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Law & Order: Criminal Intent Season 6 Episode 1

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9.4

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 9/19/06

Goren and Eames investigate the death of Heidi Conington, a former ambassador's daughter, and then the similar murder of Jenna Shea not long after, interviewing her roommate Jo Gage. Jo's father turns out to be Goren's former mentor, Dr. Declan Gage, who tries to convince Goren that the killer is Sebastian, the one killer that he has never been able to capture or forget. Ross warns Goren that he doesn't want Gage, who betrayed his entire team in the original Sebastian investigation, anywhere near the case. When Eames is taken from her home, suspicion turns to Gage, especially after some of her belongings are found in his possession, but when Eames saves herself, she can't give the police any clues to her captor.moreless

Fan Episode Reviews (24)

Detective Eames

8.0

By SMGslayer97, Feb 09, 2011

Eames is kidnapped during a murder investion that has one plot twist after another. Goren does all he can to try and figure out the solution, cath the perp. And though it's not who you think it, it isn't the other person either. If you've watched this episode that last statement will make sense. But the best thing about this episode is Eames and Goren being put under the microscope, Eames hbeing trapped in a deadly situation and Eames doing all he can to find and rescue her though he is extremely confused by the aid of his long time mentor. Suspects change, the case grows into a double homicide, but eventually the case is solved. Not only that but Eames manages to escape from her captor on her own, both she and Goren and temporarily affected by the gravity and horror of the situation. This was a really good episode, I tend to prefer the episode that include Logan but this episode was seriously stellar. I like seeing the connection between the detectives, that whole when you've been working with someone for so long no matter how professional the relationship is you can't help but grow to care for them in one capacity or another. It really helps to humanize the detectives, I mean when they work on such disturning cases it's easy to forget.moreless
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CI lives up to its potential...and then some.

9.6

By ConDuJeux, Feb 09, 2011

The episodes with Goren and Eames are far superior to those with Logan and Barek. Let\\\'s face it, Goren - with his near-autistic mind that hones in on each, specific detail - makes this show great. This episode, besides a great season opener, is one of the best CI\\\'s that I\\\'ve seen. I tend to prefer the earlier episodes (seasons 2-4), but this is a definite exception. The acting is wonderful, and John Glover is fantastic as the slightly eccentric but brilliant Declan Gage. Top all of that off with a great finale and you\\\'ve got a top-notch episode on your hands.moreless
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This was a great episode. I think Goren and Eames make a great team.

9.3

By becky677, Feb 09, 2011

I really enjoyed this episode. You got to see a side to Goren that he usually does not show. I liked the fact that he actually cared and could choose his partner over his mentor. John Glover portrayed Dr. Declan Gage really well.

I thought when they brought in the daughter of Dr. Gage that she was either an accomplice to her father or she was the actual killer. I thought Kathryn Erbes played her character of Alexandra Eames really well on this episode. I usually find Goren a little dry in his personality department so like I said I enjoyed seeing another side to him. It also goes to show people that even brilliant mentor and profilers are not above having their own children commit crimes just for attention and that they have problems like regular people also Great episode!moreless
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Goren's profiler mentor, who 15 years earlier had botched the effort to catch mutilation serial killer Sebastian, visits NY for a conference only to have his daughter's roommate turn up dead in a manner identical to that of the long-dormant Sebastianmoreless

6.0

By CrimeShowFan, Feb 09, 2011

I was looking forward to this episode. By introducing Goren's mentor, it promised a new brilliant, colorful character and more background on Goren. By pitting them against an elusive, brutal serial killer, with whom they had a history, it promised a battle of wits and soul. By putting Eames in danger, it promised to push the characters to the limits. As usual, the quality of acting and production values was high. But the material let them down.

Critically, the writers decided to go too much for procedure, technical detail, shock effect, atmosphere, and action and not enough for characters, background, dialogue, and thought process. Despite a foreboding mood, a fast-paced, off-balance feel during the middle, and a chilling glimpse into insanity at the end, the story was surprisingly shallow, disorganized, and lacking in well-grounded, well-developed suspense, intensity, and intelligence.

Much too much time was taken early on processing a series of mundane, dead-end leads to the first murder, that of an ambassador's daughter (and why is the mother brought to the crime scene and questioned while standing over her daughter's uncovered, bound and mutilated corpse?). The second murder finally brought the main characters onto the stage, suggested aspects of their relationships, and focused their work. But any serious development along these lines was simply dropped when the killer abducted Eames, giving way to quick-cuts to frantic action, until a suddenly sedate, clairvoyant Goren solves it all at the end.

Neither Goren nor his mentor were shown to credible, good effect as master profilers, there was little or no exploration of their professional and personal history, and their interactions were disappointing, mostly deteriorating into repeated, confused shouting and shoving matches. Just as bad, the killer had no imaginative, diabolical master plan for the pros to discuss and unravel, instead changing course on the fly through several grisly murders and ending up with a clumsy, improvised frame-up (and a frame-up, involving a planted cell phone and keys, that proved far too much about who the real killer had to be, had either Goren or his mentor focused on them).

The past crimes were left hanging. On reflection, it is far from clear how shifting gears and targeting Eames served any real purpose for the killer. The killer's treatment of Eames was too inconsistent with that of the other victims to pass without an adequate explanation. There was no array of interesting suspects. In fact, the episode felt claustrophobic on that score, with a key character being thrust forward without the proper groundwork laid to make them a remotely plausible suspect (for example, the character simply had no motivation for either the killer's original or improvised acts).

