Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent is an award-winning hit in Canada, and now it’s testing its legs with its first two seasons airing in the U.S., not on NBC, but The CW. Based on the original L&O: Criminal Intent which starred a memorable Vincent D’Onofrio — longtime Dick Wolf exec producer Rene Balcer created both series — the procedural focuses on the motives of criminals, especially killers. The show stars Kathleen Munroe (FBI) — a major L&O fan — as Detective Sergeant Frankie Bateman and Aden Young (Rectify) — who admittedly never watched an entire episode — as DS Henry Graff.
Young shares that when he joined the L&O spinoff, he was confident that Munroe “would know the rules and would understand the environment of the show. I kind of wanted to turn up like Starman, not knowing where the boundaries were so that I could overstep them at times.”
Bateman and Graff work on the Specialized Criminal Investigation squad, akin to the original’s Major Cases unit. “When there’s a crime or murder that is particularly baffling to the beat cops,” Munroe explains, “we step in.” As Young puts it, “They’re essentially the Navy SEALs of the police force.”
Munroe calls the working relationship between the two cops “akin to Holmes and Watson. Henry is idiosyncratic and really observational with a bunch of esoteric knowledge, and Frankie comes with more human interaction skills and fact-driven problem solving,” she says. “We’re an odd couple, but we’re both detectives at the top of our game. Even though we come from different perspectives on the work, we complement each other.”
It is “a good relationship to have when one’s partner goes after facts and the other’s interest is in motivation,” notes Young, likening Henry, to D’Onofrio’s unusual NYC detective in the original Criminal Intent. “I wanted Henry to be a man that sits outside the world to instill in him a sense of childish curiosity; he’s curious as to the why of the murder, not as much as the how.” For both of them, as Munroe puts it, “it’s a ride or die partnership.” Schitt’s Creek fans, by the way, will recognize Karen Robinson as the duo’s boss Inspector Vivienne Holness.
Following the L&O franchise, the writers use real life crimes — Canadian in this case — as jumping off points. The pilot features a crypto currency scam involving, natch, a murder; followed by such criminal cases as the death of a beloved art professor whose art helps reveal “the real Eve” and her killer, and the killing of a journalist in the midst of a heated mayoral race.
Though the new show’s format will be familiar to any U.S. fan, the actors do note a few cultural tweaks. Says Munroe: “The DA is called a Crown Attorney [here played by K.C. Collins], we have fewer gun crimes, cops interview suspects without a lawyer, and our writers are really interested in the root factors involved in crime.”
Adds Young: “There are differences in how you’re allowed to enforce the law. For example, American [police] might come in with guns blazing while there’s a certain Canadian way of having compassion come in first. We’re taking the great recipe and sprinkling a little bit of Canadian MSG on it. Hopefully, it’ll leave a decent taste in your mouth.” Dun dun!
Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent, Series Premiere, Wednesday, September 24, 8/7c, The CW