They're smarter than the criminals
Third 'Law and Order' show premiers
By: Dave Mason
September 30, 2001
Ventura County Star
PASADENA -- Detective Robert Goren would make Sherlock Holmes proud.
He uses great powers of observation to figure out the criminal mind and catch the crooks on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."
Vincent D'Onofrio ("Men in Black") stars as Goren, one of the best TV detectives in recent years. And Kathryn Erbe ("Kiss of Death") stars as his partner, Detective Alexandra Eames. Like Goren, she can do some acting to fool a crook.
The stars do a great job, but D'Onofrio in particular has a knack for playing a maverick detective. And he's reason enough to watch "Criminal Intent," the third "Law & Order" series. It premieres at 9 tonight (Sunday) on NBC, Channel 4.
The series also stars Jamey Sheridan as Capt. James Deakins and Courtney B. Vance ("Boston Public") as Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver.
The detectives get most of the spotlight, but Vance makes his moments shine as Carver. Sheridan needs to define Deakins better, even if it's not a large role.
Like the other "Law & Order" series, "Criminal Intent" is set in New York and filmed in the Big Apple. (Many shows supposedly based in New York often are filmed in Los Angeles or Toronto.)
"Criminal Intent" is about figuring out the how, why, where and when a crime is committed. Using all of that can lead to the crook.
"Sometimes it's a 'who-dunnit' or sometimes it's a 'why-dunnit,' " D'Onofrio said. "The whole story is a game and we all get to play."
"Criminal Intent" is set at the Major Crimes Unit of the New York Police Department. This week's premiere is about a serial killer of women.
An upcoming episode about a thief and murderer leaves no doubt about who did it. The story's "game" is about how the detectives can find him, and it's an interesting journey.
Unlike the other "Law & Order" series, this one shows the crimes, including murders, as they're being committed. There's some restraint to keep the show from being too graphic. For example, an upcoming episode shows the killer pulling the trigger instead of the bullet hitting the victim.
"I don't think it's graphically violent," said Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of all three "Law & Order" series.
"The cops still haven't shot anybody, but you're now coming in a little earlier than you do on (the original) 'Law & Order,'" Wolf said at an NBC news conference at The Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel. "The body isn't lying there in an alley all bloody. You see how it got there."
At the same news conference, Erbe said the show's grisly aspects can upset her.
"I try to leave my own reaction at home and just deal with, you know, the character. If there's something I feel really strongly about, I can always talk to these guys (Wolf and fellow Executive Producer Rene Balcer) about it, but it makes it interesting to have different opinions between ourselves as real people and as our characters."
Erbe isn't new to the cop genre.
The Broadway actress played death-row inmate Shirley Bellenger on HBO's grisly prison series "Oz." She also has appeared on "Homicide: Life on the Street." (Tom Fontana has been the executive producer of both shows.)
With "Criminal Intent," Wolf is continuing his tradition that the story must end within one episode.
That goes against the current trend for storylines that continue over many episodes (or even seasons).
"I think it's the secret of 'Law & Order' success," he said. "I think if you look back at the history of the most successful shows -- hour shows in syndication, whether it was 'Columbo,' 'Rockford,' 'Murder She Wrote,' 'Law & Order' -- the most successful shows are the ones where it doesn't matter if you've missed three episodes in a row and come back.
"You don't have to know who is sleeping with anybody. You don't have to know who is getting a divorce."
That straightforward approach attracted D'Onofrio to "Criminal Intent."
The movie star ("Steal This Movie," "The Cell" and the upcoming "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" with Jodie Foster) had avoided television because of soapy shows.
"We go emotional places, and we go to really intense, heavy places," D'Onofrio said about "Criminal Intent." "Sometimes we don't take ourselves too seriously, but we're always telling a really good story, and we never get soapy. And that's why I'm here."
Like Joe Friday of "Dragnet" would say, "Just the facts, m'am."
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