I really hate "L&O." But this well-done and fascinatingly detailed series outranks the others in the line by giving us promising stories and delightful performances. The best are given by Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe in the established leads. They are New York City's best crime solvers, and they always get the cases no one else can solve. It works much better than the formulaic work established by its predecessors, and its twists are nowhere near as easy to figure out. This comes pretty close to the outskirts of my "Will Buy on DVD" pantheon, but it's not quite there yet because I've never been big on either procedural shows or mysteries. But when CI comes on, I don't instantly flee, which is more than I can say for the other dramas of its type. This is by far the best of the L&O franchise, and hopefully it continues for a little while longer, at least. And I'm glad its recently been taken out of the hands of the NBC mother network, which has a history of canceling greatness in favor of garbage.
Review of Law & Order: Criminal Intent
