I saw on USA that a new season of this show was starting up and it featured Jeff Goldblum. I love me some Jeff Goldblum so I tuned in. It was my first episode of Law And Order (of any kind) and I liked it. So I scheduled my HTPC to record the next episode.
So I tune in today only to find no sign of Mr Goldblum or his cute partner. Totally different cast. What’s up? What am I missing? Also, how good are the other seasons? Should I netflix them?
Thanks,
A new fan. 
Criminal Intent follows two different sets of detectives - Goren & Eames and Wheeler & …Nichols? I think that’s Goldblum’s character’s name. So the first episode of the season featured Goren & Eames (they’re the original CI pair), and the next featured Wheeler & Nichols. It usually alternates between the two.
They work in the same department and have the same captain, but you pretty much never see them in the other team’s episodes.
I love L&O: Criminal Intent. I think the previous seasons are DEFINITELY worth watching, but keep in mind that the first few seasons were only Goren & Eames. So if Vincent D’Onofrio bothers you, you may want to wait until Chris Noth comes in as Mike Logan (Logan left at the end of last season – Goldblum is replacing him).
If you get Bravo, it has a mini L&O: CI marathon every Sunday evening, which will give you the chance to catch some of the earlier episodes. I like the show, but Goren (D’Onofrio) is an acquired taste, in my opinion, and his episodes aren’t nearly as good as Logan’s (the guy Goldblum’s character is replacing) were; I’m going to miss him. I’d catch some reruns, before ordering a bunch of DVDs on netflix.
Goren partisan weighing in. I think it hurt Logan that he went through so many different partners (three on each show), more glaringly on CI. Goren was semi-based on Sherlock Holmes, Logan on Mike Hammer. Nichols is a little early to call, somewhere between Columbo and Monk, with a bit of Kevin Kline’s The January Man thrown in; I really find Wheeler more interesting so far. Loved her comment about “When does the ‘brilliant’ kick in?”
I think Logan vs. Goren will go down as one of the great “Which character is better” arguments in TV history.
I think CI is defined as Goren’s show, and Logan never really fit in. More emotional than intellectual. Definitely seems like Goldblum’s character will be more in line with the show. Nice and quirky.
Wow, that’s new. I’ve never heard of a TV show where the cast is swapped out every other episode.
I think I like the other crew as well though so I’m set. I’ll definitely give the mini marathon’s a chance before starting up the netflix machine. Thanks guys!
As I remember, the alternating cast plan started after Vincent D’Onofrio collapsed from exhaustion.
Oh, another quirky character? I hope it’s different than Goren’s brand of quirkiness, since that’s why it took me so long to warm up to him, and his…well, whatever’s causing his issues. That and that it was nice to see Logan back after his departure from the original.
Here in the UK I’ve only got the early episodes (they’re slow at releasing on DVD).
As Krokodil said, Goren was semi-based on Sherlock Holmes and the first series really shows that.
I like a later development:
where Goren’s way of thinking (mildly autistic? affected by his mother’s mental illness?) is matched / exploited by criminals…
How many Goldblum epi’s have there been?
If I have this straight, the April 26 episode was his first and the next will be on May 10.
Looks right to me - I think the new episodes are premiering on USA (it’s gone back and forth from NBC to USA a couple of times – I lost track of it at one point) on Sunday nights. Rather, I know they’re showing on USA on Sunday nights – I think that’s each episode’s first showing.
The OP has pretty much been answered, but I just wanted to say how happy I am to see L&O: CI thread on the board!!
I love this show and would love to have a weekly discussion…I’ve thought about posting threads on here after the new episodes air but have been apprehensive of hearing crickets chirp as the response.
Anyone interested??
Yep you’re right, new episodes are on USA now Sundays at 10. They still replay old seasons of CI as well on USA, but the Sunday night eps are first runs.
And to answer the previous questions, Goldblum has had one episode so far, but the one coming up this Sunday will be his second. I’m interested to see where they take his character because from the first episode seems like Nichols is going to be a great character and nothing like how Logan worked with Wheeler.
I want to know why Goren looks so old and haggard in the new episodes. I saw an older one today and he looked good, but in the newer ones he’s gone gray and could stand to be introduced to a razor. What’s the deal?
I’m in for a weekly thread
If it’s deliberate (and I’m not sure it is), Goren has been through the wringer, the grinder, and the Mangler the past season or two.
What with his mother dying, finding out his birth father was a serial killer, his brother and arch-nemesis being murdered by his mentor, and going undercover at a mental hospital (which was partly caused by some of the previously mentioned events, granted).
I like Goldblum a lot and think he has the potential of providing a lighter touch than the scenery-chewing Vd’O, but I am a bit tired of the lady cop as the level-headed, grounded one while the male cop is the kooky, envelope-pushing genius and master of observation. Castle, another show I like, follows the same general pattern (except the lead’s not a cop, just a tag-along).
When we do get a show where the male partner is the mellow, grounded one (In Plain Sight), it’s only because the female isn’t so much a genius as a perfectionist, dysfunctional, ball-busting, hyper-emotional mess (though great at her job). Why can’t we get a chick cop that’s the center-of-attention without all the gratuitous baggage?
Does The Closer count?
BTW, for those who find themselves enjoying Goldblum on the show, you might be interested in checking out the short-lived Raines of a few years ago, featuring Goldblum as a cop who hallucinates murder victims. It was great, and the whole thing’s up on Hulu, AFAIK.
–Cliffy