Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that the next new episode won't air until APRIL 13th!
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1119. Tribute - Comments Thread
Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that the next new episode won't air until APRIL 13th!
Overall...eh. I didn't hate this episode (even if it was basically an international Zoe's Reprise, but not as good), but it felt all over the place. To me, it honestly felt like Virgil was just making stuff up and throwing stuff at the profile to see what might work. None of it seemed to actually make sense to me and didn't add up. This guy just unhinged too quickly for someone who had been a controlled serial killer for years. There is no global database to track entries into countries, so there is no way that Penelope could have found out that information. All that stuff about the unsub's relationship to money just felt off. Hell, there was no solid evidence this unsub was an American citizen in the first place. I also didn't see how they actually tied this guy to the murders. Then the weird fact that the FBI walked into a dorm with guns and the police had never locked the place down in the first place, so students were just wandering about. Combine that with the fact that this was basically the Emily show (including two gratuitous nightmares), and it just left me with an overall feeling of...eh.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of what you said. As much as I love having Emily back, the episode was not as good as it could have been!
DeleteWill have more about it in the full review.
There was a huge waste of time in this episode that made it even more disjointed.... Emily's nightmare in the beginning with the boyfriend. The Nightmare on plane with JJ, the boy on the bus..... Took to much time from making the case more plausible.
ReplyDeleteI think there were a lot of positives to this episode which are being overlooked here. We didn't see the unsub's face until halfway through, (a common complaint is that we see them too soon) there was lots of team and, contrary to what's been said on the part of the unsub, with some of which I agree, there was more realism thanks to the SWAT presence (thwarting another common complaint) ...and of course the university should've been locked down by the police, but they had to act quickly because there was a call and a potential victim in jeopardy (which was definitely true) ...and I'm surprised to hear anybody complain about the presence of Emily! As there was quite a bit of her, everybody complained there wasn't enough of her in 200... can't please everyone, but as a fan I'm giving them a break. Virgil wrote one helluva script and Tawnia McKiernan's directing was quite suprisingly impressive! I wouldn't have changed a thing about this episode. The scene on the bus with the boy was important because it served to show us who this unsub is, rather than be subjected to a "day in the life of the unsub" we see every time Kim writes an episode. The fact that we saw very little unsub until the end should be a good thing!
ReplyDeleteSeems the women on the show have taken a "love to hate them" position with a lot of fans. (majority of present company excluded)And yet everyone was up in arms when they shuffled everyone up (except the men) in Season 6. I don't know what impenetrable filter everyone else watched this episode through, but I for one thought it was quite well done, and a great start to keeping the show strong without our dear Morgan. This episode was an excellent tribute to him, especially near the end. FYI, Emily's second nightmare, which, IMO was not overly gratuitous compared to other things we've seen on CM, actually helped to solve the case! They made revelations that wouldn't have come to the surface had Emily not had that nightmare.
The boyfriend portion of the opening scene, ...sure you could argue it was gratuitous, but as a huge Prentiss fan I thought it reinforced that she is happy and well adjusted at her Interpol post and London residence. Call me crazy, but I did not stop at any point and say "I wish Morgan was here", and I was scared to death about him leaving! Even though we officially have no cast members who have been in literally every single episode anymore *cough "25 to Life" cough* ...we still have a hell of a show will potential to thrive with new stories and a different dynamic. Reid was much more present that I expected him to be, and Garcia's info was solid if you ask me; it was proportionate to the amount of profiling done. I give it an 8.85/10! Morgan is gone, but Hotch is still Hotch, Rossi is still Rossi (next episode is Rossi-centric, take your heart meds, Rockie! lol) and Reid is definitely still Reid. Not to mention I'm loving the fairly-newly-toned-down JJ.
Side note: Tnite's episode of Beyond Borders was the best yet by far!
LONG LIVE CM!!!
Thank you. I share your view, all of it! The only compaint I have, was the boyfriend of Emily, because those two had no chemistry at all... bad casting :(
DeleteOther than that you pointed lots of things out, that I also think are necessary to say, because of the amount of negative reviews I've read. There are a lot of good things, that were always complained about and in this episode, it was well written!
Thanks SCMA, I'm not gonna have to say much. Because I pretty much agree with what was said there. I really enjoyed the episode. The scene on the bus totally creeped me out. But it sent a message to me as a viewer. This unsub was saying "I pick and choice who I want to kill. You just don't know it kid."
