CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1121. Devil's Backbone - Review

This episode was written by the wonderful Sharon Lee Watson and Directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá, and let me just say the product that both gave us tonight was just amazing. I know that many have bantered around the term “Classic Criminal Minds” over the years. Some episodes this season were deemed to be that ‘Classic Criminal Minds’ type of episode. However, after watching this episode those others pale in comparison. Right out of the gate we got a great lead in the scene, subtle yet suspenseful as we could just feel that more was coming. Oh, those unsuspecting Guards.

When we cut to the roundtable room it was all hands on deck and let me just say this, “Let the Profiling begin”. Sharon wrote each of these characters to perfection. Not one of them was over the top and all of them had input, and hail all the saints, we didn’t get the standard “Wheels up in 30” from Hotch!

From the very first scene of Antonia Slade (Played by the formidable Frances Fisher), the creep factor about this Unsub rose 10 fold. She’s smart, you can see it in her eyes. She’s also coming across as fearless in the face of her confinement. As the warden found out quickly. She’s the captive and He was dismissed as a nuisance, demanding conditions for the FBI to talk to her. The flashback scene was done so well, we’re seeing what really happened and then with such a straight deadpan face she says “And I gave her a cup of mint tea". Believe me I will never think of Mint tea in the same light again!

All this and we haven’t even gotten to the opening credits. This alone told me how this episode was going to go, and trust me I was on cloud nine.

I have to say when first watched this episode I caught the subtle way Hotch looked at the camera outside Antonia’s cell. On the second watch though it’s almost like he’s checking out where the cameras are. I also noted that the warden was specific about not taking anything from Antonia nor giving anything to her, yet Hotch did take the paper she threw towards him.

“All work and no play makes Agent Hotchner a dull boy”

That was repeated three times on the paper Antonia threw at the bars, which has me believing that there is more behind that statement then even the BAU thinks at this point. And Hotch with Reid looking at the note and figuring out that there’s a bigger message contained within was done just right. But I digress. Reid pretty much sets the stage for these ‘interviews’ by upfront asking “why the mind games?” Indeed what is this woman after?





I have to say here that seeing each of the team running ideas between them all doing some old fashioned profiling made my heart go pitter patter.

It’s at this point that I, and I hope my fellow viewers realize that the BAU is going to be feeding into Antonia’s machinations in order to get information that will lead them to the two missing boys. While of course I was a wee bit upset with JJ’s interview and Antonia trying to plant the seed that JJ should be running the BAU, once I thought about it I realized that I wouldn’t be prudent for JJ to denounce what she was saying, as that would have only made Antonia close off and the team wouldn’t get the information they needed. I can’t say this enough, really I can’t, the profiling in this episode was scarily good. It was all team, no magical revelations, no super agents riding to the rescue, just pure good ole fashioned profiling. I also liked that the team was able to work this case from their home base. The familiarity of the BAU made for paying attention to what the team was saying and doing easier.

Spencer Reid was excellent in this episode, not that I expected him not to be, but he was portrayed as strong, assertive in control. Not just as the simpering genius the team keeps around for the facts he carries around in his head. The scene between Reid and Slade, while sad because she touched on Morgan’s loss to Reid, also saw Reid standing his ground; Slade tried to play on his emotions regarding Morgan and I really don’t think he let her do that. I will say that I will never eat applesauce again. That scene where she draws on Reid’s palm after spitting the applesauce out was just... Eeeeeew!

Here we are about an ½ hour into the episode and we’ve not seen the ‘unsub’ who has the boys, all that much. Those scenes, the flashbacks, and the scene showing the boys still alive were perfectly placed to quickly fill in facts about what the team was profiling. Bravo again Sharon! Actually, I can’t believe we’ve gotten this much profiling, this much team in such a short amount of time. Whoever edited this episode deserves a raise!

I loved how Garcia didn’t use her magic computer’s to find information, some of it was simply relayed to her from the prison personnel themselves. And Garcia looks magnificent in the outfit she had on. More businesslike, more mature but still absolutely within Garcia’s personality. Congrats to BJ Rodgers for that!







Throughout the whole episode, we’ll see Antonia, go one on one with team member and then we’re back in BAU room going over it, with members of the team profiling what it all means. THIS, my friends, is Classic Criminal Minds.

Back and forth like a game of cat and mouse this episode went. Just when I, as a viewer, thought one thing, a new road opened and they went down another path. I was in Criminal Minds heaven. I’m a thinker, and this episode had my brain in overdrive. So again bravo Sharon and Félix!

So now we’ve come to the reasoning that time is running out. Those boys won’t survive unless the BAU gives into Antonia’s demands and sends her to Kentucky. But that’s not the end my friends. No, the BAU isn’t just letting her transfer, they’ve worked out that she wants to see these boys be killed, that they need her to find them. I loved Tara on the plane with Antonia going back and forth. Tara’s utter disdain for this woman is palpable.





Let me interject here the fact that yes, Hotch wasn’t in every scene. He was behind at the BAU, but he was very much running the show. Rossi, differing to Hotch over the phone about what they should do with Antonia’s demand to have the cuffs removed proves that. The split second decision Reid made to continue along the path Antonia was leading them on to some may seem like insubordination, but for me that spoke of his faith in their profiling. After all they were there because of that profiling.

We come to the end of the episode. So far profiling was paramount and this ending didn’t stop that. WOW… Just WOW… again, I want to say that Frances Fisher was creepily good. And the actor who played Barlow was wonderful at the end. His facial expressions as he looked mournfully at Antonia right before he blew his brains out was great directing and editing.

Now, we come to the closing scene between Hotch and Antonia. Thomas Gibson never fails to bring his best. Hotch laying out Antonia’s past, the fact that she was pregnant and the fact that her father killed her boyfriend, that her father punished her and made her give up the baby, that she was full of self-loathing, and not really a narcissist, was spectacular to watch.

How creepy was it with Antonia saying to Hotch:

“There’s a storm coming Agent Hotchner – And you’re about to be swept away.”

Lord have mercy bring on the finale!

