CRIMINAL MINDS Season 9 - 910. The Caller - Comments Thread

This thread is open for you all to post comments and talk about tonight's new CRIMINAL MINDS episode, titled 'The Caller', and written by Sharon Lee Watson.

Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that next week we'll get the first rerun of the season.

Happy Thanksgiving to our US Knights, readers and commenters!

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 9 - 912. The Black Queen - TVGuide Spoiler

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Do you have details on Garcia's ex-boyfriend on Criminal Minds? — Charity

ADAM: Royal Pains' Paulo Costanzo will play him and will appear in the 12th episode, which features a flashback to 2004. Garcia will also bump into him in the present day,...

To Read More: TVGuide.com

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 9 - 909. Strange Fuit - Review

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

~~ STRANGE FRUIT

Normally, I watch an episode that I'm reviewing at least twice, sometimes 3 or 4 times. But this one was so powerful, I watched it only once before writing all of this. (Don't worry, Ms. Barrois – I am going to go watch it again and again, after I post my comments.)  For this review, I'm going to go through it primarily by character, because as much as the plot and the editing were superb (and I will comment on those as well), what remains with me most is the portrait of each individual that was highlighted by Janine Sherman Barrois' excellent script and Constantine Makris' expert direction.

LYLE JOHNSON, the son (Seth Gilliam)
Seeing his father kill someone when he was a 5 year old child, well that would certainly explain why he had so many behavioral problems throughout his life.  (And I just have to insert this random shallow comment: his gait when he tries to run away from Hotch after he and his father come home to a yard full of law enforcement…well, it looked goofy, like a Looney Tunes cartoon. It distracted me. But that was probably just me.)  Whatever you thought of Lyle's behavior and motivations (and his abrupt collapse from enraged suspect to crying penitent after seeing his murdered girlfriend's photo left me a bit disoriented) you must admit that Seth Gilliam's performance was gripping.

The younger male Johnson generated an active sense of discomfort and frustration in this viewer, watching his antagonistic “yessuh” antics during his interrogation scenes with Hotch, who is possibly the whitest white man in America (culturally speaking). Why won't Lyle just answer the questions and clear himself?? But then, I'm not a black man, so I've never had to deal with the sidelong glances and “random” stop and frisks and other casual incidents that could create such explosive anger in a man, innocent or not. As the episode's title from the Billie Holiday song promises, this story is inextricably bound up in race and all of the reasons someone once produced a t-shirt for sale that read, “No, white lady, I DON'T want your purse.”

“This country is not kind to young black men.”

TINA JOHNSON, the mother ( L. Scott Caldwell)

Ms. Caldwell's performance was spot on as a woman living in denial. Immersed in decorating her home, and burying her disappointment over having a boy (her conversation / interrogation with Morgan was memorable indeed!) she seemed the epitome of a gentle southern mother determinedly ignoring her son's troubled behavior and her husband's castration. (Who WAS Lyle's father anyway?? I suppose that's not really important to the plot, but still…I wanna know!)

My, what an ambiguous look you have . . . (a\k\a it's all in the eyes)

CHARLES JOHNSON, the father (Glynn Turman)
1st warning sign: The Johnsons are described as salt of the earth.
2nd warning sign: …involved with the Neighborhood Watch,
3rd warning sign: …and have lived there for 35 YEARS!
4th warning sign: “Tina wanted a pool but we knew we’d never have time to use it.” Oh really? We did, did we?

Yes, here we come to the TRUE masterpiece (and I use this word deliberately) of this episode: Glynn Turman's performance was... words truly fail me!   Much of the success or failure of STRANGE FRUIT rested upon his shoulders and he bore the load without breaking a sweat. Transforming from an apparently stern but warm father to a controlled serial killer filled with hate…WOW.  The fact that I am not writing much about Mr. Turman is a case of "less is more": nothing I say can really compare to his cobra-and-mongoose dance with Rossi, which I plan to watch repeatedly.

Yep, looking YOURSELF in the eye is always the hardest test, isn't it?

SSA DAVID ROSSI (Joe Mantegna)
Joe Mantegna's acting during his scenes with the not-so UnSub (but that's okay, it's a duel here, not a hunt) was stellar! Superb! Subtle! Pick an “S” superlative! His scenes rose to the Clarice-and-Hannibal level of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.  Our beloved Rossi, sharing a shameful period of his youth, left me hoping right until the bathroom scene that it was merely an embellishment to taunt the suspect, as he did in THE RECKONER.  His look of self-disgust in the men's room said it all. Alas.