ReplyDeleteAnd too much Emily?? I as a fan was totally all in with seeing Paget back. And like they do with a "high profile actor" being an unsub, CM is going to use the talent they have coming in the door for that episode.
However, what I really loved about the episode was what SCMA pointed out. We had a lot of team. And even though Hotch wasn't in on the final takedown, he was out in the field. Hallelujah!!! And I really liked the opening scene with he and Emily talking about the case via their laptops.
And I feel the episode addressed missing Morgan. Prentiss doing her impression of Morgan at the end was a hoot! And a wonderful shout-out to her and Morgan's relationship (which mirrors the actors real life world).
Then throw in Rossi saying, "Bring the bottle" and I loved the last scene with all of them in the BAU.
However, I have to agree that the episode was a "bit" of knockoff of "Zoe's Reprise". But it still gets a Rockie A-
Thanks, Rockie! I loved Emily's impression of Morgan as well lol having been part of that awesome scene; and it really does mirror their real life relationship! Their twitter posts to each other past and present are hilarious.. I must say you also have the unsub down pat. I think that's exactly what Virgil was going for, and it was creepy indeed!
DeleteAnd I too absolutely LOVED Hotch out in the field tonight, Kevlar & earpiece on, with like 4 or 5 other SWAT agents and Emily! Hope we all enjoy the last three eps, starting with Rossi's awkward Reunion with Wife #2 Hayden and, judging from the promo vid, an off-the-charts-psychotic unsub! Wish you were doing the official review, Rockie! You're good with the heavy lifting episodes like this!
Your grade is quite fair, since you can manage to be a bit more objective than me; I do hold your opinion in high regard so thanks for pointing out where you agreed with me!
My dear friend SCMA, thank you for your kind thoughts. However, I'm just a humble, grateful serf that serves at the pleasure of the Knights of CMRT. And just the way I want it. Which the wonderful peeps here have respected. (*whispers* I don't have their techno chops)
DeleteTrust me my friend, the upcoming review for this episode will be in very good hands. :D
All I will add to SCMA.. is with 25 to life... Thomas Gibson was in the credits... And he has been in EVERY opening credit since day one.
ReplyDeleteAs for the episode. I'm glad other's liked it .. but to me it was too disjointed. There was too much thrown out there that they hoped would stick. I didn't feel the "Team" was in it at all... This was the Emily/JJ hour. As for the directing and editing sadly it was all over the place. There were scene's that didn't run smoothly from one to the other. Take for instance the scene where Hotch was in the field with the girls in his kevlar.... Then he disappears and is next in the station with Rossi and Reid giving their portion of the profile.. It was quite obvious that these scenes weren't shot together and that there was no explanation as to why Hotch left the field? Isn't he in charge or was this Emily's case? I agree they got a few thing right but there was more ragged transitions that just muddied the episode.
There was 'no' explanation as to why the unsub did this? The point about him going after people with money was never brought out? Reid's silly resitation about germs and threesomes was just something thrown in to make Reid seem the rambling genius. But it was corney and made Reid seem regressed to a more awkward stage rather then the strong decisive profiler we've gotten in the previous few episodes.
There are many things that I could look at regarding the making of this episode, but alas I'm sure that just because Emily was back people will gaga over the episode....
Personally I didn't like the Powerpuff Girls when my daughter watched them... and I didn't like them tonight!
Different strokes for different folks, Barb! At least we are both fans of one of the best crime dramas on television! You are right about 611. "25 to Life" though; therefore at least Thomas has been in the credits of every episode! At this exact point in time, he and Shemar have physically appeared in the same number of episodes but it makes me feel better to be reminded that Hotch was still in the opening credits of all of them! Thanks.
DeleteIf we are judging by appearance in opening credits, Matthew and Thomas are equal, because both of them have been in all of them. But Thomas has appeared in two more episodes than Matthew.
DeleteLet me say first that I am an Emily fan and it was great to see her back for an episode. But that doesn't mean I'm going to like an episode simply because she is in it. I was thrilled to see her in 200, but I didn't like the episode.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a solid episode. It kept my attention; I never glanced at the clock and groaned at how slow it was moving. I thought the profiling was good; everyone contributed and there weren't any illogical jumps in reasoning. We didn’t see the UnSub until halfway through. I thought the nightmares worked. They showed her mental state in relation to the case. It was under her skin and she couldn't shake it. And the second one showed the knife, which lead them to conclude he could have been a fisherman. If they hadn't done that then it would have been one of those odd leaps in logic.
