Alexandra Eames

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Law & Order character
Det. Alexandra Eames
Time on show 2001-present
Preceded by G. Lynn Bishop (as temporary replacement while on maternity leave)
Succeeded by G. Lynn Bishop
First appearance One
Last appearance N/A
Portrayed by Kathryn Erbe

Det. Alexandra Eames is a fictional character featured in NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent, portrayed by Kathryn Erbe.

Eames is a police detective with Manhattan's Major Case Squad. She joined the NYPD to follow in the footsteps of her father, Johnny Eames, also a cop. She is partnered with Det. Robert Goren, and is the senior partner of the two. Her pragmatic, analytical investigative style serves as a balance against Goren's often eccentric investigation and interrogation methods. She and Goren did not see eye-to-eye at first; puzzled by his interrogation methods, she asked her superior officer for a new partner. She soon learned to appreciate his investigative skill, however, and withdrew the request. Even though they sometimes disagree as to the best way to solve cases, Eames and Goren have a solid partnership. In the years since they first became partners, Eames has become very good at playing along with Goren's sometimes farfetched or even bizarre methods of getting what they need; many times during the course of the show, it has been made very plain that Eames is the only person who really "gets" Goren.

Eames has twice been forced to fire upon a suspect (onscreen), in episodes "Homo Homini Lupis" and "Proud Flesh". When Goren and Eames are both in a squad car, Eames likes to drive. Goren once commented on this by saying, "That's her thing." Eames drinks vodka martinis, double, easy on the vermouth. Eames' badge number is 3798.

It is stated in season one that Eames comes from a family of cops. Her father was a detective who was caught "double-dipping" -- drawing a pension from New York City while being on the city payroll.[1] Eames entered the police academy in 1993. Mrs. Pagolis, who was a Senator, spoke at Eames's graduation from the academy. Eames greatly admired her as a role model for women. Before joining Major Case, Eames was with Vice for five years. For two years of that, she was in Chelsea.[2]

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune in 2001, Erbe said of Eames, "Her husband was a cop who was killed in the line of duty. None of this you will probably hear in the show." [3] Later, however, the show's writers decided to tell Eames' backstory. In the episode "The War at Home", Eames reveals she was once married to a man named Joe, who died eight years before (1998). In the season 7 opener, viewers learn that she was married from 1993-98 and that her husband's last name was Dutton. In one episode, Eames mentions dating a man named Terry. This is a reference to Erbe's real-life husband, Terry Kinney.

In 2003, Eames volunteered to serve as a surrogate mother for her sister's baby. (Eames's pregnancy was written into the show in order to coincide with Erbe's.) Det. G. Lynn Bishop was brought in as Goren's partner while Eames was on maternity leave, and could only be seen working from her desk. While her pregnancy was, on the whole, a positive experience, Eames sometimes feels pangs of regret and emptiness for having given the child up. During an investigation of Goren's archnemesis, Nicole Wallace, the career criminal was able to detect Eames' vulnerability on the subject and mocked her for having "eggs ripe and ready for hire" in an attempt to throw off her concentration. Regardless of whatever regrets she has from the experience, however, she is consoled by a very close relationship with the child she carried, stating that she sees her nephew three times a week. The maternity leave served to highlight the incredible compatibility and closeness she shares with Goren, who was shown to be somewhat lost without his partner; he consistently made comparisons between Bishop and Eames in which it was strongly implied that Eames was the superior partner.

In 2005, she and Goren included Det. Mike Logan in a case they were investigating. This paved the way for Logan to join Major Case a few months later.

In 2006, she was kidnapped in the season premiere episode "Blind Spot" by Jo Gage, the daughter of Dr. Declan Gage, Goren's mentor, in an attempt to get her father's attention. Jo was originally going to kill Eames. When talking to Goren in the hospital, Eames mentions that her kidnapper was trying to make her scream. When she revealed that she remained quiet, Goren told her that was likely what kept her alive. After the incident, Eames returned to duty, but (in the episode "Siren Call") she revealed that she is seeing a therapist to deal with the trauma.

The season seven premiere "Amends" has to do with the murder of her husband Joe back in 1998. Joe was shot by a Puertorican gang member named Manny Beltran during a drug bust where Joe had gone undercover. Manny's older cousin, a drug dealer and witness to the incident, quickly got him out of the country and testified that someone else did the shooting. DNA evidence uncovered Manny's guilt from a cigarette left at the scene.

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[edit] Tom DeLay controversy

  • One of Eames' lines earned Criminal Intent the ire of former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. In the episode in question, the detectives were investigating someone for murdering judges who authored decisions they disagreed with, and Eames joked that they should be looking for "somebody in a Tom DeLay t-shirt" (DeLay had publicly rebuked the Supreme Court, while still Majority Leader, for refusing to hear the Terri Schiavo case). DeLay, not yet under indictment for conspiracy and money laundering and stripped of his post, complained to Universal Television President Jeff Zucker. Criminal Intent producer Dick Wolf sent out a press release stating, "These shows are works of fiction... but I do congratulate Congressman DeLay for switching the spotlight from his own problems to an episode of a television show."

[edit] Details

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • She can name all 62 New York state counties in alphabetical order.
  • She is the widow of a cop named Joe Dutton; she kept and continues to use her maiden name of Eames. Joe once gave her a taser gun for their anniversary.
  • At one point during her career she tended bar.
  • In high school she was voted prom queen.[4]
  • She has an older sister and a much younger brother who likes to gamble, though is not an addict.
  • For a year her alcoholic aunt lived with her, until her father kicked her out for hitting Eames' little brother; Eames states, "That was the last time we ever saw her."
  • She still is impatient with alcoholics; in one episode, she was interrogating a witness who was drunk the night of her friend's murder, Eames yelled for her to remember, and the woman confessed to a crime she didn't commit (she could not remember what happened that night). Eames blamed herself and said, "I pushed her too hard."
  • She used to help her father fix cars in their garage.
  • She has two nieces and one nephew, the one for whom she was surrogate mother, whom she sees three times a week.
  • Eames often speaks of her father and her siblings, but never of her mother. Her whereabouts during Eames childhood is unknown. The only time her mother has ever been spoken of is brief: "I know what a stroke victim looks like, I've seen my mother." It's possible that Eames' mother is deceased.
  • Eames is sensitive to women who have been raped or beaten.

[edit] References

The citation style for specific episodes is Season # : Episode #, " Episode Name ".

  1. ^ 1:20, "Badge"
  2. ^ 6:14, "Brother's Keeper"
  3. ^ Chicago Tribune, Michael Kilian, November 1, 2001
  4. ^ 2:2, "Bright Boy"

[edit] External links

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