I thought that Morgan's self-righteous reaction to Rossi afterward didn't take into account the era (how many decades ago? four? five?) and the age: sure Derek was picked upon as a sapling in Chicago, but there was unlikely to be a white kid nearby that his classmates would torment in addition to him.

SECTION CHIEF MATEO CRUZ (Esai Morales)
I liked his interplay with Hotch, where the seasoned interrogator explains his technique to the expert administrator who's seeking to learn about field work.  It provides insight for the audience (“Oh, so he WANTS to get him mad!”) about both the delicate balance of a BAU agent's interrogation, and the new Section Chief's seemingly genuine desire to learn. More Esai Morales please!

In terms of his archly alluded to “assignment” with J.J., just as with The Replicator last season, the hints and teases leave me cold, as does the post-DoD J.J.  Actually, an affair between Cruz and J.J., though possibly tawdry, would be more interesting than whatever-this-is, since the team’s constant travelling and long hours are not kind to marriages.

PLOT, EDITING, and all that other GOOD STUFF
The interrogation flow, between the BAU and all 3 Johnsons, was masterful.  Having a skilled veteran director such as Constantine Makris, whom I first noticed as a cinematographer on the original LAW & ORDER, definitely paid off.  He was able to keep the tightly plotted events flowing smoothly, while at the same time eliciting riveting performances from his three leads AND the regulars. Even the “introducing the dead bodies” couple before the opening credits acquitted themselves quite well.

Having never seen a shooting script, I am not quite sure how much of the brilliant editing (revealing key plot/profiling details) throughout STRANGE FRUIT is due to the director or the writer, so I am going to split the difference and say they were BOTH awesome.

Rarely have I noticed such pointed commentary about racism in a CM episode*, but I think confronting the elephant in the room makes this a stronger rather than a weaker episode.  [Aside from Morgan's hilarious wisecrack in A REAL RAIN  about a white serial killer being able to get a cab before a black man -- “Well, he got picked up in the pouring rain by a New York cabbie, so we definitely know he's not a brother” -- it seems to me CM rarely tackles race on a sustained basis.] But as Hotch pointed out in NATURAL BORN KILLER, horrific abuse doesn't always create a serial killer.  However, it does helpfully provide endless fodder for future UnSubs.