Yes, I've seen comments that it was the all girls’ show, but they had to do that because Joe and especially Thomas were working on the postproduction of their episodes. This season has basically been the boys club with the token woman (JJ or Tara) tossed in. This was a nice change of pace. I'm still a firm believer that they still need to fill Emily's and Derek's spots with a permanent agent.
I agree it was similar to ‘Zoe’s Reprise’, but in that one the UnSub was just copying other killers until he found the technique that suited him. This one was a thrill seeker who needed the close calls to get his high. It was just a different view on the same subject.
Overall I thought it a solid episode and a nice follow up to last one that I had thought dragged.
Joe and Thomas were done... Matthew would have been the one affected by post production... When Directing it is usually the episode before and the episode after they're directed episode that would have been affected...
DeleteFor Thomas it would have been 15 & 17 and for Joe it would have been 16 & 18.
That said There were so many choppy scenes that I had a headache. Editing wasn't good at all. The story line was weak and not well developed at all. Neither was the unsub's reasoning. As for his timing for committing the crimes. Virgil really needs to watch an episode of Deadliest Catch because Nope.. Crab Fisherman work Oct- to Dec catching Red & Blue King Crab and Baridi Crab. Then they have a break (if they make their quota) until Jan when they go back out for Opilio Crab and work that until March/April. Not to mention that by May/June most crab boats are switched over to do Salmon Tendering. When they came up with that logic I half expected Jonathan Hillstrand to jump out and tell them they were wrong. That was just too cheesy. Not to mention "most" crabbers are from the Pacific coast and Alaska.
I'm glad people liked it. But I stick by my assessments it wasn't a very good episode and if Paget Brewster wasn't in this episode I believe the 'reviews' for it would be much much harsher.
I realized after I had gone to bed that I got Thomas and Matthew mixed up, but I wasn't going to get back up a 3am to amend my comment...lol. You beat me to the punch. And believe me, Paget or no Paget, I would have no problem saying it was a bad episode if I had thought it was. To each their own. All episodes will have fans who like it and fans that don't, and that is the way it should be. :-)
DeleteTotally agree CF12. And the three ladies (Prentiss, JJ and Lewis) covered the crime scene just before giving the profile. To the beat officers. It made total sense. Hotch, Rossi and Reid gave the profile to lead detectives at the station. The giving of the profile balanced well in my world.
ReplyDeleteLike I said before, to have Paget back, I'll take the girl power. And that's coming from a die hard Hotch and Rossi fan.
And from what I've read online, I think my guys are about to get their days in CM "sunshine". :D
Rocky one question.... Hotch was 'with' the girls at the crime scene.. So how pray tell did he miraculously get back to the station appearing just like he had several scenes before ??? There was 'no' explanation or transitional sequence.. I would have bought it more if Hotch was with them and gave the order for them to brief locals there while he returned to station to brief Rossi/Reid and locals at the station. Hell it would have made sense if she simply showed up still in his kevlar to give the station locals the profile with the other guys.
DeleteI don't watch CM for the "Charlie's Angel's" affect... So episodes that show that and have the others acting like lap dogs doesn't appeal to me at all... This is one of those episodes.
For me, the split delivery profile scene felt so fake. I mean, we have a divided up team, but they are somehow giving the same profile. Plus, since half of the team is still in the field, it made me wonder when the hell the team actually developed the profile. In the past, we have seen the team working together to develop this, but there was no time to collaborate on a profile. It really highlighted to me that they were just making this up as they went along and was one of the things that took me out of the "reality" of this episode.
DeleteI could go with the easy answer Barb and say "it's a TV show" and walk away. But I respect you too much, so here's what I'm thing (and maybe a response to MySoCalled as well). I believe that after a team member says "we're ready to give the profile", someone does not let a whistle and hollers "gather around". Hotch has always preached about the team concept of profiling. I'd like to believe that the team gets together, in this situation via teleconference to discuss the final profile together before delivering it. Especially in this instance where the profile is being delivered at two different locations. Each sub-division of the team has deliver the same profile to each group so they all need to be on the same exact page. That can only happen when the team has discussed the final profile together. I also believe it takes a while to get the LEO's gathered to hear the profile. That would give Hotch the time to get back to the precient. We as viewers just don't see that because it would be redundant since we hear the actual profile being delivered. Plus there's that pesky 43 minutes per episode rule.
