Criminal Minds: Mayhem [season premiere]
By fred | September 25, 2008
(S04E01) Time to get back right in the middle of, well, Mayhem. When we left Hotch and the others they were in the middle of what looks like a very well thought-out act of terrorism, one that was coming up very soon. Their plan was already in motion, and last season ended with an explosion, one of the SUV exploded and we didn’t know whose car it was, or if anyone was going to be hurt, or killed.
Af first it looked as if could have been about anyone, also by that time it was already possible to eliminate a few possibilities. Emily, Reid, Garcia, JJ or Morgan were safe, at least that how I felt because it didn’t match with the explosion. I thought there were only two actual possibilities : Rossi, and Hotch.
My belief was that the way that blew up was Hotch’s car, but he wasn’t in there, only Kate was, only she died. As it turned out I wasn’t too far from the truth : it was indeed their SUV that was targeted, but neither of them was actually inside the car when the bomb went off.
While this wasn’t really a surprise, it wasn’t a disappointment either and, let’s face it, there wasn’t that much more ways they could have gone for. This worked pretty well, and both the opening scene right after the explosion, or the entire episode that followed, were pretty well done. I felt that everything was very well handled and they managed to create a sense of tension all along that did work.
For instance, the scene with Morgan chasing the bomber into a deserted subway worked really well, you actually worried that this could be a trap, he could be in danger and get hurt. But while all of this, or the way each of the characters at first tried to get a hold of everyone and how they were all worried about each other worked well, I can’t help but feel this episode was kind of a let-down in the end.
There’s of course the fact that it felt like there was no real unsub, no profiling going on. I know this isn’t true, but it was some very special circumstances and in the end there was this feeling that it was nothing like the usual case they work, but a more classical FBI case of some sort. More importantly however, as that this episode was entirely predictable.
Pretty much from the start you knew what was happening, and the fact that it sometimes took the characters quite a while to get there was frustrating if anything. For instance, I’m sure many suspected that the kid who came out of nowhere to help Hotch was in fact the bomber or part of the whole thing. Wasn’t hard to guess, but what was even more easy to see coming was the real target of the unsubs.
Because it didn’t make sense, that he would trigger the bomb before they get in the car, it’s not like they’re afraid of killing cops or anything; that he would stay here and try to help Hotch; that he would lead Morgan to nowhere, it wasn’t a trap or even a way to kill him, in fact he just committed suicide without trying anything; and of course that an ambulance could reach Hotch & Kate.
Yes, Morgan was let through, but that was one special case, an exception made because of the situation and because he’s Morgan. But there is simply no way in Hell they would have allowed one ambulance to go through like that, not happening. Not unless the area was secured, and then it’s not one single ambulance and only one guy who would have been allowed, but everyone.
And while I can get that Hotch, in the middle of it all and still shocked, didn’t get that, the others should have, Morgan should have. They should have realized that something was wrong, and that the ambulance wasn’t supposed to be there, that it was part of the plan and, therefore, the hospital was the real target. The second the ambulance showed up I knew that guy was a terrorist, and that they needed so much time to get there was a disappointment I have to say.
Now if you add to this the end, which really bothered me, and this episode was a let-down. Because if they knew he was trying to make a call to trigger the bomb, and if they knew time was a major issue, because Morgan was driving the bomb and could have been in the middle of traffic, because Garcia could only keep messing with the phones for so long, why didn’t they yelled at him to put the phone down and his hands up in the air as soon as they had a shot, and if he didn’t do it, shoot him, to ensure he cannot make the call, and detonate the bomb ?!!
Why wait to have slowly moved in front of him, giving him enough time to made he call ?? (And by the way, they tried to do it again, but I don’t think anyone even for one second thought Morgan was still on that ambulance when it exploded…)
In the end, an episode well done and filled with tension all along, and yet somewhat of a let-down. Still a good episode though, and we’re now ready to start a brand new season.
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Criminal Minds
Anyone know when its coming out on vidio? I would love to see what happens next but I cant seem to find a vidio store that has the 4th season.