Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series) Monster (2003) User Reviews

Law and monsters

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 22 April 2020]

Am a big fan of detective/mystery shows/dramas and have been for nearly twenty years, thanks to primarily 'Inspector Morse' and Agatha Christie. Really liked to love all of the three best known shows in the 'Law and Order' franchise (the original, 'Criminal Intent' and 'Special Victims Unit') in their primes, in the case of all three shows the early seasons to me are better with 'Special Victims Unit' especially becoming uneven later on.

Combining two cases based upon two real life cases, the fifteenth episode of 'Criminal Intent's' Season 2 "Monster" is great in my view. Not quite one of the best of the season or of the show, with it not quite having the same amount of tension and emotional complexity that high-points such as "Probability" had, but "Monster's" numerous outstanding things make it come extremely close to that level. It has a compelling and intricate case, Goren and Eames on vintage form and two fabulous guest stars. What's there not to love?

On first watch when not as knowledgable in a genre that is one of my personal favourites, it did seem to me that Goren jumped to the conclusion very quickly without reason to or proof. Re-watching "Monster" a few times since proved me completely wrong, he does come to the truth on the quick side definitely but this was a case where physical evidence actually was not needed. It is actually very easy to see how Goren came to the conclusion and what drove him to it, to the extent that one is surprised in retrospect how they could have missed what incriminated the responsible. Especially with it being one of the most familiar final solution plot tropes in murder mystery history ('Murder She Wrote' for example used its at least once in every one of its twelve seasons).

"Monster" has a great story. It doesn't have a dull moment and there are plenty of clever twists and turns to keep one guessing to the knockout ending that showcases what makes Goren so good at his job and his character traits so enjoyabe to watch. It is an intricate case without being over-plotted or confused and hardly anything is obvious too early. Love Goren and Eames together and their chemistry is well balanced without being too much of the Robert Goren show, thanks to some show-stealing wisecracks from Eames that stop the episode from being over-serious. Goren's quirks are a delight, especially his expressions when interviewing.

While Kathryn Erbe and especially Vincent D'Onofrio are typically excellent, D'Onofrio at his best on fire, they are also brilliantly supported by Mike Starr and a reptillian but not too one-dimensional Adam Storke. They are advantaged by a script that is tight, amusing in spots and always intelligent, a lot of talk here as usual for the show and the franchise but not in a way where it feels like there's too much fat or anything. Also the spot on characterisation, especially for Goren and Dietrich. Have no issues with the production values or with the music.

In summation, great episode. 9/10

The Preppie Punk & Policeman

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 25 December 2006]

An arrogant pretty boy, a preppie-type who killed someone years ago, is now out of jail and being the object of attention from attractive sick groupies. He's now staying at his mom's house but his mom discovers how sick her son is and is killed later that night. The preppie looks like the obvious suspect but once Goren interviews him, he knows the guy didn't kill his mother. If not, then who did?

After further investigation and reviewing news articles and tapes of another similar crime, Goren starts becoming suspicious of a cop. Ah, he's where the old L&O Liberal bias comes back to forefront, as it so often does especially in anything related to race.....but it's still another fascinating episode with two separate cases solved in the end.

Mike Starr, a familiar face is movies, gives an outstanding guest performance as "Det. Marston."

Really good episode but the killer was arrested with no proof and unnecessary tactics were used. (spoiler)

[Garellio · 7/10 · 22 September 2008]

At the end of the episode the cop is arrested for seemingly no reason. He helps Goren et al to get the preppy guy to confess to the rape, then suddenly Goren starts accusing him of the murder. No proof is given to back up these accusations yet he is put in handcuffs. Apparently we're supposed to believe the "proof" was the fact that he knew about the covering of the victim's 'modesty'. The problem with that is Goren mentioned it right before turning on the cop. I have gone over it again and again in my head and I still don't understand it.

The other thing is, why did Goren pull up the victim's dress at the beginning of the episode? The impression I got was that it was to trick the preppy guy into giving away the fact that he'd seen the body before the cops had brought him there thus proving his guilt. The problem with this is that at the end of the episode Goren himself said that the fact the victim had been covered up suggested that the preppy guy was guilty. In fact after turning on the cop, Goren explains that the cop covered her up specifically to frame preppy guy. That being the case why did Goren do it? I actually like this episode a lot but these two things really bugged me.

One of the best LOCIs

[ebrown2112 · 10/10 · 11 November 2008]

This episode convincingly combines the details of two real-life cases. When Goren and Eames look into the murder of a paroled killer's mother, their investigation leads them to an earlier crime that may be related to their case. Ultimately, the killer is hoist on his own petard, and justice is *finally* served. Mike Starr (Frenchy in "Goodfellas") is outstanding as Det. Marston.

* To accuse L&O of "liberal bias", one must have missed several years worth of episodes, particularly the mothership's season four episode "Sanctuary". As for this particular episode, "Monster" was based on two cases - the Robert Chambers case and the Central Park Jogger case. In the latter case, the five defendants *did* have their convictions vacated. It has nothing to do with "liberal bias".

*SPOILER!* * Perps are rarely convicted on physical evidence. The main reasons are 1) the perp confesses; 2) accomplice testimony (corroborated); 3) the suspect divulges information only the killer would know - cracking out of turn, as David Mamet would say. Det. Goren knew someone had pulled the nightgown down from the way it was bunched up beneath the victim's body. But there was no way for Det. Marston to know -- unless he was the killer.

Juxtaposing two Central Park cases

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 15 November 2017]

I well remember during the 80s the famous Preppie Killer case, how a drunk Robert Chambers lured a drunk Jennifer Levin into Central Park and killed her during what he described as rough sex. His inebriation led to him being convicted of manslaughter and he did a stretch in the joint. In real life Chambers proved to be an unrepentant jerk and is currently doing another stretch on a drug charge.

This case is juxtaposed with another crime, that of the Central Park wilding case where a bunch of black youths were convicted of rape after what was described riotous behavior for this episode.

Here and in real life mothers stood by their sons. But here mother Christine Jones is killed and son Adam Storke is looking good for it.

This one belongs to Vincent D'Onofrio who just has a gut feeling that Storke didn't kill the mother. But Jones before she died was looking into a wilding case in which four black youths were convicted for. Turns out Storke might just be the perpetrator there. All highly embarrassing to the criminal justice system.

Two really stand out here besides those already mentioned. Mike Starr as the original lead detective on the wilding case and Terry Conn as Storke's new girlfriend. As long as I live I will never understand groupies for murderers even one as good looking as Chambers in real life. Some go through life without being too tightly wrapped.