Nichols is a high-energy, happy version of Goren. Both are clearly geniuses - in contrast to Chris Noth's Mike Logan, just a very smart detective, whom Nichols replaced. But whereas Bobby Goren - brilliantly played by Vincent D'Onofrio - is morose, wounded, almost sadly pathological in his quirky, brilliant insights, Nichols brings a winning smirk and a joie-de-vivre to his work.
Genius, whether dark or light, works best in the Criminal Intent format. Much as I liked Chris Noth's Mike Logan, and enjoyed following him from Lennie Briscoe (also one in a million, Jerry Orbach is irreplaceable) in the original Law and Order old days to Criminal Intent, the shows with Goren were usually more memorable. It takes a slightly cracked out of the stratosphere mind to best catch the criminals on this show.
Nichols' partner Det. Megan Wheeler is not on this level at all. She wasn't with Logan, either, but since he was no genius, and wasn't supposed to be, they worked pretty well together. Whether Wheeler's sidekick character will work with Nichols remains to be seen - but, to make matters even more interesting, actress Julianne Nicholson will be off the show for an episode or two (the character and the actress are pregnant), so Goren's partner Alexandra Eames (played by Kathryn Erbe) will step in as Nichols' partner.
Eames has been a more powerful character than Wheeler - Eames had to be, given that she's partners with Goren - and it will be fun to see how she works with Nichols.
I liked Goldblum best in The Fly, and of course the Jurassic Parks, and I'm thinking Criminal Intent has the potential to make him even better known, in the long run, as Zach Nichols.
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4 comments:
As I'm in the UK, it will be a while before I get to see the Goldblum character, thopugh I must say I have never liked the actor. I am a loyal D'Onofrio fan, however, and can't see anyone surpassing him. I'm glad you, unlike some others who have published their opinions, don't make him sound the lesser of the two.
I think you'll like Goldblum in this part.
As for D'Onofrio, his Goren is one of my all-time favorite police detectives.
My forensic detective Dr. Phil D'Amato, in The Silk Code (1999), etc, has a touch of Goren.
My all-time favorite detective is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. One of the reasons that I like the Holmes stories, is that if the reader pays close enough attention to the details, she might be able to unravel the mystery: at least in part. Even though Holmes is genius, his genius is not completely abstract. One of the problems that I have had with Detective Goren and the Law & Order: Criminal Intent series, is that most of his deductions are not ones that seem grounded in any fathomable trains of thought. (This is not so, however, with the original series or SVU, which are among my favorite shows of all time.) In other words, Goren's genius on CI appears to be genius for genius' sake; rather than logical deductions based on the facts and evidence presented. I guess I am a stickler for the hallmarks (logic and fact) of a time-tested sleuth like Detective Holmes.
The other problem, as is mentioned elsewhere on the posts are the lack of strong, intelligent women detectives to balance all the seeming testosterone-driven genius on the show. The women appear to be mainly uninteresting sidekicks in an otherwise crowded canvas of male dominance. It seems to me that the series has done little towards developing the female characters. As a result, you don't know enough about them to love them, hate them or relate to them. In contrast, I admire and respect the Olivia Benson character on SVU. She and the writers have proven that she could handle any perp as well as any of her male counterparts on the show. (There were also a short list of female ADA's whose intelligence, strength and humanity were what made those shows great.)
But, I digress. The true purpose of this post was to share the sentiments of the other bloggers who enjoyed Jeff Goldblum's portrayal of Detective Nichols. I was excited when I heard he would be joining the show. However, I was concerned that his character would be stifled, stilted, unnatural and unpalatable. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they seemed to allow Jeff Goldblum space and opportunity to create the character, as much as they allowed the writers to do so. I was so impressed that I saved the Tivo-ed episode, and plan to watch it again. Prior to Goldblum joining the show, I never watched this series with any regularity. (I did so mainly to pay homage and respect to the original L&O and SUV. I was also desparately hoping that Goren or Eames would do or say something that would change my opinion of the show.) It will be a new addition to our Tivo Season Pass list. Brilliant!
I see your point about Holmes - but I also like a little sheer intuition, too!
Welcome to Infinite Regress!
And same to Val!
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