The Ledger

Photos from a Law & Order: Criminal Intent shoot

Pretty exciting moment today. I was walking down Spring Street on my way to work, and walked right into a L&O: CI shoot. I stopped for a second and thought, "I could run into Vincent D'Onofrio right now." Two seconds later, he walked out of a doorway onto a sidewalk, 10 feet in front of me. Vincent has been one of my favorite actors for a long, long time, so I took a quick picture of him and stepped up and told him I thought he was a good actor in everything he does. He said thanks and looked the other way, pretty much ignoring me. No problem...I pretty much expected that. This was the second time I've "met"...

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Chris Noth returning to Law & Order!

Wow. Chris Noth will be playing Mike Logan on Criminal Intent. Will take over the lead from Vincent if necessary. Amazing. [via amy's robot]...

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Vincent D'Onofrio passes out on set of CI, is taken to hospital

See the story from E! or this story from the NY Post, which delves into behind-the-scenes tension at the show....

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4.4 Great Barrier: The Viewer's Choice Episode

In this Criminal Intent episode (4.4), our favorite arch-villain Nicole Wallace/Elizabeth Hitchens re-emerges and may or may not be dead at the end of the episode. NBC allowed viewers to vote (via its website) on whether to allow Wallace to die or not. The episode begins with a white man and an Asian-American woman discussing the how to make the woman sound and look more convincingly Japanese. They visit a clothing store and the woman tries on some outfits and some wigs. You get the impression they are trying to prepare her for an elaborate disguise. We soon learn why: they visit a jewelry store and, applying the gestures and speech she we saw her practice, they dupe the jeweler...

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Olivia D'Abo's fate to be decided by Criminal Intent viewers

On this Sunday's episode, viewers will decide whether to kill Elizabeth Hitchens, the recurring character brilliantly played by Olivia D'Abo. I hope they don't kill her. Besides Vincent, she is the best thing about the show. More info from E! and more from the NYT....

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L&O Sound Files

I made some MP3s of the Law & Order theme songs. So far I've done::Original Series, Season 1Original Series, Season 13Criminal Intent, Season 3I also made a couple of the voice-over greetings ("these are their stories...").I don't watch SVU, so I haven't done those yet, but I will soon....

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Actress from CI Episode Shot on NYC Subway

Monica Meadows, an actress who appeared on an episode of L&O: Criminal Intent, was shot on the New York City subway yesterday. She appears briefly in the truly awful episode F.P.S., one of the few CI episodes I've summarized....

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Photos from a Criminal Intent Filming

Some photos of a Criminal Intent shoot in midtown. Includes pictures of trailers, signs, etc....

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A Person of Interest

In this episode (2.23), Goran and Eames investigate the murder of a nurse connected to some missing anthr*x vaccine booster shots. Goran pursues a hot-headed scientist who appears to be connected to an effort to use anthr*x for terrorist purposes. In his efforts to break the suspect, Goran pushes too hard, and the suspect appears to kill himself, and Goran blames himself, just as the media incriminates him for causing the death of an innocent man. But even after all this, the episode is really just getting started: Olivia D'Abo shows up, reviving her terrific Elizabeth Hitchens/Nicole Wallace character from the episode "Anti-Thesis" in which she nearly drove Goran mad. In much the same way Sherlock Holmes is transfixed by...

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Unrequited

In this episode (3.12), Goran and Eames investigate the relationship between a needy young fundraiser and his recently-widowed wealthy patron, a wannabe stage actress. The couple is involved in some fraudulent activity as well as a murder or two, but each seems to be keeping some secrets from the other.The funny thing about CI is that it's loaded with subtext, but there's nothing particularly "sub" about the subtext: everything is right there in the open. Harvey, the fundraiser, has a facial tic that activates whenever he gets nervous, and the older lady's obsession with being loved is so obvious she acts like she's on stage even when she's not. Nuts like these are not tought to crack, especially for Goran,...

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F.P.S.: Corniest Episode Ever

Criminal Intent is almost always corny as hell, but Vincent makes it worth watching. Unfortunately, this episode (3.10) is SO over the top and drawn out, it's barely watchable. Vincent and Red Hair see through an elaborate misdirection and uncover an unhealthy relationship between two video game designers which ends in murder. There's lots of in-the-know tech talk about avatars, bots, IP addresses, and so on, but it all adds up to nothing. Supposedly, every game programmer has a readily identifiable signature, and Vincent uses this signature to solve the murder. Ree-dic-u-lous.The episode's one interesting moment comes when Vincent realizes he's been tricked by whoever designed the elaborate ruse. He starts talking about Wally Stevens, the actuary with Asperger's Syndrome...

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Rene Balcer on Usenet

In researching another post, I came across some postings to Usenet from Rene Balcer, former show runner of the Original Series and the co-creator of Criminal Intent. Anyway, here's a post he wrote about CI during its early days, after some episodes had been filmed but before they aired. It's an informative look from his perspective at the concept behind the show.PS. Here's another post in which Balcer (or at least someone claiming to be him) says he had originally intended Claire Kincaid to survive and re-appear, but due to real-life issues, they kept her "dead, dead, dead."...

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Chinoiserie

In this episode (2.5), a woman is killed in Chinatown when she comes across a soldier she recognizes from Tiananmen Square. It turns out that the soldier is involved in an antiquities smuggling operation along with a dealer and a collector.Not a particularly thrilling episode, but there are a few twists and turns that hold your interest. The episode's best part involves a character who calls himself "Lord Pembridge." His interaction with Vincent is amusing, and there's a fitting twist (revealed by Vincent's inimitable manipulation techniques) that I won't mention here.When Vincent reveals the true murderer in his trademark episode-ending interrogation sequence, if you give it some thought, you might be left wondering why the murderer did it. If the...

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