Blind Spot

This episode of Criminal Intent was the first that introduced Eric Bogosian as the new captain replacing Jamey Sheridan. It is certainly one of the wilder and woolier episodes ever done on the series.

A couple of murders and the kidnapping of Kathryn Erbe have Vincent D'Onofrio becoming quite unhinged. He's thinking that a noted serial killer has returned. Someone else also has returned. John Glover as a noted criminologist who counted the failure to apprehend the serial killer known as 'Sebastian' as the great failure of his career. Also returning is Glover's daughter Martha Plimpton.

If you want to know where Detective Robert Goren gets that quirky and eclectic style of his than the appearance of John Glover will provide the answers. Glover is as unforgettable here as he is as Lionel Luthor in Smallville.

Erbe herself through her own resourcefulness escapes and provides the means of identifying the perpetrator.

The episode is one of the best of the CI series. Poor Bogosian though almost gets lost in the show that D'Onofrio and Glover provide.

A young uptown girl is found murdered in her loft and the first suspect is her fiancée, an inner boy named Enrique, who works as an underwear model; but he's got a strong alibi and police soon cut him loose. Another girl is killed right after and she had a connection with Goren former senior partner and mentor Declan Gage; he was a good detective before breaking down mostly due to his wife suicide. Things went for the worst when Eames was kidnapped; luckily she managed to escape from the filthy basement not until witnessing another woman being tortured and killed. Gage insisted these homicides had to do with a fugitive named Sebastian he was unable to catch years before, but the perpetrator it's not him.

The new chief who takes the place of Sheridan is Eric Bogosian, who seems a tough guy who wants to have everything under control.

Like Season 5 of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' with "Head", Season 5 of 'Criminal Intent' ended disappointingly with "The Good" (the original's Season 5 ended very well with "Pride"). So of course, being someone who likes 'Criminal Intent' but was somewhat mixed actually on Season 5, there was the hope of Season 6 starting off on the right foot and seeing the show back on track. Even with having the big change of Deakins being gone.

"Blind Spot" was a mostly very well done start to Season 6. It is not the season at its best and it is not the show at its best either, the best of Seasons 1-4 are a lot better, and is not quite enough of the big return to form as wanted. It does see 'Criminal Intent' back on the right track, a vast improvement over the Season 5 finale and actually for quite a lot of that season, and has a lot of great things that outweigh the gripes and that there was a feeling of things not being completely settled.

Am going to start off summing up the gripes. Did not in this episode care for the new captain Danny Ross. His aggressive one dimensional demeanour is overplayed and there is very little to his role and presence here other than the source of unsubtle conflict for Goren, the writers making no attempt in showing (or more like hammering home) his unhidden thoughts on Goren in a subtle way and it unbalances "Blind Spot" a bit.

While the perpetrator was a surprise, after one for a while thinks it is somebody else quite believably, their motivations for my tastes felt far fetched, confused and inconsistent, like they had not completely followed things through and not as calculated as one thinks to begin with. Would have liked to have seen more of Goren's perceptions and how his mind works, which plays a large part in 'Criminal Intent's' charm, too much random conclusion jumping and figuring things out just like that well before the viewer does.

The production values however are slick and professional, never cheap or gimmicky. The music is haunting without being overbearing or melodramatic, not being too constant or too loud. Enough of the script is intelligent and tight, that shines with Gage and how the mentor relationship is explored (though there could have been more of that aspect. Eames' predicament is very suspenseful and there are some nice twists and turns.

Eames is very resourceful and brave here and her safety and situation are so rootable and scary. It was very interesting and touching to see a different side to Goren (always do like when he shows his softer side), where it is obvious how much he cares for Eames and how much she means to him. Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe are both excellent, especially Erbe. John Glover has sinister gleeful fun as Gage and Martha Plimpton does absolute complex wonders with her too short screen time. Only Eric Bogosian disappoints and Ross' character writing is what undoes any efforts.

Altogether, good but not great start to Season 6. 7/10

Almost 18 years later now, watching this for the third time, it all makes sense. I often complain if movies or programs are too obvious and reveal too much. But I also complain if they are ambiguous or complicated.

Criminal Intent's complex mysteries require a second viewing, when all of the details come together and then it is rewarding. The plot is always right there in the middle of all the entangled dialogue.

When I first saw this in 2006 I did not understand Goren's final conversation with Martha Plimpton, then the show ends. I probably have short attention-span. Watching it again, listening to every word they say, how it starts friendly but turns inquisitive and then into a subtle admission is brilliant writing and acting.