DVD Review - Law & Order: Criminal Intent: The Seventh Year

Law & Order: Criminal Intent
The Seventh Year '08-'09 Season
Starring: Vincent D'Oofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Chris Noth and Julianne Nicholson
Number of Discs: 5
Studio: Shout! Factory
Release Date: June 26, 2012
Running Time: 960 Minutes
ASIN: B007I1Q54O


I first started watching Law & Order Criminal Intent in the spring of 2007 when USA use to have nightly mini-marathons of CI and SVU. The series first aired on NBC on September 30, 2001 until May 21, 2007, when it moved to its sister network USA in the fall of 2007 until it finally ended its run on June 26, 2011. NBCUniversal have been extremely slow about releasing Law & Order: CI's ten year run to DVD. Luckily for us fans, Shout! Factory bought the DVD rights, releasing season 7 exactly one year to the date that the series ended.

Just like the previous few seasons, every other episode is split between the detective combo of Goren/Eames and Logan/Wheeler. Actually, Megan Wheeler (played by Julianne Nicholson, who was on maternity leave) is missing for half the season as the character went to Europe to teach a course on American Police Procedure. During this time, Mike Logan (played by Chris Noth) teams up with Detective Nola Falaccia (played by Alicia Witt).

The season starts out with Amends, in which Eames' (played by Kathryn Erbe) late husband's partner is murdered, and Goren must help her find the killer. My favorite episode is Untethered, where Goren (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) goes undercover in a psychiatric ward to help his nephew and must confront his own demons. The season ends with Frame, where Goren's brother is murdered, and the prime suspect could be Goren's nemesis, Nicole Wallace.

The episodes on the five discs are:

Disc One: Amends; Seeds; Smile; and Lonelyville.

Disc Two: Depths; Courtship; Self-Made; and Offense.

Disc Three: Untethered; Senseless: Purgatory; and Contract.

Disc Four: Betrayed; Assassin; Please Note We Are No Longer Accepting Letters of Recommendation From Henry Kissinger; Reunion; and Vanishing Act.

Disc Five: Ten Count; Legacy; Neighborhood Watch; Last Rites; and Frame.

Unlike the box sets of seasons, 4-6, season seven has no box; there is just a slipcover over a typical DVD case. The DVD cover is in the same design style of the previous few seasons as is the discs' design. Season seven aired from October 7, 2007 to June 24, 2008 and not during the '08-'09 Season as stated on the cover and on each discs. Just like the previous seasons, there are no extras in this set.

Despite the '08-09' error and the lack of extras, I am glad that season 7 is finally on DVD to own.