Criminal Intent Season Premiere Workrate Report

WHAT WORKED

--The overall story. Very intense and different from your standard CI story, but still ultimately still a CI story.

--Eames’ escape. It was nice to see her not just play “damsel in distress,” which would go against her character. Plus she got all MacGuyver in untying herself, shorting out the lock, and scaling a wall while wearing heels.

--Eric Bogosian. The new captain looks like he’ll be fun, as he won’t defer to Goren as much as Captain Deakins did. But they do have to tread lightly, less he turn into the stereotypical “grumpy boss.” Plus why would he have a problem with Goren’s methods, when he’s solved something like 100 cases in a row?

--The acting. Very nice job from the cast, plus guest stars John Glover and Martha Plimpton. D’Onofrio (who usually chews the scenery so much he should wear a bib) was excellent, especially in the scene with Jo’s confession.

--The final scene with Goren and Eames. Awwwww…

--Logan saying “I’ve never had a partner with freckles before” in next week’s preview. That killed me.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK

--No ADA. Didn’t appear in the show, or even the opening credits. I miss Ron Carver saying “We don’t have enough evidence to prosecute.”

--The mystery. I figured out Jo was the killer pretty early on. I know CI isn’t about the “whodunit” as much as the “whydunit,” but Jo’s motivations were pretty clear from the start.

--The cheesy “stalker-cam” in the opening. Dumb and it had no place in CI.

--The opening credits change. Usually the last image is you see before the logo and the cast power walking is Goren and Eames standing in front of an older woman and two police officers, with Goren holding a pair of handcuffs (from the season 1 episode “Smothered”). Then it goes “negative” and we see the logo. It’s a great image. Now we just have Goren and Eames standing in a field or something. Lame.