Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series) Neighborhood Watch (2008) User Reviews

You're a serial killer? Yeah. Like Hannibal Lecter

[Mrpalli77 · 8/10 · 4 October 2017]

A convicted rapist, after spending his jail time, moved on from the old neighborhood to settle down in a new one with his mother. He opened a video store and managed to toe the line but inhabitants all over the area put him under pressure to leave, sending around flyers with his pictures above the writing "sex offender". One day, after closing time, he was stabbed multiple times and then the perp cut his head off and threw the body in the river. The department at first put the blame on a wanted serial killer who used to target sex offenders in the last decade, but Logan and Wheeler were not so sure. Besides, they find out the victim could have not been a rapist, being framed by his former fiancèe (Halley Wegryn Gross) and her family. Then the investigation led to local young lowlifes, but they had no reason to do such a horrible thing. Or have they?

At the end of the episode, it's easy to presume Logan is drawn to his partner, because he's a little upset when she takes a rain check to meet her in-laws.

Crime and punishment

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 27 May 2021]

"Neighborhood Watch" is most notable for being the penultimate Logan episode for 'Criminal Intent', before Jeff Goldblum's Zack Nichols took over. This fact made me quite sad, being someone who likes Logan as a character and he did have a good number of good and more episodes during his three season run on the show. As well as some not so good ones where he was nearly always a redeeming merit but deserved better.

Luckily, "Neighborhood Watch" is a more than worthy penultimate episode that shows very well why Logan was a great character. Actually thought that most of "Neighborhood Watch" was great and was this close from being all round great from start to finish, until it fell apart at the end. Which was so frustrating, because it is one of the better episodes of a rocky season in my view and was so close to being one of Logan's finest episodes and just missed out on there.

A huge amount is done well. It's well made, intimately photographed and slick with no signs of under-budget or anything. The music didn't sound melodramatic or too constant and the direction is accomodating while still having pulse. Chris Noth is as gritty and dry humorous as to be expected. Julianne Nicholson is a suitably understated but never dull partner and they interact very nicely in a different to Goren and Eames but working in its own way. The supporting cast don't disappoint either.

The script is lean and intelligently written, provoking thought and pulling no punches while having personality and not being over-serious. The story, starting from one of the latter seasons' most ominous openings, is full of tension, few other episodes this season were this suspenseful, and the twists and turns are many and most going in direction one doesn't expect. The suspects are also a good number and with clear motivations and the motive for the perpetrator's work could have been anything.

It is unfortunate that the ending does not live up at all to the rest of the episode. After such unpredictability and tension beforehand, the truth is executed incredibly predictably and the reveal is not a big, shocking one or twisty. It just felt abrupt and the motive was so "they killed for that?"

Very good episode overall and nearly great until the end. 8/10.

License to kill and maim

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 3 September 2016]

Chris Noth's next to last episode on Criminal Intent is also yet another attack on the idea of sex offender registries or at least public ones. Some young man who was on the registry as a result of a statutory rape conviction is killed and the body mutilated. This happened in the most conservative Queens community of Maspeth. None of the Law And Order franchise shows like sex offender registries at least public ones as it encourage vigilantism.

This episode also introduced Leslie Hope with the Dickensian name of Minnie Driver who is one aggressive prosecutor with little regard for much except her conviction rate. She would figure prominently in Mike Logan's decision to retire in the last Chris Noth CI episode.

Who's really scary is David Call who thinks because it's a registered "pervert" he's got not only license but favorable public opinion to do as he will with them.

Nicely done story setting up Mike Logan's retirement.