Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that next week we'll have a new brand one!
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
CRIMINAL MINDS Season 10 - 1016. Lockdown - Comments Thread
Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that next week we'll have a new brand one!
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From Start to finish This was PURE CM episode... Team Profiling... Team balanced.... Loved Reid diciphering all the important clues..... Unsub was unknown until 45 minutes into the show...
ReplyDeleteI give it an A++ and 10 out of 10! Will write more after rewatching it... as there is so many interesting twists turns and points made.
Maybe the unsub wasn't revealed until 45 minutes into the episode, but I and everyone I was chatting with while watching were onto him as soon as we saw him. I think it was pretty predictable in terms of the prison staff being involved. But there were some good things in this episode.
DeleteWhile this episode had all of the elements of CM, including the team profiling, it was a very different approach on how to do the whole concept. Virgil Williams penned another fine script. The supporting cast was excellent and the team shined. I loved Rossi at the end returning the books to the inmate. That was a nice touch.
ReplyDeleteTG directed one helluva an episode. His shot of Reid speed reading through the files was excellent. Especially when you factor in Hotch coming in the door in slow motion. With the large guest cast and the big scene with so many in it, is tough to film and TG pulled it off.
Rockie's grade: Most definite A.
Agree with everything you said. And I didn't even register the speed reading of Reid against the slow motion of Hotch coming in the door - phenomenal directing (I'll give credit to TG for that)! Loved the entire episode from start to finish, especially how they showed that not all inmates are violent jerks, as it was another inmate that ended up coming to Derek and Kate's rescue.
Deleteso many good things to say about this episode!
ReplyDeleteFirst, we never saw the unsub(s) until the very end and the writing was so clever that I was kept guessing who was behind the killing! Love this!
Also, we had lots of team working the case, doing profiling, interviews.
Lots of focus on Reid who did shine in this episode.
Everyone were used well, Garcia found a clue, so did Reid, interviewing suspects got the team more clues. All great team work.
The fights scenes were well done. Lots of action when Morgan and Kate got taken hostages!
TG did a very good job at directing. LOVE the awesome scene when we see Reid speed reading while when Hotch came inside the room he was in slow motion. This was a great way to see how things are for Reid ( he does everything real fast) and Hotch who take his time to analyse things.
Will have way more to say about this episode when I will do the review but lots of congratulations to Virgil Williams for writing an excellent episode, one that did keep me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! and Thomas Gibson who did great at directing this episode.
This was not my favorite of TG's efforts but I absolutely was thrilled with seeing Reid shine for once. TG and VW do seem to understand how to write for Reid and how to direct for the character. Thanks to them for showing how that can be done;. Lots of profiling, lots of twists and it was great not knowing who the unsub was til well into the show. Good mix of the team contribution in appropriate amounts.
ReplyDeleteA solid effort which they can be proud of.
I think a lot of people figured out the Captain was the unsub early on, but I was glad that they didn't reveal that until later on in the episode. Some suspense was nice.
DeleteWait, wasn't the UnSub actually that inmate whom the Captain beat to death halfway through the episode?
DeleteMatter of fact, "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" (Season 7) did something similar: the UnSub was killed halfway through the episode, but it turned out he was actually getting revenge for the Colonel's corruption at the military academy.
Reid shine but not that much on this ep. Way too much JLH for my taste
ReplyDeleteWhat a great episode! Even though it was obvious early on that the captain was involved, TG certainly gave us a chilling, atmospheric episode. Right from the start when he did the shots of all the prisoners and their tattoos it gave me shivers and there was great suspense - something which has been too often lacking in CM lately. I liked that there was a good spread of team. I especially liked that they showed Reid's genius going through the paperwork manually for once instead of just getting Garcia to punch a couple of keys on the magic computer. Nice to see a SWAT team used again - many times in past episodes I have wondered why they weren't involved.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, while it fell a little short of "awesome", the atmosphere created by TG's direction makes it a solid A for me.
Garcia finding improbable information on her magic computer but no complaining about Reid improbably fast reading? I remind you that Garcia and Reid used to work together manually finding information, or helping each other, of course in previous seasons
DeleteWe were told in Extreme Aggressor that Reid can read 20,000 words a minute so it is well established in canon. Garcia used to be unable to find or unlock some records in early seasons which was much more credible. Now she can find anything in microseconds and it is just plain annoying.
