History Series / LawAndOrderCriminalIntent

* GoldDigger: "Phantom" and "Wrongful Life" had two women who ended up being this. The former was a traditional social-climber who got mixed up with a man who, unbeknownst to her, was leading a double life, and [[spoiler:shot her and left her for dead when it seemed his secret would come out]]. The latter was more of the scheming variety; she became pregnant by a wealthy man, and after one obstetrician suggested there might be a defect (ultimately turned out to be spina bifda), she went out of her way to find a doctor who wouldn't advise her to abort because she wanted the father to marry her. Though the father truly loved that child (as well as the son that they had later), the mother saw them only as a means to an end, and after the father died, she refused to take care of her physically disabled daughter.

** One episode had a brief cameo by the lead character from ''Series/InPlainSight''. Strangely enough, Captain Ross later sarcastically says that a suspect's actions was a product of having watched too much ''CSI''. Such confessions are more or less ''Criminal Intent'''s trademark.

** One episode had a brief cameo by the lead character from ''Series/InPlainSight''. Strangely enough, a criminal later taunts that said character's expectation that he'll break down and confess was a product of her having watched too much ''CSI''. Such confessions are more or less ''Criminal Intent'''s trademark.

* HollywoodBlanks: The culprit Josh Snow in "All In" was using these with his manually-loaded revolver to intimidate people for collections when he was down on his luck in his gambling. Then a shot kills the victim of the episode, and Josh claims it had to be a live round or muzzleloader situation to frame him up by the guy he's in debt to, Lou. Lou himself realistically assumes Josh fired too closely, which can still kill a person. [[spoiler:In reality, Josh himself pulled off the muzzleloader trick to cause a kill and cover up the incident as an accident so ''he'' could get Lou arrested for {{Revenge}}, manipulating both his love interest and the audience into thinking it was Lou with the trope's usual expectations.]]

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Goren was initially seen as a brilliant detective with the ability to read people, comprehend situations better than most, solve the case and maintain his high clearance rate and [[{{Omniglot}} spoke several languages.]] After the first season, however, in order to curb down his [[MartyStu apparent invincibility,]] he was given a troubled past including a schizophrenic mother and declining social skills. He still had his former characteristics, but the latter ones [[{{Flanderization}} overtook his persona.]]

* ArmorPiercingSlap: The main suspect in "Sound Bodies" did not appreciate being confronted by Goren with his criminal acts or his MissingMom, who ran out on him when he was a child.

The second SpinOff from the popular ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' series, ''Criminal Intent'' shows the viewer what is happening from the criminal's perspective as well as the ongoing police investigation. Basically, what happens when ''Series/{{Columbo}}'' is brought into the ''Franchise/LawAndOrder'' universe, complete with a quirky genius detective - Robert Goren (Creator/VincentDOnofrio), a twitchy, anti-social detective in the NYPD Major Case Squad who has a very sharp mind for piecing together details and lateral thinking. Together with dryly sardonic partner Alex Eames (Creator/KathrynErbe), they investigate the most serious crimes that occur in New York (most of which seem to be murders or end up in murders), whilst the show also gives us the perspective of the people responsible for it (or at least people who are connected to the people responsible for it). They first serve under Captain James Deakins (Creator/JameySheridan) and then Danny Ross (Eric Bogosian).

In 2005, Mike Logan (Creator/ChrisNoth) - formerly of the [[Series/LawAndOrder original series]] - joined the cast when D'Onofrio began to suffer from exhaustion. The episodes alternated between Goren and Eames one week, and Logan and his partner the other from that point. Logan was first partnered with Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra) and then Megan Wheeler (Julianne Nicholson), with Nola Falacci (Creator/AliciaWitt) filling in for Wheeler while Nicholson was on maternity leave. In 2009, Logan was replaced by Zach Nichols (Creator/JeffGoldblum), though Wheeler stayed. In 2010, Goren and Eames left the show at the conclusion of the second half of season 9's two-part premiere, along with Ross and Wheeler. The remainder of the season focused on Nichols and his new partner Serena Stevens (Saffron Burrows), with the Major Case Squad being led by Zoe Callas (Creator/MaryElizabethMastrantonio).

** [[spoiler: Nicole Wallace, though what is believed to be her heart is found. Interesting case, as Goren refuses to believe that she's dead despite proof.]]

* PlayingGertrude: Creator/TonyGoldwyn played Vincent D'Onofrio's older brother. Goldwyn is a year younger than D'Onofrio.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Goren is all sorts of crazy, with multiple quirks and ticks, but avoids any specific disorder or symptom set.

* {{Flanderization}}: Both Goren and Logan went through this is different ways. Whereas the former was initially seen as an intelligent and quirky detective who could read people who devolved into someone with an AmbiguousDisorder with inconsistent social skills the latter, who was seen as CowboyCop who lost his cool from time to time in the [[Series/LawAndOrder first series]], denigrated years and a division change later into a regular hothead and troublemaker.

