Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that the SEASON FINALE will air MAY 4th!
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1121. Devil's Backbone - Comments Thread
Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that the SEASON FINALE will air MAY 4th!
what an AWESOME episode! CM back at what it does best, profiling! Lots of mind games between the team and Antonia! Why can't we get awesome episodes like this every week?
ReplyDeleteWriting from Sharon Lee Watson was top notch. From the first seconds of the episode until the last one, it all worked great and got me glued in front my tv!
Frances Fisher who played the Antonia Slade was so creepy good! The mind games she played the team, profiling them was riveting.
The ending was beautifully dark, and creepy especially with the hauntingly beautiful song 'creep' written by Radiohead ( wish I knew who sang the version that was in the episode).
After last week disapointing one, this episode reminded me that Criminal Minds when it is in the hands of a great writer it is an amazing show!
This episode gets a 9.5/10 Bravo!
found the information about the Radiohead cover, is by Scala & Kolacny Brothers
DeleteYeah, I must agree with every word! Hope you or Rockie get to do the review!
DeleteI'm doing the season finale review and my only complain is that we have to wait two weeks before we see it!
DeleteI agree with Everything you said... AMAZING Episode!!!!!
ReplyDelete10/10 for me...
Just when I am ready to hang it up they give us something like this. Sharon Lee Watson so rarely disappoints and tonight was proof.
ReplyDeleteI will be on pins and needles til I see the finale. I had a fleeting thought though, of how Dharma and Greg ended, with a cliffhanger and no resolution. Please not that....
May 4th isn't happening fast enough for me.! That is without a doubt...
DeleteApparently we are getting 'some' form of cliffhanger but it's not a character in peril type.. more like they 'think' this is over but it's really not.. and we have to wait for Season Premier to find out...
What I do think is this.... This episode ends with the team intact... The current situation solved/rectified and everyone breathing a little easier.... IF the show was to be cancelled... This will fullfill cast/crew/fans desires for closure... BUT we're still left with a possible intro to a new season if/when CM renewed that can keep us on the edge of our seats through the summer. If the shows cancelled - then we simply will know that the BAU is out there doing their thing!
Totally agree - I almost wish in a way that is it not renewed if that is what the cast decided - they took charge of how they wanted the show to end, go out on a high note, and as you said, it would satisfy everyone for closure.
DeleteI'm going to be in the minority here, but I thought it dragged. I can't put my finger on what was off about it with me, but I do know when I glanced at the clock and saw it was only 9:30, I groaned. It had felt like it had already been on for an hour and still had a half hour to kill. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. Oh well...lol.
ReplyDeleteBut I do agree that Frances Fisher was very good and creepy.
No, you're not entirely alone, I thought it was a bit subdued and/or morose, although maybe i was either channeling Reid or actually missing Morgan myself, LOL. I'm actually glad that his absence is a real shift even with the better writers like SLW. Last week was so awful, it was hard to focus on anything else, but this week, the profiling was there, the unsub's object of worship was a creepy creep, and each of the team was essential to the solving of the case. And wasn't Garcia demure and adulty?!
DeleteLol...she was and seemed to be hardly there. I agree that there was good profiling and everyone contributed. Maybe...I don't know...it seemed like we were watching the same scenes over and over with the different characters. Prison then BAU. Prison then BAU..etc. I guess I like them out and about solving it. Lol...maybe I just not a fan of bottle episodes. Yes, they got out at the end, but the majority of the show was those two places. It was still solid episode (not awesome to me) and I would watch it again in reruns, but I wouldn't actively look for it.
DeleteI liked this episode the most since "Entropy", and it's one of the few season 11 episodes I unreservedly like. I thought it was an interesting blend of psychological thriller and crime fighting. It was a very good blend of team working together and interacting with Antonia. All of the interactions were different and interesting, and of course my favorite scenes were with Reid and the few we got with Hotch.
ReplyDeleteThis episode gave a new meaning to psychological thriller. From the second we first saw Antonia, it was game on. It kept me glued to my TV and so good, I can't complain about the still slightly missing BAU chief. And I can understand why the CM bigwigs coveted getting Francis Fisher to do the show. I honestly think Antonia was creepier than Frank Breitkopf.
ReplyDeleteBut that's what I've come to expect from Sharon Lee Watson. Even though she was a bit off with her first episode of this season, she delivered on the last two. And a CM episode never goes wrong in the directorial hands of Felix Alcala. The man is just simply brilliant behind the camera.
Rockie's grade: A (more Hotch please)
PS Let me throw this out: am I the only one thinking Peter Lewis, aka Mr. Scratch, is Antonia's son??????
I think that is the most logical guess, since we know Antonia and Peter are in the next episode. I can't see any other way they could be connected.
DeleteRockie, I agree with almost everything you said! Sharon Lee Watson, how dearly I have missed thee! And yeah there is definitely a connection with Peter Lewis and Antonia! Don't know what type of connection, but with the Erica/Breen combo and the amazing Glenn Kershaw directing next week, plus the promo video, it is something diabolical. And Rockie you took words right outta my mouth! She is on the same level as Frank Brietkopf, and Félix Alcalá NEVER disappoints behind the camera. Even "Pariahville" perhaps not as strongly written, was still masterfully directed just like "Devil's Backbone" which will go down as one of CM's best Season-penultimate episodes! And although I'm in the minority who believes that "The Witness" was amazing, Sharon certainly delivered much heavier in this episode and "Internal Affairs"! I have a feeling we're gearing up towards the best season finale in years... fitting to follow the best season premiere in years! Now THIS was a CRIMINAL MINDS episode!!! CMRT is so right, when this show is in the hands of a talented writer who knows the show and what the fans like, this show thrives!!!