DeleteSorry Rene... but to me when a short scene like that needs such a long explanation to maybe try to have it make sense there's something wrong with the writing, directing, editing or all of the above...You can tell that the 'guys' profiling was done separately (probably on a different night)and there just wasn't enough attention paid to fluidity of the episode as a whole.
DeleteI get that most of us have watched CM for Forever.... But 'most' average viewers aren't going to think or over think scenes like we do... and for an average viewer (Brian was the one who brought this up to me) it just didn't go together, it didn't flow and felt disjointed...
Sad to say but Virgil isn't writing up to the quality he used to. He's trying to force his 'concepts' of the show instead of writing for the show itself.
At best I give this episode a D-
I think we mutually agree to disagree with deep respect for each other.
DeleteThe sign of well run CM fan site. Thank you CMRT!!
We have said a few times, all opinions are welcomed, it is ok to disagree but we do so politely :) So far the debates have been great even if not everyone agrees :)
DeleteKeep it up CM fans :)
and thanks for the kind words Rocky!
* Good timing to have Paget/Prentiss return right after Morgan's departure.
ReplyDelete* Global historical serial killers, men, women, children, gangsters, planes, trains, automobiles, affluence, weather, seasonal, crabs, father, respect, Rolex, endgame. Talk about overkill.
* Kind of loved the JJ/Prentiss scene with JJ gurgling and spewing blood in that gorgeous black dress.
* Liked the focus on Prentiss. Paget looks great but sounds different from the Emily I remember. Like it.
* The team was a little slow on the uptake getting into the dorm room when the student bolted from the room screaming, "He's gonna kill her."
* Paget's black and grey cape was simply striking on her. Yay BJ!
* Only TG can make a furrowed brow, ear piece and Kevlar completely irresistible.
It was OK ish. The plot we have seen before as others have said in Zoe's Reprise - only there it was done much better.
ReplyDeleteThe "family" scenes came over to me as just being indulgent to the actors who are all such great friends - it was just Paget, AJ et al having a bit of a jolly.
I would like a break from dream sequences for a season or two.
Everything unravelled far too quickly and unbelievably and the unsub himself didn't come over as having the intelligence to be an international serial killer.
It was OK I guess - one for the Paget fans to squee over.
*quote* the unsub himself didn't come over as having the intelligence to be an international serial killer. */quote*
Deleteexactly!! That was indeed very odd and the fact, that he didn't recognize Prentiss, after he let her live some years ago.
The writing was sub-par for all of CM, but pretty consistent with what we've been getting for the past 3 or 4 years. As much as I love Paget, she did not make this a great episode. But I will say that Paget elevates the writing. She can make some of those bad lines sound good, or at least not as awful as they really are. She has believable chemistry with the rest of the team as well as anyone else she interacts with on screen. Although, the scene with the boyfriend didn't feel right to me. The relationship between Prentiss and JJ feels real and warm and she made me enjoy those scenes. Heck, she even made Garcia tolerable for me. But this was still a poorly written script. I enjoyed seeing the team together and some of the contributions they made toward solving the case. The case had potential. I know it sounds creepy, but I liked that they brought in the Richard Speck case. I was a young girl in Chicago when that went down and people were freaked out about it for years. But Virgil didn't use it well. I feel the majority of these writers just have a "that's good enough" attitude toward their writing. They don't go the extra mile to make sure everything is clear or even plausible. They don't think the viewers will notice. I do agree with the poster who said that the episode didn't drag. It didn't. I was surprised at one point when I looked at the clock and realized the hour was almost up. But it still wasn't a good episode. And since this is either the last or perhaps the next to the last season, I have no hope that CM will put any money or effort into getting better writers.
ReplyDeleteI didn't mind that Emily had a boyfriend and he wasn't on the screen long enough to form a concrete opinion of him. My little hang up was out of all the actors out there to cast, they couldn't find one who didn't resemble any of the guys on the team? It looked like she was dating the British version of Derek Morgan. What about a hunky blonde guy...lol?
DeleteI loved this episode.
ReplyDelete