreliable witnesses involved in a computer crime, calling it "cyber-Rashomon".

Ross was Jewish, and in one episode ("30") that addressed the killing of a civilian by the Israeli military, Logan asks Ross if he was, for the purposes of the case at hand, "a Jew first and a cop second?" Ross in fact turns down an appeal by a pro-Israel friend to act in the interests of that country.

Although it is never officially mentioned on screen, there are several moments that imply a romantic relationship between Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers and Ross. In one episode, Ross and Rodgers can be seen getting into an elevator dressed for going to the theater.^E709 When Ross asks Rodgers for information on Det. Goren, Goren later confronts Ross with this, shouting at Ross, "Did your girlfriend tell you that?!"^E722 After Ross is murdered, Goren and Eames arrive at the crime scene to find Rodgers already there, visibly distraught over both his death and the fact that the FBI is denying her access to the body.^E901