Thoughts on the end of Law & Order: Criminal Intent?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I find I'm going to miss Goren. He's the reason this show existed at all, of course. They used to say CI would be about the criminal's point of view, but it was obviously the Vincent D'Onofrio Show from the get-go. This is not a bad thing as such, 'cuz VDO is awesome.

Spoiler: CI

No, they didn't kill off Goren or anything like that. The last thing we see is Goren's shrink, who says she will recommend to the NYPD that he can do his job quite well but still has anger and trust issues, trying to recommend him a new therapist. He says no, he wants to keep having the sessions with her. Then Goren and Eames go off on another case.

So whaddya think? Did you like CI? Going to miss it? Going to do what I'm going to do, and drop cable altogether now that SVU is the only L&O series left standing and it can be had for free?

 

[Gaith]

Even my mother stopped watching CI a long time ago.

 

[Jetfire]

And?

[edit] I liked CI on NBC.

 

[jep316]

Pretty much not a big ending.....still leaves it open for future movie specials,killing Nicole Wallace off screen ruin their real chance for a great finale which would have been the showdown between Goren and Wallace.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ yeah, I always used to think Goren and Wallace would end up killing each other.

Sadly this also seems to be the end of Dr. Rodgers (the medical examiner) as she usually does not do SVU.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

I admit that I never got into the show, it just seemed like one Law & Order to many for my time. I was also turned off because it seemed like another murder of the week show whereas the real Major Cases Unit would have investigated crimes that could have made a far more interesting show.

Now that I have admitted my prejudices, my reaction to the end of CI is:

Wow, that show was still on?

 

[bigdaddy]

I couldn't stand the show because of Vincent D'Onofrio and still pissed they got a finale set of episodes when L&O did not.

However I doubt this is the end, the ratings are still rather great for being on a cable network.

 

[Timby]

However I doubt this is the end, the ratings are still rather great for being on a cable network.

Uh, no, they're not.

Season 9 averaged 3.6 million viewers (down from 5.4 million the year before and 7.46 million the year before that). That decline, combined with expenses, was enough to render the series comatose until Dick Wolf went to USA and said, "Look, if you give me the money for almost a full season, but I only have to do a half-season of episodes, I can get D'Onofrio and Erbe back." That happened. And while Season 10 premiered to 5.1 million viewers, more recent episodes have been back down to the 3.2 - 3.5 million number -- even less than the viewership that had the show effectively canceled in the first place.

CI is done.

 

[MacLeod]

They should have given L&O another year or two.

 

[Timby]

They should have given L&O another year or two.

If you believe Dick Wolf, this was the plan -- he says that he had been told that Vanilla would get an abbreviated, and final, 21st season, launching in January 2011 and ending in May 2011, leading directly into the launch of Los Angeles, when NBC suddenly made the decision to give Vanilla the axe and focus the marketing efforts towards Los Angeles.

And we know how well that turned out.

 

[Admiral Shran]

^ yeah, I always used to think Goren and Wallace would end up killing each other.

I would have been all for that, as long as it happened at a waterfall.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Please explain?

 

[Christopher]

^Google "The Final Problem" and/or "Reichenbach Falls."

For a series finale, it was very anticlimactic. Just a routine case, except with a resolution to the Dr. Gyson arc tacked on at the end, plus a few random clips of Bobby over the years, and a final, very nonverbal, very strange moment between Goren and Eames that ultimately went nowhere. It would've served the characters better if their previous "final episode" had stayed final. That one wasn't a perfect sendoff for them, but at least it had more weight than this.

The whole "Goren in therapy" thing felt like an awkward inclusion, just this one scene per week that had nothing to do with the rest of the episode. It would've worked better if the cases and the therapy sessions had had more to do with each other. I guess they tried that a little here, with Bobby asking Danielle to make him believe in love, reflecting a thread that's run through the Gyson sessions, but it was too little too late. Previous seasons of CI have done a better job integrating the character arcs into the case-of-the-week stuff.

Still, Julia Ormond is pretty nice to look at, so there's that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

For a series finale, it was very anticlimactic.

What L&O series finale hasn't been?

(SVU will probably go out in a blaze of glory, so to speak, in fact judging from the shark-jumpocity I've heard about the next season, I fully expect this to happen soon.)

 

[Christopher]

For a series finale, it was very anticlimactic.

What L&O series finale hasn't been?

The difference is that previous seasons of this particular L&O have gone to a different, less episodic place, and as I said, the previous departure of Goren & Eames, and a couple of other cast departures on this show like Chris Noth and Eric Bogosian (was that his name?), were handled rather more dramatically. In the wake of all that, this season felt like an afterthought.

 

[Aragorn]

(SVU will probably go out in a blaze of glory, so to speak, in fact judging from the shark-jumpocity I've heard about the next season, I fully expect this to happen soon.)

If you're referring to the Jennifer Love Hewitt rumor, they've actually cast Danny Pino (Cold Case) and Kelly Giddish (Chase) for this upcoming season.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ That's definitely not encouraging news, but I was more referring to the loss of Stabler (and eventually Benson) than the gain of those two.

 

[MHT1138]

^ yeah, I always used to think Goren and Wallace would end up killing each other.

I would have been all for that, as long as it happened at a waterfall.

I really liked the Goren and Eames CI episodes, but I have to say, I just wasn't that excited about them coming back, I guess it was time for CI to go. Looks like its about time for SVU as well. Is the UK version still on?

 

[Admiral Shran]

^ Please explain?

^Google "The Final Problem" and/or "Reichenbach Falls."

Beat me to it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Is the UK version still on?

AFAIK, yes it is.