I really like Waking the Dead, though I don't see much fannish stuff online. I think Trevor Eve is great as Boyd, and Sue Johnson is also superb as Grace Foley. I mean, it's standard crime drama stuff, with grumpy psycho cops getting too emotionally involved in the case and so on, but I enjoy it a great deal. Perhaps I find it easier to enjoy a drama in a professional setting if the people in charge are oldsters rather than implausibly buff youngsters.
Both Criminal Intent and Waking the Dead have had extended storyline with the male cop flirting with a female super-brain psychopath. I know it's a cliché but I've really enjoyed those stories in both series.
I read a good online article the other day, might have been on Pandagon, where she said that views on torture were distorted by dramas that use torture as a lazy plot device to make the protagonist more edgy. Pretending that torture is effective makes sense in dramatic terms (was her argument) even though in real life it's obviously a rubbish way to get information.
Personally I think drama can be much more exciting and transgressive where police don't carry guns and don't use torture. If it's well written that is. There have been many scenes in Waking the Dead where Boyd and his crew have had to walk into danger unarmed, and I think it's exciting. The requirement to dominate by force of personality not force of arms makes for better drama. Similarly, I think that non-violent interrogation scenes can be a lot more thrilling and exciting than ones which centre around the application of force. Homicide: Life on the Streets used to give some brilliant interrogation scenes.