User Reviews

While visiting his mother's grave, Goren found sideways a frame showing he and his brother together in their infancy. That picture recalled memories from the past and he decided to give him a call. The junkie brother was shooting drugs and didn't answer the phone. Shortly after, he was found dead in what seemed to be a suicide by jumping outside the windows from his third floor lousy apartment. Department stated he was poisoned and then shoved by the perp after analyzing his body, so the piece of work so recurrent in Criminal Intent turned up: Nicole Wallace. Anyway her DNA matched the one belonged to a heart found by Goren in a box, that suggested she has just been murdered. Who is the killer? Is there someone who wants to set up Goren?

Goren freaked out more than once in this episode and nobody, not even the people close to him, fully believes in his innocence. Nicole finally has been framed: what goes around comes around.

The summary says it all. I just watched this episode and it blew me away!! I haven't seen every episode of Criminal Intent, but out of the ones I've seen, this is THE BEST!! If Vincent D'Onofrio doesn't win an Emmy or Golden Globe or any kind of award for this show, then the award committees have a few screws loose. I urge everyone who watches this show to push for Vinnie to win an award, or for the show to win an award for that matter. It's one of the 5 best shows on cable TV!! Can't wait for the other DVDs to come out as well. I also can't wait for season 8 to air on USA this November. With Goren's life now in shambles, how will he cope with his job? And with Chris Noth/Mike Logan no longer on the show, I'm eager to see what Jeff Goldblum's character adds to the show.

I always had mixed feelings about a recurring villain in this kind of series. They are usually the same as the regular perps you see in all episodes, except that they have the ability to keep escaping - which is the case of Nicole.

The upside is that sometimes you can have a villain that has been built up enough for the viewer to ask: is he/she capable of doing all this? Can she be the puppet-master of all this mystery? How can one person really pull this off? That is the question you keep asking the entire episode: it has to be Nicole (again - sigh), but how? This time the viewer is finally surprised, even if you figure it out slightly before the very end.

Had very high hopes for "Frame", always do have high hopes for season finales and Goren as a character is so fascinating. As was Nicole Wallace in her appearances. Season 7, as said in some reviews for previous episodes, was rocky, starting off brilliantly and ending more than satisfying but hit and miss in between. Not as rocky as the Season 7 of 'Special Victims Unit', which began and ended underwhelmingly and while there were flashes of brilliance there were quite a few misfires.

Which the original 'Law and Order' did not have in its Season 7, two disappointments that were no misfires but the others were good to absolutely brilliant. For me, "Frame" wasn't quite absolutely brilliant or one of my favourite episodes of 'Criminal Intent'. It is one of those episodes that would have fared better as a two parter in my view. "Frame" is still very, very good with so many exceptional things, and towards being one of the better episodes of Season 7. A more than worthy way to end it and at least feels like a season finale.

"Frame" isn't perfect. With a lot going on and things going at the pace that it does, the episode would have fared better in two parts which would have helped make some of the story clearer when it started to get on the over-complicated side in the middle.

Also think more could have been done with Nicole's exit, a great opponent with an exit treated so anti-climactically. Ross' character writing goes backwards too, he was starting to grow on me but here there is a return to what made me not care for him in his early appearances, namely his aggression and all too clear bias.

On the other hand, so many things are exceptional. First and foremost, Vincent D'Onofrio in a truly powerful performance where his intensity burns and his more emotional state devastating. The other standout in terms of the acting is John Glover, chilling and gleefully sinister as Gage (who actually makes a bigger impression than Nicole). Also chilling is his puppeteering of the events and his interaction with Goren which was as psychologically fascinating as it was frightening. Goren's character development adds a lot to him and it was hard to not feel for him when he reaches breaking point, completely understood his reaction when feeling betrayed.

The story is both intense and very poignant emotionally, over-complicated and over-plotted at times but never once is it dull or predictable. The production values are slick and professional, never cheap or gimmicky. The music is haunting without being overbearing or melodramatic, not being too constant or too loud. Enough of the script is intelligent and tight, that shines with Gage and his interaction with Goren.

In summary, very, very good finale to a rocky seventh season. 8/10.

This episode has Detective Robert Goren's brother murdered and this comes on the heels of his mother's funeral. The first indication is that it's Vincent D'Onofrio's perennial nemesis Olivia D'Abo whom we see in flashback episodes.

There's also an attack reported on John Glover who makes his second appearance as Declan Gage who was Detective Goren's mentor both in style and in methodology in studying the criminal mind. With that Glover declares himself in on the hunt for Nicole Wallace.

I can't say any more about this, but D'Onofrio's quirky character of Robert Goren is possibly put to his greatest test as a police detective. With all of this involving those close to him, it's kind of hard to stay focused.

D'Onofrio really outdoes himself in this one.

Good episode as usual but I have one question since I am a fan of forensic shows, why is it that traces of succinylcholine was found in detective Gorens's brothers body so quickly by autopsy ( if there was one ) when any forensic fan knows that it is the poisoners best choice of weapon considering that it cannot be found in the system even through an intensive autopsy but here in this case it was picked up so quickly? or am I wrong?