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« Law & Order: Criminal Intent
February 20, 2007: Brother’s Keeper
I was a little worried that Criminal Intent would get too political with this reality-based preacher-murder case, but I should have known better. While some series function as tools designed to shove their creators’ political beliefs down viewers’ throats (a brief kick to Aaron Sorkin while he’s already down), the guys behind the Law & Order family know better than to talk down to the faithful. So while this episode raised complex questions about the adequacy of science, faith, even God, to fix what’s wrong with the world and its inhabitants, it didn’t offer any easy answers.
For those who didn’t make the real-life connection (which was surprisingly not trumpeted in the previews), this episode’s case was based on the recent scandal that tarnished the National Association of Evangelicals when a male prostitute claimed he provided organization president Rev. Ted Haggard with some “booty bumps” of his own. (Side note: If you don’t know what that term means, you’re better off staying in the dark. I know I was.)
The TV twist was the murder of the preacher’s wife, which I didn’t find particularly interesting or well-executed — labyrinthitis apparently does not involve a fear of David Bowie and/or singing, dancing puppets, which would be a lot cooler than a fear of Venice. And, once again, will somebody please stop playing with the slow-motion and motion-blur features on the Criminal Intent cameras? Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
That questionable judgment was actually balanced out by a solid performance from none other than Tom Arnold — yes, I did just praise a Tom Arnold performance outside of True Lies, and I will go clean out my desk immediately — as the aforementioned beefcake-and-crank-loving preacher man. I found him surprisingly believable as pious, self-loathing, tortured — and apparently very allergic to something on the CI set. Was it just me, or did he sound really nasal?
Now, on to more important matters. I loved how much of Goren’s mixed-up family life we got to see tonight. Now we know that both cancer and schizophrenia were correct answers in the “What’s Wrong with Det. Goren’s Mom?” trivia game. It was interesting to see how he brought his police methods into dealing with his mother’s care — researching experimental treatments, calling in favors, bargaining with the doctor — though it was heartbreaking that it doesn’t look like any of it will work in the end.
Even more interesting, though, was Bobby's surprise conversation with his brother outside of the reverend’s church — though he claimed that he’d cleaned himself up, the contrast between the two Goren boys couldn’t be much starker: one a homeless, maybe ex-drug addict (an affecting Tony Goldwyn), the other one of the best detectives in the city. And it was truly touching to see Bobby playing his “brother’s keeper,” giving him money and even the coat off his back. And they really had me at the end there when Goren raced over to the morgue, only to find that it wasn’t his brother laying on the steel table — just his coat, with an anonymous dead guy in it.
Still, these story lines clearly won’t be over till someone — either the mother or the brother, or both — dies. And along the way, we get to know even more about the previously mysterious detective who has become far more painfully human this season.
Next Week: This is another ripped-from-the-headlines case I won’t mind seeing CI take on — partially because all that spies-and-espionage stuff never really gets old. But mostly because of the killer twist: the victim, who has been given slow-acting poison by those ever-wily Russkies, will be working with Logan and Wheeler to solve his own murder. Is it too premature to say “genius”?
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Feb 20, 2007 11:00 PM
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dude, the new use of camera effects reminds me of when my parents gave my sister a Casio keyboard for her 12th birthday. she had to play "Chopsticks" to every possible pre-recorded drumbeat just to see what it would sound like. they all sounded bad. the camera effects- they're all bad. make them stop.
the look on Eames' face when Tony Goldwyn asked "how's mom?" was priceless. I really look forward to seeing more of Goren's story.
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Feb 21, 2007 2:25 AM
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Now this is why I watch L&O. We had it all tonight: lust, greed, pride... I don't think there was one of the seven deadly sins that wasn't hit on in this episode.
Has anyone else noticed that Goren always has a subtle admonishement for Bogosian? Tonight's was "We can all read Captain" when Bogosian was reading from Diego's webpage. I don't think Goren is too fond of his new captain.
I'm not a fan of Tom Arnold's but he really was good as the preacher with the secret lifestyle. (Booty bump?You're right Todd, I probably don't want to know what that is.)
As for Goren's family dynamics, I just wanted to scream at the mother when she was praising her absent son and making excuses for him while not apppreciating the son who has obviously been there for her all along. Glad they didn't kill off the brother yet. I want to see more of his character and what happened to him.
Next week's episode looks good. Beecher from Oz will be on and that alone is enough to get me to watch.
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Feb 21, 2007 2:44 AM
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Did anybody else realize Tom Arnolds last name on CI.It was Riggins,Well i'm pretty sure it was,but anyways I think it's so funny NBC always uses the same names on shows,like on Friends their was Rachel Green and on ER their was Rachel Green.I know stupid, but I had to point it out.
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Feb 21, 2007 7:20 AM
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I didn't care for this episode.
Count me as one who could care less about Goren's family and the related backstory. I am stil having difficulty buying in to Rita Moreno being Goren's mother.
