Law & Order: Criminal Intent, a spin-off of the crime drama Law & Order, follows the detectives who work in the "Major Case Squad" of the New York City Police Department, a unit that focuses on high-profile cases (in most cases murder, just like the regular Law & Order in this sense), such as those involving VIPs, local government officials and employees, the financial industry, and the art world; though sometimes the cases are similar to the cases from the original Law & Order show as well. From its fifth season until the beginning of the ninth season, which aired in September 2005 until April 2010, the series had generally shown four major detectives working the unit, in alternating episodes under the leadership of both Captain James Deakins and Captain Danny Ross. The unit also previously had a prosecutor assigned from the DA's office, that frequently interacted with the squad. The ninth and tenth seasons of the series showed two major detectives working the unit in all episodes under the leadership of Captain Zoe Callas and later Joseph Hannah.

One of the original characters on Law & Order, Detective Mike Logan (played by Chris Noth), appears in one episode of Season 4. At the beginning of Season 5, he is transferred from Staten Island to the Major Case Squad, where he worked until the end of Season 7.

Main characters

Name Portrayed by Occupation Season Episodes 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Senior DetectivesAlexandra Eames Kathryn Erbe Senior Detective colspan="10" Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe appeared in only the first two episodes of season 9. 144 Mike Logan Chris Noth Senior Detective colspan="3" colspan="3" colspan="3" 36 Zack Nichols Jeff Goldblum Senior Detective colspan="7" colspan="2" 24Junior Detectives Robert Goren Vincent D'Onofrio Junior Detective colspan="10" Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe appeared in only the first two episodes of season 9. 141 Carolyn Barek Annabella Sciorra Junior Detective colspan="4" colspan="5" 12 Megan Wheeler Julianne Nicholson Junior Detective colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="2" 24 Nola Falacci Alicia Witt Junior Detective colspan="6" colspan="3" 5 Serena Stevens Saffron Burrows Junior Detective colspan="8" 15 Squad Supervisors James Deakins Jamey Sheridan Captain colspan="5" colspan="5" 111 Danny Ross Eric Bogosian Captain colspan="5" colspan="4" Eric Bogosian appeared in only the first episode of season 9. 61 Zoe Callas Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Captain colspan="8" 14 Joseph Hannah Jay O. Sanders Captain colspan="9" 8Assistant District Attorneys Ron Carver Courtney B. Vance A.D.A. colspan="5" colspan="5" 111Psychiatrists Paula Gyson Julia Ormond Police Psychiatrist colspan="9" 7

Notes

Detectives

Robert Goren

Portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio. Episodes: "One" - "Loyalty (Part 2)", "Rispetto" - "To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap"

Robert Goren is a quirky, extraordinarily intelligent investigator and criminal profiler, known for his instinct and insight. Often, Goren's intuition, rather than solid evidence, turns out to be the case-breaker. Each episode, Goren typically employs his knowledge of an unusually wide range of topics, from theoretical physics, chemistry, and literature to history, psychology, and multiple foreign languages. Goren once served in the Army Criminal Investigation Division, stationed in Germany and South Korea, and worked in the NYPD's Narcotics Division before transferring to Major Case (in the first-season episode "The Insider", it is revealed that he worked on three undercover operations resulting in 27 arrests and convictions).

The Robert Goren character is very reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes; he notices tiny-yet-important details ignored by others, and possesses broad, almost encyclopedic knowledge. Frequently, Goren obtains crucial information and confessions by psychologically manipulating and provoking suspects and their associates. Mental illness seems to run in Goren's family: his mother suffered from schizophrenia and his biological father was a serial killer. During the series, Goren's history, coupled with his unorthodox style, became a source of trouble within the NYPD, spawning rumors and accusations that he was mentally unstable. In particular, this view was held by the Chief of Detectives, who suspended him for six months without pay after he embarked on an unauthorized undercover infiltration of a prison's mental ward. In the season 7 finale, he lost his brother Frank (Tony Goldwyn) to his archnemesis Nicole Wallace. In the course of the investigation, he realized that his mentor, Dr. Declan Gage, had orchestrated the deaths of his brother and Wallace. During season eight, he begins to recover after the events of season 7. In "Loyalty", Goren and Eames are pulled off a pair of homicides by Ross, who informs them that the FBI has taken an interest in the case. Ross is later murdered as well, their prime suspect is taken into custody by the FBI, provoking Goren into a physical altercation that leads to his suspension. He continues to investigate on his own and eventually learns of a plan by the FBI to allow GPS-tagged weapons to be distributed to terrorist camps in Somalia, so that the camps could be easily targeted and wiped out. He is then fired by Eames, who had recently been offered a promotion to captain of the Major Case Squad; she subsequently quits instead.

