Law & Order: Criminal Intent "Ten Count" (2008)

This episode's case had a more personal angle as Logan was a mentor to the brothers, one of whom was killed after winning a boxing match. Family dynamics played a large part in this episode and it's almost as if Logan and Gus Kovak (Miguel Ferrer) were both rival father figures fighting for dominance over Peter Gardela (Enver Gjokaj). Maybe this struggle could have been explored a bit more, but it was a refreshing change of pace to have one of the detectives personally involved in the case and have it actually be depicted. I'm of course pointing toward Wheeler's personal angle in the last Team B episode. Logan moves this murder investigation over to Major Case's jurisdiction because of his mentor relationship with the brothers and I was wondering if he would have to push for the case with Captain Ross but it looks like no one had a problem with his request. Even though it wasn't touched upon a whole lot, Logan did care about what happened to Peter and adamantly argued that he could have nothing to do with his brother's murder.

Law & Order always manages to get familiar faces for the guest star roles, but not too big of a name so as take away from the believability of the show. They cast in that mid-range where the actor is certainly well known but is not a distraction from the episode's story. This episode's special guest star was Miguel Ferrer, most recently of last season's misfire Bionic Woman reboot. I'll always remember him as RoboCop's inventor and that was the first thing I thought of once I saw him on screen. He brought a passion to the villain we haven't seen in past weeks. He went toe to toe with Logan in the gym and I was wondering if it would come to blows. He easily switched from father figure to vicious bully in the blink of an eye and it never seems unbelievable. He's also memorable in that, unlike most Criminal Intent villains, he's not tricked into confessing at the end. In an ironic twist of fate, the killer edge he wanted to drill into Peter through the death of brother, only ended in his death. Sadistic to the end, his dying words are "You'll thank me". His final victory casts a dark gloom over the entire episode and while it may not have been the best of the season, it's certainly an upgrade over some of the earlier humdrum cases.

This episode gave Chris Noth a chance to do a little more than just droll off a couple of zingers. He was emotionally invested in the case as best evidenced in the scene where he watches Peter's interrogation and he is forced to turn away as he cannot look at him. I'm still wondering how he will be written off the show and I certainly will miss him. Hopefully his remaining two cases will give him a chance to demonstrate why he is one of L&O's most popular characters.

Favorite moment: The Logan/Kovak face off in the gym was a chilling few minutes as it really looked like Logan would lose control. It hearkens back stylistically to the beginning of "Maltese Cross" last season which began memorably with Logan facing off against a bunch of firefighters. Both Ferrer and Noth are excellent seething with rage as they both think they are doing what's best for Peter. Kovak's chilling statement that he gave Peter his killer instinct back and Logan would have to live with that would prove prophetic seeing as how in the end Logan failed to save the boy he so desperately wanted to.