Deleteagree she is not nnoying Annoying is the way she finds things mostly in the last 2 seasons. : few seconds, and she has the info eansted of reserching more
Deleteremind you Mary that Garcia is smart too, she studied programming by herself she is an ex hacker, she is an analist, in previous seasons she used more clues, checked files....she doesn't read so fast true, but still she is intelligent and writers could use more this character
Deletecarrroll, they actually established early on in season 1 (I think "Won't Get Fooled Again") that Garcia said her father commented about her not being a genius (or something along those lines). Sure she self-taught herself programming and hacking, but they didn't establish her as an actual genius in the earlier seasons. It wasn't until around season 5 or so that they started pushing that and they started to dumb Reid down.
DeleteI do wish they would focus more on Garcia actually being able to figure things out and not on the magic computer finding things that wouldn't be on the computer.
Take for instance medical records. I have a patient portal thing that is supposed to let me view my records, but they haven't uploaded 98% of the info. There's just stuff Garcia finds that would not be accessible. That's why I liked it when Garcia actually used to make phone calls to places and request info. I liked it in Nelson's Sparrow when she had to wait for something to be uploaded.
Anyway, Garcia may be intelligent, but she's not at Reid's genius level. He has a savant quality to be able to read so fast-- and that is something they established in the pilot.
Sesquipedalian: In "won't get fooled again" Morgan asks why Garcia's in the FBI and she says:"because i didn't get into medical school" and Morgan says;" Why am i not surprised?" And Garcia replies: "Ouch, that's what my father said."
DeleteI agree that Garcia's character has been written badly lately, but so has everyone else. Garcia, as well as every other character has changed for the worse ever since season 6-7-ish, at least in my opinion.
I agree Liv that most characters have changed for the worse since Season 6 but this is especially noticeable with Garcia and JJ. Garcia seems to me to be increasingly a cartoon-like character and the only development they have given her is this "genius" tag they suddenly pulled out. You would think she would have matured and grown up over ten years but for me she just gets increasingly juvenile. I liked the tough girl she was originally in the pilot when she can't find something at the flick of a switch and just tells Morgan it is too freaking bad! Now, she is just annoying.
Deletemost characters have changed for the worse, since season 8 I like the perky genuine, "nosy" and witty Garcia even if few people mostly the few people who write in tihis poll (wow 2000 followers and just 40 comments??) think she should be more "mature" and formal". She can be mature and still funny and hilarious, and always good worker. Hotch have changed also....and even Reid. of course my less favorite character right now is callahan.....
Deleteexcuseme most characters have changed for the worst since season 9, season 8 was good for few ( Garcia Reid Blake and Rossi)
DeleteThere's a difference between quirky and original, as the character of Garcia started out as, and childish and over-the-top as they have made her over recent seasons. I think the younger viewers like the silliness but I miss the old Garcia. At the moment I much prefer Callahan who at least comes over believably.
Deletejj and hotch has changed for the worst since season 7 still love them of course
DeleteWOW !! That was a great Episode. Loved the fight scenes. And the scene where Reid was speed reading the files. Can't wait to watch the next episode
ReplyDeletei wonder why some people don't complain about the improblably fast reeding of Reid but complains about l the trick of Garcia finding improbable information on her magic computer.
DeleteIt was established in the very first episode that Reid can read 20,000 words a minute. Whereas Garcia frequently finds information that would never have been available electronically in the first place. I know we have to suspend belief to a certain point but whenever Garcia pulls the answer out of thin air with a few key strokes when those records wouldn't even have been online in the first place it is just plain annoying.It's also lazy writing to me - instead of solid profiling and deduction Garcia just goes "Pouff!" and pulls up name, address, hair colour, number of shoes, pets whatever. Reid on the other hand had his genius and ability to speed read made clear from Day One and it is nice when they actually acknowledge that.
Deletemary watch king fisher part 2 etc and you understand me. Agree i like better when people think than just do things quick and fast. and Garcia used to think not just beat her keyboard.
DeleteFBI agents interviewing witnesses in front of the facility cameras when they suspect the guards are the criminals?? really
ReplyDeleteYeah. That part didn't make sense to me. Normally when they realize someone is intimidated and they suspect another guard is involved, they try to be more subtle and opt to communicate with the person more privately.
