Robert Goren

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Det. Robert Goren
Law & Order character

Time on show	2001-present
Preceded	N/A
Succeeded	None
First appearance	One
Last appearance	N/A
Portrayed by	Vincent D'Onofrio

Det. Robert Goren is a fictional character featured in NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent, played by Vincent D'Onofrio. Goren works as a detective for the Major Case Squad in the New York Police Department (NYPD). As portrayed by D'Onofrio, he is an intense, intelligent man who uses his intuition and insight into human nature to size up suspects and pick apart the details of their crimes.

1 Biography
2 Stats
3 Trivia
4 Scenes with a district attorney
5 External links

[edit] Biography

After college, Goren served in the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany and South Korea, earning a purple heart and the rank of Captain, before joining the NYPD. Goren spent four years in the Narcotics Division, running three sting operations that resulted in 27 arrests and 27 convictions. At some point in his early career — probably during his time in Narcotics — he was mentored in criminal profiling by Dr. Declan Gage (6:1 "Blind Spot").

He is partnered with Det. Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), although he was temporarily partnered with Det. G. Lynn Bishop (Samantha Buck) in 2003–2004, while Eames was on maternity leave. Eames is practical, while Goren is often portrayed as intellectual, yet there is little evidence of conflict between them. (Goren later learned that Eames had petitioned the department for a new partner soon after they were paired together, but she soon withdrew the petition.)

The show highlights his abilities as a profiler and an interrogator, able to elicit confessions from calculating killers with his insight into their minds and his imposing physical presence. Goren has, however, also shown some tender moments; his mother, who suffers from schizophrenia, is hospitalized, and is later diagnosed with lymphoma, and Goren visits her every week. Goren has been known to openly flinch whenever his mother or his father, who abandoned their family, is mentioned. (Goren's archnemesis, Nicole Wallace (Olivia d'Abo) often exploits this weakness.)

Goren is often compared to Sherlock Holmes; both latch onto certain clues that seem minor but end up breaking the case. They both also possess the ability to come up with a complete theory of a crime based on little evidence, and sustain that theory based on what they do find. The Wallace character is a direct attempt to play on the part of Sherlock Holmes' female antagonist Irene Adler, also known as "The Woman."

Goren's character also owes a lot to another popular television detective, Lt. Columbo. He often mirrors Columbo's habit of asking a suspect "one last" question before leaving; he also catches people off guard by pretending to be incompetent. While Goren is not as disheveled as Columbo, he certainly is not as formal as his fellow detectives, tending to appear unshaven and wearing an oversized trenchcoat.

While Goren will never cross the line into open insubordination, he will occasionally push professional boundaries, either because he feels it will solve the case more effectively, or because empathy for a suspect leads him to believe that the most extreme punishments are not warranted. He once said that this willingness to test authority stems from his days as a "lapsed altar boy."

Criminal Intent starts from the perspective of the criminal, a witness, or even a victim. On the show's website, D'Onofrio states:

Bobby Goren takes you through a different story each week. Sometimes it's a "who-dunnit" or even a "why-dunnit." The fun and interesting thing is that the audience knows things my character doesn't and, as the story goes along, will realize that I know things that they don't. The whole story is a game and we all get to play

An interesting quirk of Goren's is his habit of cocking his head at odd angles - "side talking" - at certain times, such as when interrogating a suspect. D'Onofrio invented this habit, derived from a scene in the pilot episode where a suspect Goren was interrogating would not look him in the eye. It is such a strong identifier of his character that the third-season episode "The Gift" featured a woman who, while describing a psychic dream she had, labeled Goren as being "the man with the broken neck."

In the episode "In the Wee Small Hours", it was revealed that Goren is estranged from his brother, who has a gambling problem, and that he harbors a great deal of anger toward his father.

Often when questioning people in the field, Goren will attempt to agitate uncooperative suspects by exploiting a weakness he has noticed. For example, if he believes a subject is a "neat freak," he will deliberately move the subject's possessions around to create clutter, appearing to do so out of clumsiness or lack of respect, in order to rattle them and elicit cooperation.

Goren's mother, Frances, recently appeared onscreen for the first time (in the episode "The War At Home"). She was played by Rita Moreno. When we see her, she is very ill and is about to undergo surgery; Goren is called away several times during the episode to check up on her progress. Her illness leaves Goren visibly shaken and prone to snap at his colleagues; her prognosis is unknown.

[edit] Stats

Goren was born on August 20, 1961.
Goren's badge number is 4376.
Goren wears a size 13 shoe.
Goren is left-handed.
Goren apparently knows German, Dutch and some Cantonese thanks to his army experience.

[edit] Trivia

Goren always carries both a cloth handkerchief and a switchblade with him.
Goren usually carries a well worn leather binder.
Goren played basketball as a child, but quit when he "lost [his] love for the game," possibly due to the fact his father never paid a great deal of attention to his efforts. His position on his JV high school team was power forward.
He has claimed that, while he was in the armed forces, he read the Qur'an in order to impress a Muslim woman he was attracted to.
Since Goren is often compared to Sherlock Holmes, his brother (who has been mentioned several times, and is rumored to make his first onscreen appearance soon) is suspected by many fans of the show to be an analogue of Holmes' brother, Mycroft Holmes. The name, and onscreen actor, of Goren's brother are not yet known.