So my final thoughts and grades. If for some reason you can’t guess I loved this episode, please get glasses... *LOL*

• Sharon Lee Watson wrote an amazing script.
• Félix Enríquez Alcalá directed wonderfully.
• The editing was perfect not a miss-step in the episode.
• The casting was just, off the charts. Frances Fisher, of course, was amazing. However, all the guest cast was so well done, and so well picked.

Mordred’s final grade: A++ (9.9 out of 10)

Now some of you may be wondering why only a 9.9 out of 10… That missing 10th is for CBS and the Heart Attack Factor they gave me from the promo!

Bring on the Finale!

Thank you for reading,


~~~~Mordred

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 1 - 1119. Tribute - Review

Criminal Minds latest episode ‘Tribute’ was written by Virgil Williams and (guest) starred Paget Brewster. We catch up with former BAU agent Emily Prentiss who left the BAU and went over the ocean and accepted to work with Interpol.

THE CASE

In a botched undercover job, a police officer is killed, one whom Prentiss recommended take the assignment to help further her career. Prentiss learns the killer is now in the USA, so she calls her former boss, the unit chief of the BAU, and convinces a reluctant Hotchner to work this case.

This case reminded me a bit of a prior episode ‘Zoe’s Reprise’ in which a young serial killer is killing people the way other famous serials killers did in prior cases. While in 'Zoe’s Reprise’ the Unsub is trying to learn his way, this killer is doing it for the thrill kill. He is a pretty much a copycat killer.

The case itself was OK. I got enough to understand what his motivations were (killing to get famous by copycating what famous serial killers did).

But this isn’t why I was interested in this episode, after all the Unsub was just a means to get Emily back into the BAU, if only for one case, and interact with her former team.

CATCHING UP

Loved that we got to catch up to what’s been going on in Prentiss professional and personal life. We get to see she finally has someone in her life. First scene sees her waking up in bed with a boyfriend. Go girl! (This is from a Hotch and Prentiss shipper!). On the professional side, she is still at Interpol and is involved in a case that cost an officer her life.

Once she flies to the USA to meet with the team to work the case, we get great scenes between her and JJ. Lovely scene when she ask Garcia about Sergio, her cat who is now living with Penelope. She meets with Agent Lewis, who just joined the team this year. I like the interaction between the two, seems very easy going. The meeting with the guys on the team is equally friendly and they all seems happy to be together again. We get a rare thing in the meeting scene, Hotch hugging Emily!





The best scene was without a doubt Emily doing her imitation of Morgan to Garcia! One of my all-time favorite scenes. I don’t know if this was in the script or something Paget did on her own but it was awesome!


THE GOOD:

• The Unsub remained a mystery until the end.
• The nightmare scene where instead of the officer dying in a pool of blood, Emily dreamed it was her friend JJ. Pretty gory scene with blood coming out of poor JJ’s mouth!
• I like the idea that Emily is in London but, while being pretty much a workaholic, she did find time to get a boyfriend.
• Emily being back at the BAU, even if only for one case.
• The last scene with everyone relaxing while having a meal. I love scenes like this where they all enjoy each other’s company.
• Hotch FINALLY off the police station and working in the field!

THE BAD:

• Prentiss is the one that decides they can give the profile? Isn’t that supposed to be Hotch’s job to decide when they have enough information to do so? Not the first time the writers have done this, twice they did with JJ deciding it was the time for the profile!
• The girls give the profile together to a bunch of cops at the scene and the guys gives also the profile to a bunch of cops back at the police station. WHY, would they split the team according to gender? Was not necessary and made no sense at all.
• It did seem that it took JJ, Rossi and Prentiss forever to get to the dorm room where the Unsub was holed up with the two girls.

THE OBVIOUS:

• Really when an episode focus on character, in this case Prentiss, anyone not with said character when they are about to take down the Unsub, you know they will NOT be part of the action. In this case the moment I saw that Hotch, Lewis and Reid were together, I knew they would not be the one on the action and worse, once they got on the scene and Hotch said they would take the back, they simply disappeared.

CONCLUSION

As an Emily Prentiss fan, to me, she is second only to Hotch, I was happy to have her back. The case, while not the most exciting, the interaction between Emily and her former team and friends was well written and was entertaining enough that I did like the episode a lot. Yes, there was a lot of Prentiss but I knew this would be the case and still I didn’t mind. It was a solid episode despite some minor quibbles I had which I highlighted in the ‘the bad’ section I still enjoyed it, way more than the horrible ‘200’ in which Prentiss made a comeback. So I will give this one a 8/10.


~~~~Merlin

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1118. A Beautiful Disaster - Review

Hello again. The folks at Criminal Minds Round Table decided to subject the readers to another review from me, so here I am again. I will preface this by saying that I went in to this episode knowing that it was Shemar's last one. My Bothan spies social media savvy friends online supplied me with links to articles as well as Twitter and Instagram posts from Shemar and various people associated with the show. Shemar basically telegraphed that he was moving on while avoiding outright admitting it, and it was clear (at least to me) that he was the one departing. I was fairly certain that Erica Messer would not be able to bring herself to kill Morgan, so I had no fears for his safety, although I was concerned that they might kill off Savannah to make an excuse for Morgan to become a full-time stay-at-home-dad. That would not have gone over well with me, as it would have made Savannah the 7th female to be killed to induce angst for a main male character.

I am currently re-watching the episode as I compose this so I can notice things I missed the first time and have details fresh in my mind. As such, this will follow my stream of consciousness. Life has been crazy for me lately, so my brain is not at it's peak. I hope the following will make sense. My apologies for any typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors that ensue.

The episode started out with a sense of urgency that immediately grabbed me. I found it interesting that they started with Morgan rushing in to the hospital carrying Savannah instead of having the "Previously, on Criminal Minds..." blurb. I liked how we could see the name of the hospital on the wall in the form of shadow and how it was disrupted by Morgan entering and casting his own shadow. I also liked that it was called Bethesda because Bethesda Softworks is the company that makes the Fallout and Elder Scrolls video games.

I normally am not a fan of having the camera move around a lot, but in this case it worked because it was still steady enough to not give me motion sickness and it helped to convey the chaos and panic Morgan was experiencing. Shemar did a good job of conveying that sense of helplessness and shock.

