After last week's lackluster episode, this one totally pulled me back into
Criminal Intent. While the previews made it look like we were in for a killer-stalking-deaf-women thriller, what we actually got was no gimmick of the week, but rather a poignant and fairly in-depth (at least from a hearing person's perspective) look at the deaf community.
Back when cochlear implants first became available, I heard a bit about the debate over whether deafness was something to be "fixed," but didn't truly understand why it was such a big issue. From my limited understanding, if you were deaf, you'd want to gain/regain hearing if it was medically possible.
However, this episode brought the conflict to life in the way only a good drama can and - in typical
Law & Order fashion - gave both sides nearly equal time, and provided some food for thought. Though, in the end, it did make the "pro-deafness" advocates seem just a little loony (what with the hand-shooting and the larynx-crushing).
There were solid performances throughout this episode, but the two standouts for me were the police interpreter (whose name escapes me) and the deaf actress (Alexandria Wailes), both of whom conveyed the distress that comes from being caught between two worlds and trying to function in both.
This season has been hit-and-miss, but the writers really nailed it this time: They completely sidestepped any of the gimmick traps and produced one of the most thoughtful - and educational -
CI's to date.
I do have one lingering question, though: Was Goren holding out on how much sign language he knew? The way he suddenly let out a flurry of signals - and seemed to be reading the killer's - in the final interrogation scene indicated he knew a whole lot more sign language than he previously let on. Kind of weird - which is kind of typical for Det. Goren.
Next Week: Two new episodes - only one for each pair of detectives - and then it's already time for a return to Repeatsville. And this trip, "Country Crossover," wasn't really one worth taking in the first place. Unless you're badly in need of a Noth fix, this rerun is must-skip TV.
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After last week’s lackluster episode, this one totally pulled me back into Criminal Intent. While the previews made it look like we were in for a killer-stalking-deaf-women thriller, what we actually got was no gimmick of the week, but rather a poignant and fairly in-depth (at least from a hearing person’s perspective) look at the deaf community.Back when cochlear implants first became available, I heard a bit about the debate over whether deafness was something to be “fixed,” but didn’t truly understand why it was such a big issue. From my limited understanding, if you were deaf, you'd want to gain/regain hearing if it was medically possible. However, this episode brought the conflict to life in the way only a good drama can and — in typical Law & Order fashion — gave both sides nearly equal time, and provided some food for thought. Though, in the end, it did make the “pro-deafness” advocates seem just a little loony (what with the h...
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