The Good Doctor

A plastic surgeon with a temper supposedly kills his wife (we don't see any crime in the introduction, but it's assumed). Both he and his wife were adulterers, so it's hard to be sympathetic to either. She also was on drugs. All we know - for awhile - is that the woman is missing. The doctor is putting up posters and everything pretending to be a concerned husband, but the sincerity is lacking. He's portrayed as a cold, nasty guy.

If he did it, how and where is the body? Those questions take up the entire show, so it drags a bit here and there. Sometimes that happens. They can't all be fascinating stories. One thing that took away from the "whodunnit" atmosphere is that there only was one suspect. It was like a watching a "Columbo" episode.

This one had a different scenario at the end. Since Goren was able to get his man in the Interrogation Room, he volunteered to go in court and be a witness, confident he could bait his man enough to incriminate himself. This was a little far-fetched. As anyone noticed how they always make the defense lawyer almost useless against our guys? Well, at least it's a switch from normal TV fare over the years.

There are plenty of other reviews here which recap the plot. I just wrote to note that this episode was pretty clearly based on the murder of Gail Katz in 1985 by her husband, Dr. Robert Bierenbaum. Bierenbaum was tried and convicted in 2000, but he continued to claim innocence until 2020 when he finally confessed during a parole hearing. His release date is scheduled for June 2022.

Many L&O episodes were "ripped fom the headlines." But usually they eventually veer off from the facts of the case behind the headline. This one, however, follows the real case extremely closely. Everything from the way the murder is done, to how the body disappears, to the discovery of a corpse who turns out not to be the victim, to even a witness in a Manhattan bagel shop. Sure, they changed a few things (especially about the victim and the motive), but if you watch this episode, you can skip the Wikipedia article about the original murder.

Anyway, the acting is strong as usual, especially in this case: by Courtney Vance as ADA Ron Carver; by Penny Balfour as a woman who falls under the Doctor's spell (she played a similar part in the original L&O episode "Hubris"); and by an actor whom I could not identify who played a bagel shop owner and witness. Production values are high. Dialog is clever - notably in the way Goren manipulates a judge into granting a dubious warrant application.

Recommended.

Really liked to loved all the previous 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' episodes, "The Pardoner's Tale" (the one that won't be to everybody's taste with it being particularly sordid) being perhaps my least favourite but even that managed to have a lot of great things. "The Faithful" and "Jones" fared the best of the eight, with the ending (one of my favourite 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent' endings) for "Jones" being especially memorable for its increasing tension.

"The Good Doctor" up to this point of the show is one of 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent's' better episodes and an excellent episode for the show overall and for anything for that matter. Namely for one of the first season's, and early seasons' even, most detestable main suspects, some of the regular cast's best acting and an ending that is likely to stay with one for a while after (it certainly did with me and still do remember it).

My only nit-pick for the episode is that, and can see where another commentator is coming from here, the suspects being far too few and the over-obviousness of the responsible does take away from the surprise and doesn't keep one guessing as much as other episodes. Considering though that this is not the only episode of the show where this is the case it didn't frustrate me enormously.

Production values are still high, never too elaborate and never sedate. The music isn't constant and is not overbearing, which are always great things. Do prefer 'Law and Order' and 'Special Victims Unit's' main themes but the one here suits well.

Writing achieves as ever a good balance of not being overly-simple or too complicated, treating the viewer with respect with neither making them feel dumb or losing them. All the dialogue in the courtroom is both entertaining and powerful. The story is compelling throughout, with the methods the detectives use to get a result as ever fun and interesting to watch, the ambiguity of some of it may frustrate somewhat but not enough to ruin the episode for me because the outcome wasn't really in doubt.

As far as individual parts go, "The Good Doctor's" best part is the ending, the back and forth between Carver and Kelmer riveting in its increasing tension before concluding in explosive fashion. Goren's behaviour is unprofessional in this portion of the episode and not really something that would usually happen regularly in a courtroom but it proves crucial in getting a result and works, making for an interesting change of pace.

Cannot fault the acting, Kathryn Erbe contrasts beautifully with Vincent D'Onofrio and her softer approach is effective. D'Onofrio's intensity avoids being over-played and is quite thrilling. Courtney B Vance's acting in the final parts of "The Good Doctor", in his rapport with an appropriately repellent Robert Knepper, is some of his best ever in my mind.

In summary, excellent episode. 9/10

This is one of my all time favorite L&O CI eps. It was a nice change of pace. The detectives often spend a great deal of time of course gathering the necessary evidence to put the bad guys away. Sometimes however that evidence is just not there to be found... so they have to find a way to make the bad guy bury himself.

Robert Knepper as the doctor was wonderful... so arrogant and condesending you almost want to throw a brick at the screen. Good performance by Courtney Vance also at the end, getting the doc all worked up to where he's convicted by the jury not so much because of the evidence, but because he was such an detestable worm.