Thoughts on CI's new season

Television Without Pity, 4.20.09
by Zach Oat

Why Law & Order: Criminal Intent is Awesome

The Law & Order franchise is not what it once was. The original series (plain old L&O) has gone through cast shake-up after shake-up, and just had one of its weakest seasons. Special Victims Unit is full of superstar talent -- America's sweethearts Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni, plus their cranky back-ups Ice-T and Richard Belzer -- but each episode of that show finds a way to ignore their special victims mandate. Only Criminal Intent, exiled to the USA Network, has continued to do what it does so well with the same two leads it's always had. It's the best show in the franchise, and it's only going to get better with this season's changes. If you didn't watch Sunday night's Season 8 premiere, here are our reasons for you to tune in for Episode 2.

1. Vincent D'Onofrio D'Owns It
D'Onofrio, who plays Det. Robert Goren, has been the face of CI since its start, and while "highly perceptive investigator" seems to be the new black (see The Mentalist, Lie to Me, Life), D'Onofrio has been playing the brilliant, well-read, multi-lingual Goren for seven years, and his mannerisms make him a fascinating character to watch and/or listen to. Goren switches from dropping subtle physical cues to screaming in a perp's face with ease, and if we're lucky he'll slip into a character to draw out a suspect. (Goren dressed like a mailman and dancing with headphones on was a fixture in promo commercials for a while, and is still endlessly entertaining.) And whether it's intentional or utterly coincidental, D'Onofrio/Goren's let himself go over the years, expanding horizontally and shaving rarely, which makes the size difference between himself and his shorter, tidier partner/handler Eames (Kathryn Erbe) even more dramatic/hysterical. Full article

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News & Observer.com, 4.20.09
by Adrienne Martin Johnson

A "Law & Order: CI" Mystery?

Last night, "Law & Order: CI" premiered but it wasn't the episode I was expecting.

The Dick Wolf series' new season was at first scheduled to return to USA last year; they sent out screeners and I watched an episode that picked up where we left off.

If you don't remember, that was when Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) found out that his mentor Declan Gage, had killed Goren's nemesis Nicole Wallace, that sociopathic Aussie con artist who had killed Bobby's brother Frank, then declared Bobby "free."

In that episode I watched Bobby was still dealing with his "freedom"; he had gone away and stayed with some family; he was kinda glum and reeling from the whole thing. You know, he's been through a lot lately, what with finding out his dad was a serial killer (played brilliantly by the late Roy Scheider), and with Nicole murdering his last family member. (His mom, also brilliantly played by Rita Moreno died in season 6.)

But that's not the episode that aired last night.... Full article

Thanks Stefanl!