Deletenot my favorite of Virgill williams
ReplyDeleteThis episode was decent. I might call it "good". I wish the poll had "good" in between OK and Great. I thought it was better than just OK, but not great.
ReplyDeleteThere were some plot holes and such, but overall, I enjoyed it. I wasn't feeling the best so I started to fall asleep during the episode and had to keep myself awake. I don't know if it was because I found it boring or if it was because I've been very tired lately.
Anyhoo, my list of nitpicks/dislikes/questions
*I was confused about the camera situation. The captain claimed they didn't have cameras in places but later on they had cameras with obviously very good microphones. So was the guy lying about the cameras?
*The whole "corrupt security guard" trope has been done to death. It was predictable and disappointing, although it really is a nightmare situation for the prisoners. Furthermore, the whole "fight club" in prison thing didn't make much sense to me. It seemed a bit too contrived.
*Why didn't the guards just claim that Devon attacked them or that he was killed by another inmate in a fight? He'd been sent to the infirmary enough that one might believe he'd been in a fight again. People are less likely to question when a prison inmate dies than when one just disappears. LEO attitudes toward criminals tends to be that they can just kill each other and the world will be a better place.
*If the team was really worried about safety, why not request that the privileged inmates be put in Lockdown as well?
*They wouldn't have been able to turn the water heat up high enough to scald the one prisoner because the prison would have to be up to current plumbing codes-- which requires that anti-scald protection be installed.
*There really didn't seem to be a lot of profiling and I wish the team had spent more time together brainstorming.
*I agree with Anna about the team interviewing people in front of cameras when they suspected at least one of the guards was involved and realized that the one guard was frightened. That didn't make sense. Did they just not know there were cameras there? You'd think they would have decided to talk to the guy later in a place where he wouldn't be endangering himself.
*If the captain was worried that the guard would talk, why didn't he just send him home and claim he had a family emergency or that he was sick?
*I know the captain got desperate, but having a riot and killing FBI agents was a sure way to get a LOT of unwanted attention. So that seemed like a bonehead move. And then he's locked in the room and shoots himself? That bit was contrived.
*While I thought the mugshot scene at the beginning was interesting, I thought it lasted too long and some of the tatts looked fake. I also didn't like when they zoomed so close in that the tops and bottoms of their heads were cut off (but that is a personal preference).
*I do like JLH, but I felt it was odd how much time was spent focusing on her leaving the prison. I felt like I was missing something...
*Before and as the team arrived at the prison, the volume of the music was far too loud and distracting.
*The one prison inmate saving Morgan and then claiming it was because he was helping a "brother" didn't ring true to me for some reason.
*Also, one of the prisoners made a plea deal for a lesser charge but he was still in there for life plus 30? That made no sense. Or were they saying he made a lesser plea at first but later on the guards wrote him up and added more time? I'm not clear on that.
Next post will be more positive.
I agree pesky, there should be a "Good" option on the poll.
Deletequoting: "*I do like JLH, but I felt it was odd how much time was spent focusing on her leaving the prison. I felt like I was missing something..." I feel the same way! Maybe they're hinting at something... that she was worried about her baby or something, I don't know. But Kate was pretty cool in this episode though!
DeleteBasing my thought on the interview with TG I think she was feeling claustrophobic and just needed to get out to air and freedom. My 2 cents on that.
DeleteYeah, you're probably right Zayrina!
DeleteOk. On to the things that I liked:
ReplyDelete*I like that they established how Hotch and the warden met and gave a little exposition as to why that warden was in over his head.
*I thought the acting was very good. The warden really sounded exasperated when he was talking to Hotch about the situation.
*The writer didn't hit us over the head with the "private company prisons are bad" thing, even though they touched on that a little.
*The lead up to the guard finding the body was good and suspenseful.
*I like that Hotch was in charge and had a good presence.
*I even liked JJ in this one. I liked when she said she was going to "light a fire under" Dr. Helpful (or whatever she called him).
*I was able to accept that the prisoners didn't just shank Morgan like they did the guard when they rushed in because that's the way things go on TV with main characters.