Something I found odd: wasn't Savannah shot outside of the hospital where she worked? If so, why didn't the staff recognize her? And wouldn't at least one of them have known how far along she was in her pregnancy? Or was she shot outside of a different hospital? I can't recall.

I like Garcia's mug with mushrooms all over it. Garcia loses points for answering her work phone with just "Hello" when she didn't know who was calling-- even if it was after hours. The appropriate way to answer would be to identify her department and her name, but I understand they had to cut at least 17 minutes from the episode, and phone etiquette is often abridged on TV and in movies, but sometimes it bugs me.

I liked how they shot the scene of Garcia telling JJ and Reid about Savannah-- where we didn't hear the dialog, but we could see the frantic energy of them jumping in to action and running out. I even liked how the redhead extra in the background moved as if to see what was going on rather than seeming to remain oblivious. Little details like that help to add realism to a scene. Too often, the bystanders have no reaction at all when they really should.

I liked the double pat on the shoulder Rossie gave before walking away. Again, it was a small gesture that conveyed nonverbal communication and normal human interaction. The cop, for his part, looked suitably upset about the situation.

I loved how Hotch immediately went into leader mode as soon as he got out of the car. There was no hesitation for niceties, and he just took command of the situation before he even shut the SUV door. There was no harshness in his tone, just all-business taking charge. He was outwardly in control, but there was an underlying sense of urgency that Thomas conveyed well.

I know they wanted the drama of Morgan not being allowed on the crime scene and all, but I wish that someone had stepped in sooner to tell the cop to let him through. I heard that Joe said AJ was feeling very ill while filming the previous episode and I wonder if she was still under-the-weather when this one was being filmed. Her "Hey Hey, he's an agent; let him through" line sounded like she was tired with a tinge of stress. But maybe that was what they were going for.

I get that Morgan was frustrated and feeling helpless, but I didn't like the angry tone he used when he was demanding information. Having Morgan get angry and express outrage seems to be one of the go-to writing choices for Erica Messer. I wish they had done the scene differently. They could have had the cop initially refuse to let Morgan through and Morgan could have called to a team member to say "Tell them I'm with you!" or he could have pulled out his badge. I wanted to see the team members approach him to see if he was OK and then invite him over with the rest of the group. It seemed that Hotch's sense of being in command deflated a little bit when Morgan arrived on the scene. I did like how Garcia attempted to calm Morgan down a little. Ideally, Hotch would have been the one to wave Morgan over since he is the boss. Nothing against JJ, I like her again (I disliked her for a long while after her return as a different character, but they toned her down a lot), but I want to see the person who is the unit chief actually showing that he is in charge. Instead, of staying in charge and in command, Hotch seemed to switch to a more passive role. I wanted to see him look Morgan directly in the eye and maybe put a hand on his shoulder and tell him that he was in charge and that they were doing what they could in that situation. Instead, Hotch's body language switched to show lower confidence. His head turned and he seemed to not know where to look. On one hand, maybe Hotch was feeling empathy to Morgan's sense of panic because he knew how it felt, but on the other, I wanted to see him stay in charge.

I'm surprised that Garcia didn't immediately run to Morgan and put her hands on his arms and ask if he was OK, or at least offer some comfort. You would think that would come first before jumping straight to Morgan demanding info. I did like how Reid immediately started asking Morgan for details after Rossi said they had no further information. He knew Morgan was probably ready to burst and being told there was nothing was going to make him stew if they didn't distract him with other things. Plus it is important to get the details as soon as possible after an event, while said details are fresh in the mind of the witness. I still wish Hotch had not been standing there silently (other than when he told Garcia to check surveillance footage).

I missed the first time I watched that Tara was donating blood in case Savannah needed it. I don't know if they are the same blood type, but it was a nice gesture and it explained Tara's absence at that point. I also liked how the Morgan looked at his arm at the mention of blood because it reminded him that Savannah's blood had been on his arm and hand.

Morgan not being able to hold still and sit down made sense. If you've ever had to wait on doctors in an emergency room while worrying about a loved one, you know how nerve wracking it can be. I thought Morgan's line about Garcia's blind optimism was out of place because Garcia was just trying to let him know that he wasn't alone and he had people there for him. There's a difference between being optimistic and being available to comfort someone. Of course, Morgan probably expected she was about to break into a pep talk, but there was still something a little off to me. The scene was well-blocked and well-acted though.

I liked how Garcia took one look at Hotch's stressed expression and knew to leave. Hotch looked like he was holding his breath a little. Was it just me, or was his face actually a bit red? I know that in real life, its likely that Morgan would have been taken off the case, but given this show's track record, I thought it was a bad idea to have Hotch tell Morgan he was off the case. I understand some of the reasoning behind it. I liked how Hotch stayed calm and that Morgan even brought up how Hotch stayed involved with the Foyet case, and Hotch just said "And how'd that turn out?" Ouch. I did like that Morgan seemed to regret bringing it up and that he apologized. It was a nicely done scene and the reactions were believable. I just took issue with the choice to completely remove Morgan from the investigation-- especially since Hotch knew first-hand what Morgan was going through and also because he could reasonably predict how Morgan would react. They could have told him he needed to stay at the hospital, but still kept him in the loop and let him feel like he was contributing. I'm surprised it seemed like none of them conducted a cognitive interview to walk him through what happened to see if there were any details that could help. If they hadn't shut him out, he would have been much less likely to go rogue over the rouge reference. While I think Morgan's anger was understandable in this situation, it just didn't need to happen and I don't like Angry!Morgan. I liked Morgan in the earlier seasons when he was calm, intelligent, and professional.

Of course, on the flipside, maybe Hotch was trying to spare Morgan from going through what he went through and it was just a poor judgment call on his part because he was distracted by his own negative experience. He's human so he can make mistakes, but I still have trouble buying that Hotch would think it was a good idea to tell Morgan he was being shut out when he knew Morgan really needed to feel included.

I've noticed that when Matthew is directing an episode, he tends to stand up a bit straighter and Reid seems to have move confidence and authority. And Hotch comes in and confirms that they expected him to take the news of being taken off the case very badly. So, why even tell him he was off the case in the first place? Savannah was in surgery. Why not let him sit in and contribute? If he started to be disruptive, they could always tell him he was upsetting the balance and they needed him to be calm so they could focus. It took me a moment to remember who Bradley was and if I hadn't already watched the episode once, I would have no idea who the Montolo family is/was. Interesting that the team didn't include Rossi in the "extracurricular" investigation. I wonder why.

