Bogosian (departed in part one), Erbe, and D'Onofrio are now gone.

Warning: SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW

Episode Title: “Loyalty (Part Two)” (Season 9, Episode 2)

Original Airdate: April 6, 2010 at 10:00 PM

Synopsis: Goren and Eames (Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe) team up with Nichols and the newly joined Stevens (Jeff Goldblum and Saffron Burrows) to try and stop arms dealers that are trying to start a new country. They are also figuring out how this is related to the murder of Captain Ross (Eric Bogosian) during part one.

Review: This episode closes the eight year era of Goren and Eames as the original two detectives depart at the end of this episode. Suspense and action was filled throughout the episode, making you wonder if Goren would finally snap. This episode clearly reminds us all how great of actors D’Onofrio and Erbe are and how much they will be missed from the series.

Burrows, Goldblum, and Mastrantonio are the new focus of the series.

This episode ends with the passing of the torch from Goren to Nichols that reflects real life as D’Onofrio hands the series off to Goldblum. Ending will be the alternating teams of detectives that has been a practice for the series since the fifth season, and Goldblum will be the focus of the series from now on. Fans have mixed reactions to this change, and only time will tell if the ratings slip due to the departures of the cast.

Overall, this episode proves that although this spinoff is on a cable network, it proves just as powerful as punch as either the original Law & Order or even to that of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Final Grade: 9.5/10