The ninth and tenth seasons of the series showed two major detectives working the unit in all episodes under the leadership of Captain Zoe Callas and later Joseph Hannah.
Each episode, Goren typically employs his knowledge of an unusually wide range of topics, from theoretical physics, chemistry, and literature to history, psychology, and multiple foreign languages.
While still an assertive and no-nonsense cop and the senior partner of the pairing, much of Eames's dialogue consists of sarcastic, pun-heavy observations delivered at dramatically opportune moments (much like Law & Order's Detective Lennie Briscoe character).
Their working relationship is more formal than that of the lead detectives in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit –Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay)– who typically address each other by their given names and have strong emotional interplay.
In the third season, Eames embarked on a surrogate pregnancy for her sister and brother-in-law and, before her maternity leave, was assigned to desk duty at the police station; her work in the field with Goren was covered by G. Lynn Bishop.
They are brought back to duty at the request of the new squad captain, Joseph Hannah (Jay O. Sanders), who has been a friend of Goren since their initial training at the police academy.
Since the end of Criminal Intent, Eames has appeared twice on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, holding the rank of Lieutenant and commanding a task force formed jointly by the NYPD and the federal Department of Homeland Security.
Robert Goren (Vincent D'Onofrio),[2] assigned to the Major Case Squad of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), due to Det.
Logan first appeared on Criminal Intent in the fourth-season episode "Stress Position", through his romantic involvement with a nurse employed at a prison being investigated by Goren and Eames.
[7] Annabella Sciorra reprised her role as Barek in the 22nd season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, for the episode "Hunt, Trap, Rape, and Release".
[8] When one of her detectives is revealed to be the rapist, she believes her NYPD career to be over; instead of forcing her to retire, though, Deputy Chief Garland transfers her from SVU to Homicide and urges her not to draw any attention to herself.
However, she is shown in the same episode to be unable to hear the ultrasonic ring tone used by a teenage suspect to sneak a cell phone into school, a frequency that it was claimed few people over age 30 can detect.
[13] At the end of Season 6, Wheeler tells Logan that she is going to Europe to teach a course on American police procedure (This story explained the absence of Julianne Nicholson, who was taking maternity leave).
However, in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 15 episode "Gambler's Fallacy", aired in 2014, Detective Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) uses Wheeler's ID and badge to remove a gun from an evidence room.
In the episode "Contract", Logan tells Wheeler that Falacci is now a training officer for the CIA at the agency's headquarters in Quantico, Virginia, having felt hamstrung at Major Case.
The department discontinued use of the weapon because it could not be modified to function on a trigger pull of 12 pounds, as mandated by internal regulations to reduce the chance of accidental discharge by officers.
Although Deakins' first priority is the success of criminal investigations, he is often forced to rein in his more unpredictable detectives, especially Goren and Logan, to manage the bad publicity they occasionally attract.
Deakins leaves his post at the end of Season 5 rather than battle a conspiracy to frame him instigated by former police officer Frank Adair (Michael Rispoli), whom Major Case detectives had arrested for killing his lover and her husband and who was sentenced to life without parole.
A uniformed policeman, Officer Martinez, backs up Logan's self-defense claim, but Adair plants an e-mail falsely implicating Deakins in official corruption.
He is given the position of captain of the Major Case Squad as a reward for a successful three-year stint as head of the NYPD's Joint Task Force on International Money Laundering.
Captain Ross is shot and killed in the line of duty in the first part of the season 9 premiere "Loyalty" as a result of working undercover with the FBI on a RICO case.
In the episode "Neighborhood Watch", after his detectives close a homicide involving a very ignorant murderer, he refers to the killer as "the banality of evil", quoting the sub-title of the book Eichmann in Jerusalem by political theorist Hannah Arendt.
Carver often works in conjunction with detectives Robert Goren, Alexandra Eames, Mike Logan, and Carolyn Barek of the Major Case Squad.
Though he wears a wedding ring, the only direct reference he has made to being married was during a particularly twisted investigation; after hearing all the gruesome details, he observed, "This makes me want to go home and kiss my wife".
In her next appearance, "A Person of Interest", Goren tricks her into admitting responsibility for another murder, but she is found not guilty in "Pas de Deux", thanks to a team of lawyers hired by her wealthy husband, Gavin Haynes (Richard Joseph Paul), who later divorces her.
In "Frame", it is revealed he is showing signs of diminishing capacity and concocts a plan to dispose of people whom Gage sees as destructive in Goren's life, "to set him free".
In "In the Wee Small Hours", he takes up an offer from Goren and Eames to spy on a prisoner in exchange of postal privileges at Rikers Island, where he was transferred for a few weeks.
It is through evidence of repetition and patterns that Goren and Eames conclude that Wally is on the autism spectrum (Asperger's Syndrome) as well as orchestrating several murders of homeless people for insurance money.
Daniels is introduced in the sixth-season episode, "Players" where a judge's son is found shot to death, shortly after a notorious rap artist is sentenced in court.
Maas joined as a temporary replacement for Captain Danny Ross, who was murdered working a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act case with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.