Wednesday, May 6, 2015

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 10 - 1023. The Hunt - Comments Thread

This thread is open for you all to post comments and talk about tonight's new CRIMINAL MINDS episode, titled 'The Hunt', written by Jim Clemente and Janine Sherman Barrois.

Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that this was the SEASON FINALE!

See you all during the summer break... and let's hope come September we get new episodes!

34 comments:

  1. Overall... it was a good episode... THere were some issues I had... Hotch saying "Let's go" to go on takedown and then he's not there... JJ not telling Hotch about the baby.... or the rest of the team... but overall nice balance and nicely done..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. me too i missed jj telling the team about her pregnacy. next season i hope to see more team

      Delete
  2. Please tell me Kate's just taking a year off. I really liked Kate on the show.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I loved Kate on the show too. But I think this is the last we will see of JLH. :(((

      Delete
    2. No JLH has decided to leave the grind of a weekly to raise her family.. The door is left open for S12 if that happens.. but as of now... According to EW article Erica Messer says the show is moving forward without her returning.

      Delete
    3. Read EM's interview with EW. I think she's gonna come back after a year.

      Delete
    4. As of now there are no plans for it... although creatively they left that open... Erica is clear about that in the article.

      Delete
    5. i prefere Blake, and i miss the friendly trio: emily JJ and Garcia.

      Delete
  3. I didn't like this finale much. Very much like a combo of previous episode plots. The usual "only JJ and Morgan can apprehend the unsub"--I am totally bored with it. And also too much of Garcia's magic computer. Meh

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with you. I would only like to add 'dumb unsubs'.
      Predictable, and boring.

      Delete
  4. I like how the team expecially Reid guided Garcia to search for what they needed... I didn't think Garcia was using her 'magic computer' at all.. she was working within the parameters that team members were giving her.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. agree,with barbara i even miss more Reid and Garcia working together as they did in the king fisher 2. ep.

      Delete
  5. This episode was better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick but only just.
    Pretty snooze-worthy and the sorriest finale they have presented. Still infinitely more interesting than last week's sad fiasco.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This was amazing. I knew it would be, with Jim co-writing and Glenn Kershaw's amazing directing which was very well showcased here. I loved how much Reid was involved and the team balance that was there, even with Kate at home I loved her acting, and SSA Tia Canning was a wise addition; it was nice to see her again. Good continuity with Dr. Weiss doing the D.C./Maryland area autopsy. This breed of life is disgusting and I'm glad for Jim Clemente that they did such a good job exposing these people for how depraved, dangerous, and perverse they are.

    Kudos to Hailey Sole, too... That is taking one for the team if I've ever seen it. Also I was surprised at how neatly they tied up the issue of both women being pregnant this season; ironically some of the best Criminal Minds episodes I've ever seen were in the latter half of this season, besides "A Thousand Suns," and "Nelson's Sparrow" ...Anyhow, I will miss Kate in Season Eleven (PLEASE LET THERE BE ONE!) but I'm glad they left it open for her to return if we get a Season Twelve... Also, I thought it was a nice touch that Reid was the first one she told about her pregnancy; it worked out in a nice way since he's the only one who knows about her miscarriage, but ironically if he hadn't been in the room, she definitely would've told Hotch first. I don't think she planned to tell only Reid first, and at this point on the show she is presumably not even far along enough where she would need to bring it up immediately.

    Theoretically, had Reid not walked by, we wouldn't have known. That's some good writing. I loved the interrogations too. Hotch was in complete BOSS mode tonight, too. My thoughts are kinda disorganized right now because I will not sleep until I know CM's fate, but I enjoyed the hell outta this episode; scary, suspenseful, creepy, but well written, practical, and some interesting twists. Well-tied into the storyline of "X" as well. I knew that Steven Parkett and Kyle aka "Bobby" worked for the same organization. Great end to an amazing season. Give us more!!! lol
    LONG LIVE CM!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It was a good episode. It kept my attention throughout it, but it wasn't a home run by a long shot. This shows how much I haven't been paying close attention to the episodes this season because I didn't realize until the last few minutes that the Torso killer was in an earlier episode. Jennifer Love Hewitt leaving wasn't a surprise to me since Kirsten Vangsness blabbed about it weeks ago. If they wanted to keep it a secret, you shouldn't mention it in an interview.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oops. Too fast on the enter button. Forgot to say that now we have to go through round three of casting for Prentiss' replacement. They can't seem to find someone to stay long term. It is like a revolving door. I do hope there will be a next season, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't happen. Will have to see.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CF12, I agree with you about next season. From what I see around the web, There isn't a sustained buzz for renewal like We've seen in seasons past. Although EM , if you believe what she says, seems to think season 11 is all but in the bag.