And please, who DIDN'T see the fact that when Goren gave his coat to his brother that it would turn up on a dead person? It's been done before. And who DIDN'T see that his brother wasn'g going to show up? If the show insists on giving us a backstory, then at least they shouldn't be so lazy about writing it.
The case itself was just average. I have never been a fan of Tom Arnold and that in itself detracted from the episode.
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Feb 21, 2007 7:26 AM
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Any Tuesday with Bobby is a good Tuesday for me. I enjoyed this episode, and thought the writers did a nice job weaving in the little personal details of Bobby's life without overtaking the work going on in the case. Tom Arnold usually impresses me when he actually acts, as he did last night. I hope we see more of Tony Goldwyn -- what great casting for Bobby's brother. Solid hour all around.
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Feb 21, 2007 8:05 AM
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Well, NCIS just did the whole "I'm here to report my own murder/poisoned by radiation (Russkies involved)" storyline, so apparently more than NBC's writers like to rip-off the headlines. But I can't wait to see Lee Tergesen guest-starring on CI next week as the victim. And you weren't the only one who found Tom Arnold's speech patterns weirdly off--I was thinking his character was affected by all the drugs he was taking. And I enjoy seeing the personal stuff creep into CI every once in awhile, although Rita Moreno as Goren's mother just keeps striking me as strange.
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Feb 21, 2007 11:30 AM
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Good call on Goren's admonishment of Captain Danny, evilkitty. I actually wrote those lines down because they made me laugh out loud, but there was so much else to talk about in this episode, I didn't end up getting it in the commentary. And now that you mention it, there does seem to be a pattern of tense exchanges between those two – possibly building up to a major confrontation?
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Feb 21, 2007 11:31 AM
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In that first scene of Bobby at his mom's bedside, I figured out where he gets his smarts - his mother. Did anyone notice, when they were watching the news story about Bobby's case, his mom started talking about the preacher & she said something like 'if he's really a true believer, then he should know that his wife dying was God's will. So why's he crying?' That one little question sounded so much like something Goren would say in the course of an investigation. For me, this really showed where his brilliance comes from. Unfortunately, that brilliance is tempered by the mental illness in the family. I thought that scene told so much about Bobby and his personality.
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Feb 21, 2007 1:35 PM
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But mostly because of the killer twist: the victim, who has been given slow-acting poison by those ever-wily Russkies, will be working with Logan and Wheeler to solve his own murder. Is it too premature to say “genius”?
Somebody thought of that 50 years ago.  Check out the movie "D.O.A." with Edmund O'Brien. Or the inferior remake with Dennis Quaid.
It is a very cool idea though. Which is why the aforementioned movie is one of my favorites. 
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Feb 21, 2007 2:11 PM
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As somebody already mentioned, NCIS did the radiation poisoning story last night. One of the NCIS crew is a movie nut and he mentioned the 1959 D.O.A. movie.
I liked last nite. It is always great to see Bobby show emotion. I would like to see more smiles instead of all the downers.
Did anyone else think it was strange that he did not introduce his brother to Eames? Also, that Eames did not say anything to him later about his brother?
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Feb 21, 2007 3:10 PM
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Apparently even the different Law & Orders can't help repeating storylines. The original "Law & Order" also just did an episode about a preacher having sex with a male actor/prostitute. In that one the wife ended up killing the prostitute.
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Feb 21, 2007 11:59 PM
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I just discovered this TV Guide blog about L&O: Criminal Intent. It's really nice to find other people who are as fanatical about the show as I am. It's the only show I can watch over and over again. The acting is wonderful, both cast and guest stars and the writing is consistently good.
I really enjoyed this episode. I was like a junkie getting her Bobby Goren/Vincent D'Onofrio fix. I've watched the show from the beginning and the little glimpses of what makes Bobby tick are always interesting. It was great to see Goren interacting with his mother and his brother. The scene with his brother almost broke my heart although it was funny with the brother's misunderstanding of Eames being Goren's partner.
I just watched the "In the Wee Small Hours" episodes from Season 5. Another great episode that showed us a glimpse of the relationship between Goren and Eames. I though Kathryn Erbe was excellent in the court room scene where she had to admit she asked for another partner when she first worked with Goren. Anyway, is there any chance they will do a story with both sets of detectives this year? I really got a kick out of seeing the whole gang together.
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Feb 22, 2007 9:00 PM
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This episode rocked and I love Goren and Eames! At the end of the episode it broke my heart watching Goren going to the morgue and lifting off the sheet to reveal that it wasn't his brother that had died. Instead his brotherhad (we hope) sold his coat and Goren's mutterings to himself stating I gave him my coat, he must have sold it, thats okay, thats okay I gave it him, everyone needs money, right? made me instantly flash back to his mother. So sad but a great episode.
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Mar 2, 2007 4:04 PM
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