OK, so they showed pictures of the people they were talking about to make it a little more clear. Not sure I get why Hotch jumped to the conclusion that Chaz Montolo staged his own death. I think they said that dental records and such of the dead matched-- so how did he accomplish faking his death? It would be more likely that he was killed too-- not that he had faked his death. So, that was an illogical leap. I like that Hotch was the one with the idea but it would have been nice if there had been more evidence or *something* to support that leap. It would have made more sense if someone on the team had been looking at the security footage and thought the one man's face looked familiar.

I liked that Hotch took command again and was delegating. He knew that Morgan was too angry to listen to him and figured Reid might be able to calm him down. Just as the camera was panning out of that scene, I saw that JJ put her hand on Garcia's back, which was a nice subtle little moment.

I liked that Reid was honest with Morgan about why he was there instead of Garcia. He knew that trying to BS would probably only alienate Morgan. I liked that he offered Morgan some green tea and that Morgan actually took it. So, three heartbeats in ten seconds equals 200 beats per minute. If that is 20% higher than his usual stressed heart rate then his usual stressed heart rate is around 166. I was calculating this because I read some discussion of people objecting to the medical science behind the heart rate. Anyway, I liked how Reid changed the subject and responded with science babble when Morgan demanded information on what the team knew about the Unsub. I did like that Morgan calmed down a bit, but I call BS on him leaping to the conclusion that the Unsub was a father because Reid mentioned "paternal instinct" as a deadly bias. Morgan reading more into that was not believable to me.

Interesting that the Unsub was the one who called Garcia. I wonder who she thought had called to inform her. The Unsub clearly expected them to recognize him on the security footage and seemed to be taunting them by smiling up at the camera. Do hospitals still even have payphones nowadays? They don't have them where I live-- but they don't have ANY payphones where I live. I guess they needed to conveniently have the Unsub put the paper in the coin return slot.

Morgan then thinking about the Unsub at the payphone seemed a little contrived to me. Unless he subconsciously recognized the man's face, it didn't make sense for him to focus on that-- at least at that point in time. It seems more likely that he would be remembering the moment when Savannah was first shot instead. Now, if they'd had him have that flashback AFTER after he was told about JJ finding the message in the payphone, that would have been different.

I admit that if I were Morgan, having Tara say it was a "miracle" probably wouldn't sit well with me. Savannah was still in surgery and could still die or lose the baby at that point. Yes, it happened in front of a hospital, but I wouldn't categorize that as miraculous-- especially when the next bit of speculation was that the point was not to kill. I read in an interview with Erica Messer that a longer scene of Tara talking to Morgan was included in the seventeen minutes of footage that had to be cut from the episode. I thought what remained was fine. I like Tara's new wig. It's more flattering than the old one.

Then in walks Hotch. At least he was still sharing some information within earshot of Morgan. I didn't think the Unsub looked like a homeless guy, but maybe that's just me. He looked more like guys I see at Walmart from time to time. His jacket was too clean and nice, his hair looked relatively clean, and basically he looked cleaner than a lot of guys I see around town. Morgan immediately jumping to the conclusion that it was Chaz Montolo seemed a bit contrived as well. If he didn't really see the man's face and Chaz was thought to be dead, why would that be his first conclusion?

While I understand that JJ has a personal investment in this because she lost a baby due to a violent attack and Savannah being hurt brought back that memory and pain, I disagree with her decision to defy Hotch's orders. She should have immediately gone to the rest of the team and shown them the message and then Hotch could have called Morgan in to ask him about it in front of the rest of the team so they could see his reaction. Had they not banned him from working on the case, he might have been more honest and forthcoming with them. It would have made more sense for JJ to have gone to Hotch and told him she disagreed about taking Morgan off the case and asked him to include Morgan instead. Hotch is reasonable and may have agreed. And it was rather crappy of Morgan to lie to JJ's face (and it was clear she knew he was lying) after she extended him the courtesy of giving him info before giving it to the team. Also, are you going to tell me that of all of the places Morgan fixed up, only one of them had a feature in red? Again, another contrived leap.

Garcia saying "It's not fair and it needs to stop" sums up how I feel about the entire Dirty Dozen plotline. Only, instead of "fair" I would substitute "interesting" or "good" because the entire arc has been the low point of the season for me. It didn't make sense and it never interested me. According to Erica Messer, they initial plan was for Morgan to leave in episode eight, but things got bumped back so they had to drag the story out for longer.

I did like that Hotch realized Morgan was lying to him, and this stupidity and unnecessary conflict could have been avoided if they'd had Hotch show his usual intelligence and keep Morgan included in the first place. It's one of those moments where I'm watching TV and facepalming. Sure, it led to some nice acting from Thomas and showed that Hotch realizes what's going on, but he shouldn't have made the initial mistake in the first place. It was just out-of-character. I wish they'd had Hotch try to fix things by saying he wanted to bring Morgan back into the fold so they wouldn't be divided or have had him task someone with keeping an eye on Morgan because it was predictable that he might go try to hunt down Montolo. That was a thought that occurred to me the first time I watched, so it would not have been an illogical leap.

Morgan driving while talking on the cellphone made me think of how holding a cellphone and yabbering while driving is becoming illegal in many places. Surely Morgan could get some sort of Bluetooth setup with his vehicle so he could push a button and answer his phone. My 2013 Honda Ridgeline pickup truck (which is much more awesome than Morgan's truck-- I mean, it has a freaking trunk in the pickup bed!) has a setup so I can link it to my cellphone-- and I have a Bluetooth Beanie (hat) so I can push a button to answer my phone and it works as a headset during cold weather. The scene also seemed to echo the one where Hotch was on the phone with Foyet when Haley was killed, but it wasn't as powerful to me. Morgan just refusing to share info with the team was just the height of stupidity. I don't care how stressed and angry he was, it was just out-of-character and I thought it was insulting to his intelligence. It also just felt too plot-driven. Especially after what happened to Haley and Maeve, you'd think he would have learned that going alone is not the right thing to do.