      Delete
  9. Good solid episode. excellent writing by Jim Clemente and Janine Shernan Barrois.

    There was lots of well balanced team. Yes we got to see the unsubs early on but that was ok, made sense for the story they were telling. We had great work by the team to find the unsubs.

    A website where serial killers could buy people they could kill? this is scary! Imagine if a loved one did fall victim to this? I don't why after watching this, parents would still let their kids go online!

    I did like how the writer did write Meg. She was smart and resourceful. Was a much more interesting character than in previous episodes.

    The story was well wrap up, it all made sense from the events in 'X' to 'The Hunt'. It was a good storyline.

    So Love Hewitt is leaving, another CM cast leaving. I liked Kate, sad to see her go but this was a good way to send off the character and pretty believable too. Wishing JLH the best of luck.

    A few things that could have been better;

    - why leave Hotch at the office? I know he is the boss and needed to coordinate but jeez, JJ knew she was pregnant and yet she didn't tell Hotch and worse went in the field, on raids?

    - heu that is pretty much my only complain! lol!
    As a season finale this one is not as nerves wreaking as 'LowFI' , 'To hell and Back' but what it lack in pure adrenaline rush, it did have a very solid , interesting story that did keep me watching from 9pm to 10pm :)

    I give this episode a solid 9/10 Bravo CM cast, writers and crew for a great season and hopefully we will get a Season 11!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I liked this episode and surprisingly, I liked Kate Callahan overall in the season. I think JLH did a great job as Kate and I was initially dissapointed that she was joing the show. It seems that JLH really gave it her all to this role.
    Kirsten Vangsness did blab about JLH not returning so it wasnt a surprise but Matthew Gray Gubler did the same thing in an interview years ago and said that he didn't think Rachel Nichols would be coming back which was too bad because she's a nice girl. And poor Rachel Nichols found out over the internet like all the fans.

    Speaking of, since it was initially mentioned that Kate is from the same trafficking unit that Andi Swan runs and that Rachel Nichols' character Ashley Seaver transferred to, I think they could've brought back both Andi Swan and Ashley Seaver to help Kate find Meg.

    Maybe they can bring Ashley back for season 11 since Continuum is ending. Too bad, Rachel Nichols is awesome on Continuum and she can be awesome in Criminal Minds if they write her character with a good consistent storyline.

    I did like how they subtly brought out JJ's pregnancy and only to Reid so that it wouldn't look like silly, hokey writing and so it also wouldn't take away from Kate.

    I liked Hotch hugging Kate and seeing that soft side of Hotch. I really hope that Hotch is back at front and center of the storylines for season 11. The show works better with him as a major focus and not as a background character, which is what it is now.

    And more Rossi next season too. Tone down JJ and give Morgan better storylines.

    Maybe they can bring in Marsha Thomason as a new agent. She was brilliant on White Collar which also ended prematurely.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well...this was certainly better than seasons 6, 7, 8, 9. Probably because Erica didn't write this one. Jim's influence could be seen in the quality of storytelling. Though I didn't particularly think it was necessary to show Meg with her abductor, or her getting abused. Yes, the scenes were just about showing how smart Meg is, but it still felt unnecessary.

    I will say that it was nice to see Meg finally showing some intelligence ONCE she was abducted. I just wish that she had showed some of those smarts beforehand when they were being lured online, by a boy they never met. But of course, if she HAD shown those smarts, the writers would have had to write a different season finale. I do call BS on the group somehow knowing that Kate was on to them. They certainly never explained on how this group knew that Kate was tracking them. I personally just wanted to roll my eyes when I found out that this whole abduction debacle was simply payback. It just didn't ring true to me.

    For me, something was a bit off about the acting. Maybe it can be chalked up to the intensity of the emotions of tracking Meg. But normally, Reid and JJ are more empathetic in interviews, but this time around, they were much more aggressive. Yeah, yeah, JJ was taking this all personally, because she is a mother. But still, even then, her acting felt off to me in those scenes. And something felt off to me about the interaction between the two male unsubs. Maybe it was the words, or how they were said, but it felt a bit fake. And all of a sudden, the main baddie just shoots his son? Yeah, okay, whatever.

    And YES, JJ has known she was pregnant for who knows how long. And THAT does NOT ring true to me. Yes, JJ is supposed to be this super badass ninja mother. But considering how her last pregnancy ended, you would think she would be much more cautious and take herself out of tactical situations, because in an instant, anything can go wrong. So I had to give some side eye to this episode where JJ was leading the charge (while Reid babysat the female unsub). Though I will say, the moment between JJ and Reid was nice. It felt natural and real (probably because both of them are thrilled for AJ's real life pregnancy). The emotion between them didn't feel forced or anything, and for the first time in a while (for me anyway), their interaction felt like real, natural friends.

