Like Season 5 of 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' with "Head", Season 5 of 'Criminal Intent' ended disappointingly with "The Good" (the original's Season 5 ended very well with "Pride"). So of course, being someone who likes 'Criminal Intent' but was somewhat mixed actually on Season 5, there was the hope of Season 6 starting off on the right foot and seeing the show back on track. Even with having the big change of Deakins being gone.
"Blind Spot" was a mostly very well done start to Season 6. It is not the season at its best and it is not the show at its best either, the best of Seasons 1-4 are a lot better, and is not quite enough of the big return to form as wanted. It does see 'Criminal Intent' back on the right track, a vast improvement over the Season 5 finale and actually for quite a lot of that season, and has a lot of great things that outweigh the gripes and that there was a feeling of things not being completely settled.
Am going to start off summing up the gripes. Did not in this episode care for the new captain Danny Ross. His aggressive one dimensional demeanour is overplayed and there is very little to his role and presence here other than the source of unsubtle conflict for Goren, the writers making no attempt in showing (or more like hammering home) his unhidden thoughts on Goren in a subtle way and it unbalances "Blind Spot" a bit.
While the perpetrator was a surprise, after one for a while thinks it is somebody else quite believably, their motivations for my tastes felt far fetched, confused and inconsistent, like they had not completely followed things through and not as calculated as one thinks to begin with. Would have liked to have seen more of Goren's perceptions and how his mind works, which plays a large part in 'Criminal Intent's' charm, too much random conclusion jumping and figuring things out just like that well before the viewer does.
The production values however 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 how the mentor relationship is explored (though there could have been more of that aspect. Eames' predicament is very suspenseful and there are some nice twists and turns.
Eames is very resourceful and brave here and her safety and situation are so rootable and scary. It was very interesting and touching to see a different side to Goren (always do like when he shows his softer side), where it is obvious how much he cares for Eames and how much she means to him. Vincent D'Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe are both excellent, especially Erbe. John Glover has sinister gleeful fun as Gage and Martha Plimpton does absolute complex wonders with her too short screen time. Only Eric Bogosian disappoints and Ross' character writing is what undoes any efforts.
Altogether, good but not great start to Season 6. 7/10