Sunday June 26th, 2011 saw the series finale of
LAW and ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT as well as the departure of Vincent D'onofrio's Det. Robert Goren from television's vast landscape of quirky detectives. Or so, as before, we've been led to believe. (
More on that later.)
On September 30th, 2001
L&O:CI began on NBC as the second spinoff of the
L&O mothership. The show quickly dominated it's timeslot, and did so for 3 seasons... until that damn
Housewives show began on ABC in 2004. Beginning with season 7 the show was moved to the
NBCUniversal-owned USA cable network, as a budget sharing measure, due to the series' declining ratings.
The seventh season became the
highest rated show on cable and
quadrupled USA's previous Thursday night ratings. So naturally for season 8 they moved the show to Sundays.
I will admit that I was not always a fan or even a viewer of
L&O:CI. An avid television watcher, even I recognize I watch too much tv, so some things fall by the wayside. It didn't help that prior to season 5 it was announced that actor Vincent D'onofrio would be cutting back his Goren duties to every-other episode of the show. Chris Noth, portraying his Det. Mike Logan character from the original
L&O, filled in on the the non-Goren episodes.
Initially I scoffed at reports of D'onofrio's fatigue. "
Hmmmmph. Actors." But it turns out it was actually pretty serious - he was hospitalized in 2004 for
nervous exhaustion.
When I ultimately became hooked on the show, I grew to see how depicting a character like Det. Robert Goren could be physically and emotionally grueling for an actor, especially one as skilled as Mr. D.
My love of
L&O:CI and Det. Goren began in 2009 after being unemployed for over a year. My L&O addiction began with the original flavor
L&O classic which I discovered was on
somewhere just about every day of the week - particularly on cable's TNT - which features mini-marathons on Saturday and Sunday mornings. When those ended I could usually count on
L&O:SVU being on the USA network and then one Saturday I stumbled upon another mini-marathon, this time of
Criminal Intent on WGN America. It wasn't long before I realized that Mondays on the USA network usually feature a good
8 to 10 hours of
Intent.
After that it was
Man Crush City for me and Detective Goren.
Goren is most frequently compared to the most masterful of Detectives... BATMAN! Er, uh... Sherlock Holmes. While Goren is sensitive and vulnerable. He does carry the Holmes-ian qualities of being a quirky and extraordinarily intelligent investigator/criminal profiler. Goren typically employs his knowledge of an enormous range of topics: physics, chemistry, literature, history, psychology, (multiple) foreign languages, pop culture and currrent events. It's obvious that Robert Goren is a man who spends any of his free time studying.
One of my favorite examples is from an episode where Goren notices a murder victim has an unordinary amount of nickels... he quickly deduces that the microfiche machines at the library require nickels and that the library would be a great place to investigate the case further.
Goren's analytical approach, at time, resembles that of a high functioning autistic or someone with extremely high OCD. Though both detectives display arrogance, Goren makes his living as a detective in NYC's "Major Case Squad" while Holmes only focused on cases that he considered to be complex (paging... Dr. House!).
Goren's partner Alexandra Eames often serves as his Dr. Watson. She is actually the lead detective in all of the duo's cases, since Goren's methods are often considered peculiar or outlandish by the higher-ups at 1PP. While their relationship is quite businesslike, the pair also frequently play husband and wife during their investigations. During those times when Eames notices Goren is under stress, she will address him by his less formal name "Bobby".
Goren even has a
Moriarty of his very own. Nicole Wallace (portrayed by Olivia D'abo) appeared in several episodes over the show's run.
![]() |
| Professor Moriarty, I presume? |
Goren also likes to toy with "persons of interest"
as he questions them. Frequently he will play off his looks, as the big lug, by being obtuse or immature. It's a blast to see him play with people's minds like putty. Often he is many steps ahead of them, when some of these schmucks think they've got the upper hand.
There are many theories about what occured after season 8 of
Intent. Chris Noth left the show after season 7 and
quirkmeister Jeff Goldblum was brought in to take over. While Jeff Goldblum is another actor I enjoy watching, but his Detective Zack Nichols character was no Robert Goren.
For some (monetary?) reason, it seems that the network thought the show could continue
without Vincent D'onofrio and Kathryn Erbe and their contracts were not renewed.
***NOTE: I found a really interesting Q&A w/ D'onfrio where he talks about this topic.
However the duo appeared in the two part season 9 premiere. For me, it was a very emotional moment at the end of part two when Detective Goren is forced out of his job. I teared up every time I caught that part.
After season 9, for whatever reason, Goldblum decided he was done with the show. Nobody was sure what would happen to
L&O:CI... most of us thought it was done. Stick a fork in it. Then, SUDDENLY, on September 21st 2010 it was announced that
D'ONOFRIO IS BACK on L&O:CI, BABY! For a shortened final season of 8 episodes.
They weren't the best episiodes that
Criminal Intent had produced. One thing I did love about season 10, were the therapy sessions Goren was required to take as part of his reinstatement. In fact I wish we'd gotten a little MORE of that, and a lot less of the "ripped from the headlines" cases featured in each episode.
At least this time Goren got more of an upbeat ending. I still teared up, but mostly because I was proud of how much progress "Bobby" had made in these final 8 episodes.
There was talk that season 10 may not be THE END. However the USA Network seems pretty determined that the show has now seen it's SERIES finale.
I think it would be great if Goren and company returned once in a while for some
Criminal Intent tv movies. Or better yet a NEW series, where Goren leaves the NYPD and goes out on his own as a private eye/detective. Leaving the sometimes stiff L&O framework... and allowing the stories to be more
Goren-esque. But that's probably a pipe dream. And maybe it's better that way. Goren's adventures will have to continue in my head... they're probably better in there anyway.
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