Yes indeed, Season 9 is definitely harkening back to classic CRIMINAL MINDS, and improving on it in this case: I despised the flamboyant theatrics of MASTERPIECE, but THIS episode provides a worthy cat and mouse dance, akin to SOUL MATES. After the disappointment of Season 8 (where I seriously considered giving up on the series) this fan is as pleased as punch! Bravo, Janine!

~~~~Chaucer

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 9 - 910. The Caller - Sneak Peek

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 9 - 911. Bully - Press Release

BLAKE, HER FATHER AND BROTHER ENDURE A TENSE REUNION WHEN THEY MUST WORK TOGETHER ON A MURDER INVESTIGATION, ON “CRIMINAL MINDS,” WEDNESDAY, DEC. 11

“Bully” – When the BAU is called to Kansas City to investigate a series of murders, a tense reunion ensues between Blake and her father, a retired police captain, and her brother, a detective, who must work together to help solve the crime, on CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Dec. 11 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

CHEAT TWEET: It's no happy reunion when Blake works w/her police cap't dad & detective bro in KC on #CriminalMinds 12/11, 9pm http://bit.ly/1ev0LaP

SERIES REGULARS:
Joe Mantegna (David Rossi)
Thomas Gibson (Aaron Hotchner)
Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan)
Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid)
A.J. Cook (Jennifer “JJ” Jareau)
Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia)
Jeanne Tripplehorn (Alex Blake)

GUEST CAST:
Brennan Elliott (Scott Miller)
Tom Bower (Damon Miller)
Tom Vincent (Ronald James Underwood)
Jim Garrity (Harold Ramsey)
Felisha Cooper (Laurie Patterson)
Jake Miller (Charles Gates)
Arianna Ortiz (Dr. Liz Montoya)
Tim True (Daryl Barnes)
Kim Genelle (Renee Patterson)
Simon Vance (Gil Patterson)
Macka Foley (Trainer)
Saxon Jones (Riley Wilson)
Braden Lynch (Edward Ray Stokes)
Lindsay Wolf (Sheryl)
Phillip Fallon (Young Ronald)

WRITTEN BY: Virgil Williams
DIRECTED BY: Glenn Kershaw

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 9 - BTS: 913. The Road Home

This post may contain spoilers, probably small, but they may be big too; proceed with caution!
This post will be updated when more images of our dear gang are shared from the set.

Ep. 913 Concept Meeting with writer Bruce Zimmerman and Joe Mantegna in his
CM directorial debut! - Photo by CM_SetReport

Guess who's directing? @JoeMantegna @CM_SetReport @LLPOS @VirgilWilliams
@rickdunkle @sleewatson @iKimHarrison - Photo by Janine Sherman Barrois

Came to the audition for Criminal Minds and it was based on looks. I got picked heck yeah. #Quixote #Studios #Audition #Gangbanger #CriminalMinds #WasNervous #IGotPicked #Happy #AFavoriteShow #inkedup #inkaddict #inklife #inkallday #tattoolife #tattoos #Pico #Rivera #PicoRivera #90660 - Photo by Ruben Sifuentes

Here at Quixote Studios ready for the mug shot to be taken #QuixoteStudios #Quixote #Studios #Criminal #Minds #CriminalMinds #Gangbanger #Mug #Shot #MugShot #Stage8 #StageEight #Stage #Eight #EasyMoney #SetLife #LosAngeles #inkaddict #inkedup #inkallday #inklife #tattoolife #tattoos #Pico #Rivera #PicoRivera #90660
- Photo by Ruben Sifuentes 

Here at Quixote Studios ready for the mug shot to be taken #QuixoteStudios #Quixote #Studios #Criminal #Minds #CriminalMinds #Gangbanger #Mug #Shot #MugShot #Stage8 #StageEight #Stage #Eight #EasyMoney #SetLife #Filas #BaggyJeans #ButtonedUpShirt #LosAngeles #inkaddict #inkedup #inkallday #inklife #tattoolife #tattoos #Pico #Rivera #PicoRivera #90660 - Photo by Ruben Sifuentes

Getting paid to wait around in the lobby while they go over any issues with my neck tattoos #EasyMoney #QuixoteStudios #Quixote #Studios #WaitingAround #Chilling #StudioLobby #TattooIssues #SetLife #LosAngeles #ClearanceIssues #ToCoverThemUpOrNot #photo stills #mugshot #inklife #inkedup #inkaddict #inkallday #Pico #Rivera #PicoRivera #90660 - Photo by Ruben Sifuentes

This salad was legit, it had walnuts, grapes and feta. Shit was refreshing. I just realized I am getting paid to eat at the moment....easy money. #SaladWithFruit #fruits #walnuts #grapes #feta #cranberry #juice #missingthevodka #crafty #cart #theseproductioneatsgood #tryingtoeathealthy #SetLife #icangetusedtothis #WaitingAround #stillhere #gettingpaid #inklife #inkedup #inkallday #inkaddict #tattoolife #tattoos #Pico #Rivera #PicoRivera #90660
- Photo by Ruben Sifuentes

Look out Mexico City, Dave and the boys from Foo Fighters started rehearsal today.
Could so be worth flying down. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Sitting down for the #criminalminds EP9x13 readthru. Director @JoeMantegna is at the head of the table!
- Photo by CM_SetReport 

.@JoeMantegna is our director for the next episode which is beyond the wonderful. Today at the table read xox
- Photo by Kirsten Vangsness

Day one - Photo by Joe Mantegna

