CRIMINAL MINDS Season 10 - 1019. Beyond Borders - Review

December 2014, news alert about Criminal Minds:

"CBS is taking another stab at expanding its popular Criminal Minds franchise. The network is developing a new spin-off series that will first air as an episode of Criminal Minds in February." - TVGuide.com

Strong sense of foreboding + deep shudder running down my spine = Déjà vu anyone?

More tidbits about the hopeful-series started tricking in fast: the new team would deal with Americans that land themselves in trouble abroad, most of the cases wouldn't involve serial killers, the cast was announced actor by actor as they get on board... Those, for me, were all good news: the premise made sense and the cast was full of proven names on TV and made for a likable group as a whole.

But wasn't until after I started seeing behind-the-scenes photos of OUR cast with the new gang that I let out my first sigh of relief: OUR cast looked happy and carefree working with them, and that lead me to think OUR show wouldn't be hurt this time around - which, of course, is the only thing that mattered to me then, and still does now.


THE CASE

A family annihilator isn't new in Criminal Minds, but Tidwell's story was well thought of and developed to make sense per se and to excuse the need of these two teams to work together. It made for a good case-of-the-week, nothing stellar but the case wasn't the priority either, so perfect... on paper.

Allow me to repeat myself... again: too much unsub, his face on my screen too soon, too much learned from the unsub point of view, too many flashbacks, too much violence on my screen that added NOTHING to the story! What a way to waste time on an episode where time was, more than ever, overpriced real estate... #Argh!

As a result of the above, we got good profiling from our team but not nearly half enough, and the chance for the new team to prove their skills and specialties was mostly lost.

And then, they gave us the detail that baffled me in first viewing, and pissed me off in the subsequent ones: out of all those boats and ships remaining after discarding size and shipping lines, there was only one blue and white left? Tidwell was a fan of blue and orange so, if his boat had that unusual color combo, I could have bought the search-by-color giving them his location, but blue and white? Errr... nope! That felt like a cheap way to rush the resolution toward the cool take down they've planned, and a direct result of wasting so much screentime in unneeded scenes with the unsub.


THE TEAMS

Thoughtfully mixed, the established pairings worked mostly well, but still not everybody shone equally. In order of "creation":

• 
  Apparently if Beyond Borders is picked up to series, the FBI International Team will be too under Mateo Cruz's command. This is a good idea, because on top of the fact that using common sense is always a good idea, it links the two teams beyond the title, expands and helps explain the job of a Section Chief, and gives them a solid starting point if they want to make a crossover in the future.