Random note to self: the house number was 2221. I wonder if there was any significance to that or if it just happened to be the address that was on the house or if it was random. The glaucoma eye actually did add to the creep factor of the Unsub. Am I the only one who kept wanting Morgan to just slap the gun out of the Unsub's wobbly hand and take control? Of course, it would have made the episode much shorter. There was good tension in the scene between Morgan and the Unsub, but I do question why the Unsub blamed Morgan for the death of his son. It's another illogical leap, although, since it seems the guy is somewhat mental, it isn't too far fetched for me to begrudgingly accept. He couldn't find the real culprits (I think they were dead) so he found someone for revenge by proxy. A little cognitive dissonance mixed in to make him feel justified, and we have our Unsub.

Chaz putting one bullet in the revolver and trying to elicit a confession seemed like a less interesting version of the scene from Revelations when Tobias had Reid at gunpoint. It was pretty much a rip-off of that episode complete with Morgan saying "No" and the Unsub pulling the trigger only to have the gun click. I do like the reference to Morgan's side hobby-- renovating houses. Although, when would he actually have the time to do it? A little too contrived that it seemed the first property they looked at was the one where Morgan was being held captive, but it's not totally unbelievable. Sometimes investigators just get lucky. I actually felt sorry for Savannah that Morgan wasn't there for her when they were taking her away. It just made Morgan seem so much more selfish to leave her there like that, and I am irritated with the writers for that.

At least Morgan did admit that he was the one responsible for his own decisions when he thought he was going to die. And I think they were trying to mirror Haley's goodbye to Hotch in some ways-- including the team all listening in. It was filmed well and had good suspense, although I was 90% certain that Morgan had turned the gun on the Unsub or pushed the gun aside when we heard the gunshot.

The first time I watched, I thought it was dumb of Morgan to assume that the house didn't have a landline. I mean, just because he didn't put one in didn't mean someone else couldn't have paid the phone company to add one. However, the fact that the Unsub used a cellphone to call Garcia instead of the landline actually made a little more sense. Morgan trying to bait the Unsub to pick up the gun was akin to Rossi baiting the Unsub in Nelson's Sparrow to pick up the gun. I think we were supposed to assume it was going to end the same way. I'm glad that Morgan resisted the urge to shoot him though.

Morgan being there with Savannah as they were handed the baby reminded me of some sappy fanfics, but I'm OK with a happy ending. Savannah looked too healthy and perky for someone who just got shot and had to have a c-section. I liked the transitions where we saw people framed through windows in doors and the camera panning to the wood then changed to shots of people in the hallway. Everyone just seemed genuinely happy when Morgan announced it was a boy. Garcia and Reid simultaneously hugging Morgan was sweet, and Rossi got in his kiss on the head. And even Hotch gave Morgan a hug!

I liked the moment at the incubator with Hotch and Morgan both looking at the baby. I also thought it was sort of evident. Knowing that Morgan was leaving, I realized that he was going to tell Hotch he wanted to retire when they panned away.

Each team member got a moment with Morgan toward the end and you could really get a sense that the cast knew what was coming and were going to miss Shemar.










Now, I do wish that when they cut back to the BAU that they had Morgan's retirement party complete with cake and let everyone say goodbye to him all at once and then maybe have a few private goodbyes. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate that the characters were going to miss him and that the cast were saying goodbye to Shemar, it was just the timing and the way it was done that made it a little bit tedious for me. If they had set it up differently, it would have been better. Maybe if people had stopped to talk to him while he was on his way out or something it could have worked.

I did get a genuine sense of sadness from AJ when she was hugging Shemar for their goodbye-- and I admit that I felt it was the actors more than the characters in that scene.

When Morgan went to say goodbye to Reid and started saying "I know you hate goodbyes, kid... and change" I imagined outtakes of him adding to the list of things Reid hates-- like germs, the beach, creamed spinach...

So the baby is Hank Spencer Morgan. That set my brain off on a weird track because Hank is a diminutive form of Henry and there was a show called Forever where the main character was Henry Morgan and his partner was portrayed by Alana de la Garza who currently plays Clara on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. Also, JJ's first son is named Henry, so it is sort of like there are two Henrys-- although it seems that Morgan is probably just putting Hank on the birth certificate.

Reid's crying at the end seemed very heartfelt and real and it was sweet to hear Morgan and Reid say "I love you" to one another. Matthew decided to tease the Reid/Morgan fans on Instagram by posting a fan-made photoshopped image with a caption about the two of them posing for it at the mall. LOL. That said, as sweet as the scene was, I thought it ran on a little too long. They could have had it where we see them without hearing all of the dialog and maybe had some music playing while they embraced and looked at baby pictures. With Morgan's hand on Reid's head, it seemed like a good ending point, but then they had Morgan having to say goodbye to Garcia.

According to Erica Messer, the Garcia/Morgan goodbye scene was longer but was cut for time. Garcia was talking it a lot better than I'd expected, which was nice. As an aside, I started watching the shows Arrow and The Flash a few months ago and there is a character named Felicity who talks a LOT like Garcia. The same type of pauses, rambling on rapidly, etc. Even her voice sounds a bit similar to Garcia's. Oh, and they even gave her an origin story similar to Garcia's Black Queen episode where she used to be all goth and was involved with a guy who later came back to be a villain. Anyway, I couldn't help but think about that when Garcia was telling Morgan she'd be "pissed" if he stayed because he needed to take care of the baby. Now, I know that Garcia and Morgan were BFFs throughout the series and at times Garcia seemed unhealthily attached to Morgan, so it made sense that they would have a special heartfelt goodbye, but again, I felt that the scene dragged. We didn't need the lines about not being blind optimism. I kept checking my clock and waiting for the episode to end at this point. Even upon second watching, I feel like it just lasted too long and the episode lost momentum entirely. Also, the dialog was a bit too cheesy for me. Just so much dragging-- much like this review. LOL.

It was nice to see Reid look up and nod at Morgan when he was leaving. I just wish that the whole ending had been constructed better, and I wish that Hotch and Rossi had gotten more of a goodbye. Maybe if each member had gotten to say something about Morgan at a retirement party in the office, and then it could have been interrupted by a case and they had to go and then we could have had Morgan walking out with his box and looking back at the team and smiling and then had the elevator scene and ending quote.

