Law & Order Headcanons: Love Languages
I reblogged a post that @fireswamps made a post about Mike Logan's love languages, and it has lived rent free in my head for a while now. Soooo, I decided to make my own post about my headcanons for the love languages of other Law and Order characters.
This post is only gonna cover the main characters of season 1 & 2. (Sorry, no Lennie Briscoe this time.)
Also please note that these are my own headcanons and you are free to either comment your own or reblog and give your own thoughts.
Also, because we don't really see the romantic relationships of the characters, or much of their private lives in general, I will be mainly going off how they interact with their friends/co-workers.
Primary: Words of Affirmation Secondary: Physical Touch
Reasons: For Words of Affirmation, Max is shown to be very vocal in general. Probably shown most clear in the episode "Life Choice" (1x12) where he and Mike debate loudly on their views of abortion. However, he is also very vocal about how much he loves his wife, unabashedly calling her in "The Violence of Summer" (1x14) and softening his voice and tone when he realizes she was the one who was calling him in "Subterranean Homeboy Blues" (1x2). Max has also been shown to be very touchy when it comes to unkind words, which is one of the things that get to people who have Words of Affirmation as one of their love languages. As for Physical Touch, Max is also shown to be physically affectionate, particularly with Mike in a friendly way. A few instances I can think of at the moment, in "The Reaper's Helper" (1x3) after Cragen says that Mike is "under a lot of pressure" and Mike looks offended Max touches Mike's shoulder in a teasing way, in both "The Violence of Summer" & "The Torrents of Greed: part 2 (1x16), Max pulls Mike back, and in "Sonata For a Solo Organ" (1x21) Max and Mike do a fun high-five. I ultimately chose Words of Affirmation as his primary love language because of how vocal he is, but he definitely is shown to be physically affectionate as well.
Primary: Physical Touch Secondary: Acts of Service
@fireswamps designated Mike's Love Languages as Physical Touch and Acts of Service and I agree with them 100%, though I have my own notes to add.
Reasons: I put Physical Touch as his primary because of what we hear about his hook-ups. He clearly enjoys physical aspect of them and from what we can infer, he is good at it as well. But even then, we see Mike be physically affectionate in a platonic way, or at least receptive to touch. I put Acts of Service secondary mainly because it seems that Mike leads with Physical Touch in romantic relationships, which is what the Love Languages typically mean, but it seems like Acts of Service leads when it comes to platonic relationships. As @fireswamps points out, Mike SCREAMS Acts of Service - taking on IAD for Cragen in "The Blue Wall" (1x22), tracking down Max's killer in "Confession" (2x1), defending his deceased childhood friend Billy Marino in "Bad Faith" (5x20) and in the Law and Order CI episode "Diamond Dogs" (5x2) he states that his mom would send him to go get her booze only to later beat him. He also shows this when he makes his first appearance in CI - "Stress Position" (4x13). He gets involved because his girlfriend at the time told him about the events and he gets involved. Basically, Mike will go above and beyond for people he cares about.
Primary: Acts of Service Secondary: Words of Affirmation
Reasons: We see in both the OG and SVU that Cragen values good work and making more work for him gets on his nerves, even if he ultimately forgives you for it. We see how hurt he gets when someone he trusts betrays him, mainly seen in "The Blue Wall" (1x22). The first instance was during his argument with Max, we see Cragen obvious hurt that even Max has suspicions of him and then later when it is revealed that that O'Farrell (Cragen's mentor) is the one taking bribes, he is clearly upset. Also, like Mike, when you need him, he always has your back - always. He is also shown supporting Mike in various ways in "Bad Faith" (5x20), mainly giving Mike an non-judging, listening ear and advising him on what to do next. Cragen is also shown to be very verbal with his thoughts, often shouting them, but still verbal. We see this in both in OG and SVU, though we see a lot more of this in SVU (for several, obvious reasons). We also see his Acts of Service love language a lot in SVU.
