This thread is open for you all to post comments and talk about tonight's new CRIMINAL MINDS episode, titled 'A Place at the Table', and written by Bruce Zimmerman.
Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that next week we'll have a new brand one!
Ed Asner...omg...he made me cry. That was a very excellent episode.
ReplyDeleteNow that was a Criminal Minds episode. The UnSub wasn't shoved down our throats in the first fifteen minutes. The team led us through the clues to his identity. Everyone was involved, none of the characters were shunted off to the side. It was a solid team case.
ReplyDeleteThe B story with Hotch and his father in law was nicely done. It was spread evenly throughout the episode and didn't overwhelm the main story. And what was nice was that they didn't put it all in the first five minutes and in the last five minutes. Whenever the writers do that, the personal scenes seem false and forced.
Like I said it was a well done episode and I wish they would do more like that.
Can anyone remember the quote at the end of show by George Bernard Shaw
ReplyDeleteThanks
Ed Asner... Molly Baker..... Thomas and even Cade were brilliant in their family portrayal... To say that this storyline brought up memories and feelings I've suffered through during the last 6 years taking care of my mother is an understatement...
ReplyDeleteThe CASE: Was brilliant... Loved the whole thing from start to finish.. and the twist... WOW.. Bruce Zimmerman wrote a powerful episode... One of the best of the season in my book..
I absolutely loved this episode! Hotch and family was great and I thought the scenes with Rossi and Reid were awesome. LOVED seeing Reid surprising Garcia with coffee and a pastry.
ReplyDeleteOh so much emotions from this episode! First my hats off to the writer, Bruce Zimmerman. Great tv start with great writing and Mr. Zimmerman did write one hell of a story!
ReplyDeleteFirst the case. Loved LOVED that we had so much to wonder about. Who did it? why? Was it the oldest son? the father? the boyfriend of the younger son? the boyfriend of the daugther? The father's mistress? the team worked the case as a TEAM! interviewing everyone, trying to make sense of what their suspects were telling them. Who was telling the truth? who was lying? I never thought it was the daughter's boyfriend!
I love how the team was given lots to work with. garcia found some clues, the team did.
cute scene was when reid did bring garcia some fresh, still warm croissants! how nice of Spencer :)
Enjouyed the case part very much, hope we will have lots more of this type of cases. Have us guess, who did it and why CM writers, we love to find out with the team who did it and why!
The best part of the episode, no matter how great the case part was, was the story of Hotch's father in law Roy. What a heart breaking story this was! First the old man does have Alzheimer, this in itself is a big blow to anyone and him having to deal with this is hard enough but it is harder on the loved one who have to deal with the effect of the disease on someone they love and who they are seeing losing their mind slowly. As oif this is not hard enough, there is the nastiness stage that the victim will fall prey too.
The nastiness comes out bareling in Roy's object of hate, his son in law whom he blames for his daughter's death. omh watching poor hotch having to stand there and take all his father in law is throwing at him, when we the viewer know how much Hotch blamed himself over his ex wife death, was so heartbreaking! No matter what Hotch said or did, no matter how conciliatory he was, Roy would not have it. Told Hotch point blank, he would never forgive him. this was hard to watch.
On the other hand felt bad for Roy too. The man lost his daughter in a violent act and now he is losing his mind but before he does he will lose all of himself and all he care or ever cared about. He is lashing out too and sadly, Hotch is an easy target.
Erica Messer said in an interview with ZapTv that she hope they can revisit this storyline next season, I dearly hope they will.
I started this comment by saying a great episode start with great writing, well to elevate an episode to awesome status you need more and CM got it from ED Asner, who DESERVE at the VERY least an Emmy nommination! Thomas Gibson who was so great trying not to lose it with Roy! and Molly Baker who played Jessica Brooks, hotch sister in Law. She was so great in this episode. The Actress rarely gets to show how good she is because usually her part on CM are very short. Have to mention also that i was happy see little Jack Hotchner, love his interaction with his grand father and father. Hope at some point, if for nothing else but for Jack sake that Roy will find it in himself to forgive his son in law.
I'll end this comment with my usual score, lately we have been having so many great episodes, this one I want to give it a 9.9/10 it was so so very good, it deserve a near perfect score! well done CM writer, cast and crew!
I just want to add something else, I applaud the writer choice of NOT taking the cute, easy out by having Roy forgive Hotch. Maybe this will come in another episode next season but as we stand now Roy still cannot and will not forgive his son in law for what happened to his daughter.
DeleteThis was a fantastic episode, my goodness. The past three episodes have been one of the highlights of the season for me; and with an acting legend like Ed Asner, it did profound justice to one of the most heart-wrenching arcs of the entire series. Roy's interactions with Jack were seamless as well, I loved watching them. This might be the best episode Bruce Zimmerman has ever written, at least in the top three.
ReplyDeleteHe's getting a really good grasp on the cast, most importantly Hotch and Reid. Lots of Reid's genius shown in this episode, and an interesting case being investigated, but not surprisingly, since Bruce Zimmerman's episodes are always cerebral and keep you guessing, especially in this case. I couldn't ask for any more. Well done, Bruce, and Laura's directing was quite good, I was impressed with her directing of "The Boys of Sudworth Place," as well, but obviously she was handed a much better storyline this time.
I am happy to have read that the finale will be not only the culmination of the creep(x10) stalking Meg and Markayla, but also that plot will be woven in with the plot of the online trafficking ring, the true unsub responsible for the events from "X," shown at the end of the episode. Although I assumed that would be the case with the finale, it's nice to know for sure! With Matthew Gray Gubler directing the next episode, the possibility of a spinoff hanging around, and this amazing finale coming up, this CM fan is happy-go-lucky right now. A solid A (9/10) for "A Place at the Table," now bring on "Mr. Scratch"!!!
LONG LIVE CM!
What a good episode! The side story with Hotch's father-in-law was sensitively handled and must have touched a chord with many, like myself, who have experience of relatives and friends with dementia. I liked that it threaded through the episode and wasn't their usual clunky bookends. The crime itself was well written and so nice to see a proper team episode where everyone had a solid part to play. Reid was written well and for once we didn't see the unsub till late on in the episode - or at least realise that he was the unsub. Molly Baker was wonderful as Jessica - when her face crumpled in that scene at the start after talking with Hotch I could have cried with her.
ReplyDeleteA good job by Bruce Zimmerman.
Wow, what a great episode!
ReplyDeleteSaw the promo for the next episode, and I'm really excited about that too. Some if these last episodes lately have really been making up for some of the bad ones this season.