Daniel Sorenson is a fictional detective on the popular TV series, NYPD Blue, appearing from season six (1998) through season eight (2001). The character was played by actor Rick Schroder.

Biography

Sorenson, a US Army Desert Storm veteran, aged approximately 27 years old, was introduced in episode six of the sixth season as the 15th squad's replacement for the deceased Bobby Simone. He was partnered with Detective Andy Sipowicz. In childhood, Sorenson immigrated to the United States from Norway along with his younger sisters following the death of his father. They were raised by their aunt in Albany, New York, and he felt a lifelong sense of responsibility for their care. It was later revealed that Danny's mentally-disturbed mother Anna had not only sent Danny and his sisters away but made her sister tell them that Anna had died in a fire back in Oslo; she would later try to make amends with Danny but he refused and her unwanted outreach sent him into a tailspin that nearly destroyed his life. At first other officers tended to regard Sorenson as somewhat inexperienced, and often referenced his youthful appearance, but Sorenson's hard-core professionalism and aggressive tactics soon earned respect. In private, however, Sorenson, a US Army reservist, was shown to be a tormented soul and only shared general details about his sad family history (and only did so with Det. Diane Russell, to Andy's poorly-concealed frustration).

Sorenson started in the 15th squad after his promotion to Detective, filling the open spot left behind by Bobby Simone's death. He initially made a bad impression on the squad due to his enthusiasm and perceived overconfidence, though this was both connected to Diane and Andy's deep grief over Bobby and became lessened as they both came to respect this young newcomer; for his part, Danny worked hard to gain their trust while aggressively pursuing his first case, quickly producing good leads with confidential informants and leveraging his youth and ambition with a key middleman.^[1]

Despite this, he was regarded by his contemporaries among his fellow officers as a source of good advice and stability, and as something of a mentoring type. Sorenson was shown in season seven to be attracted to Detective Diane Russell, widow of detective Bobby Simone, whom Sorenson replaced. The pair became romantically involved for a time but Diane ended it because it just didn't feel right. Danny was devastated by this, and then hurt deeply again later in Season 8 when Diane began dating the young doctor who had treated Bobby's fatal illness.

In 2001, actor Rick Schroder voiced dislike of the presentation of the character of Sorenson, claiming writers had changed him to the point that he, Schroder, had lost both sympathy for him and interest in him, and stated a desire to leave the series at the end of season eight. Schroder's view was mirrored by many fans and critics who were both frustrated by the lack of clarity in Danny's backstory and annoyed that Danny had become a mix of petulant child and dangerously violent cop. Exactly to what extent this was in fact part of an act was left unresolved, but it was written into the storyline that Sorenson had taken on an assignment that involved pretending to fall from grace with the NYPD and infiltrating organized crime factions within Manhattan. After being reported as missing, Sorenson's remains were discovered in a shallow grave at the beginning of season nine, with the character's death being attributed to the mob syndicate he had been attempting to infiltrate. He was laid to rest with full honors in the 3rd episode of Season 9, and never referred to again by any other character on the show.

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