Alexandra Eames

Portrayed by Kathryn Erbe. Episodes: "One" - "Loyalty (Part 2)", "Rispetto" - "To the Boy in the Blue Knit Cap"

Alexandra Eames is the quiet, practical partner who generally seems to mesh well with Goren despite the noticeable personality differences between the two. She worked in the NYPD's Vice Division for four years before transferring to Major Case. Her character is much like the screen portrayals of Holmes's partner Doctor Watson: a lesser equal, overshadowed by the charismatic presence of a prodigious partner. While still an assertive and no-nonsense cop and the senior partner of the pairing, much of Eames's dialogue consists of sarcastic, pun-heavy observations delivered at dramatically opportune moments (much like Law & Order's Detective Lennie Briscoe character).

There are occasional hints of a strong affection, and even jealousy, between the two partners, but their relationship has never become romantic. Their working relationship is more formal than that of the lead detectives in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit –Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay)– who typically address each other by their given names and have strong emotional interplay. Goren and Eames typically address each other by surname, but when either Eames or Goren is particularly stressed, she calls him "Bobby". She is a legacy officer: her father and late husband were both cops. In the third season, Eames embarked on a surrogate pregnancy for her sister and brother-in-law and, before her maternity leave, was assigned to desk duty at the police station; her work in the field with Goren was covered by G. Lynn Bishop. Recently, Goren and Eames' working relationship has become more strained, as she has become fed up with what she sees as Goren's habit of taking her for granted, expecting her to run interference for his off-beat tactics and style with both co-workers and superiors without acknowledging her contributions. These feelings boil over in the episode "Purgatory", after Goren embarks on a secret undercover mission for his superiors, and fails to inform her. Eames takes Wheeler's place starting in the episode "Major Case". In the episode "Loyalty," she and Goren are pulled off a pair of homicides by Ross, who has been working undercover for the FBI on a case involving one of the victims. When Ross is subsequently murdered, Goren soon gets into a physical altercation with the prime suspect, leading to his suspension and Eames' decision to covertly help him with his own investigation. She is offered a promotion to captain of the Major Case Squad on the condition that she fire Goren, but after doing so, she puts her badge and gun on Ross' desk and resigns.

Eames returns to the NYPD and the Major Case Squad at the start of Season 10, again partnered with Goren. They are brought back to duty at the request of the new squad captain, Joseph Hannah (Jay O. Sanders), who has been a friend of Goren since their initial training at the police academy. Since the end of Criminal Intent, Eames has appeared twice on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, holding the rank of Lieutenant and commanding a task force formed jointly by the NYPD and the federal Department of Homeland Security.

G. Lynn Bishop Portrayed by Samantha Buck. Episodes: "Pravda" - "Mad Hops"

Bishop is introduced in the episode "Pravda" as the temporary partner of Det. Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio),title; assigned to the Major Case Squad of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), due to Det. Alexandra Eames volunteering to serve as a surrogate mother for her sister's baby. Her character was only a temporary replacement and was not seen after Eames returned from maternity leave. Bishop and Goren often seem to have a lack of chemistry between them. She finds it difficult to keep up with Goren's many unorthodox ways of solving a case, something Eames had gotten accustomed to. Goren exacerbates the situation by making unfavorable comparisons between Bishop and Eames.

Mike Logan

Portrayed by Chris Noth. Episodes: "Stress Position", "Grow" - "Last Rites"

Logan is a troubled detective who formerly worked in the detectives squad of Manhattan's 27th precinct (from 1990 to 1995, on Law & Order). He was banished to the NYPD's career graveyard (Staten Island) after publicly punching a homophobic politician who had murdered a gay man whom Logan had grudgingly come to respect; however, Logan redeemed himself by solving a dirty-cop murder-conspiracy case (the NBC TV movie Exiled: A Law & Order Movie). He was transferred from Staten Island to the NYPD's Domestic Disputes department. Logan first appeared on Criminal Intent in the fourth-season episode "Stress Position", through his romantic involvement with a nurse employed at a prison being investigated by Goren and Eames. At the beginning of season five, he was officially transferred to the Major Case Squad at the behest of Capt. Deakins, in the episode "Grow". In addition, Logan was involved in the "officer-involved shooting" used to fuel the career-ending conspiracy against Capt. Deakins. After solving a 16-year homicide case in the episode "Last Rites", dissatisfaction with the corruption and overall inflexibility of the justice system drove him to leave the force.

Carolyn Barek

Det. Carolyn Barek is partnered with Detective Mike Logan throughout the fifth season of the show. Annabella Sciorra abruptly departed the cast at the end of the season and was written out in the sixth season.

Carolyn Barek is a criminal profiler from Brooklyn's Cobble Hill, and spent two years post-9/11 with the FBI. In addition to English, she also speaks Polish, Spanish, Italian, Creole, Russian, Cantonese, and Yiddish. Barek's badge number is 6141.

Barek previously worked without a partner, which accounts for her habit of talking to herself while examining a crime scene. She hints that her mother was strict; when a girl who abuses heroin dresses in front of her and Logan in the hospital, she tells Logan her mother would have killed her if she dressed or undressed in front of complete strangers. Barek is Catholic and, in contrast to Logan, she believes that even the worst sinner deserves forgiveness. Barek's father was a carpenter who was in a union. Barek admits to having a former boyfriend with a gambling problem, and spent two years trying to help him before ending the relationship.