Law & Order: Criminal Intent "Neighborhood Watch" (2008)

Detective Logan's penultimate case is one that everyone would rather just be swept under the carpet, one perfectly suited for him. A recently paroled sex offender is being hounded by the local neighborhood watch until his body is found, sans head, dumped mob-style in the river. Everyone from the neighbors, local police and the DA's office are happy to see one more sleazebag sent to the morgue. Personally I found some of the civil servants' attitudes a little appalling. Private citizens aren't privy to all the details, and once the gossip mill starts, forget about setting the record straight. All they know is that Kyle Jones (Darrin James Malone) was tried and convicted for rape of an underage girl. The police and the DA's office however know the full details and that if anything Nancy Williams (Wegryn Gross) was only experiencing buyers' remorse afterwards and her overbearing family and a ruthless ADA coached and directed her into claiming rape. That these government employees can be so ruthless in the pursuit and harassment of a boy who arguably committed no crime, was extorted into a guilty plea and then when he tries to put his life back together faces opposition on all sides is a tragic set of circumstances and only serves to fuel Logan's pursuit of justice.

It appears the late Teri Bauer will be Logan's final nemesis as ADA Terri Driver (Leslie Hope) shows no regret in the role she played in the events leading up to Kyle's murder. She goes from applauding publicly the gruesome demise of a deviate sex pervert to claiming credit for punishing the perpetrators of the vigilante justice. She'll be returning to face off against Logan in the next, and his final, episode and it can only be assumed that the hostility built up here will be paid off in the Team B finale of the season. I think it's a wise move to place these two episodes back to back as the momentum is maintained leading into the grand finale for Detective Logan. It would have been more interesting to build up the Driver character over more than just these two episodes so the tension could reach the breaking point at the time of the finale. It's possible that it wasn't known until most of the episodes were already in the can that Noth would be leaving and made this course of action unlikely. Although since the loss of a regular ADA character two seasons ago, it would have been a fresh change of pace to have an ADA in a recurring role that is at odds with Major Case. Maybe the producers will keep that in mind for a future season, but for now we'll see if Logan's second departure has him punching out someone again. If he does, my money is on Driver.

Turns out that Kyle was only killed so that Ricky (David Call) could be famous for killing a sex deviate in the name of justice. He even tries to claim that he is the avenging serial killer the papers have been writing about in order to boost his reputation. It all boils down to the fact he was looking for notoriety and to impress a girl he's always had a crush on. He's wondered most of his life what it would feel like to kill someone, the thrill of the murder. He ends up admitting he didn't feel anything and that he hated it for all the work he had to do to clean up the evidence of the crime. He wouldn't even do it again if he had the chance. Kyle was killed, not really even in the name of justice, only as an experiment to see if there is a rush in taking a life. It's horrifying to think someone would commit such a grievous act just out of curiosity.

The ending is a bit rushed with Leopold and Loeb quickly giving up the goods which has become standard practice for the villains on this show. Although the ending does come with a bit of gloom which is certainly different from the all loose ends tied up approach as we've seen during the rest of the season. Driver continues to twist the knife by claiming credit in another press conference and it's confirmed that Sergeant Whelan (Scott Sowers) played a prominent role in Kyle's death. It's also sad to see that Wheeler and Logan are just starting to snap as a team again, although there isn't all that much chemistry to speak of but there are moments, right before Noth's departure. There are two little bookend scenes that were a treat. At the beginning when Wheeler questions his use of the word "piqued" and he admits it's his word for the day and his obvious disappointment when she is unable to go out for a drink with him because her
fiancé, Colin (real-life husband Jonathan Cake) is taking her out. Here's hoping Logan goes out in a blaze of glory, and not battered and beaten as he appears at the end here.

Favorite moment: Captain Ross was in fine form tonight as he slyly suggests how Logan and Wheeler can search the suspects' van without being able to obtain a warrant, but the best is the final scene with Logan. Unable to take Wheeler out for a drink, Logan and Ross share one in the empty squad room watching Driver's press conference. Providing Logan with some comforting support: "This job. It's either tragic or stupid, mostly stupid." as Logan mourns the senseless death of Kyle, it was nice to see these two stubborn, bull-headed alpha males, who have always been rather at odds, share a quiet moment when the dust has settled.