With all of these crime-fighting procedural shows on TV, not all of them are going to be good. CBS’s “Criminal Minds” may currently be a hit, but that doesn’t mean it is the best thing on TV right now.
Special Agent Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) is the FBI’s top behavioral analyst, but six months ago, something disturbing happened which shook his confidence. He was negotiating a hostage situation in Boston with a bomber named Adrian Bale (Tim Kelleher), when Bale gave himself up peacefully. Gideon sent in six agents in to get the hostage, when Bale set off a bomb, killing the agents and the hostage. In the six months following, he is now teaching classes to FBI profilers in Quantico, Virginia. He tells his class about his encounter with a gas station clerk dubbed the Footpath Killer (Lukas Haas.) He managed to survive it by empathizing with the killer. Special Agent Aaron “Hotch” Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), the head of the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), asks Gideon to join the team in order to stop a slew of serial killers, or unsubs (unknown subjects.) Hotch is married to Haley (Meredith Monroe), and they have a baby on the way. He wants Gideon on the team because the man is a brilliant profiler who almost acts like Tony Shalhoub’s Adrian Monk, except without the funny OCD quirks. Hotch trusts Gideon completely, though his superiors want him to be on the lookout for Gideon acting too stressed and slipping up as a field agent, since they believe that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Along with Gideon, the BAU has a team of agents, all with their own specialties. Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini) is an agent with a background in sexual offenses. She is looking for a promotion in the BAU that she hasn’t been granted yet. Special Agent Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) is an expert on obsessional crimes. Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) is a genius who looks like a kid, but knows practically everything (another agent says that they don’t need to use Google, because they can just use Reid.) He isn’t very good with the social skills though (unfortunately, his social skills deficiency isn’t as funny or entertaining as Emily Deschanel’s character on FOX’s “Bones.”) Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (AJ Cook) is a confident young agent who acts as the unit liaison for the team (she was introduced in the second episode, but hasn’t done much since, other than be a public relations spokeswoman.) Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) is the team’s computer researcher and assistant. Though she assists the whole team, it looks like she mostly helps Morgan out. With Gideon’s help, the BAU might be able to find out the motivations of the country’s most warped criminal minds and stop them (apparently, they were not able to do this on their own before Gideon showed up.)
I think the thing that is annoying about the show is its “quirks.” Gideon (and sometimes Hotch) quote lines from authors and historical figures in order to seem smart. They’re really just being pretentious. Also, I don’t like the way the profiler of the moment is put into the crime scene he or she is describing. What I mean is…while the profiler is giving the details of the crime being committed, we see the crime going on in the background. It’s kind of like the moving pictures on CBS’s other new show “Close to Home.” Ever since “C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation” gave viewers a visual description of crimes, other show creators have tried doing the same thing in a different way. How about just having some good writing? It works for NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” and we don’t need to see gimmicks on that show for it to be good.
The acting on the show is decent, but this is Patinkin’s baby. I liked him better in Showtime’s “Dead Like Me” and CBS’s “Chicago Hope” than on this show though. Gibson would be surprise, except that I figured he could do drama all along. When he played Greg on ABC’s “Dharma & Greg,” I always thought that he was more suited for drama. Glaudini is being pigeonholed in law enforcement roles…and always as a supporting character. She was on CBS’s “The Handler,” HBO’s “The Sopranos,” and ABC’s “NYPD Blue”…all in basically the same role. Moore was great in this year’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and he does a good job here. Gubler is only good by the fact that I was surprised that he was a male model for Tommy Hilfinger Denim. Otherwise, his character is a clichéd genius type.
As I said earlier, “Criminal Minds” is doing well in the ratings, even going up against some tough competitors, like ABC’s “Lost” and UPN’s “Veronica Mars.” I may still tune into the show (if only to see the acting of Patinkin), but it will be after watching the island dwellers on ABC and a clever blonde detective on UPN. It would be criminal to watch this show first.
Read more...
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Criminal Minds DVD Reviews
Watch Criminal Minds S04E05 405
"Catching Out"
Watch Criminal Minds S04E05 405
The BAU investigates a series of murders that appear to be connected to a killer who jumps trains and chooses his victims based on their proximity to the railway.
Read more...
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Watch Criminal Minds S04E04 404
Criminal Minds Season 4 - Episode 4
Paradise
A serial killer who disguises his victims' demise by creating car accidents to mask their earlier deaths is the subject of a BAU manhunt.
Read more...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
watch Criminal Minds S04E03 403
"Minimal Loss"
watch Criminal Minds S04E03 403
When Prentiss and Reid go undercover to investigate possible child abuse at an underground cult, they get trapped inside the compound when a federal raid goes bad. (Special Guest Star: Luke Perry )
Read more...
Monday, May 18, 2009
watch Criminal Minds S04E02 402
"The Angel Maker"
When a series of murders are linked to a serial killer who was executed a year ago, the BAU must find the connection between him and the current killing spree. In this episode they take you inside the head of a killer dead and buried.
Watch Criminal Minds Season 4 Full Episode: 2
Read more...
Sunday, May 17, 2009
watch Criminal Minds S04E01 401
When an SUV carrying members of the BAU explodes, the rest of the team fights to save their colleagues and catch the terrorists responsible for the bombing.
Watch Criminal Minds Season 4 Full Episode: 1
Read more...
Friday, May 15, 2009
Criminal Minds Series Overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | 2005 – 2006 | November 28, 2006 |
| 2 | 23 | 2006 – 2007 | October 2, 2007 |
| 3 | 20 | 2007 – 2008 | September 16, 2008 |
| 4 | 26 | 2008 – 2009 | TBA |
| 5 | ? | 2009 – 2010 | TBA |
Watch the Full Episodes Criminal Minds
Criminal Minds is an American crime drama series that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. The show is produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television. It follows the adventures of a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico, Virginia. Criminal Minds differs from many criminal system procedural dramas by focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself.
The series' third season, which premiered on September 26, 2007, was interrupted in late 2007 by the industry-wide WGA strike. It aired its last pre-strike episode on January 23, 2008. Following the resolution of the strike, the show returned to air on April 2, 2008. On May 14, 2008, Criminal Minds was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 24, 2008. The show was officially renewed for a fifth season on May 20, 2009.
The series' third season, which premiered on September 26, 2007, was interrupted in late 2007 by the industry-wide WGA strike. It aired its last pre-strike episode on January 23, 2008. Following the resolution of the strike, the show returned to air on April 2, 2008. On May 14, 2008, Criminal Minds was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 24, 2008. The show was officially renewed for a fifth season on May 20, 2009.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)