Writing this as a general review for all the episodes featuring Mike Logan as those are the only ones I've watched (one ep of season 4, and then approx. every other ep from seasons 5-7). I fell in love with Mike when watching the first 5 seasons of the original Law & Order from 1990-1995 throughout April and May of 2023. I then watched his L&O movie, Exiled, before moving onto Criminal Intent. I have nothing against Bobby Goren or Alex Eames, but Mikey's my guy and boy, do they put him through the wringer. 
After spending ten freaking years on Staten Island (where dreams go to die) to atone for punching a city councilman in his final episode of L&O, he finally gets a long-deserved break and is transferred to the Major Case Squad under Captain Deakins. Throughout his first year, he's partnered with Carolyn Barek (do not get me started on how much I can't stand her), but in his second season, as Barek has moved on for unknown reasons, he meets his new partner: a young redhead named Megan Wheeler (MY BELOVED FRECKLE BABY). These two are the ultimate duo and remind me a bit of Mike and Phil Cerreta's (Paul Sorvino) dynamic from season 2 and half of season 3 from OG L&O in that it feels like we're watching an older and younger sibling. They bicker, they tease each other, but at the end of the day, they have each other's backs. She's a good counter to Mike's intensity and anger, much calmer and more even-keeled, and Mike needs someone like that to balance him out. 
We're forced to suffer through the first several episodes of season 7 without Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson took time off for maternity leave) and are instead subjected to one Nola Falacci (played by the amazing Alicia Witt). If I thought I hated Barek, Falacci puts her to shame. She's brash, lacking empathy, and is somehow so off the handle that Mike Logan becomes the voice of reason. During her tenure as Mike's temporary partner, we do gain access to one especially heartbreaking revelation: it's now been 13 years since Mike's "scandal" and yet he still carries with him in his wallet a newspaper clipping from when the story first broke (Cop Pops Pol). As if an entire decade spent on Staten Island wasn't more than enough, Mike is not only subjected to hearing the rumors and whispers about himself, but it's clear that he still hasn't forgiven himself for what he did. On the outside, Mike appears to be a fairly stoic tough guy, admittedly with some anger issues. But if you look a little harder, it becomes almost painfully obvious how much he cares. About his job, about the victims, about justice and right and wrong, and the people he loves. It truly broke my heart (see: actually cried) to know that he was still carrying something that happened in 1995 with him, both literally and metaphorically. And sure, someone who was less attached to him than myself probably would have just taken it for what it was, that Mike had learned his lesson, but having watched every bit of his L&O content in about a month and a half, I was (and still am) in deep. 
This made his final episode, Last Rites, that much more heartbreaking to me. His confrontation in the last scene with Denis O'Hare's character, a priest, made me cry my eyes out. Mike has always had a tumultuous, difficult, negative relationship with religion, and for good reason given the things he saw and went through. And in true L&O fashion, we get an emotionally charged final scene, what I would consider a cliffhanger ending, and then that's it. No more Mike Logan. One brief mention of him in the next season (about how he left Wheeler without a partner, as I understand it) and nothing further. It was the same thing when he left at the end of season 5 of the original show. Punches councilman, Jack and Claire discuss him briefly, and then fade to black. It's so jarring to me, the way the writers treat characters who leave the show (when they're not killed off, anyway). Granted, I've only seen 5 seasons of the original show and pretty much every other episode of CI for 3 seasons, but it felt that way for Mike and for Ben Stone, who was the EADA in the first 4 seasons of the original show, and honestly for Barek as well, though I was glad to see her go. It's just an odd move in my opinion, but I'm also much more used to shows that delve more into the personal lives of the characters. L&O seems to focus more on episodic procedurals, each with almost the same formula, and rarely giving us a glimpse into the characters' personal lives and feelings -- unless it's for the purpose of causing them more pain (looking at you, 6x22 "Renewal"). Still a pretty darn good show, but not without its issues.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Specials