Primary: Quality Time Secondary: Receiving Gifts Unofficial: Food
Reasons: Phil seems like the type of person who enjoys good Quality Time with you. This is more of a vibe since we don't have a lot of screen time with Phil (unfortunately). Still, Phil seems to like to just have some time with you, especially when eating. As for Receiving Gifts, when Mike visits him in the hospital in "Point of View" (3x9) he brings him some biscotti cookies. This speaks to Mike's Acts of Service Love Language, but that fact that Mike knew he would enjoy this, implies that Phil appreciates thought out gifts, especially around food. This also brings me to his "Unofficial" Love Langue - Food. It is clear in a few episodes that Phil likes food, and might even high standards for food - in "The Wages of Love" (2x2) when he and Mike are grabbing hotdogs, Phil suggests getting calamari instead, he also says no to a hotdog in "The Corporate Veil" (3x4). In "Star Struck" (2x12) Phil says they are getting some pasta before knocking on doors (which, fair). And going back to Mike gifting Phil the biscotti cookies when visiting him in the hospital, we can guess that based on Mike's comment "Those Italian cookies you never get to eat" and and the nice looking tin that these were some nice cookies that Mike went out and got specifically for Phil to cheer him up.
Primary: Acts of Service Secondary: Physical Touch
Reasons: Ben seems to appreciate good, hard work and gets really annoyed when you purposely make his job harder. And I mean, sure, that is the way with everyone, but Ben seems to really lose his cool when you do something that makes more work for him. The most notable examples being: in "Subterranean Homeboy Blues" (1x2) Ben snaps at Max for being uncooperative in the mock questioning, in "Discord" (4x3) he is pissed at Claire for not telling him important info regarding a witness, and in "Profile" (4x4) he nearly gets arrested when he lays into a judge about letting a serial killer out on bail. Now, these could all just be understandable work stress, but Ben is usually so calm and cool about things that these moments feel like something more. Likely, they hint towards how he shows his love. I like to think that is one of the reasons Paul lasted the longest of any of his assistants - he was good and likely proactive at taking extra work off of Ben's hands and we even see that in the show. As for Physical Touch... well, unlike Acts of Service, we hardly see Ben be physically affectionate with anyone - UNTIL his final scene in his final episode "Old Friends" (4x22), when he is saying goodbye to Adam. Right as Ben is leaving Schiff's office for the last time, Adam gets up, walks over to him and Ben cups the back of his head and gently pats his shoulder before leaving. In this moment, Ben is no longer an EADA, he is no longer working. This is a raw, private moment between these two who likely see each other as surrogate father and son. This was rare, unfiltered moment of affection between them. That is why I picked Physical Touch as Ben's secondary.
Primary: Words of Affirmation Secondary: Acts of Service
Reasons: Paul seems to takes words seriously, particularly from Ben Stone. We see him trade words with Ben that he takes seriously, most notably in "Out of the Half-Light" (1x11) when Ben asks him if he was a "Black lawyer, or a lawyer who's Black" and these words stay with him years later in "Custody" (6x14). When he says stuff, he means them, when he makes a promise, he keeps it. As for Acts of Service, Paul very clearly is shown to take up a lot of work load and does a lot of leg work for Ben, and yeah, that is his job, but I also feel like he would not mind do things for his partner to take the load off their shoulders.
Primary: Quality Time Secondary: Acts of Service
Reasons: For Quality Time, the main thing that points to this for me is that we mainly see Adam discussing cases with Ben, Jack and their assistants late in the night. Part of show love in "Quality Time Language" is having intentional, deep conversations with each other. Two instances that come to mind for me are when in "Indifference" (1x9), where we see him and Ben discuss the Lowenstein case and one of the few times we see Ben agree to do a deal, and in "Manhood" (3x21) Adam checks in on Ben before he goes home as Ben is going over the case. While yes, this is part of Adam's job, he does seem to somewhat enjoy these talks, especially with Ben. That, along with how close he and Ben were, I think the fact that they spend so much time together contributed to how much they bonded. As for Acts of Service, like Ben, Adam seems like the type of person who values good, solid hard work. And common sense. But still! I like to think that that is one of the main reasons Ben and Adam bonded so strongly. Plus it makes sense that he and Ben would share a Love Language.
