Criminal Intent - Verbrechen im Visier One (2001–2011) Online

Professional thieves, all fairly young and a bit arrogant, cleverly get fake IDs, building plans, etc., drill a hole in the right place, go in and rob a jewelry store of about $300 million in gems. One of the crooks, the high-tech expert in the group, is shot in the head four times by one of his partners. Then, two other young people in the wrong place at the wrong time, are executed as the thieves make their escape out of the vault and adjacent building.

This was an excellent episode, a great debut for what has turned out to be an outstanding program, at least for the three years I've seen it. After watching the first three seasons on DVD and then going back to this one for IMDb reviews, I noticed Kathryn Erbe's hair was longer (and it helped make her look prettier) this first season. Vincent D'Onofrio, as Det. Robert Goren, looked a bit younger, too. This show must have slightly aged him, but I have read that beginning with season four he was slowly being phased out. What a loss for the program. He has been fascinating ever since this first episode.

This is a good opening to a very good series. Detectives Goren and Eames are a great team who nicely complement one another - he the brilliant and quirky intuitive detective and she the steadfast, bright and more grounded detective. Vance as ADA Carver is outstanding. This episode is about a psychopathic leader of a robbery team who heist 300 million dollars worth of diamonds from a jewelry store. In the saddest scene, the leader coldly kills a young man and woman who were in the wrong place at the wrong time; he also kills one of the robbery team members. While the capture of the criminals involves some good detective work, it is Goren's psychological manipulation of the evil leader's girlfriend that leads to the main culprit's downfall. Goren isn't a particularly likable or warm character but he is a fascinating one. And it's the main reason I'll keep re-watching this series.

LAW AND ORDER CRIMINAL INTENT opened its first official season with detectives Eames and Goren(Kathryn Erbe and Vincent D'Onofrio) of the Major Case Squad trying to find the mastermind of an elaborate diamonds heist, which ended in the murder of an innocent couple whose home gave access to the robbed safe(wrong place, wrong time scenario where they stumble upon the criminals as they are leaving the scene of the robbery, the couple considered collateral damage). Early Jake Weber role as the shooter and brilliant narcissistic leader of the group who heisted the safe of diamonds, actually killing one of his crew, leaving him behind at the crime scene..a corpse which will inevitably link back to him. Goren sees a way to possibly get to Weber through his loyal, long-suffering girlfriend, Gia(Michele Hicks). Jamey Sheridan is Captain James Deakins, the one Eames and Goren answer to and keep informed. Courtney B Vance is Assistant District Attorney Ron Carver, the Order in the Law and Order of the show, the attorney Major Case often keep in contact with. Lenny Venito is the forger who helps Weber set up phony licenses and passports, his lamenting machine left in an apartment damning him ultimately.

Criminal Intent's debut episode showed the reason why there is a Major Case squad in the first place. You want specialists like Robert Goren on cases like this. Something like this that is heinous the public will demand justice.

A middle aged married couple is gotten out of town on the pretext of winning some kind of contest and get a weekend in Atlantic City. Those aren't cheap so you know the haul has to be worth it. The apartment was wanted so that the crooks could tunnel into a jewelry store next door and clean it out. But unexpectedly the daughter of the couple in Atlantic City comes home with her boyfriend and they are executed. So is one of the gang.

The murderer is one coldblooded piece of work. But it occurred to me that if he had not executed the other member of the gang for whatever reasons and they involve the perpetrator's own mindset right at the scene, but had saved that until they were well clear of the robbery, Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe might not have solved it. You understand from the criminal's mind the need to silence witnesses, unexpected ones at that. But the other killing was a most personal matter.

The other thing that occurred to me was that the detectives in the mythical 15th precinct in Law And Order prime have handled some pretty high profile items at that. Makes you question the need for a special unit and what's the criteria to make a crime a Major Case. That issue was forever being explored on The Closer and its successor show Major Crimes.

The perpetrator who did the deeds is a vicious piece of work, that's what saves this episode. It's a good, but not great debut. But better episodes were to come.