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« Law & Order: Criminal Intent
April 3, 2007: Silencer
After last week’s lackluster episode, this one totally pulled me back into Criminal Intent. While the previews made it look like we were in for a killer-stalking-deaf-women thriller, what we actually got was no gimmick of the week, but rather a poignant and fairly in-depth (at least from a hearing person’s perspective) look at the deaf community.
Back when cochlear implants first became available, I heard a bit about the debate over whether deafness was something to be “fixed,” but didn’t truly understand why it was such a big issue. From my limited understanding, if you were deaf, you'd want to gain/regain hearing if it was medically possible.
However, this episode brought the conflict to life in the way only a good drama can and — in typical Law & Order fashion — gave both sides nearly equal time, and provided some food for thought. Though, in the end, it did make the “pro-deafness” advocates seem just a little loony (what with the hand-shooting and the larynx-crushing).
There were solid performances throughout this episode, but the two standouts for me were the police interpreter (whose name escapes me) and the deaf actress (Alexandria Wailes), both of whom conveyed the distress that comes from being caught between two worlds and trying to function in both.
This season has been hit-and-miss, but the writers really nailed it this time: They completely sidestepped any of the gimmick traps and produced one of the most thoughtful — and educational — CI’s to date.
I do have one lingering question, though: Was Goren holding out on how much sign language he knew? The way he suddenly let out a flurry of signals — and seemed to be reading the killer’s — in the final interrogation scene indicated he knew a whole lot more sign language than he previously let on. Kind of weird — which is kind of typical for Det. Goren.
Next Week: Two new episodes — only one for each pair of detectives — and then it’s already time for a return to Repeatsville. And this trip, “Country Crossover,” wasn’t really one worth taking in the first place. Unless you’re badly in need of a Noth fix, this rerun is must-skip TV.
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Apr 3, 2007 10:42 PM
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Thanks for the review, can't wait to watch. I taped tonight's episode because of Dancing With the Stars results show--a total waste of time except for the last five minutes. But I knew I wanted to pay attention to CI show, so taped. Anyway, Goren is my favorite character on television today. Keep up the good work!
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Apr 3, 2007 11:53 PM
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Who did it? I fell asleep.
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Apr 4, 2007 1:30 AM
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I would rate this episode as fairly good. Wasn't as good as lasts week's CI but still solid. I guess my main problem was the ending. The way the last three suspect's (Tommy, Larry and Malia) alibi stories kept changing got a little confusing. How many versions did each of them tell? I felt like I needed a score card to keep all the different time-lines straight.
Still, it was interesting to learn about the differnt sides to the cochlear implant controversy. I can understand why Malia wanted to get the implant but I can also understand her boyfriend's fear about her leaving him if she did. (Certainly don't agree with how he dealt with it of course.)
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Apr 4, 2007 2:34 AM
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I forgot to ask. Did they ever explain why Tommy also shot the Dean? Was he trying to frame Larry? As far as I remember Tommy had no real reason to want to kill the Dean. He never actually wanted to kill the doctor - just maim him so he couldn't operate on Malia. So his shooting the Dean doesn't make sense. Tommy had no grudge against her. (Not enough to shoot her anyway.) I guess that is another reason why I wasn't overly impressed with this episode. They never connected the reasoning behind the Dean's shooting to the doctor's death.
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Apr 4, 2007 2:54 AM
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I was also very impressed by the actor who played the part of the police interpreter. I thought I remembered him from his role as the ASL interpreter for Joey Lucas, Marlee Matlin's character on The West Wing. Wanting to be sure, I spent over an hour researching him online.
There are no photos—or at least no close-ups—to be found of him as an actor, but I did manage to unearth a couple in which he is identified as the Managing Director for Deaf West Theater. Turns out he left that position last fall, after being appointed by the National Endowment for the Arts as their new Director of Theater and Musical Theater. The man apparently has an abundance of talent: actor, singer, musician, producer... you name the discipline, he seems to excel at it.
