"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" Rocket Man (2007)

Director:

Michael Smith

Writers:

Dick Wolf (creator)
Rene Balcer (developer)

TV Series:

"Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001)

Original Air Date:

1 May 2007 (Season 6, Episode 19)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

A female astronaut is found murdered in her hotel room on the morning of a press conference. The investigation leads to several suspects, including a jealous professional rival, an ex-boyfriend and a married space-shuttle commander (Tate Donovan) with whom the victim was having an affair. |

Plot Keywords:

Astronaut | Male Female Relationship | Stabbed To Death | NASA | NSA

Cast

Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Detective Robert Goren
Kathryn Erbe	...	Detective Alexandra Eames
Eric Bogosian	...	Captain Danny Ross
Tate Donovan	...	Commander Luke Nelson
Amy Ryan	...	Edie Nelson
Charissa Chamorro	...	Sandy Del Gado
Michael Cumpsty	...	Mark Schaeffer
Peter Bradbury	...	Major Craig Hurley
Leslie Hendrix	...	Dr. Elizabeth Rodgers
Phoebe Jonas	...	Barbara Lee
Ty Jones	...	Matt Shaw
Tony Devon	...	NASA Doctor
Ed Moran	...	Fahey
Sarah Ireland	...	Holmes
Lisa Velten	...	Ms. Paterson (as Lisa Velten Smith)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Company:

Wolf Films

Trivia:

This ''ripped from the headlines'' episode was based on the bizarre love triangle of diaper-wearing NASA astronaut Lisa Caputo Nowak.

Soundtrack:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Portraying NASA As 'Peyton Place'

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Let's see......a female astronaut who was discovered wore diapers on a long car trip, to meet up with her boyfriend. Sound familiar? Well, that real-life episode obviously inspired this Law & Order Criminal Intent story except, as usual, the writers here took it to extremes.

The liberal writers of Law & Order are known for this kind of thing, especially any opportunity which enables them to bash a credible, wholesome organization or occupation. In this case, it's astronauts. Instead of one wacko, we get a story in which every astronaut pictured is an immoral pig or a nut-job. Yeah, L&O trashes the astronaut profession. Amazing. Few professions, if you do any research, have a better track record of employing quality human beings than NASA's space men and women. If it's a sleazy profession, say prostitution, however, Law & Order will make everyone look on the up-and-up.

In this episode, every astronaut is sleeping with every other one, or is lying about someone, or covering up, on and on. This is "Peyton Place," not outer space, according to the knowledgeable L&O writers. I won't say who, but those who love this kind of melodrama will love this fictional story. You'll get a headache trying to follow all the relationships, real or imagined.

It also couldn't have been too intelligently written when I figured out who the killer was almost immediately. If I can see it that quickly, then you know there isn't much of a mystery to the story. The best years, as in many TV shows, of Criminal Intent, seem to be the first few. I'm not I like seeing Vincent D'Onofrio only once every two or three weeks, either. He's "the man," concerning Criminal Intent and always will be such.

Meanwhile.......I miss his nemesis, "Nicole Wallace."