    No surprise, but Jennifer is leaving. I am honestly a bit surprised CBS didn't hype this all to hell in their promo like they did last year about who will say goodbye to the team. Maybe the promo creators learned from that buzzkill last time. But in any case, those of us who read fan sites knew this was likely coming (thanks Kirsten for spilling those beans when she probably wasn't supposed to). Her departure was understated but believable. I liked the character of Kate and wish she was not leaving, but such is the way things go on this show. Now I just hope she is not replaced.

    As for Shemar, we can infer from this episode, that as of the filming, Shemar was at least negotiating in good faith. Now that doesn't necessarily mean contracts will be concluded, because there is ample precedent on TV for negotiations to collapse over the summer. So it will be interesting to see what happens.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I always live chat through each CM episode at another site. When no one, and I mean no one, is talking except at the commercials breaks, you can pretty much say that all of us can't take our eyes off the action of our favorite show.

    I will admit, when they made the connection to the case Kate was previously working on, I got lost a bit. I was trying to remember which episode that case was in. Turns out it wasn't. One of my running mates at the other site said it wasn't; however, through her quick Wiki search, found out it was an actual BAU case.

    Which is probably why Jim Clemente used it. When he writes episodes, he like to bring the spotlight on horrible crimes that the BAU must solve. This one was no different; especially with the "one of our own and a child" angle. But it just churns my guts that there are idiots out there that do this awful stuff. And why I watch CM.

    The episode had great team balance for the most part, and I agree with a previous reviewer that Garcia only used the parameters the team fed her to find leads. I had no problem with her.

    This Hotch/Rossi fangirl had to take an extra dose of my heart meds to once again get a scene with my two guys together. And holy h*lls! Did Hotch have THE glare going 120% in that interrogation? It just got really hot in my place again. :D

    Overall, it was a great team episode with just the right amount of the unsub. And yes, yes to the young actress that played Meg for stepping up to the plate big time. Great job by her. There was a great balance with all of the team. I too would have liked to seen Hotch on the takedown. But his final scene with Kate made up a bit for that. When have we seen Hotch hug a member of the team. The only other one I can think of is Reid in Revelations. And while his hug with Kate surely didn't have the deep significance his with Reid did, it showed a lot.

    I find it a bit ironic that on Twitter, JLH is getting so much love now. Just like Jeanne, its after the fact though. That sorta sucks in my world. I questioned JLH joining the case too; but she proved to blend right in and was a solid team player which I've said.

    And while I'm not the biggest Reid fan in the world (please don't stone me or send death threats :D ), I've really grown to appreciate both the character and MGG as each has grown through the seasons. So I totally loved the scene with him and JJ about JJ being pregnant. It was total Reid and the friendship those two share. That was awesome.

    Was this the best finale in the world? No. Was it the worst? No. Like I said at the top, I was glued to my TV watching it because I didn't want to miss anything.

    Rockie's grade: it missed an A- by .02 points for no Hotch in the takedown. So a resounding, solid B+

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Rockie, good review, buddy! I agree with you 100% that once again people have come around to the new kid a little too late, once again, but what I really wanted to say to you is that when you got confused by Kate working a different case, I'm almost positive that they were referring to the events of the season premiere, "X," and that Kate continued to investigate from another angle, as she believed there was more to the crimes than just Parkett (the "Mad Butcher of Bakersfield") I could be wrong, though, but I'm almost positive that she was referring to that case, just in a different way. Glad you enjoyed the episode too, though! I couldn't take my eyes off either. I thought Hotch was gonna jump across the table with his hands on Alex's throat. lol

      Delete
    2. Thank you SCMA. And we (those of us at the other site) did put that together as well. My point is/was my little brain was trying to think of the "specific" CM episode and couldn't. Hence my confusion. Happens often in my little world. ;) :D

      Delete
  13. Not the greatest finale ever but much better than expected. I felt it ended in a bit of a rush. And Meg had a totally different personality than we had seen previously - where was all this knowledge about predators and what to do before? But even so, it was quite a good team episode which is always a good thing. And at least Hotch was well and truly unit chief - also a good thing. I still wish that Mr Scratch had been the finale and left us with things to mull over until Season 11 - if we get it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This would have been okaaaaaaaaay in the middle of the season, but as a finale, it was a yawn. Mr. Scratch would have been the finale in a perfect world. And what was up with JJ all preggers and jumping around shooting people in cold blood? But because she's pregnant, and because she's JJ, hey, it's OK...

