After having spent some time last week bemoaning how the Goren/Eames episodes of Criminal Intent are no longer really "Criminal Intent"-y, we are given an episode that goes some way to restoring the balance, although in true SVU fashion the murder that they are investigating is really only the precusor to another story. Happily we are given a little bit of the story from the criminal's point of view, but sadly we are subjected to another pre-title sequence that boarders on the surreal.
If there's one thing the Law & Order producers should have learnt, it's that taking a detective pairing and making them dislike each other is not a great move. When Stabler and Benson started to find each other unbearable, fans and the general public alike were disgruntled. It's bad enough we have to have their emotional baggage making its way into the episodes, but that they should suddenly start to dislike each other is not only unentertaining but also illogical. Unfortunately we are starting to get vibes of that with Goren and Eames. When Goren notes that one of the victims has no tv, but a lot of books, Eames says nothing - back in the day she'd have quipped about how the two were so alike, or that Goren may have had a missing relative. Nowadays she just scowls moodily. At the end when the criminal - clearly attempting to recreate Nicole Wallace - informs Goren that she researched him and his partner, and that Goren's maverick attitude (not that there is much of that these days) is handicapping both Goren and Eames; Eames merely moodily replies that it's too late to do anything about his destruction of her career.
Fantastic. So much for the loyalty they seemed to have built up over the last seven years. Two years ago when Goren was confronted with the information that Eames had requested a new partner six months into their partnership, Eames was devastated that Goren found this out. Nowadays she just seems to flip him the bird and tell him to sod off.
The case itself is not terribly special, and not particularly grabbing - the story of a big pharmaceutical company attempting to save money by not giving a toss about the general public; has been told a few times before in various episodes of the various Law & Order series, and as is usual these days, Goren doesn't need to use any of the amazing techniques he used to use to solve crimes; he's just doing what all the detectives do.
It's a good episode, and it will keep you entertained. But I fear Criminal Intent has jumped the shark.
"B-"
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