Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series) Family Values (2009) User Reviews

Even Abraham had moments of doubt

[Mrpalli77 · 9/10 · 7 October 2017]

A teenager (Britt Robertson) was staging "Cyrano the Bergerac" as the lead female role in a Christian school theater. Her father looked disturbed and he left the place before the ending, leaving his wife alone in the audience. Shortly after he came over his brother and sister-in-law, killing them both together with their unborn child with a hammer. The same fate suffered the next day the drama teacher and then the manager of the bank he used to work before being fired: he was the scapegoat of the subprime scam. Goren and Eames were in a race against the clock to stop further murders; the motive of this kind of madness is not easy to be understood.

Another Columbo-like episode (higher pace anyway), where we know the perp since the beginning and the suspense is related to the motive

A family annihilator

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 19 December 2015]

The focus of this Criminal Intent episode shifted from finding a perpetrator to finding a victim. As Eric Bogosian said he was hoping to be spared a family annihilator in his career, but this was not to be the case.

This episode proves you can use scripture to justify anything in this world. David Harbour plays the religious father who has been laid off at his job at the bank.

Somehow in his beady little mind he's convinced himself that this was the real start of a world tobogganing to hell and it would be better if his loved ones were already in heaven. Just like the famous John List case in New Jersey.

Unlike List who just eliminated his family in one terrible afternoon, Harbour did it in stages and also took two people he considered evil with the presumption they're spending their eternity in a very warm climate. Evil includes the new branch manager at the bank he used to work at and a lesbian drama teacher who cast his innocent daughter in that immoral play by Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac.

Vincent D'Onofrio is certainly up on his theology to convince Harbour that it isn't God telling him to do these things in order to locate Harbour's missing daughter. That scene is worth the wait.

Annihilation

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 30 June 2021]

The type of story "Family Values" has is a familiar one for the 'Law and Order' franchise and in other shows of the genre. That doesn't matter that much to me as it is a type of story that is fascinating and often done very well to brilliantly. When done very well, the episodes in question are very suspenseful and unsettling as ought. One would understandably worry though that it would be too derivative and predictable, and then anything that centres quite heavily around religion risks being heavy handed.

"Family Values" for me is far from derivative and predictable and the religious aspect was not done too heavily or one-dimensionally, though others may disagree. This is a great episode that is very well crafted and creepy. It is not one of 'Law and Order: Criminal Intent's' best ever episodes, but it is again to me among Season 8's better episodes and in the better category of the show's latter seasons too. Which says quite a bit as the show's quality was variable from Season 5 onwards.

What immediately stands out is the case, which is very disturbing indeed. "Family Values" has one of the highest body counts of 'Criminal Intent' and each death more graphic and gut wrenching than the previous. Despite the perpetrator being known from the very beginning, the motive is a lot less obvious and there are still chills and suspense in the atmosphere. It's all how it's figured out, in classic Goren and Eames style, and getting to the truth.

Moreover, "Family Values" looks slick and has the right amount of muted grit, the photography doesn't try to do anything too fancy or gimmicky while not being claustrophobic and keeping things simple. The music doesn't overbear with the theme tune still memorable and the direction is accommodating yet tight enough. The script is tight and thought-provoking, the final scene standing out.

It's this scene that makes "Family Values" as good as it is, as well as Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe's typically terrific performances and their chemistry. Not to mention the spine-chilling performance of David Harbour.

Everything with the drama teacher however felt too thrown in and not much at all is done with it.

All in all, great. 9/10.

Great episode

[tlharrison-59546 · 8/10 · 17 August 2021]

This episode doesn't have the "whodunit" going on. We see early on what is unfolding and why.. but the acting between D'onofrio and Harbour is just amazing. I appreciated the other episode in which they acted opposite each other as well. I really feel the writing toward the the later seasons was hit or miss but still, once in a while during these later episodes D'onofrio is able to really show his talent.