If the cast and crew keeping putting out episodes like the first two of season 7, then we are in for one hell of year with Criminal Minds.
In ‘Proof’, written by Janine Sherman Barrois, we travel to Durant, Oklahoma to find out why blond women, generally in their late teens, are showing up dead…with their eyes burned out.
I really get freaked out with episodes like this, the ones where I can see where there is every chance of it happening due to predictable reactions for certain situations. Generally, when coming across someone who seems to be mentally disabled, guards come down. Of course you’ll stop and give directions to help out. Casting on this episode was once again, spot on. Andy Milder doing that laugh actually made me shudder.
Notice even Lyla (Tracey Middendorf) didn’t tell her husband Matt (David Starzyk) about what happened with Cy (Andy Milder), because she felt bad. She kept welcoming him into her home…and Cy took advantage of it. There is no doubt that Cy knew right from wrong and that what he was doing to these women was indeed very, very wrong.
And of course, in the B plot, we have the residual reactions to Emily returning to the fold, with her, Hotch and JJ having known the truth all along. I am very happy that everything didn’t go smoothly for the group on this, mostly because that wouldn’t be realistic. Morgan, Garcia and Reid mourned for their lost friend, and Reid even admitted that he ended up at JJ’s house every week for about 10 weeks crying over it. So is it such a shock that he’s going the passive aggressive route with his resentment for not being told the truth? Nope. Not at all. Points to both JJ and Emily, though for not giving up and continually trying to talk to him throughout the case. It was evident that as much as Reid was in pain from the perceived betrayal of trust, Emily and JJ were in pain from their friend’s rejection.
Cue Rossi and Hotch with a nice little fun moment about team morale and Hotch’s non-order to have a cooking lesson at Rossi’s place. I do love it when Hotch brings his sense of humor out, fun!Hotch is always a welcome sight. And of course, we can’t forget the Morgan and Garcia banter that started in season 1 and hasn’t stopped. Garcia’s enthusiasm and optimism are so dearly needed on this team, what would they do without her?
All in all, I enjoyed this episode very much.
Great review! :) I've been doing vlogs on youtube of the episodes if anyone cares. :) http://youtu.be/iyoaJ7L9MD8
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't have an issue with Reid's anger (it's understandable and natural) I think they should have let him express it in another way.
I keep seeing fans making comments about him being : "such a child" "immature" "spoiled brat" "manipulative bastard" (because of the dilaudid mention). I don't agree with those comments but I still think the writer should have handled things differently.
Maybe I'm going to sound stupid for saying that but....when half of the fandom is dissing your favorite character because of how a writer handled him .... it hurts, it simply, honestly hurts...a lot.
I agree with Anon. I believe Reid's character should have been given the the time needed to actually deal with being lied to for over 10 weeks over the death of a real friend. No matter the (really good) reasons for the deception, the fact remains that he was purposefully lied to by three people who were supposed to have been not only his "team", but at least two of these people were supposed to have been his true friends.
ReplyDeleteReid's character has been presented as being somewhat "socially awkward", being raised virtually alone by the mom with severe mental problems, et al, so his handling of this deception, and the broken-trust issues involved, aught to be given much more time and leave-way. And I do think that his potential relapse should have been given more attention, because that could have been a very valid response to the emotional stress and strain of this loss, and subsequent knowledge of intentional deception.
I think that JJ's characer did suffer through the deception, but in the end her character DID have the option, no matter how it's stated, of telling Reid the truth, regardless. She just simply chose to NOT tell him, and I do believe that she should have to deal with that.
I sincerely hope the writers can manage to slide in more on Reid and his issues with this intentional deception instead of "calling it done". As complicated and complex as they've created his character to be, his character deserves an honest story-line filled with honest reactions according to his personality and all its lovely, strange, intriguing quirks. All the show's characters deserve that same honest treatment.