I'm not generally a fan of L&O because I do prefer to have something consistent in my dramas rather than being able to miss episodes and still be able to just walk into one and not miss a beat. However there are strengths in having it like this because then you can just dip in and out here and there, enjoy one episode and then not worry about what happens next. I tend to enjoy doing this most with L&O:CI because I enjoy the structure and the characters. I have been mostly moving around within the first series or two so don't take these comments as being gospel but so far it looks pretty good and is different enough from the other L&O's to be worth seeing.
Supposedly looking at the crimes from the criminal's point of view, I actually enjoy the series mostly because of the deduction work of Goren. He is an enjoyable character and comes across a little like a very straight version of Monk. This gives the show a bit more of a theatrical touch and, although L&O has always proposed to be able the real police work without the gloss, I do find the CI approach to be that little bit more enjoyable as a result. Not every case is that strong of course and there are weak episodes but they all tend to be reasonably good because I like the lead character.
Like other reviewers have commented, D'Onofrio really is the key to a lot of the episodes coming together. He is the heart of the series and as long as you like that then you should like each episode. His performance is quite fun to watch because he does have elements of being a straight cop but then he also has elements of Columbo and people like that – it is a nice mix that he carries off well and, like I said, it tends to give CI a different slant from the police work approach of the other series. Erbe is just as good but ploughs a straighter furrow in support of D'Onofrio while Sheridan and Vance are both fine in smaller roles – however I tend to feel that they never really want to keep D'Onofrio off the screen for too long (so I'm not sure why they are proposing to bring in other detective characters).
Overall this is an enjoyable series for dipping into here and there. The lack of total narrative flow and perhaps not a great deal of character development is a problem but generally it works well in what it does and out of all the various cop show spin-offs of this ilk, tends to be one of the ones that I enjoy more.
Supposedly looking at the crimes from the criminal's point of view, I actually enjoy the series mostly because of the deduction work of Goren. He is an enjoyable character and comes across a little like a very straight version of Monk. This gives the show a bit more of a theatrical touch and, although L&O has always proposed to be able the real police work without the gloss, I do find the CI approach to be that little bit more enjoyable as a result. Not every case is that strong of course and there are weak episodes but they all tend to be reasonably good because I like the lead character.
Like other reviewers have commented, D'Onofrio really is the key to a lot of the episodes coming together. He is the heart of the series and as long as you like that then you should like each episode. His performance is quite fun to watch because he does have elements of being a straight cop but then he also has elements of Columbo and people like that – it is a nice mix that he carries off well and, like I said, it tends to give CI a different slant from the police work approach of the other series. Erbe is just as good but ploughs a straighter furrow in support of D'Onofrio while Sheridan and Vance are both fine in smaller roles – however I tend to feel that they never really want to keep D'Onofrio off the screen for too long (so I'm not sure why they are proposing to bring in other detective characters).
Overall this is an enjoyable series for dipping into here and there. The lack of total narrative flow and perhaps not a great deal of character development is a problem but generally it works well in what it does and out of all the various cop show spin-offs of this ilk, tends to be one of the ones that I enjoy more.