*I liked that Kate used a chair to defend herself and I thought that the fighting was reasonable. I'm glad that it wasn't JJ roundhouse kicking everyone and winning. It made sense that a group of much larger men with knives would overpower Morgan and Kate.
*I found it amusing when the one prisoner talked about having to re-arrange his meetings and joked about having a busy schedule.
*I liked the old inmate who was fond of Devin and who liked books.
*I liked the speed-reading scene with Reid and I was glad to see Reid actually being observant and helpful. It was refreshing to see them using that skill again. I know some people asked why it was preferable to see his superspeed reading vs Garcia's magic computer.
*I liked that they found an excuse for the team to not be in constant touch with Garcia and, while I found her whining to "chocolate thunder" about being out of touch annoying, it did make sense for her to feel that way.
*This episode effectively captured the horror/helplessness of people trapped in a facility and what can happen when the people who are supposed to protect them abuse their power.
*I found the comments about bringing their own food to be entertaining-- especially the part about how breakfast was not good. As a note: prisons are required to have better quality food than public schools.
*They did a good job establishing the character of the prison in a way and I liked the little tour the team got.
Overall, I did enjoy the episode and I'll have to watch it again to see things I missed.
Sesquipedalian re: " prisons are required to have better quality food than public schools. " I am sure results may vary state to state but my husband works in a prison and has for around25 years and I worked in the system for about 5 years. The food service has been privatized and it has become awful. My husband says it is "zoo quality" rather than human quality food. They are given $4.50 or so a day to feed each offender and are likely using $0.50 a day to do it pocketing the rest as profit. He says they are getting about 1500 calories a day. Where it not for the unhealthy crap they get off commissary, top ramen and that ilk, they would be going hungry.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile I thought he and I would have more to complain about the episode but TG did create the depressing, dangerous and claustrophobic atmosphere fairly well. My main gripe was how poorly lit the cell area was in the opening scene. The lights stay up more in maximum security and the dorm areas for obvious reasons.
Thanks for that info, Zayrina. I wonder if the food situation is only like that at the facility where your husband works or in just a few facilities. If the place were to be inspected and they found the food to be that poor, there would be trouble.
Delete50cents is about how much it used to cost for my school lunch and I got food poisoning from it a couple of times. Also found cockroaches, pubic hairs, twigs, flies, and chunks of plaster in the food. Sometimes the food wouldn't even be thawed out-- the "hot" lunch would be frozen in the middle, the milk would be frozen, and many things were just inedible. I eventually just quit eating lunch at that school and waited until I got home to eat.
I've noticed that a lot of TV shows are too dark. I think they do it for atmosphere and I'm always yelling at my TV for someone to turn on a damn light. LOL.
I forgot to mention that I kept waiting for Kate to announce that she was pregnant or something. Like when they took her and Morgan hostage-- the inmates *might* not have wanted to shank a pregnant woman.
On another forum someone mentioned that the hostage situation didn't last long enough to build suspense and we didn't get to see the team worrying about Kate and Morgan very long. It would have been nice to see the team worrying and maybe see more of the team actually talking to Kate and Morgan afterward.
I'm afraid in certain places, like Georgia, in the private run prisons they take pride in giving certain inmate populations nasty gruel, or bread and water, literally, to make political points. I'm sure they can monkey with the lights and other things if they so choose.
DeleteI have to say I was entertained. Won over by having Reid's mind respected and used to full capacity, for once. And I think this is as close to sesquipedalian's and my fantasy of a Garcia-less solution, being that she only found the corruption on the 2 dead guards, everything else was deduced by Reid.
ReplyDeleteI found a few things bogus: the scalding thing; the way the broken fingers looked - good lord, haven't any of these people ever had a broken finger? They do NOT look remotely like that!!
I like how tired JJ seemed, she was sitting more than half the time. I like that a show with so many people in it didn't take away from the team! I like that Kate sucks at fighting, like any average woman would. I liked the paucity of Garcia's presence. Even with the predictability of a prison lockdown scenario, this one was overall good.
