TV Series Review: Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Law & Order: Criminal Intent is a spin-off of Law & Order. It started in 2001. The Major Case Squad focuses on, what else, major cases: murder, fraud, kidnapping, etc.; otherwise known as high profile cases, as opposed to the Special Victims Unit which focuses on sex crimes.

It is an ensemble series, meaning that there is no main character.

The lead detective is Robert Goran He is somewhat based on Sherlock Holmes with a little Columbo thrown in. He uses deductive reasoning. In one episode his partner, Alexandra Eames, is called as a defense witness in an effort to show Goran as unpredictable and unorthodox because at one time she requested a new partner. Obviously, she changed her mind, but her comment in court was "he's an acquired taste." At another time, she comments to him, "Sometimes, you really scare me." He likes to poke at corpses, and he "likes to watch." His comment when the Captain asked for a volunteer to go over surveillance tapes.

Goran's personal life is somewhat chaotic. His brother is a drug addict, and his mother a paranoid schizophrenic. She died this week and also put a bug in Goran's mind that his father may not have been the father he thought, but a serial killer, who also died this week. Will he have a DNA test next week to find out?

His partner is Detective Alexandra Eames. She's the Dr. Watson to Goran's Holmes. She is single, dating a man named Terry (the name of Kathryn Erbe's real life husband) and was a surrogate mother for her sister. The story line was used to when Erbe became pregnant in real life. While Goran likes to watch, she "likes to listen."

Their boss is Captain James Deakin. He spent a lot of time defending his detectives. It was suggested, and he agreed, that he retire early in 2006. He was replaced by Captain Danny Ross.

Captain Danny Ross ran the Joint Task Force for International Money Laundering. He is divorced with children.