Post by jeffan on Jan 24, 2010 23:49:23 GMT -5
New Cast Attempts to Breathe Life Back into Law and Order: Criminal Intent
With the launch of the ninth season of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" tentatively scheduled for March 2010, Jeff Goldblum prepares to take the reigns of the franchise from departing leading man Vincent D'Onofrio.
While D'Onofrio's departure will no doubt upset many "Criminal Intent" fans, I believe the character of Detective Robert Goren had grown stale. When "Criminal Intent" premiered in 2001, Goren was presented as a genius detective. Although his social skills were somewhat deficient, he excelled at his job, often discovering clues that other detectives missed.
Goren also displayed an uncanny ability to get inside the heads of the suspects he interrogated, exploiting their psychological weaknesses in order to obtain a confession.
Detective Goren's partner, Alexandra Eames (portrayed by Kathryn Erbe), was the perfect fit for Goren's personality. Eames' reputation as a classic, by-the-book detective complemented Goren's quirkiness so that episodes maintained a "Law and Order" feel instead of overwhelming viewers with Goren's eccentricities.
One of the key components that contributed to the success of the "Law and Order" franchise is the lack of connectedness from one episode to the next. Sure, some character storylines carry over from episode to episode, but often a viewer can watch any "Law and Order" episode without needing any background knowledge. I believe this is where the downfall of the Detective Goren character began.
I enjoyed the early episodes featuring murder suspect Nicole Wallace and her clashes with Goren. The intellectual chess match between Wallace and Goren was fascinating to watch, and Wallace emerged as the first character in the series that Goren was unable to break.
I consider the fourth season of Criminal Intent (the last season Goren appeared in every episode) and the Goren and Eames episodes of the fifth season to be the most intriguing of the series. However, the introduction of character-oriented storylines soon exposed Detective Goren's weaknesses, and exploited them repeatedly throughout seasons six, seven, and eight.
Poorly written episodes involving Goren's mother, brother, and mentor destroyed the credibility that Goren built as a top-notch detective during the first five seasons (with the exception of Vincent D'Onofrio's outstanding performance undercover in a prison mental ward in the seventh season episode "Untethered").
Even the Nicole Wallace storyline lost its excitement, ending with Wallace's death as an afterthought in the seventh season finale "Frame".
Criminal Intent fans should not be upset by the departure of D'Onofrio's Detective Goren. If anything they should be upset at the way the producers and writers of Criminal Intent ruined the Goren character over the past three seasons. Revitalizing Criminal Intent with Jeff Goldblum's Detective Zach Nichols is exactly what the series needs.
While I am completely in favor of Goldblum replacing D'Onofrio and the addition of Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Eric Bogosian's replacement as commander of the Major Case Squad, I have to disagree with Kathryn Erbe being forced out of the series.
Erbe's Detective Eames not only paired nicely with Goren, but she also complimented Goldblum's Detective Nichols well when she replaced a pregnant Julianne Nicholson for the last two episodes of the eighth season.
While the character of Detective Goren deteriorated over the past few seasons, Detective Eames became a more intriguing character with her own point of view and interesting storylines, most notably the seventh season episode "Amends", which explores the death of Eames' husband. Detective Eames would be the perfect link, connecting the new cast of Criminal Intent with the past eight seasons.
With Eames' departure, the new cast of Criminal Intent will be able to start from scratch (with the exception of Goldblum), allowing the series to become their own. I look forward to new life being brought to a franchise that has been mostly dead for the past three seasons.
Matt Bica
AC Arts & Entertainment
January 24, 2010.
www.associatedcontent.com/article/2622675/new_cast_attempts_to_breathe_life_back.html?cat=2
With the launch of the ninth season of "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" tentatively scheduled for March 2010, Jeff Goldblum prepares to take the reigns of the franchise from departing leading man Vincent D'Onofrio.
While D'Onofrio's departure will no doubt upset many "Criminal Intent" fans, I believe the character of Detective Robert Goren had grown stale. When "Criminal Intent" premiered in 2001, Goren was presented as a genius detective. Although his social skills were somewhat deficient, he excelled at his job, often discovering clues that other detectives missed.
Goren also displayed an uncanny ability to get inside the heads of the suspects he interrogated, exploiting their psychological weaknesses in order to obtain a confession.
Detective Goren's partner, Alexandra Eames (portrayed by Kathryn Erbe), was the perfect fit for Goren's personality. Eames' reputation as a classic, by-the-book detective complemented Goren's quirkiness so that episodes maintained a "Law and Order" feel instead of overwhelming viewers with Goren's eccentricities.
One of the key components that contributed to the success of the "Law and Order" franchise is the lack of connectedness from one episode to the next. Sure, some character storylines carry over from episode to episode, but often a viewer can watch any "Law and Order" episode without needing any background knowledge. I believe this is where the downfall of the Detective Goren character began.
I enjoyed the early episodes featuring murder suspect Nicole Wallace and her clashes with Goren. The intellectual chess match between Wallace and Goren was fascinating to watch, and Wallace emerged as the first character in the series that Goren was unable to break.
I consider the fourth season of Criminal Intent (the last season Goren appeared in every episode) and the Goren and Eames episodes of the fifth season to be the most intriguing of the series. However, the introduction of character-oriented storylines soon exposed Detective Goren's weaknesses, and exploited them repeatedly throughout seasons six, seven, and eight.
Poorly written episodes involving Goren's mother, brother, and mentor destroyed the credibility that Goren built as a top-notch detective during the first five seasons (with the exception of Vincent D'Onofrio's outstanding performance undercover in a prison mental ward in the seventh season episode "Untethered").
Even the Nicole Wallace storyline lost its excitement, ending with Wallace's death as an afterthought in the seventh season finale "Frame".
Criminal Intent fans should not be upset by the departure of D'Onofrio's Detective Goren. If anything they should be upset at the way the producers and writers of Criminal Intent ruined the Goren character over the past three seasons. Revitalizing Criminal Intent with Jeff Goldblum's Detective Zach Nichols is exactly what the series needs.
While I am completely in favor of Goldblum replacing D'Onofrio and the addition of Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Eric Bogosian's replacement as commander of the Major Case Squad, I have to disagree with Kathryn Erbe being forced out of the series.
Erbe's Detective Eames not only paired nicely with Goren, but she also complimented Goldblum's Detective Nichols well when she replaced a pregnant Julianne Nicholson for the last two episodes of the eighth season.
While the character of Detective Goren deteriorated over the past few seasons, Detective Eames became a more intriguing character with her own point of view and interesting storylines, most notably the seventh season episode "Amends", which explores the death of Eames' husband. Detective Eames would be the perfect link, connecting the new cast of Criminal Intent with the past eight seasons.
With Eames' departure, the new cast of Criminal Intent will be able to start from scratch (with the exception of Goldblum), allowing the series to become their own. I look forward to new life being brought to a franchise that has been mostly dead for the past three seasons.
Matt Bica
AC Arts & Entertainment
January 24, 2010.
www.associatedcontent.com/article/2622675/new_cast_attempts_to_breathe_life_back.html?cat=2
Patrick Roy, 2006 inductee into the Hockey Hall of Fame