Goren's investigation was poor to non-existent. This was especially true at the end when he intuited out of thin air the killer's identity and readily coaxed a confession. The only clues Goren mentioned (in passing) were the killer remaining silent during Eames' abduction -- which Goren argued meant one thing and Captain Ross another but which made no logical, necessary sense either way if Eames was to die -- and a maddeningly unexplained point about a bench being laid along the wall near where she hung from a pulley. The hostility between the captain and mentor seemed contrived and went nowhere. The final shot of Goren sitting at Eames' hospital bedside failed to provide a meaningful, dramatic takeaway from the awful events.

Martha Plimpton, very well-cast but with little screen time, gave a riveting performance as the daughter. The episode was well worth seeing for that alone. The writers eventually filled in some revealing background details. But her motivations remained sketchy and far-fetched. The episode involved shifting, extreme plans when there was no reason to think they could be sustained or that they could possibly gain anything lasting (unless, I guess, it was all reduced to the uninteresting goal of being caught).

And I was very disappointed with the casting and characterization of the mentor, played by John Glover. Other than some stray lines, one exchange with Goren ("so you can remain that detached!?"), and the daughter's belated description of her father, the Glover character seemed campy, undistinguished, and unimpressive, as "the FBI's first profiler." The Kojak TV series did a far better, more credible and effective job decades ago with its own take on presenting a visiting master criminologist (see "Both Sides of the Law"). All in all, the episode was a sometimes vivid but disappointing missed opportunity.moreless
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Goren and Eames investigate the death of some young women. Goren's former mentor appears and tries to convince Goren that the killer is Sebastian, a case study case that was never solved. Eames is taken from her home and Gage is arrested.moreless

9.7

By uscgirl, Feb 05, 2007

This was a really great episode and I loved every minute of it. Goren and Eames are CI. Most suspenseful part was when Eames was captured by the killer. The episode had all the great twist and turns that have made this series so great to watch. The revelation of the killer at the end was the classic surprise. I didn’t like the new captain at the beginning, but I think they showed how he wants what’s best at the end of the episode.

Goren and Eames characters were developed a little more and the actors really showed how great they are at their craft. John Glover had a great performance as well.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Vincent D'Onofrio	Det. Robert Goren
Kathryn Erbe	Det. Alexandra Eames
Eric Bogosian	Capt. Danny Ross

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Martha Plimpton	Jo Gage	Guest Star
Carlos Leon	Enrique	Guest Star
Carson Elrod	Steve	Guest Star
Leslie Hendrix	Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers	Recurring Role
Hudson Cooper	Det. Jefferies	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- Goof: The medical examiner's report Goren reads contains some errors in character names. Jenna Shea, the second murder victim, is listed as "Rebecca Shea." M.E. Rodgers' name is misspelled as "Rogers" in the declaration sentence, although it is correctly spelled when listed at the technician's heading.
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- Eames is the senior partner and lives at 27 Beach Crest, Rockaway.
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QUOTES (8)
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- Jo Gage: Dinners were still. He'd sit at the table and read coroner reports. We finally started to play games where he'd give me a mutilation technique, and I'd guess the serial killer.
  Robert Goren: And when you brought boys home?
  Jo Gage: I'd play them his tapes. Of women being tortured. If they didn't run, we'd make out in his office.
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- Alex Eames: A copycat?
  Robert Goren: Or the original, picking up where he left off. Either way, it's not his last.
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- Danny Ross: I appreciate your loyalty, but your partner has a rep for overthinking.
  Alex Eames: Does he?
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- Robert Goren: Where were you last night?
  Danny Ross: (watching from outside the room) Let me guess, home alone.
  Enrique: I was home alone.
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- Alex Eames: (reviewing surveillance tapes) Ugh! Video store, late at night, every guy in there looks like a serial killer.
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- Steve: Look, I know cops aren't big on psychology.
  Robert Goren: Yeah well as a rule, we like to talk about guns.
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- Alex Eames: I'm supposed to keep an eye on you.
  Robert Goren: Oh, well, let me know if I can help you.
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- Alex Eames: He blindfolded me. And kept me blindfolded, but he took my gag off. He wanted me to scream, so I didn't.
  Robert Goren: That's what kept you alive.
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NOTES (3)
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- This is the first episode to air in the show's new time slot, Tuesdays at 9:00 pm (8 pm Central), pairing it with sister show Law & Order: SVU, which aired the following hour.
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- A number of key crew received promotions with season six, Charlie Rubin moved from executive story editor to co-producer, Diana Son from producer to supervising producer, Stephanie Sengupta from supervising producer to co-executive producer. Michael Smith and Tim Deluca remained co-producers, but moved to opening credits from end credits.
  
  Warren Leight moved from co-executive producer to executive producer/showrunner, while René Balcer's position changed from executive producer/showrunner to consulting producer.
  
  Additionally, Norberto Barba joined the crew as a co-executive producer, and Julie Martin as a consulting producer.
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- Special billing was given to John Glover (and) in this episode.
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Jo Gage: Speak of the Devil.
  
  Uttered when Declan shows up at the squad room window, this is likely a tongue-in-cheek reference to the short-lived TV show Brimstone, in which John Glover (Declan Gage) played the Devil.
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- Danny Ross: He knows squat about this case, and already he pins it on Sebastian his white whale.
  
  In Herman Melville's novel Moby Dick, Captain Ahab is determined to find the white whale that bit off his leg a long time ago. This reference is often used to describe someone who is obsessed with an elusive search object.
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