• 
  Garcia & Montgomery: no-brainer if there was one, and the one that worked worst because of how they were written. Garcia being friends with Monty was very believable, but her deferring to him in everything they did was not. Garcia is bossy, - no matter how well she disguises that trait under her sweet talk, her colorful ways and her trinkets... when it suits her,- and Garcia understands better than most how the families left behind feel while waiting for news on their beloved ones. Letting them in charge of talking with the grandparents was a huge error, period; there were other profilers left behind much better equipped for the job, so Monty's "help" wasn't needed this time around, thank you very much. Monty is headed to Gary-Sue territory at lightning speed.
• 
  Callahan & Reid: they have paired well since the start of the season, and leaving Kate behind due to her advanced pregnancy (more in real life than in the show) made sense; leaving Reid behind not that much. When the reason to join these two teams together is the jurisdictional crossing (from International to Stateside then back to International), the expert in geographical profiling should have been where that skill was needed, and was needed most. He still managed to join several dots and prove how good a profiler he is (the case wasn't complicated enough to bring out his genius side). Kate could have profiled the family home, and work victimology, just as well paired with Morgan, or even better, JJ. Why better JJ? Because this pair should have been the one interviewing the victims' family, and that is JJ's true specialty.
• 
  Jareau, Morgan & Simmons: was another no-brainer sub-team given how the previous two had been established, the subordinate agents doing their elders bidding. They worked together well, but for the little they had to do, three was one too many (something else that would have been solved leaving JJ behind). Simmons left in me the impression of being a well thought of, well rounded character, able in his job but still with the potential for some personal drama and/or comedy; his "4 kids under 3" with a job that forces him to travel even more than the BAU does, and probably for longer periods of time, alone offers multiple possibilities if the writers feel mischievous enough!
• 
  Hotchner & Lambert: the winning pair of the lot, great chemistry between both characters without detracting anything from the other. They transmitted trust in their capabilities, showed their particular skills, and fell flawlessly and easily into a good working relationship in spite of the fact that they were clearly unaccustomed to do so. They were solid, unassuming and yet powerful, thus they stole the show as a whole, and certainly every scene they were in.
• 
  Garrett & Rossi: they hadn't sleep well that night, or at least one of them hadn't and rubbed his sleepiness off on the other. Garrett in boss mode was good, but not great. Rossi in profiler mode was good, but not great. Their personal interactions lacked more than half the energy they demanded. Garrett sounded emotionally stunted when talking about his family, too detached, instead of madly in love with his wife as his words lead to believe, and that mix of worried/pissed/amused-by-the-irony the situation created by his son joining the FBI Academy warranted. Rossi's sass wasn't as sassy as his usual; the words and quips were well placed, but the smartass that comes along with his by now infamous one-liners was nowhere to be found. Why they didn't reach greatness if it wasn't for lack of sleep? That's my explanation about what went down with them and I'm sticking with it. 

BEYOND BORDERS - THE EPISODE

Overall, it made for an enjoyable 42 minutes for several reasons, the most important being that this time they respected the skills, intelligence and experience of the BAU team.

Others that come to mind are the pace - they were in a hurry and showed; not bringing Lambert and Rossi to the final take down - none are the physical type unless there is no one else available; using Hotch and Simmons as the snipers they are - great way to showcase their origins; and finally the mix of action and brainstorming was balanced, as was balanced the use of all eleven characters (a chore in itself, because ELEVEN!)

Still there was too much wasted time by the already mentioned, but looks like always worth repeating, over-exposition of the unsub (a few of those scenes were needed, but got lost in the overabundance, go figures!), by Lambert with the three hopeful new agents for the unit (??? - not even sure what they were, but the scene didn't belong here), and... can anyone explain to me why on earth we see the family reunion TWICE? The scene in the boat made perfect sense, was timely and rightfully emotional. The scene in the BAU HQ couldn't have been more cheesy, unnecessary and plain idiotic if they had tried, and worse, took away the opportunity for both teams to interact and learn more about each of the agents, new and old alike.

Glenn Kershaw's directing deserves to be highlighted. He not only gave us some great shots of each of the main characters, but gifted us with two magnificent scenes: Hotch's chase through the market felt scarily real and the search for the kid at night in open waters produced some of the most compelling images I have seen in this show.


BEYOND BORDERS - THE SERIES

Because of its premise and because of the cast, I do believe it has potential as a solid, enjoyable CBS procedural, even long lasting if enough viewers agree with me. It has too the potential of pissing off the world at large once it hits the overseas markets.

Being in a foreign environment puts you in a vulnerable place, as you rarely are as knowledgeable as needed in the culture, religion, customs and/or laws of the country, so screws up came easy. Most times is a faux pas solved after an embarrassing and/or fun interchange. A few times, a legal mess is born. Americans can and get in legal messes with the best of them; at times as victims, at times as innocents wrongly accused, and at times they are as guilty as charged.

Very much doubt there is a law enforcement agency anywhere in the globe that takes kindly to a foreign one stomping on their turf and trying to take over, and none are staffed with dumb people. What differentiates them is funding, resources and training; every combination is available out there, and most get excellent results with what they have.

Lambert stating plainly that her brother went abroad thinking his American passport made him invincible gives me hope they are on the correct mind track and intend to keep their storytelling as close to reality as possible. If they keep this up, I plan to give this one a try.


~~~~Sir Elyan the White