TV Show of the Week 20: Criminal Minds

Mr E

I'm not a huge fan of weekly procedurals - your Law and Orders, CSIs, and the like, but one show of this type which is consistently enjoyable is Criminal Minds. Since Season 4 starts soon on Living, its a good show to talk about now and is definitely under-appreciated.

Starting in 2005, this show is one of those dreaded weekly procedurals. Where it elevates itself above the CSIs of the world is down to two things - the villains and the heroes. No room for cookie cutter "girlfriend kills boyfriend", "husband kills wife" storylines here - this show goes down a whole darker path. Twisted serial killers, paedophiles, mad bombers, kidnappers - this show has them all. I thought I'd seen the worst it had to offer until I saw a recent Series 4 episode involving necrophilia. Jesus.....

And the heroes... the BAU (Behaviour Analyst Unit) of the FBI. These guys are invited in on cases where profiling is needed. In the first 2 series, they were lead by Jason Gideon (played by Mandy Patinkin). Soft spoken, very smart and always a cool head under pressure. He left at the end of Season 2, and was replaced by Dave Rossi (Joe Mantegna) - a similar kind of character, but a bit more abrupt than Gideon. The supporting team of 6 agents has had just one change since season 1, so by now we're well familar with the characters - all have had a couple of cases and stories that have intersected their lives to help flesh out their characters.

If I had one criticism about Criminal Minds, its their failure to follow through on certain story arcs. The episodes are largely stand-alone, but they bring in small arcs near the end of seasons, and pretty much just brush them under the carpet when it suits them (with unsatisfactory resolutions). Gideon's exit, Reid's addiction, the Frank storyline (so much potential wasted) and the internal investigation into BAU are some examples.

My other criticism is Joe Mantegna - every time he opens his mouth, I hear Fat Tony from The Simpsons. I can't help it. Its hard to take him seriously.

If I was to suggest an episode that epitomises how great this show can be, my favourite episode was a season 2 episode called Lessons Learned - a terrorist being held in Guantanamo Bay knew of an upcoming terrorist attack on US soil, but wasn't talking. Some brilliant scenes between Gideon and the well spoken, well educated terrorist (and a very clever resolution at the end) made this episode particularly memorable.

If you're bored with the gravel-voiced ginger from the Sunshine State (and who isn't), then give this a shot.

Criminal Minds is on RTE2 on Friday nights (Season 4, Episode 7).
Season 4 starts on Living soon (Friday week I think).
Virgin are finishing up with Season 3 at the moment.

Rowley Birkin QC

Have to agree with that, it really is streets ahead of CSI. They don't always catch the bad guy either which makes it that bit more interesting.

BroomBurner

Unfortunately I missed that episode! But there have been plenty more excellent episodes.

It definitely stands out from other long-runing shows. I think mainly for keeping the characters personal lives out of it. The odd time they dip in to their personal lives, but not for too long.

It will be interesting to see what will come of

the "child-killer father" story

seabee

would I have to have watched all the old series to know what is happening in the new series?

johnk123

seabee wrote: »

would I have to have watched all the old series to know what is happening in the new series?

Nope! I watch random episodes all the time. Each episode has a self contained storyline that you can follow.

I have to agree in that this show is really enjoyable. CSI is good for the comical side (anyone see it last week when Heratio emerged from the pack of girls??) and when you dont feel like concentrating on anything. Criminal Minds is way better though in terms of story.

Elmo

This is weird, I really must not like TV. But I seem to end up not like the series that ends up as TV Show of the Week.

I really didn't get into this show possibly because of the fact that it came after CSI and its spin offs +Without a Trace.

Millennium and even Profiler may have been a better choice. If find this too much along the lines of CSI and Without a Trace.

JP Liz

Its a shame Mandy Patinkin left - Gideon is missed

BroomBurner

JP Liz wrote: »

Its a shame Mandy Patinkin left - Gideon is missed

Yeah, that Rossi lad takes a bit of getting used to.

Actually, the one downside I seem to be finding lately is that the characters miss vital clues thatare really obvious things you would think would be investigated. It only seems to be happening lately, maybe they've got new writers in or something. I don't want to be able to guess the profile/killer myself, where's the fun in that?

Mr E

Elmo wrote: »

Millennium and even Profiler may have been a better choice. If find this too much along the lines of CSI and Without a Trace.

No worries, Elmo.... Nothing wrong with a difference of opinion.
I'll do Millennium next week, k?

Caked Karen

Really enjoy this show

they have great story lines and as mentioned about, they dont always get the bad guys. Wasnt into it at first as i was all for the CSI [Vegas that is] but have come to looking forward to this every week.

they have some screwed up story lines too.

yeah really liked Guideon aswell..something about Rossi just wrecks my head!

Hardrain

Gideon is badly missed, Im coming around to Rossi lately. JJ is simply breathtaking!

lovinit

I miss Gideon, Rossi is nothing like him at all, apparently the guy who played Gideon got too big for his boots or something towards that, Rossi also voices a character in the Simpsons called Fat Tony;)

kerry4sam

Gideon is a loss to the show alright but you know, eventhough he has left the show I am still watching most episodes (actually one of the few tv programmes I make time to watch).

Good choice this week Mr E

ixoy

Have to say that I stopped watching this show. Elements of it were good - a likeable set of characters, reasonably interesting psychos, but other bits put me off: many times the dialogue is utterly atrocious (lines such as "You're good" "You're even better" after an hilariously "She uses UNIX!" computer fight). This dialogue was pretty much the breaking point for me - it annoyed me too much that I couldn't continue.

Whereas other profiling shows worked better - "Millennium" and "Profiler" as above as well as the superb "Cracker" - as do a lot of other series about observational detectives ("Law & Order: Criminal Intent", "The Menalist", "Monk", "Psych"). Just not nearly good enough IMO!

Nightwish

I love this show. After watching one episode, I went and bought series 1 & 2 on DVD. I even have my parents hooked. Gideon was a huge loss to the show. His character was fantastic. With him gone, Hotch fills the void nicely, but I must confess I do fancy him a bit!
They do have some of the best storylines. I love the story of Frank in season 2. Definately one of the best villians in a tv show.

Caked Karen

lol nightwatch...there is something about Hotch...i dont know why...i think its his angry seriousness
but definetly a great show. its great that if you miss an episode [not that i do] you can just pick up again. really interesting stories aswell

are people here watching it on Irish or are they up with the American tv episodes?

JP Liz

Season 4 starts on Living TV this Friday