Not the best of days weather wise for Joe to start his episode. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Joe Montegna, the new Hitchcok, master of suspence... - Photo by Joseph Geisinger

Joe Mantegna's first day directing episode #913. Yay! - Photo by Harry Bring

@JoeMantegna lining up the first shot after lunch with cameraman Greg St Johns.
- Photo by John Hatchitt 

Photo by Joe Mantegna

Photo by Joe Mantegna

@JoeMantegna just want To say it was a blast working for you today and you are
one hell of a good director. - Photo by Spike Silver

Inside the lunch box! - Photo by Jesse Jacobus

Inside Aydens trailer...doing school like a good little boy!
- Photo by Jesse Jacobus

So today was a great day indeed, got to work on the set of Criminal Minds and they are the best set I've worked for to this day. #EasyMoney #ActorAndDirector ~~~> #DavidRossi #VeryProfessional #JoeMontega #CriminalMinds #Criminal #Minds #AFavoriteShow #Gangbangers #GotShot #Died #DidMyOwnStunts #OnLocation #HighlandPark #inklife #inkedup #inkallday #inkaddict #tattoolife #tattoos #Pico #Rivera #PicoRivera #90660
- Photo by Ruben Sifuentes

This was my morning grind.... to play a gangbanger on location for Criminal Minds and eat good food. Lol
#Criminal #Minds #CrimnalMinds #Breakfast #Quesadilla #MyOwnScript #GotATattooRemoved
#MakeUpTrailer #tattooisgone #ActorAndDirector #JoeMontega #DavidRossi #Gangbangers #Unsub
#goodtimes #earlymorninghours #EasyMoney #inklife #inkaddict #inkallday #inkedup #inkfiend #tattoolife #TattooIssues #tattoos #Pico #Rivera #PicoRivera #90660 - Photo by Ruben Sifuentes

Most amazing day on set portraying wife of @jongries directed by @JoeMantegna
4 @CrimMinds_CBS #GTA5 #CriminalMinds - Photo by Michal Sinnott

Lovely day on set @jongries could not be more generous of spirit and kind. Feeling blessed. #criminalminds
- Photo by Michal Sinnott;

Had a long, but great day shooting for @CrimMinds_CBS today with @thewiscokid and @JoeMantegna
#criminalminds #onset - Photo by Nikia Lee Provenzano

@JoeMantegna you're awesome! Had fun today. - Photo by Nikia Lee Provenzano

Movember is going well, really just want to be like @JoeMantegna or half as fast as @lachlanmorton.
- Photo by John Hatchitt

Day 2 it's going great. - Photo by Joe Mantegna

Last shot of the night, Happy Weekend All. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Day 3, oh yeah I'm in this scene - Photo by Joe Mantegna

Beautiful day to be outside playing. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Day 4. What a great crew. So good at their jobs. @CrimMinds_CBS - Photo by Joe Mantegna

The Man, the Myth, the Legend hard at work today. Don't think we are going to have
a Hard Day with him. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Working with the awesome Maschach Taylor today. - Photo by Dayne Johnson

Three Amigos... Mr Director/Superstar Joe Mantegne and Dopey n Dippity.. - Photo by Shemar Moore

He always brings in a crowd and takes the time to take some pics. I do like him at times. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Photo by Joe Mantegna

That's a wrap. @joemantegna #criminalminds #grateful #classact - Photo by Hilary Ward

@JoeMantegna going over what should be an action packed scene here on stage today with
Andre our FX coordinator. - Photo by John Hatchitt

CREAM CHEESE MOUNTAIN GOATS TONIGHT 9 pm CBS @shemarmoore is not allergic to cranberry sauce.
- Photo by Kirsten Vangsness

On the set of EP#9x13 Day 6 of 8... The crew is loving @JoeMantegna in the Director's chair. #criminalminds
- Photo by CM_SetReport 

This group is resting up for what is going to be a very busy 200th episode starting Thurs. Get ready and strap in.
- Photo by John Hatchitt 

@GUBLERNATION enjoying an afternoon siesta in his trailer. #criminalminds #btszzzzs - Photo by CM_SetReport

“@JoeMantegna: Treated the crew to @Taste_Chicago pizza tonight, all 200 of them.” It was delicious. Thx, Joe!
- Photo by CM_SetReport 

No Words Needed. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Fun times with Dave and L.A. Graffiti this morning. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Love this guy Jon Gries, to bad it's only for eight days. - Photo by John Hatchitt

Tonight 9pm CBS Creature Mittens! - Photo by Kirsten Vangsness

@JoeMantegna last scene of this episode. Going to be another keeper and start of 200? Thanks Joe.
- Photo by John Hatchitt 

Photo by Harry Bring

From episode 913. Joe Mantegna directing. Joe's friend did this caricature. Awesome!
- Photo by Harry Bring 

Don't blink while watching tonites episode of @CrimMinds_CBS or you may miss my quick appearance. @JoeMantegna did a kickass job directing this one. It's intense so check your local listings and set your DVRs! :)
- Photo by Mark Hapka

Thanks to @CabotGuns for the custom made 1911 pistol I used in last weeks Criminal Minds episode. 100% American made! - Photo by Joe Mantegna