TV Rant: Law & Order CI, where bad decisions are made

I despaired when USA Network announced that Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe would be leaving Law & Order: Criminal Intent (nothing against Eric Bogosian, who's also leaving, but I've never stopped missing Jamey Sheridan as Capt. Deakins). That despair is nothing compared to the indignation brought on by this announcement from The Hollywood Reporter: “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” Kills One of Its Own

Massively stupid move, guys.

Why? Because if they go with the safe option and kill Captain Ross, they're killing off the least popular of the three departing characters, which is just a ratings ploy, plain and simple. Similar stunts have been pulled by CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: NY, where a character death was teased to death in commercials, but the deceased party ended up being a recurring detective, rather than one of the show regulars. They probably won't kill Goren, since D'Onofrio's made comments via his rep that indicate he'll likely come back to visit the show in the future.

That leaves Detective Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), who might be my favorite character on the show. My favorite part of CI's last season was watching her work with Jeff Goldblum's Det. Zack Nichols, who's got a little of the energy that Goren's been lacking of late, and whose oddball antics are a nice complement to Eames' dry wit and level-headed investigative style. I had hoped that if D'Onofrio left the show, they'd pair up Eames and Nichols, but alas. Eames is probably going to die, which is a dumb move, in my opinion. The best way to lose viewers is to needlessly kill off one of the only remaining original characters, and one of which viewers -- it can't be just me -- are very fond.

What is going on over at USA? Are they actively trying to sabotage what used to be one of the most entertaining shows on television? Poorly played, guys.

Check out the story where I came across it, on All Things Law & Order.