* TheyFightCrime: He's a quirky detective with an uncanny ability to read human behavior. She's a normal, well-adjusted human being. They fight crime.

** In "Faith," Goren is already suspicious of the stories of Erica, a sick girl whose blog and best-selling book have made her a star and numerous donations to her family...despite there being no photos of the girl. On the phone with Christine, Goren asks questions on her condition such as how the ALS has affected her menstrual cycle. Her mother cuts in on how this is an "attack" and hangs up. Rather than be upset, Eames and Deakins are able to tell with Goren that "Erica" should have answered such questions on her health with ease and that she couldn't means she doesn't even exist.

** In "Faith," Goren is already suspicious of the stories of Christine, a sick girl whose blog and best-selling book have made her a star and numerous donations to her family...despite there being no photos of the girl. On the phone with Christine, Goren asks questions on her condition such as how the ALS has affected her menstrual cycle. Her mother cuts in on how this is an "attack" and hangs up. Rather than be upset, Eames and Deakins are able to tell with Goren that "Christine" should have answered such questions on her health with ease and that she couldn't means she doesn't even exist.

* ParentalSavingsSplurge: One episode involves a man who uses his forging skills to destroy the reputation of a church's patron saint, because his mentally ill mother basically gave away his possessions and their savings to them without his consent. [[spoiler: In a twist, he doesn't blame his mother for this, and relents when Goren makes it clear how devastated she'd be if the forged documents were accurate.]]

** Technically "Ten Count" qualifies: the people responsible for Peter's death are discovered, but ''none'' of them are arrested by episode's end. The jealous, abusive boyfriend at the bar and the guy that actually killed him are ultimately given up, but the audience never gets their names, the abused girlfriend who lured him to his death dies of an overdose prior to being located by detectives and his [[spoiler: abusive trainer, who set up the murder due to him being gay and hired the thugs, was accidentally killed by the brother via InterrogationByTorture.]]

* CourtroomAntics: Strongly averted, as the series rarely focused on this aspect and Carver himself was more so into seeking confessions and plea bargains versus taking defendants to trial.

* ShutUpHannibal: Logan gets a great one in after the suspect in "The Healer", an alleged Voodoo priestess who is nothing more than a master manipulator and a poisoner who even poisoned him and [[WhatAnIdiot continued to make thinly-veiled threats against him upon being arrested]]:

* BasedOnAGreatBigLie: What allowed Jojo Rios, the main suspect in "Legion", to manipulate his young followers into doing his bidding: he told them that he was the lone survivor of a group of people sailing for America on a tiny, ramshackle boat from Cuba. In reality, he came to the country [[spoiler:with his criminal father, and had been placed in foster care while his father was sent to prison.]] When the kids learn the truth, their loyalty to him is instantly broken.

* ManipulativeBitch: The therapist from "Scared Crazy". She methodically drove a patient of hers crazy by forcing him to stay up all night in the dark while listening to techno music as a part of her medical studies, which led him to kill someone. After tricking her into thinking they were torturing him the same way she did interrogation, the detectives got her to confess and then arrested her for obstruction and accessory after the fact.

* MedicationTampering: In "In Treatment", a psychiatrist gives one of his patients an antidepressant that he knows is contraindicated with the antidepressant he is currently taken. The combination causes a variety of side-effects, including delirium, which causes the patient to commit suicide.

* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: Nicole Wallace, though what is believed to be her heart is found. Interesting case, as Goren refuses to believe that she's dead despite proof.]]

* ThePatientHasLeftTheBuilding: After the fight with the [=FDNY=] in "Maltese Cross" that left him with several facial cuts and a possibly broken or at the very least bruised rib, Logan decides to leave triage (and [[PullTheIV rip out the IV in the crook of his elbow]]) just as Wheeler informs him that he's about to be admitted to a room.

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:In "Loyalty," Ross's killer walks despite concrete proof against him, as the U.S. government needs him in order to catch a bunch of international {{Greater Scope Villain}}s. However, he now has to live in paranoid fear of himself being betrayed and murdered in the same fashion as his victims.]]

* KillEmAll: "Jones" had a married suspect who was having ''multiple'' affairs with women from all walks of life (including an emergency room doctor and an exotic dancer) kill almost all of his girlfriends to keep his secrets from his wife. The only reason anyone survived was because the detectives managed to warn one of them in time.

The show was renewed for a tenth season that brought back D'Onofrio and Erbe for eight final episodes. This time they were joined by Creator/JayOSanders as Lt. Joseph Hannah and Creator/JuliaOrmond as Goren's therapist Paula Gyson. ''Criminal Intent'' aired its finale on June 26, 2011, ending its run after ten years and 195 episodes.

[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Criminal_Intent_7388.jpg]]

!!Additional Pages:
* [[Recap/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent Episode Guide]]

* TeamDad: Captain Deakins.
* TeensAreMonsters: "Sound Bodies" and "Legacy".