The synopsis for "Beast" struck me as very interesting. Am someone who likes 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' very much and thought Season 4 solid but inconsistent (some brilliant episodes and a few disappointments) and like all the show's episodes recently there was the decision made to re-watch them. "Beast" was one of the more highly anticipated re-watches, to see whether my very positive opinion on it had held up and because of respected commentators here and elsewhere saying such great things about it.
Luckily, "Beast" was every bit as great as remembered. What struck me as particularly great is still great now, also appreciate them more. It is not one of my very favourite episodes of Season 4 though actually there is nothing inherently wrong with it, and mostly it's still in the better half when ranking the season. Just that other episodes of the season had things that made them special that "Beast" didn't quite have quite as much of. With it not having as much of the nail biting tension of "Stress Position" and "Shibboleth" or the heart-breaking emotion of "Magnificat" and other episodes have even more interesting perpetrators than here.
Not saying that that is a bad thing, as the responsible still has a lot to them to make one hate them and what they have done such as the motive and the brutal (another unique one for the show) killing method. Others are just more sinister ("Shibboleth"), characters that actually aren't the one one hates the most in the episode ("Magnificat") and more complex ("Semi-Detached" and "Want"), in comparison.
All that aside, pretty much everything in "Beast" works. It is well made as usual with slick and never too busy or static photography and the editing has come on a good deal overtime. The music, complete with the ever memorable theme tune (not one of my favourite 'Law and Order' themes though), is haunting enough without being overbearing. The direction is deliberate without being overly so.
Writing is equally strong, there is lots of intrigue in the crime solving without being too complex, Goren's perceptions still entertains as do Eames' sassy wisecracks. Goren and Eames have such great chemistry together, despite being very different they gel so well together and the difference between them is beautifully contrasted and doesn't make them too much of an odd couple. The story is not too easy to figure out too early while not trying to do too much that it becomes over-complicated, the big twist is clever and the killing method is both brutal and unlike anything seen before or since on 'Criminal Intent'. It had me intrigued from the start and didn't confuse me.
Goren and Eames as ever are great characters, Eames is amusing and it's always great when Goren shows his sympathetic side. Just as much as when we see his comic timing, toughness and also in some Season 4 episodes some surprising sophistication (he looks great in the suit he wears here). The supporting characters are all interesting and the episode's look at obsessive behaviour and wrong values both illuminates and fascinates, without getting too heavy. The acting is excellent from Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe and also from at the time against type Bronson Pinchot in his first of two appearances in the 'Law and Order' franchise (the other being in the 'Special Victims Unit' episode "Alternate").
On the whole, great. 9/10
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