End of the Road

I wonder if there's any point in commenting on the second half of Tuesday night's Criminal Intent episode. I missed last week's (though not for a lack of trying), and only caught a snippet of the captain being shot, so parts of this episode were confusing.

This was the end of the road for both Goren and Eames, the latter of whom declined the promotion to Captain and quit after having to fire her former partner. It's kind of a relief to see D'Onofrio's Goren leave after so many seasons of seeing his character get strung out repeatedly. It's not that I don't like Goren, I did, once, before he became entrenched in several breakdowns. I missed the dialogue between him and Eames, the partnership in struggling to solve a case. He's always had a Holmes-like quality in being able to perceive details, but it started to get to the point where everything became personal, and still, his judgment infallible. The things I like about the original L&O and SVU are that both shows aren't afraid to have their detectives make mistakes in collaring suspects, sometimes the ramifications are great and tragic. Anyway, long story short, I got tired of the entire show revolving around Goren's becoming a pariah. I gave up watching the G&E episodes and stuck with the Logan then Nichols ones. Hopefully the writers won't do the same thing to Nichols, I adore Goldblum's thoughtful, analytical detective. He seems to get along fairly well with his new partner. We'll see how things go next week, when the MCS gets a new captain.

The second season of Southland is over, already! I really hope TNT does the smart thing and brings it back, because I don't know what I'll do without this show. This week Lydia got Russ back as her partner, shizz hit the fan regarding Salinger's affair, his idiot daughter Kimmie, and his poor wife, and the rest of the squad were put on maximum deployment (to Cooper's distress) in order to catch a serial rapist masquerading as a patrol cop.

I'm going to have to go back and watch this episode again, because I was so blindsided with joy over the fact that Lydia and Russ were reunited, that I missed details in their case. Russ is still coping with the aftereffects of being shot, and it's taken a toll on his ability to perform in the field. The dynamic between him and Lydia makes me wish the writers would have them pair up as a couple outside of work (and I'm not just saying this because I want his character to stay). Hopefully, Russ will still make an appearance every now and again, even if he isn't a mainstay in the show anymore.

A buddy of mine refers to Salinger as "The Fossil," a description I like to think is apt. I can think of ruder terms... This week, Salinger's idiot daughter Kimmie got herself into yet another bad situation and, once again exercised poor judgment. No joke, when she started freaking out to him on the phone, and subsequently maced the poor good Samaritan who stopped to ask if she needed help, I face-palmed and yelled 'WTF' at the TV. The icing on the cake included Kimmie blackmailing her father into letting her go out under threat of exposing his affair to her mother, which eventually happened in the end. Salinger's wife thinks he is resentful of her higher status in their shared work environment and her return to the work force. He denied it, but if it's true, holy hell, that in addition to his adultery is more than enough fuel for her to dump him. She should take off and leave their moronic spawn with him.

John threw his back out, requested and got more drugs from his ex and other illicit means, pushed everyone away in denial of his addiction, and turned down his ex wife in her offer to help her become pregnant. Ben found the baby of the first rape victim, called his stubborn sister to warn her about being cautious, and was confronted by Chickie over John's addiction and turning a blind eye to it. She bluntly told him that whether or not he actively ignores John's personal problems, once they come to light, he'll be dragged down too. She should know, no one wanted to work with her after Dewey got thrown back into rehab.

Speaking of Chickie, girl finally got her moment in this episode, and what a means for redemption! I thought this storyline was going to carry over, and/or leave us with a cliffhanger, which would be terrible. But no! In the last five nail-GNAWING minutes of the show, Chickie spots an unmarked car resembling a squad unit on her way home. She immediately switches into cop mode and goes off road, stumbling upon the attacker and his latest victim. While apprehending him, and ignoring his assertions of working for the force, he kicks her and takes off. I had my doubts that she would catch him, but she did, and boooooy was it cathartic to see her kick the crap out of him and angrily inform him that he is NOT a cop, and furthermore, an insult to officers everywhere in his charade. I would say it's the best moment of the season, but there have been a few of those. So instead, it's one of the best moments I've seen on a police drama ever. And that's no understatement.

Next week I'll have Glee back, huzzah! Also, I spy with my actor obsessive eye, little Georgiana Darcy as Henry VIII's latest wife on the Tudors. I'd pick that show back up again, but I get bored with all of the yammering.