Criminal Minds: The Crossing
By fred | May 8, 2008
(S03E18) Criminal Minds is one of those shows with a (relatively) large cast, and one where there isn’t really a main character. It’s not uncommon for shows to place one of their characters at the center of the show, to make it the lead; take House for example. But not here - and to be clear, not that it’s a bad thing. Either way you can have some really good shows.
Also here, there’s no “real” lead, no central character that is or makes the show. This has nothing to do with the show loosing its “main” star earlier this season, because even when Gideon was there, he wasn’t the one the show was about, Criminal Minds never was about Gideon solving cases, with the help of his team. It was always team work, they have all, always, been an essential part of the team, and the show.
Which is good, it allows everyone to pick their favorite, or not. I’m glad I don’t have to, because there are too many I like. One other thing that isn’t uncommon with such shows, it to split the episode with multiple plots : create two or more groups of people, each of them being assigned a different story. They all go down at the same time, sometimes crossing paths and/or ending in the same place.
But that’s also something this show doesn’t really do, and I feel it’s a good thing as well, because it doesn’t suit it very well. Oh sure, they will have two guys going to work the case at the local sheriff’s office, two others at one crime and and others at another crime scene or go talk to some witness, yes they do split the team apart and each have their own specific thing to do, but it’s always about the same case. They share one goal, and often come together to discuss their mutual progress and share information.
Not this week though, this week Hotch and Rossi were on their own murder case, while the rest of the team worked on a stalker case. As I said, I don’t think this is something good for this show, which does better with everyone working on the same case. Also, it’s pretty easy to think that one case is an actual case, while the other one if just used as filler, to kill time because the main case couldn’t be stretched out over the 42 minutes of one episode.
Not long ago, this is exactly what happened : Hotch and Reid went to talk to same serial killer, who had planned to kill them but eventually did not. That was pure crap, 110% filler, what a waste! Luckily for us this time it didn’t feel that way. I’m not sure why, because let’s be honest it was a pretty common case, and from the start you knew that she had killed her husband because she’d been abused, only it wasn’t physically so there were no marks or hospital record.
Yet it worked, at least as far as I’m concerned it did. It was well done, and as soon as the kids opened their mouths you could sense how things had been going in that house, how the guy not only abused his wive but also corrupted those two jerks. Again, it was very obvious, in fact hearing them blaming their mother for being a terrible house keeper and then seeing their home where everything couldn’t have been better, you had to wonder how the police and attorneys could have seriously not seen the mental abuse going on in that house.
And still, for some reason, it didn’t feel like a filler to me. Maybe it’s just that it was well done, interestingly presented, and they did not spend too much time on it. We also had a little moment where Rossi said something without thinking further, but Hotch took it for him : “I tried”, he said. I don’t think Rossi even thought Hotch might take it personally, he just meant that it was easier to go one from one marriage to another and another and another again when there are no kids involved, nothing more. But that chat, and the fact that Hotch doesn’t go home to his now empty house at night, were signs that he’s hurt and still trying to deal with it. It wasn’t too obvious, it wasn’t too much, it worked well.
As for the actual case of the week, the stalker case, it was another pretty solid case while predictable as well, since when she was told that, should she be taken hostage her best chance would be to play along with his fantasy, you knew she would eventually be taken, and play along. Still, it was all pretty well done as well, there’s no question that this guy was pretty creepy — I mean, seeing him with that little smile as he was hiding in the bush, yeah, he’s creepy alright!
And the best part of it all was probably the way she handled everything and played along. She is a strong woman, and she did everything right, she got herself out of this, and that wasn’t easy. I wasn’t as pleased with the concerns and behaviors of JJ, because let’s face it : yes the job is hard, and yes we can all see that having to turn down cases is not easy, especially when those cases come back to hunt you.
But that’s nothing new, that’s been her job for a few years now, and her sudden change of attitude was a bit odd. Of course, this might have to do with the fact that she’s pregnant ! Now you know why she was given a boyfriend recently, and not just one to have fun with, but a long-lasting relationship already, something that’s been going on for a year, where love was involved. It was all so that the pregnancy would make sense, and, as I just found out, it will have to since actress A.J. Cook is pregnant.
Overall it was a pretty good episode, nothing extraordinary but a strong case, a creepy unsub, another case that worked, some but not too much of the personal problems of the team, nothing to complain about, far from it.
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Criminal Minds
