Zack Nichols

Det. Zack Nichols
Law & Order character
In the eighth season episode "Major Case"
First appearance	"Rock Star"
Last appearance	"Three-In-One"
Portrayed by	Jeff Goldblum
Time on show	2009–2010
Seasons	8, 9
Credited appearances	24 episodes
Preceded by	Mike Logan
Succeeded by	Robert Goren
Information
Family	Dr. Theodore Nichols (father) Unnamed mother (deceased) Unnamed brother Rita (cousin)
Partner	Danny Ross (offscreen) Megan Wheeler Serena Stevens

Zachary "Zack" Nichols is a fictional character, portrayed by Jeff Goldblum, featured in the NBC-USA Network series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Nichols is a police detective with the NYPD Major Case Squad. He was introduced in the series' eighth season to replace Mike Logan (Chris Noth). During that season he and his partner Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson) were featured in half the episodes shown, alternating with Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe); the next year, during the show's ninth season, he and his new partner Serena Stevens (Saffron Burrows) were the only detectives featured. Neither Nichols nor Stevens returned for the tenth and final season of Criminal Intent, however, their characters were not specifically written out or addressed in any way during that season.

Detective Nichols was once partnered with Captain Danny Ross (Eric Bogosian) in the NYPD's Anti-Crime task force. However, after the 9/11 attacks, Nichols left the police force for seven years. Ross remarked that during this period, his only clue to Nichols' whereabouts was a postcard from Cleveland.

Detective Eames began partnering with Nichols after Nichols' regular partner, Megan Wheeler, went into labor and gave birth. Together they investigate Henry Muller, a forensics scientist with the NYPD, and Nichols' suspicions of the man cause conflict between him and Ross, who comments that he himself risked being suspended almost every month while he and Nichols were partners due to the latter's behavior.