LOL. I didn't think that Kate sucked at fighting. I think she did the best she could in that situation. It's not like it was a one-on-one fight with people who had no experience fighting. Those guys were probably used to fighting. Kate was outweighed and outnumbered. She put up a pretty good fight considering the situation. I imagine they would have had Reid shriek and hide under the table if he'd been in there. :-P
DeleteI wonder how they could tell that the guy had been sexually assaulted just by looking at him when he appeared to be lying on his back all scalded up.... And I wonder if anyone bothered to do a rape kit (because they complained about no rape kits having been done on another inmate).
Sesky (or maybe I should just start calling you pesky because the autocorrect changes it, you don't mind do you??), Kate put up a good attempt, but, yeah, in my lights, she sucks at fighting. The fact that it's totally plausible that she sucks at it is a plus in my book. Course, that badly outnumbered, even Morgan sucked… I wonder how they would have written it had it been JJ?
DeleteI just really loved Kate (JLH) in this episode, she is realistically bad ass, and that was believable for me. I was so happy that JJ was no where near the prisoners scuffle. Hotch and Reid were on point!! I knew who the unsub was from the beginning, but I guess I can predict my fave show! I loved TG's directing. I think I have to watch it again, but overall a decent episode.
ReplyDeleteif you like her acting good for you. that wasn't believable for me.
DeleteIt is episodes like this which are why I am severly addicted to Criminal Minds. Virgil is an outstanding writer... I sometimes dream that he and Sharon Lee Watson could run the show someday (without getting rid of EM cause I love her writing too; just let Sharon and Virgil call the shots with Mark Gordon hehe) Anyhow, TG I think has outdone himself once again. I thought "Boxed In" was amazing, but coupled with Virgil's seemingly flawless way to convey the, as someone else put it, dangerous, depressing, claustrophobic environment made for the perfect storm! And the guest cast especially Xango Henry and Co. from A-block was outstanding! ...The moment the sadistic psychopath "Captain" Dale Shavers made that decision to release everyone in the A-block and flipping every switch to open the cells to the moment they all stepped out was purely chilling and made me (an avid horror fan) feel the need to drastically change positions while watching ...OMG lol
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, every cast member was equally bad-ass in this episode ...maybe Reid and Hotch more so, but it was well distributed. The whole "Brothers gotta stick together" thing was believable for me ... Idk if this was Virgil's intention but I think when Morgan and Julio (the one with the Back-to-back meetings) first met, I think they saw something in each other ...more than just race as it first appeared ...they've done this in past episodes where they show how easily two people of the same race and class (in childhood) can end up in polar opposite life situations years later ("Profiler, Profiled: and "Restoration") come to mind ... but that's all guesswork; here's what I do know:
Shavers didn't send Polinsky home with a viable excuse, or try to hide his actions because psychopaths and sociopaths like him and his followers, respectively, DON'T MAKE LOGICAL DECISIONS because they feel they are smarter than everyone and can take care of things themselves, maybe even talk their way out.
Of course it would've been much more logical not to hide Devon's death (which was a creepy as hell, but nice touch) but just blame it on the other inmates using his infirmary visits as justification, but these guys don't think like you and me. They don't think logically. And finally, they would rather die than surrender.... remember Frank Breitkopf? Once he heard Morgan saying they have enough to take down the whole company, he knew he had no way out of that room. I think everything was plausible... I loved the scene when Serial Rapist Jones got a scalding taste of his own medicine.
Every moment was plausible. Amazing episode, especially the end when the real heroes (SWAT, the rest of the BAU, Crime Scene Units) show up after our other brave heroes Derek and Kate are free, the books are returned to the quiet prisoner who completely took every possible stereotype and flipped it on its head, and Reid, JJ and CSU recovered what was left of poor Devon and things are rectified, as much as possible anyhow. The speed-reading Reid scene was incredible and JLH's dramatic exit was perfect because she was seconds away from getting raped by the lowest common denominator of society. I don't think the concept of police corruption has been "done to death" at all in Criminal Minds. It is a relevant issue! This episode perfectly portrayed what happens when people fall to corruption and let financial greed call the shots instead of reason and when Rossi sarcastically said "Crime does pay," we were shown that in some cases, that is the sad truth; crime can pay, evil never rests, but the good in life (much like the BAU in this episode) will always prevail over the ever-present evil. Props to Virgil, Thomas and the whole cast and crew. Can't wait for "Breath Play," and especially the following episodes. Long live CM!!!