Of the Logan and Barek episodes, "The Healer" had one of the most intriguing concepts on paper. It is also though one of the strangest and is one of those episodes where the execution could go either way of unsettling and intriguing and odd and confusing. While liking the Logan and Barek partnership better than most fans, they are not as good as Goren, Barek was a bit hit and miss for me and their episodes were also very inconsistent in quality.
"The Healer" is not much out of the ordinary, but actually on the whole in my view it was one of the better Logan and Barek episodes (do prefer "Diamond Dogs", "Dramma Giocoso" and especially the "In the Wee Small Hours" two parter, the last also having Goren and Eames). It starts off routine but does get better, so worth sticking with if one is unsure as to whether to continue. Again that is all personal opinion, as far as Season 5 episodes go overall it is neither one of the best or worst but somewhere bang in the middle.
Am going to start off with what could have been better. Was not entirely engrossed by "The Healer" to begin with. It just came over at first as quite mundane and very tried and tested, making it feel rather bland. It could have been tighter in the pace and the perpetrator is fairly obvious.
Logan has been a lot more interesting in other episodes of 'Criminal Intent' and especially in the early seasons of the original 'Law and Order'. He usually has a gritty edge and a dry sense of humour, his dry humour shines in his interaction with Barek and even more so with Rogers but when it comes to the grit the intensity and energy seems to be missing here. Also didn't like how shallow he seemed here, being narrow minded from the start and pretty much staying that way all the way through to the end.
However, "The Healer" does contain one of Barek's better appearances, she is not too low-key here and has some funny lines, as well as her usual perceptions, a genuine care for Logan and proves to be essential to the case solving. Logan and Barek work very well together, their chemistry is not as playful as with Goren and Eames but they work together as a team more equally. Rogers is good fun as always and while the perpetrator's identity is obvious how they are caught and how the truth is revealed are very cleverly done.
Did feel that the acting was fine, with Annabella Sciorra giving one of her better and more involved performances of her stint on the show (helped by that in her case there is more at her stake). Chris Noth does what he can with weaker material. Sherri Saum is not one to mess with and Oscar Isaac is affecting as the most rootable character. The script is thoughtful and has a good deal of intrigue and amusing moments.
In spite of the slow start, the story does get better and isn't as predictable later on. It avoids being too strange and doesn't fall into coherence. The episode looks slick as usual and the scoring is haunting and not intrusive. The direction serves its purpose well.
Concluding, not that promising to begin with but worth sticking with. 7/10
"The Healer" is not much out of the ordinary, but actually on the whole in my view it was one of the better Logan and Barek episodes (do prefer "Diamond Dogs", "Dramma Giocoso" and especially the "In the Wee Small Hours" two parter, the last also having Goren and Eames). It starts off routine but does get better, so worth sticking with if one is unsure as to whether to continue. Again that is all personal opinion, as far as Season 5 episodes go overall it is neither one of the best or worst but somewhere bang in the middle.
Am going to start off with what could have been better. Was not entirely engrossed by "The Healer" to begin with. It just came over at first as quite mundane and very tried and tested, making it feel rather bland. It could have been tighter in the pace and the perpetrator is fairly obvious.
Logan has been a lot more interesting in other episodes of 'Criminal Intent' and especially in the early seasons of the original 'Law and Order'. He usually has a gritty edge and a dry sense of humour, his dry humour shines in his interaction with Barek and even more so with Rogers but when it comes to the grit the intensity and energy seems to be missing here. Also didn't like how shallow he seemed here, being narrow minded from the start and pretty much staying that way all the way through to the end.
However, "The Healer" does contain one of Barek's better appearances, she is not too low-key here and has some funny lines, as well as her usual perceptions, a genuine care for Logan and proves to be essential to the case solving. Logan and Barek work very well together, their chemistry is not as playful as with Goren and Eames but they work together as a team more equally. Rogers is good fun as always and while the perpetrator's identity is obvious how they are caught and how the truth is revealed are very cleverly done.
Did feel that the acting was fine, with Annabella Sciorra giving one of her better and more involved performances of her stint on the show (helped by that in her case there is more at her stake). Chris Noth does what he can with weaker material. Sherri Saum is not one to mess with and Oscar Isaac is affecting as the most rootable character. The script is thoughtful and has a good deal of intrigue and amusing moments.
In spite of the slow start, the story does get better and isn't as predictable later on. It avoids being too strange and doesn't fall into coherence. The episode looks slick as usual and the scoring is haunting and not intrusive. The direction serves its purpose well.
Concluding, not that promising to begin with but worth sticking with. 7/10