Robert Goren quotes from Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Eames

When I was a kid, I used to dream about living on a horse farm.

Goren

That's a nice dream... for a horse.

Goren

Was Mrs. Lindgard aware of what her son did for her?

Oh, yes. He walked with the angels, as far as she was concerned. She expected great things from him. [leaves]

Eames

16 years old... I can't imagine watching my mother suffer all night for 8 months.

Goren

He was powerless then. Now it's about having that control. It's a ritual he can't stop replaying.

Eames

So that's what $15,000,000 looks like.

Goren

So that's what vengeance gets you, a mouthful of ashes?

Goren

Last time, he left a suicide note?

He made a tape. He had it with him in the car. Ray loves the sound of his own voice.

Goren

Last time he tried to kill himself, his kids stopped him. This time, he was fighting chemistry. And chemistry won.

Murder by suicide.

Don't you care about me at all? I know you do, I saw it.

Goren

I didn't mean for you to see it.

Eames

As murders go, it's pretty flashy.

Goren

Could be the point.

Eames

Somebody bake a potato?

Goren

[smells the substance] It's residue. I don't know what it is.

Eames

[pleased] A smell you can't identify.

Goren

He killed them and then took photos of them.

Eames

Can hold the pose for hours and not complain. The perfect models.

Goren

Whatever you meant or didn't mean, they're now going to convict you of first-degree murder.

Don't let them scare you. If they had the evidence, he wouldn't be here talking to you.

Goren

[slamming his hand down on the table] Do not mistake my meaning for being here! Do not! [to Tagman] Maybe he's right, John. Maybe you will walk out of here a free man - but you won't be free. Because you want what you want: someone who won't leave. Who won't judge you. Someone who will surrender herself to you. A girlfriend. Now, this need, it won't stop. You know that about yourself, don't you?

[choking up] I... no. No. I'm not like that.

Goren

John, your loneliness is so deep you can't help but do this again. Hurt other women. Commit evermore depraved acts. You ate Amanda's flesh. You cooked it with potatoes and onions. Because you needed to be connected to her, to be close to her. That's what your life is always gonna be like. You're always gonna be looking for that connection, each day worse than the last. I know you want to stop. I know you want to be a good person. I can see it, because you have remorse. It's why you drink. John, take responsibility.

Mr. Tagman, don't answer him.

Goren

This will never stop until you take responsibility.

The interview is over...

Goren

She can't even remember her own name, John. She can't remember.

Detective...

Goren

How many more?

[sobbing] I don't know why I do this! I wanna know why, I... oh, God, I'm so sorry! I just wanted... I'm sorry! What is wrong with me? Oh my God!

Eames

A heartfelt confession. So much for the death penalty.

Wallace

I came here for a truce, Bobby.

Goren

A truce?

Wallace

Notwithstanding your "unrelenting pursuit of evil".

Goren

Evil, Nicole, is also unrelenting in its pursuits.

Wallace

You're both so transparent, using Ella to get at me.

Goren

That's Nicole's maternal instinct rearing its little head.

Eames

You can't deny those feelings even if you can't have kids of your own.

Wallace

Yes, thank you. We can't all be blessed with eggs ripe and ready for hire. Tell me, detective, did your sister at least let you keep the sonogram so you could have something to cuddle up with at night?

Eames

[angry but controlled] I see my nephew at least three times a week. Being pregnant was a great experience. Consider yourself robbed.

Wallace

Who helped you concoct this theory, your mother?

Goren

In her wildest delusions, she never spawned anything like you, Nicole.

Goren

How long do you think it would have taken for Nicole to collect a quart of her own blood?

Eames

If the blood was a set-up, why wouldn't Ella say something about it when she saw it all over the room?

Goren

Maybe she was in on it. Maybe we never turned her.

Eames

And she had to learn the hard way.

Goren

It's just a thought.

I should talk to an attorney.

Eames

Better make it a good one, with experience in murder cases. That lady's head had a bullet in it.

Goren

Cat got your tongue?

Goren

'cuz there's an extra one in here.