    I thought JLH was good in this, and I will actually miss her. I bet she won't miss those of us who can't give credit where due, but she'll be fine. I liked the understated way Kate left, just hugging Hotch and leaving, presumably telling the others in a low-key way.

    They had Spencer more than I thought they would, but not a lot of Morgan, so I'm 99% sure he's back for at least some of next season, if there is one. I would think that if Spencer intuited JJ was pregnant, he would have congratulated her, then given her what-for for going out on that raid, risking another miscarriage. Too much (implausible) unsub(s), too much magic computer, but the team was fairly balanced, so I liked that.

    Also, what is it about being a young girl getting kidnapped on this show that requires you to receive a bad wig?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. I liked JLH and I also liked Blake but no-one stands much of a chance against the crazies so they really should not fill that position - the team is too big anyway and that would give the others more of a presence.
      I also was amazed that JJ risked another miscarriage by being first in on the raid. She should have stayed at the station and Reid or Hotch should have been on the raid instead of her. But I guess this is just Superninja JJ resurfacing.
      And so funny about the bad wig!

      Delete
  15. I thought it was a great, but the two part season seven finale will always be my favourite

    ReplyDelete
  16. I actually really liked it, even though it's not by far the best season finale. But especially the end, when Kate talked to Hotch and they hugged, it was touching. And something really cool was when Reid and JJ interviewed "Page" and Reid was a little tougher than I had seen him before, usually he's really gentle and careful. I'd love to see him a little more rough and tumble sometime.

    As for the bad, I have never really been a fan of these tough cool-headed young girl-victims. I mean it's epic and all, but it's not believable. They did the same thing with the girl victim in the season final for season 5. And even though Meg was a FBI kid I don't think it's realistic that she could have acted so calm and controlled when she was hanging by those chains. But oh well... maybe I'm too picky. I also reacted a little to JJ being the one doing the takedown AGAIN. Why couldn't it have been Rossi, or Reid or Hotch? Besides she's pregnant, she could've harmed the baby, would have thought she would've been more careful after that whole miscarriage thing.

    But overall I did actually like it, it was exciting, and the end was good. I'm going to miss Kate. But this season has been one of the worst a part from a few exceptions like Mr Scratch, Nelson Sperrow, Rock creek park, a place around the table etc.. And I have to comment that Reid has been a wallflower through this whole season and the last, and I keep wondering when it will be Reid's turn to shine? He is such a great character and he used to be greatly portrayed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Given what I've read since I got home from work, CM is looking for a "guest" to fill in while AJC/JJ is on maternity leave.

      So let me throw this out to all of you to chew on: I'm have full buy-in with CARD Agent Tia Cannings doing that. After all, she helped the team on the "Gabby" case and this one as well. And in MHO, she's fit in really well.

      Just a thought. ;)

      Delete
    2. Yeah, that would be nice, but I wish they would find a way to bring Prentiss back for a little while. If PB wants to of course

      Delete
  17. It's been confirmed that we will get a season 11. Hopefully if we get a S12, JLH will be back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No it as not been confirmed that CM is renewed, we have not seen any official confirmation by CBS. When CM fate is known, officially, we will post and tweet about it :)

      Delete
  18. Well, I'm glad some of you enjoyed this one, but it was such a let down for me. Mr. Scratch would have been a much better season finale. I am sorry to see Kate go, but I understand both the actress' and the character's reasons. It just doesn't make sense to have the Meg character be so careless and immature in earlier episodes and then so savvy in this particular episode, even trying to verbally wrestle with her captor. It was good Jim enlightened folks about having code words for danger, but the inconsistencies in the writing and the characterization are among the biggest problems Criminal Minds has these days. Everyone needs a break, but I wish these writers would get a clear, unified plan for the team this year. I guess it's too much to hope that they'd actually watch the very early seasons to see the way the characters were initially designed. Anyway, there was nothing remarkable about this episode and it did not leave me wanting more. Again, Mr. Scratch would have been a better finale, but I know we'll never learn what really happened to Hotch or see any repercussions from it. For the poster who said his/her favorite finale was season 7, I have a question. Have you seen the finales from seasons 1, 2 & 3? Just curious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with much of what you say although for me, I had been expecting a really bad finale so it was at least much better than my expectations. As I and so many others have said, Mr Scratch was the real finale for Season 10.
      As for Season 7 - the finale episodes were not only the worst finale but pretty near worst episodes ever. IMO that is. The last really good finale was probably To Hell and Back although I prefer Lo Fi/Mayhem.

      Delete

Respectful opinions, and constructive disagreement is welcomed, but insulting/foul-mouthed, malicious, or just plain disrespectful comments towards anyone are not, and will be removed.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.