"Why everything that's supposed to be bad make me feel so good?
Everything they told me not to is exactly what I would
Man, I tried to stop man
I tried the best I could..."

What's your addiction? My working list of weaknesses are far too long to mention with chocolate, Camembert, co-dependent relationships and Chloe leather mary janes near the top of the Kryptonite dosage heap. Lately, I've fallen off the wagon of nicotine aversion (chalk it up to the Super Black Woman suit and cape I've been donning since taking on a heavier workload) and actually going to bed at a decent hour. And the tell tale dark circles are wreaking havoc. However, the silver lining to this bit of self-inflicted abuse is I've been managing to catch up on a TV show that I can't believe I've neglected for this long...

It's been airing on NBC for almost 6 years, but can you believe I've just gotten reeled into the matrix? Were it not for the good programming folks over at Bravo & USA, I'd have no clue as to what I've been deprived of for so long. With a glutton of crime-based dramas occupying TV schedule space, it's not hard to see how it could get lost in the shuffle, though. I've read enough suspense stories and seen my fair share of whodunits to know that most criminals get caught. Sometimes they're tracked down and a confession squeezed out, sometimes their guilt overwhelms them and they tell all as the investigator simply bears witness. Been there, done that and I'm wearing the T-shirt. It's already the second spin off of Law & Order (still going strong after all these years) and ratings-wise, overshadowed by SVU. But what it lacks in the Nielsens, it more than makes up for with a strong ensemble cast and the quirkiest interrogator left of Dirty Harry, so how can you resist?

And by quirky, I mean the glue that keeps the show together in the always riveting, über-talented, Vincent D'Onofrio whom paired with the perfect sidekick in Kathryn Erbe make up the detective tag team of Robert Goren & Alexandra Eames in Major Case. One thing that I hate in mystery dramas is that the writers always seem to want to put sexual tension between the male and female colleagues. What I *love* about LO:CI is the easy rapport between the two but there's never a need to progress from platonic affection. They know how to play against each other with the suspects without their egos getting involved.

But enough about non-sexual tension, just a mere head twitch from D'Onofrio could send me over the moon. I've had a jonz in my bonz for him ever since Full Metal Jacket, and yes that's even with the 70 pounds plus gained to play the tormented Private Pyle. I hate to use the term "sensitive," because that usually conjures up images of blubbering girlie men who are way too in touch with their feelings. But as Det. Goren, he's unafraid to show the vulnerabilities of a deeply complex man. Of course it doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes, but the smarts and the intellect combined with that incredible force of power behind his wit, his temper at times, lends a certain appeal. Whether psychologically manipulating a suspect into the palm of his hands or agonizing over his schizophrenic mother, he's the thinking woman's eye candy. Always ready to strut his brain, so to speak, and that's undeniably sexy.

Of course, the borderline mania angle isn't everyone's cup of tea. So to see that played out on screen in Episode #96, In The Wee Small Hours, Pt. 2 when Goren grins sheepishly at Eames after just learning she requested a partner change behind his back was fan-fucking-tastic. Without a hint of irony, he admits "I am an acquired taste." Meow. See where waxing poetic on my TV crush gets me? Right back at square one. Damn, I need a Marlboro Light.

Labels: Kathryn Erbe, Law And Order: Criminal Intent, TV, vices, Vincent D'Onofrio