Deletep.s. tonights CM:BB was one of the best yet. Anyhow, can't wait for the May 4th finale, the day after the final season of my other favorite show premieres! Not looking forward to the anxiety of the will it get cancelled or not dance that seems to happen every year now...
All CM writers, please take notes from Sharon's mastery! Please renew this show, CBS!
LONG LIVE CM!!!!!!!!
p.p.s. I have to give it an A+ and a 9.5/10; the amazingly written Reid and the heightened amount of his presence made up for the fact that there was slightly less Hotch! :)
btw, Rockie I hope you get to do the review!
DeleteHEY!!! Rockie ya stole that Breitkopf bit from me... LOL LOL LOL !!!!
DeleteOr maybe great minds think alike.
DeleteBut you're right. You raised it first. I'm stand-up peep.
Credit given where credit is deserved. ;)
What a great episode! Psychology, profiling, suspense, great team, Reid written properly - this is how Criminal Minds is supposed to be. It was all about the criminal mind. Frances Fisher was creepily evil in this and it has set the finale up perfectly. Sharon Lee Watson really gets the team and writes them beautifully.
ReplyDeleteAs an incidental thought, how much better did Garcia look in that dark, longer length dress than in her usual tight fluorescent garb.
It's interesting though to read comment around the internet - there does seem to be a division between fans who have loved the psychological aspect to the show from the start, like me, who found this episode outstanding and those fans who prefer the later less cerebral action cop vibe who didn't really enjoy this one. Personally, I hope they continue with more episodes like this one which for me should be the core of Criminal Minds.
Amen.
DeleteThat's the biggest problem for me. The writers who write the torture/bizarre/heavy unsub stuff and the fans who seem to love it. Give me the CM of old. This was a good episode. What a shame that there are but one or two per season these days. I've been feeling that they may as well cancel, but when they give us some good episodes at the end of the season, then I want more. So glad they're giving Hotch and Reid some good stuff finally. And I really felt the team got balanced screen time in this episode and were written more like their old selves.
DeleteRock, can't reply to your comment for some reason, but I don't think they're related. Lewis's mother's name is Denise, and inmates killed his father for being a pedophile.
ReplyDeleteBut Antonia's son would have been adopted. So his mother would be listed as someone else.
DeleteIf the couple listed in Mr. Scratch had adopted Peter and never told him that he's adopted, then theoretically he could be Antonia's biological child...
DeleteHow CM can go from the epic fail of last week to this stellar episode is beyond me, but the constant inconsistency in writing and acting is consistent. Someone needs to profile the writers and producers to see what's going on inside their heads.
ReplyDeleteI love that! Consistent constant inconsistency!
Delete"Consistent constant inconsistency." OK, now you lost me...
DeleteFor starters they all need to marathon previous seasons, that's without questions. Then any newbies, any transfers from another shows, any guest writer, anyone who hadn't written for CM (or a police procedural) before needs to co-write an episode (preferably two) before they get to fly solo.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThat's what you said - and it sums up CM in recent seasons perfectly!
Delete"constant inconsistency in writing and acting is consistent"
LOL, although it actually makes me angry, never knowing what to expect. How they can produce A Thousand Suns and Mr. Scratch and then that other stuff borders on strange. I don't have the option of doing my job well this week and and failing next week - I wouldn't have a job! So nice to see Reid in charge and see Aaron - well, I'm happy just seeing Aaron/TG on screen.
DeleteIt was great to see Hotch not do his magical disappearing act again. Though he does seem to be hanging around home base, as it were, more.
ReplyDeleteAbout halfway through, hubny asked me who was second in charge now that Morgan's gone and we worked out the Reid should be. And then it seemed like the writers had thought of that because he really seemed to step up and take charge of things. I hope we get to see more of Reid in a leadership type role. He seems ready for it.
After last week I was so glad to have something like this this week.
Frances Fisher - 10/10, A+
ReplyDeleteA little reminder of scenes in Silence of the Lambs for me - warden trying to get "first dibs" on an explanation to further his career; Antonia speaking one on one with the team and reading them immediately; Antonia talking the unsub into killing himself; toss in even called one of her female victims "lamb" (girl with stomach ache)
Why the seen showing missing kid's Mom in Morgan's office? Seemed unnecessary and off; I didn't like her for some reason
Rossi called Reid "kid" instead of Morgan when explaining the cypher - I liked that transition; where was his one-on-one with Antonia - would have been nice to see what she had to say about him
Liked the Reid line about "I think I can keep up" to the guard helping with mail
The pristine and pure safe haven of the jet - now tarnished and ruined
Odd vibe with Tara and Antonia - what is going on there, seems suspicious with Lewis acting in a bad way, hmmm - has she had us fooled?
Music at the end was super
Sorry, but I was never a Mr. Scratch fan. So Antonia convincing people to do things, Lewis using drugs to get people to do things, who's convincing who to do what, false abuse memories, etc. As long as Frances Fisher is in the final episode, it will be a 10 and I could care less about Lewis.
agreed, i was never a Mr. Scratch fan
DeleteFor me, Mr. Scratch was one of the 2 good episodes last season. I was eager for them to follow up on the Hotch portion of the story, but it should have happened right afterward. Still, at least this season's finale looks promising.
DeleteLoved her crooked finger in the mashed potatos - nice! Liked the muzzle flare behind Antonia's head as she walked away - also, it looked like the unsub said something before he shot himself, it looked to me like it might be "you win"?? Did anyone else see that/catch that? And why pick on Hotch - what did he do that was so awful that he is going to be "swept away"? Guess we'll find out. :)
Delete