Now, despite all of my gripes, I did actually enjoy the episode for the most part. On first viewing the beginning kept me engaged. I just had a few nitpicks about the contrived profiling parts, but it could have been much worse. I think I would have re-worked the story to have had the team include Morgan in the investigation, but then it would have been much harder to have the scene of Morgan being held at gunpoint. Honestly, I felt that bit was not necessary. I'm not a fan of having characters behave out-of-character because it is the only way to get to a certain plot point, but I've seen worse examples and this was no slow clap, so I can shrug it off.

In terms of exit arcs, I think this was probably one of the better ones in that the character was not presumed dead, there was more build to it, the character wasn't ruined, and the reasons for leaving were not too contrived. As I said before, I could have done without the Dirty Dozen part, but it was nice to see a character leave on a happy note and not seem too last-minute.

Going forward, it will be interesting to see how they write for Garcia now that she won't have anyone to do the inappropriate banter with. I admit that I won't miss that part and I didn't like how obsessed Garcia seemed with Morgan at times, but they still had a nice friendship. I'm hoping she can have more appropriate banter with other characters now. Since they left the door open for Morgan to return, they don't have to make him completely leave the FBI. He could still be working at Quantico teaching self defense to cadets.

I may be in the minority here, but I actually hope they bring Aisha Tyler in as a full time cast mate to replace Morgan instead of trying to get someone completely new. I like Tara, even though some people find her bland. So long as they don't over-use her, I think she is a nice addition to the team and Aisha gets along with the cast very well. Even though I didn't always like the direction they took with Morgan on the show, I did like that they sent him off on a happy note and that they left it open for him to make guest appearances. He wasn't my favorite character, but he was an important part of the dynamic and he will be missed.

TL:DR? Not the best episode but also not the worst. The team as a whole got a decent amount of time for later seasons. I give it a B.

