April 11, 2006
By Jae-Ha Kim
Media Life Magazine
Just
a couple of years ago, back before NBC took its tumble and before ABC invaded
Sunday night with "Desperate Housewives," Sunday at 9 belonged to "Law
& Order: Criminal Intent" and its quirky lead detective, Robert Goren.
But
that was then. In the time since, "Criminal Intent" has slid, and it now
places a distant third in its timeslot. But while it would be easy to blame
"Housewives," which quickly shoved its way to No. 1, the fault lies much
more with happenstance and with the character of Detective Goren, played
by Vincent D'Onofrio. The babes of Wisteria Lane had nothing to do with
it.
As it
turns out, what made "Criminal Intent" successful for so many years is
the very thing that led to its demise. Unlike the other "L&Os," and
for that matter the typical Dick Wolf drama, “Criminal Intent" is driven
less by action than character, chiefly the character of Goren and his interactions
with partner Alexandra Eames, played by Kathryn Erbe. With his hinky mannerisms
and slightly off portrayal of a genius detective, D'Onofrio also differentiates
the show from the slew of whodunits crawling around on every other network.
D'Onofrio
built the character of Goren, and in time the show grew around him. Goren's
a know-it-all with the goods to back it up. He's a genius who speaks German
and understands the nuances of classical music as well as graduate-level
mathematics. Unfortunately, he's also as neurotic as most of the criminals
they catch.
Unlike,
say, Adrian Monk, Tony Shaloub's character on "Monk," Goren's not afraid
to get his suit dirty during an undercover assignment. Tall and almost
lumbering, he can be a menacing figure to be reckoned with and the bad
guys seem to sense that he's just a couple steps away from being a psych
case himself.
It was
this character that pushed up ratings. Then, two years ago, in 2004, D'Onofrio
was hospitalized not once but twice for exhaustion. Suddenly, Wolf
had a problem.
In a
classic cop saga, characters are swapped in and out -- the story, the setting
and the pacing being the thing -- not the particular characters.
But
with "Criminal Intent," Wolf realized he didn't have that flexibility.
D'Onofrio's character was too unique. So, wary of outright replacing him,
the creator opted for an unusual solution. He lessened D'Onofrio's workload
and brought in Chris Noth, who had starred in the original "Law & Order"
series in the early 1990s.
The
plan: Viewers would see D'Onofrio and Erbe one week, but on the next episode
their characters would be on a looooong doughnut run somewhere while
Noth and Annabella Sciorra took over as Detectives Mike Logan and Carolyn
Barek.
On the
face of it, it was a good plan. Noth and Sciorra are fine actors and extremely
attractive eye candy. Keep them on the show long enough and the sexual
tension between their characters surely will be the driving force behind
at least a few will-they, won't-they? episodes.
That,
of course, was not the case with Goren and Eames. Indeed, what set "CI"
apart, among all the other qualities that set it apart, was knowing there
was never, ever going to be any hookups between these two. Wolf
knew that if they ever did fool around, it would a sure sign that the show
had jumped the shark. Viewers would never forgive the show.
It's
not that Goren and Eames are a physically unattractive couple. But emotionally,
Eames is too normal for her partner.
And
therein lies the problem with "Criminal Intent." It's really two cops shows
with two sets of detectives -- but an ill-matched set. Logan and Barek
are traditional action cops and thus out of place on the set of "CI," seeming
uninvited guests when the real cops are off somewhere. It all seems inauthentic,
a work-around, so to speak, which of course is exactly the case.
Viewers
saw the conflict, and many fled. In the past two years, viewers 18-49 fell
more than 20 percent, while household ratings slid nearly 15 percent.
Can
"Criminal Intent" be fixed? It would be nice to think so, perhaps with
another pair of detectives closer in style to Goren and Eames. But the
reality is that the juggling to make it work simply might not be worth
it. It may be one of those shows that simply fades with its dignity intact.
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