Det. Megan Wheeler is a fictional character portrayed by Julianne Nicholson on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Nicholson previously portrayed Christina Finn on the now defunct Law & Order spin-off, Conviction, as well as a one-time character in an episode of the original Law & Order, entitled "All My Children". She is said to balance her partner, Mike Logan's approach by seeing cases from different angles. She is more inclined to following the rules than her partner.
Wheeler became a detective in the Major Case Squad when she replaced Carolyn Barek as Logan's partner—having transferred in with her captain and mentor, Danny Ross. During an investigation, Wheeler recalled how her mother had to become a waitress to support both of them when Wheeler's father abandoned them. At first, Logan questioned whether someone as young as Wheeler would be capable of handling major homicide cases. However, the age difference between the two partners proved useful when it was revealed that Wheeler was still young enough to be familiar with the shorthand used by adolescents in text messaging one another. However, she was shown in the same episode to be unable to hear the ultrasonic ring tone used by a teenage suspect to sneak a cell phone into school, a frequency that it was claimed few people over age 30 can detect.
In the episode "Players", it was revealed that Wheeler's father, a mob-connected lawyer, disappeared some 20 years ago and is either in hiding or was killed by the mob. Her father had allegedly been getting a cut of mob profits, which helped put Wheeler through private school, but the arrangement ended after a change of mob bosses. She also has an uncle Pete, who works in a restaurant. The massive grave at the end of this episode is similar to where the real NYPD found many of the victims that John Gotti ordered murdered as head of the Gambino crime family.
At the end of season six ("Renewal") Wheeler tells Logan that she is going over to Europe to teach American police procedure to European police officers. This is because Julianne Nicholson's pregnancy will require her to leave the show temporarily for maternity leave. She is being temporarily replaced by Det. Nola Falacci (Alicia Witt), during the show's seventh season.
