LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT

THE FIRST YEAR

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Because of: sexual content, language, violence

Rated:

There have been three successful spin-off series from the original Law & Order, a cop/lawyer show set in New York City. Criminal Intent is the closest tie-in, focusing on the most "heinous" crimes handed to the special task force.

A woman gets on an elevator and never gets off. A serial killer is stalking the city. A broker winds up dead. A child is found suffocated in the family home. From crooked cops to deranged psychopaths, each and every victim has a face and name, and their case file winds up on the desk of Detective Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio) and his partner Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe). Through careful investigation and by thinking outside the box, the team tracks down the man or woman responsible and do everything in their power to land a reasonable case for their assigned ADA, Ron Carver (Courtney B. Vance). Whether it's pulling up ancient case files, squabbling over jurisdiction with neighboring counties, or trying to land search warrants based on little evidence, Goren and Eames are a formidable team, the pride and joy of their boss, James Deakens (Jamey Sheridan).

The first episode revolves around a jewelry heist gone wrong and three bodies found in the basement of a town house, then progresses into the world of art reproduction, recovering drug addicts in prominent families, church sex scandals, predatory attorneys, European con men, a cyanide serial killer, political bribery cases, corrupt plastic surgeons, eccentric bankers, abortion doctors, criminal psychiatrists, FBI agents gone bad, loan sharks turned kidnappers, judges in over their heads, bank robbers, Russian mobsters, stock traders, and even a twenty year old murder. There isn't a weak installment among them, and the series consistently builds on its characters. You get to really like Goren and his unorthodox methods of investigations, whether he's climbing on top of church pews to observe the body from above, stomping on a trash can petal to make the top flip up and down, or crawling under furniture.

His eccentricities, which run from knowing a lot about fine art to a surprising comprehension of the stock market, make him an excellent partner to Eames, who is quieter but more formidable when it comes to arrests. The two pull a number of cons on their suspects and show some beautiful acting skills along the way. It's not as much about the case, the audience finds, as it is the joy of seeing these two work together. It is not my favorite in the line of excellent shows put forth by Dick Wolf -- I'm still a big fan of the original -- but it's a nice follow up if you like cop shows. The "order" involvement is limited to discussions with the DA's office and the rare trial appearance. Most of this takes place on the street and in the line of investigation, so if you're into cop dramas more than courtroom cases, this will be your cup of tea. I also loved the occasional cross-over episodes. ADA Jack McCoy's name is thrown around a couple of times. L&O regulars Anita Van Buren (S. Epatha Merkerson), Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), and Nora Lewin (Dianne Wiest) also guest-star in episodes "One," "Poison," and "Badge."

Any cop drama has scenes of violence in them, mostly comprised of gruesome crime scenes. Bodies are found strangled, mutilated, with missing hands, shot, stabbed, and hanging from the rafters. Photographs of these scenes are passed around and referenced. The detectives work out theories of how it was done, and mention further details -- such as a woman's body being liquefied with acid and flushed down the drain. Sometimes we see the violence, like a woman being drowned in a tub or several people gunned down.  There is some street language and profanities, but more troubling is the occasional sexual content. In almost all the crimes, the criminal or victim is sexually involved with someone. Most of the time this is just referenced (numerous adulterous affairs are turned up) but occasionally we peek in on the very end of a tryst. In "Jones," a lawyer is found to have six girlfriends on the side. One of the girls is shown straddling him in bed after sex. He strangles the others in intimate settings.

Questions are raised about pedophiles when a local priest is accused of using a local teenage boy as a playmate (this turns out to be a lie). The three most potentially offensive episodes are "Seizure," in which we're treated to an opening sequence of lesbian behavior (no kissing, but the girls are half-dressed and in a hotel room), "Maledictus," about a transvestite, and "Homo Homini Lupus," when a kidnapping turns into rape. We see the girl dragged screaming into a room and thrown onto the bed, her assailant talking to and mocking her afterward. Other episodes bring up the mention of rape; one crime revolved around the body of a woman who had been sexually abused and murdered. There is discussion on pedophilia and concern over whether or not a child was abused.

For the most part, the series steers clear of potentially explosive material, but "The Third Horseman" paints Christian zealots in a bad light, when a man believing he is doing God's will guns down the doctor of an abortion clinic. Other Christians chain themselves to a radiator to delay arrest and attempt to shield him from the police. One of the detectives involved has a sad view of abortion; the other doesn't offer an opinion. The church is also slapped about in "The Faithful," when a priest is found dead. The detectives go up against the archdiocese to get jurisdiction. It sounds pretty bad, and some of the episodes are very rough, but the detectives make up for the faults. If you're interested in dramas of this nature, Criminal Intent is a good place to start.