As Kenny Thurman, Joey's interpreter on The West Wing, he always had such a magnetic presence, even though the lines he uttered were really all Joey's. In last night's instalment of L&O:CI, we finally got to hear him speak his character's own words. And he did it brilliantly! He was compassionate, conflicted, and thoroughly authentic.
Oh, and who is he, you ask? Bill O'Brien, that's who.
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Apr 4, 2007 12:54 PM
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the killer was melia's boyfriend, so the doctor wouldnt operate on melia cuz he thought then she wouldnt leave him.
they vaguely talked about how the dean was in a "mixed" marriage since her husband was not hearing impared. and also she used electronic equipment to communicate and that was a big no-no too. i think they spent too much time on melia and larry, so we never really got the impression that boyfriend was so hard-core into the cause.
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Apr 4, 2007 1:35 PM
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Did they ever explain why Tommy also shot the Dean? Was he trying to frame Larry? As far as I remember Tommy had no real reason to want to kill the Dean.
I had the same questions. They just left that hanging. It also seemed like they focused on the photo of Tommy and his sister like it was important, like she was someone that we were supposed to recognize. I started wondering if the Dean wasn't his sister but I thought the Dean was hearing impaired and his sister was hearing.
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Apr 4, 2007 1:39 PM
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I always enjoy the episodes with Bobby and Alex, are more thought provoking as this recent one shows. I remember when Dr Peter Benson on ER was considering the ear implants for his baby and decided to not get them. He wanted his son to be "normal" and wanted an instant fix, but realized, as a doctor, that the implants were not always safe. As a parent he realized that his son could still lead a full, normal life. Was nice to be revisted to this issue in the adult world on this episode of CI.
The Dean's wife was killed to make it look like the playwrite killed her, since her office was right across from his building etc.
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Apr 4, 2007 3:09 PM
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I thought it was an interesting show and not because I am deaf myself. I liked how the interpreter had to grapple with the ethics of "eavesdropping" on the deaf couple while they were skating. After all, they are entitled to their privacy and its not like they could whisper or talk to each other. The same thing happened in the interrogation room. I really liked how the interpreter flat out refused to sign what was being signed in the room while goren and the others were in the other room.
For me, this episode did a good job at touching on some of the ethical dilemmas when interpreting for the deaf.
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Apr 4, 2007 4:24 PM
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Question 1: What kind of idiot is Tommy? Was the doc he killed the only one in the world who could perform the implant surgery? If she wants the implant she'll pick another doc at a future date.
Question 2: Why did Bobby start signing near the end? Why did he hide the fact he knew sign?
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Apr 4, 2007 5:15 PM
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Question 3: The fiancee of the dead doc works the DA. She wanted the interpreter to look in the room and tell her what the suspect and attorney were saying.
Given that there are microphones and the speaker box is where they watch the interrogation how likely is it for the DA to turn on the speaker when the suspect and attorney are engaged in a private conservation in real life?
How tempted are cops and DA in real life to violate attorney/client privilege?
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Apr 4, 2007 5:31 PM
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I learned Sign Language in the 70's, and I understand Bobby's ability to sign, but not be able to read the language. After years of not using it, I can't read signs quickly, but I can still sign.
This was an excellent episode--amazing what Rene Balcer does to a story. Glad he is back.
Unfortunately, D'Onofrio can't deal with the pace of doing a weekly show--remember when he passed out a few years back--bringing Noth into the picture?
I have embraced the differences in these character's way of handling their cases. It is nice to see that they were able to keep D'Onofrio and not just cancel the show.
Hopefully, the show will be renewed for another season.
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Apr 5, 2007 9:59 AM
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thedew: I thought of Tommy's girlfriend just finding another doctor during the show too, but forgot to mention it in my commentary. Either he's really stupid, just plain crazy (both of which might better explain why he tried to kill the dean), or the writers just dropped the ball in that respect. Finding out the killer's motives are just as important as the final confession in CI, so realizing that Tommy's were muddled at best takes this episode down a notch in my book.
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Apr 6, 2007 11:23 AM
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