I liked the last cast shot with Savannah in the wheelchair. It was cute.


~~~~Sesquipedalian (Guest reviewer)

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1117. The Sandman - Review

When I saw that I was doing the review for the 250th episode of Criminal Minds, I was blown away. What an honor. Thank you Criminal Minds Round Table staff.

Without delay, onto the review of The Sandman written by Bruce Zimmerman and directed by Joe Mantegna.

Following the usual “previously on Criminal Minds” segment, the opening shot is of an obvious Morgan returning to the BAU. The shot goes from his shoes to the go bag he is carrying. Thank goodness Joe didn’t do the infamous up the legs, past the crotch and to the chest shot that was done by too many directors in the 80’s. What threw me though was the “6 months later”.

Morgan moves to the Wall of Fallen Agents and looks at his reflection in the picture of Erin Strauss. You can see he’s still got the nightmare that he lived through on his mind. That was a great touch by Joe and shows he’s got his “A” game already going. In his office Morgan pulls out a beautiful wedding photo of him and Savannah. Like an episode commenter said, I’m glad we fans didn’t have to sit through that. One wedding was nice; two is over the top. The next thing Morgan pulls out is a file; he and the team have obviously been working the “who and why” of his attack.

The scene shifts to a nighttime shot of an idyllic farm setting in rural Wichita, Kansas. I live chat with some friends at a small Criminal Minds site and one of the participants is from Wichita and was highly perturbed that they went there again. However, I had read that Bruce Zimmerman purposely chose Wichita for the Clutter family murder which is later mentioned in the episode.

Inside we see a boy sleeping; then a person I assumed was the Unsub putting a liquid and then some kind of dust in the eye area of the sleeping mother. The shot of the Unsub leaning against the doorframe of the boy’s room was just chilling.

The idyllic setting is broken with the boy screaming “Mommy, help me!” And through a series of terrific camera shots we see the struggling mother with her eyes incapacitated from her POV. I thought that was amazing. Kudo’s to Joe and Director of Photography Greg St. Johns for pulling that off.

Honestly, I could have done without the Rossi/Morgan scene on the catwalk and the surprise baby shower in the Round Table room. However it was fun for me to hear Rossi teasing Morgan. “Ohhh, you look like a diaper changer to me.” And a very pregnant Savannah explained the six months later. Plus, it’s great to see Rossi with the team instead of the “B” storyline like he has some of the other episodes he has directed. But I really liked the Hotch/JJ scene in Hotch’s office. The all business Hotch knows his team is having some fun so he lets them enjoy it. For ten minutes more. Hehehehehehehe

While that is transpiring, we see the Unsub doing some sort of specific measuring; our first nugget of the clue to this Unsub’s psychological background? Then add in the shot of the skull in the fire which made me raise my eyebrows. What is Bruce cooking up for us?

“Parents are the bones on which children sharpen their teeth.”

Peter Ustinov

Act One opens on the jet with more of the usual Rossi snark. “Mr. Sandman, bring me a nightmare.” I had the same reaction as Lewis to Reid’s take of the Sandman myth. I like how Bruce had Hotch do the team assignments. And it’s understandable that Hotch wants to keep Morgan close for a while. And I agree with many of the commenters that the lead LEO (female police sergeant) was just not right from the start.

“Trust is good thing. So are dead bolts and a Rottweiler.” I love the way the writer’s pen Rossi and his snark. And it was great to see the mentor/mentee in the field together with Rossi and JJ. And stop the presses!!! Bruce remembered continuity with the Medical Examiner recognizing Reid and his (Reid’s) comment about the prior case in Wichita. Reid and Lewis’ examination of the ME’s findings about the parent’s eyes gave the team their first real clue to building a profile. The father was killed immediately while the mother wasn’t. Bruce’s subtle hand is at work again.

The lead LEO brings word that the first boy’s body has been found. At the scene, Morgan putting his sunglasses back on showed that he’s struggling a bit; especially with a child’s death. It’s a subtle shot that Joe got from his co-star. Back at the station, Reid and Lewis are brainstorming together then Hotch and Morgan. This is all great team stuff that has been greatly missing many episodes this season.

Depending on your own POV, the scene with Morgan and Reid could have gone a thousand different ways. I really liked Bruce’s choice. It was measured and wonderful. And the ending line was fantastic. “Charge by the hour Doc?”

The First Act ends with another home attack and the Unsub saying a chilling “Eleven”.

Act Two opens with another idyllic rural home setting. At this point, in the back of my head I’m re-thinking the 10 acres of rural land I have in my future and the house plan I have in mind for that setting. And holy REALLY-stop-the-presses Batman!! Hotch is OUT IN THE FIELD. Thank you Bruce! Plus I really enjoyed Hotch and Lewis working the scene. The rapid fire delivery of lines between Thomas Gibson and Aisha Tyler was amazing. When I was doing my review notes watch, I re-watched that scene a second time. It was that good. I usually only expect that from Thomas and Joe.

The team delivers the profile which segues into the Unsub’s lair as he is grinding something. At our little chat site I went, “WTH?? Are those teeth?”

Yet, from that scene is where the episode began to roll. Morgan and Lewis profiling together with Reid figuring out the hourglass angle. Hotch and JJ at the hospital with Ellie Zumwalt learning about the goggles and “Eleven”. Morgan and Rossi talking with Garcia. “Remember Thomas Alva Edison – ‘I have not failed. I just found ten thousand ways that don’t work’.” The team zeroing in the hourglasses left at the crime scenes. Rossi’s comment about the sand coming from upstate New York. Bottom line for me: it’s the team, doing their job. And for the record: is there really a high end glass blowing community? I learn something each week watching Criminal Minds. This one just didn’t scare the you know what out of me. And then we get the classic, I mean classic Reid analysis breaking down the specifics of the hourglass sand. Our beloved BAU team is profiling! Bruce gets a fruit cup with lunch!!

Act Two ends with our first full shot of the Unsub’s lair with his collection of hourglasses and Josie Zumwalt pleading for her life.


Act Three opens with Reid’s trepidation in answering the phone and his conversation with Garcia. That boy’s technology issues need to be solved soon. Just kidding! That scene goes into the Unsub in his lair with not only hourglasses but other blown glass pieces as well. It was another subtle Bruce clue I missed.

The scene with Hotch, Rossi and Morgan talking over the profile was outstanding, with Hotch catching Ellie Zumwalt, Josie’s mother was alive for a reason. “What are you thinking Aaron?” I love that Rossi calls him that. No other members of the team do. OK, OK, JJ did it once under duress. (S7 - Hit and Run) Meanwhile, Reid is digging through his mountain of paperwork that Garcia sent him. Unlike his co-star Gibson’s approach to that (S10 - Lockdown), Joe chose the quick route; Reid found the clue in fifteen seconds of screen time.

We finally learn the backstory of Patrick Sorenson, our Unsub with Reid putting together the time connection of staring at the hourglass. Plus JJ’s scenes with the mother in the hospital were excellent as well. I love the advancement of JJ; but it was still wonderful to see her go back to her roots in dealing with Ellie. And we got to see that Penelope Garcia can think on her own and then use her binary systems.

I loved how Joe’s shot of Ellie’s statement morphed into Patrick’s mother Betty. Hotch’s plan is working. Garcia’s info sends Lewis back to the ME’s office where she makes a startling discovery. Betty Sorenson’s body has been taken.

We go to the Unsub’s lair as he opens a chest to reveal, yes Mommy Dearest. In that very quick shot, I noticed the head was already severed off the body. It’s the only gore shot Joe put in the whole episode and it was quick. But it tied in the skull we saw in the opening act as well as the shot of the teeth. All of the subtle, little clues are starting to come together as Act Three closes.

The Final Act opens with Rossi and Morgan working the profile and the obligatory shot of the clock on the wall. Patrick, the Unsub, allows Josie to make a phone call to her mother. I really liked the shot of JJ noticing how Hotch’s plan is really starting to come together until Ellie accidentally names Josie.






I like having Rossi and Morgan in the field together. But honestly, noticing a grey sedan as they are checking that big of an area? But hey, it’s a TV show and the clock is ticking towards the end of the episode.

It took me a couple watches of the episode before I figured out that the red sand in the hourglass was that time had run out for Sorenson’s captive. But sorry Unsub; Sorenson opens the door to get to Josie holding a hammer and looks into the barrel of Rossi’s .45 while Morgan protectively holds the girl.

Joe’s shot of the Unsub falling into his entire glass collection in slow motion was superb. Don’t kill our heroes in slow motion; but send the bad guy to find his Sandman in a slow version that shows our heroes winning in the end. Plus the next shot was one of Joe’s finest as the sand from the hourglasses slowly drifted down, covering the Unsub’s goggles.

Onto Rossi Poker Club; I loved this whole scene. “Listen here pops…” Morgan says. “Goes the weasel,” Bill Withers answers. But one thing is bugging me. I figured out six of the seven poker players. Obviously its Rossi and Morgan; the two Marine generals from S10 - Anonymous; Joe Walsh, lead guitarist of The Eagles and the legendary Bill Withers. But who is the seventh guy? The one that asked which university baby Morgan is supposed to attend.

I really liked the scene of Morgan looking over the poker room as he was leaving with the quote.

“Lucky I’m sane after all I’ve been through. Life’s been good to me so far.”

[That’s from a] Joe Walsh [written song. It foreshadowed the upcoming scene.]

To that final scene: if they are really setting up an exit for Shemar Moore, I could think of better ways than shooting a pregnant lady. It makes for a lot of chatter fodder at many Criminal Minds fan sites; however, I could think of many better ways. But I’m also of the thinking I’ll just wait and watch before I pass judgement.

FINAL ANALYSIS

Sitting down to watch the episode live knowing I would be reviewing, I’ll be very honest, I had a lot of fears in the back of my head. It’s the 250th episode. Bruce Zimmerman has written the episode and he is not a flashy, big bang writer. Joe Mantegna’s directing style is much the same; nothing flashy. Plus Thomas Gibson had directed the last episode and Matthew Gray Gubler is directing the next one. Using analysis of prior episodes, it set up for both to be mostly unseen with Joe not used much as well. Back to profiling school I go! Because this episode was nothing like I feared.

Gibson and Gubler were well represented on the team. I don’t know how that all happened or got pulled together. Be it the production staff planning, Thomas Gibson and Matthew Gray Gubler working some crazy, long hours, I don’t know. But they did it. However, from now on, any writer that says “so and so actor wasn’t available due to directing” will get shot out of the water. The standard has been set that a lot of us fans have questioned for a long time. It can be done.

And yes, Bruce didn’t write a big, flashy show milestone episode. What he did do was give this fan an old fashion, solid team doing their job of working a profile episode. All of our beloved characters were exactly like they should be. And with little, subtle only-Bruce-can-write shout outs to the past. The team was at the forefront and it was balanced between all the actors. I don’t want flash; I want the team doing their damn jobs. Thank you Bruce! You wrote an outstanding 250th episode of my beloved show.

And Joe Mantegna backed Bruce’s hard work in the writers’ room with his usual style that matches. It ain’t gonna be flashy folks; it’s just gonna work. My only gripe is Joe pandering to his friends by hiring Joe Walsh’s daughter as the lead LEO; with all due respect to Mr. Mantegna, he blew that one.

Rockie’s final grade: A-; a better lead LEO would have earned this episode an A+

My thanks again to the Criminal Minds Round Table staff for allowing me to review this milestone episode. And a specific shout out to Sir Elyan who provides the wonderful “cap” shots that will be in this review. Your lowly serf bows to you all.


~~~~rockhotch31 (Guest reviewer)

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1116. Derek - Review

We open up this episode where A Badge and A Gun left off. The imagery that Thomas Gibson used to ramp up the tension right from the beginning was excellent. That box, which looks so much like a coffin turns out to be the packing crate for what we discover is a rather evil looking mutation of a BDSM’s St. Michael’s Cross. Nothing soft and cuddly ever comes from using a St. Michael’s Cross, trust me.

I have to give Shemar Moore kudos for maintaining that look of disassociation while filming that opening scene, that couldn’t have been easy.

I so enjoyed the easy transitions Thomas Gibson gave us from reality to Derek’s mind sequences. Throughout the whole episode it just seemed to flow naturally.

I’ve read around the internet that some folks didn’t quite believe Derek’s reactions to his own kids when meeting them in that first dream sequence. I myself thought it was spot on. Real Derek has no idea what his mind is going to conjure up to protect itself in advance, therefore we got the timid, hesitant and confused Derek as he enters his home. I really enjoyed the "Twilight Zone" look Derek had through those sequences in his house. I think if I had been having those hallucinations, especially of Hotch telling me to do the right thing regarding my job or my family, I would have thought I was in the "Twilight Zone" myself.

What I especially loved in this episode was the fact that we 'knew' what was happening to Derek... We sort of saw it, but yet there was no real in your face blood and guts gore. The scene with the phosphorous burning his chest started on Derek's bare chest but I loved how Thomas cut to Derek and his father in that field and all we saw was the glowing hot line through Derek's shirt. Just as the scene where Derek goes ‘fishing’ for that SAT phone chip. I knew what he was doing. Thankfully I didn’t have to ‘see’ what he was doing. The bloody hands holding that chip was enough for my mind to imagine what he had just done. As a viewer I understood that reality Derek was suffering agonizingly and was forced to do things that normally would never happen, but yet I wasn't forced to be a voyeuristic witness to it. Again kudos to Thomas for directing it that way.

One aspect that I went 'hmmm' was in the scene where drugged, tortured and in massive pain Morgan was able to gain the upper hand get a gun and virtually kill all his attackers himself. While exciting to watch and well done, the concept of this just made me raise an eyebrow.

There were some continuity issues that gave me pause. I did very much like that Derek was able to ‘remember’ things Reid and even the others had said to him in ‘real time’ that helped him survive. I got a chuckle out of Dream Derek’s version of Garcia walking into that field. It was just the right amount of levity to lighten the darkness of the episode. I also, liked how again Penelope was able to instill in Derek that “The Team” was working with him in a sense. That his mind was extended into her realm (computers), so use it.

And I'm sorry Breen, love your work this season but man, oh man!, continuity is 'not' your forte. Longtime fans know that Derek's Dad was killed by a robber while they were in a convenience store in Chicago. Not on the street with Dad trying to stop a street mugging, while heading to a convenience store. I am 'hoping' that Hank Morgan's comments in that field to Derek about "Go back to the beginning" regarding Derek's victimology is a glimpse of something still to come.

While personally I would have preferred more of the rest of the team I am very content with their roles as each member was written correct to their characterization. I know lots of people loved the fact that Reid ‘made the kill shot’ to save Derek, reaffirming the so called Derek/Spencer bromance, however for me it felt a bit off for Reid. I’m not a big fan of Reid using a gun, period. I always held to what Gideon told him about “You don’t have to use a gun to kill someone” when I think of Spencer in those situations. I would have much rather have seen Hotch storm through the door to Derek and maybe have a line from Hotch about “trusting Hotch with his life” in reference to the Derek/Hotch conversation at the end of Mayhem. But that is a personal preference and takes nothing away from the overall excellence of this episode.

The ending was fairly predictable based on Hank's conversation with Derek in the field about Savannah, but what struck me was Hank's admission to Derek about "his son" that Savannah is pregnant with. Boy, is Derek gonna have some 'splainin' to do to her about how he knows that one! LOL!

Overall the episode was wonderful. Well written, superbly directed, marvelous performances from the entire main and guest cast. Everything came together in this episode so much so that I can overlook the niggling mistakes and enjoy the overall episode.

While I’m sure there are a lot of fans/viewers wanting explanations about why Derek? Why do these people want to do this? What’s the cause, the reason for all this? I’m positive that the reason we didn’t get answers is because this episode wasn’t the end of the situation by a long stretch. I’m looking forward to Criminal Minds 250th episode that should provide us with more answers as to the remaining unanswered questions from this episode. I’m also looking forward to Episode 18 which seems like it will be the wrap up for this whole arc.

Mordred’s overall grade – A+ (9.625-10)

• Script – A- (8.5-10)
• Directing - A+ (9.5-10)
• Casting – A+ (10-10)
• Acting – A+ (9.5-10)
• Production (set-design, make-up, special effects, etc.) – A (9-10)

Thank you!


~~~~Mordred