Criminal Minds

We’ve heard that Criminal Minds is unoriginal and unimaginative. Ironically, it has also been criticized for being too graphic for primetime viewing. So a show that doesn’t stand out is more grusome than the others?
“There are minds I don’t want to penetrate, crimes I don’t want to see,” writes Robert Bianco (USA TODAY). ”

Perhaps it’s the signature scene: a caged woman, duct tape on her eyes, crying, screaming, struggling, as the killer clips her already bloody nails to stop her from scratching at her blindfold. Or perhaps it’s the plot itself, which plays like a how-to guide for sexual predators. Obviously, Criminal will find new crimes to explore in the future and equally gruesome ways to kill. (The next episode opens with a boy being burned to death.) But shows such as this are designed to sell on their first assault — and lately, the victim is always a woman. That’s where these shows compete, as they struggle to find new, ever more disgusting forms of abuse.
This is appropriate prime-time entertainment?

True, it’s not “appropriate prime-time television” for young children. But I know that when Criminal Minds comes on, my daughter is in bed. Even if she weren’t, I wouldn’t allow her to watch it. For everyone else, it’s up to them. It’s certainly appropriate for adults who choose to watch.

USA Today writes, “Even as Criminal Minds’ popularity increases, it still can get bashed by critics. It’s not a water-cooler show, either, joining a list of popular but buzz-deficient crime/action dramas, including NCIS, The Unit, Cold Case and Numb3rs. ” Meaning these are not shows people go to work or get together with friends and talk about, unlike Lost, CSI, and others. Does it get lost in tv world with so many other shows that deal with police and crime investigation: three CSI’s, a bunch of Law and Order’s. At any given time, you can turn on the tv and find a crime procedure show. Pictured below is the cast of Without a Trace.

Robert Bianco (USA Today) says:

“[E]verything about Criminal is patched together from other shows, from the FBI setting to the tired visual gimmickry, to the sometimes contentious crimefighters, led by Mandy Patinkin at his most eccentric and off-putting. The only possibly novel touch is the reliance on quotes from such historical giants as Beckett, Nietzsche, Faulkner and Churchill, men who don’t deserve the guilt of this association.”
(I kind of like the quotes-what’s wrong with trying to be smart?)
I obviously disagree with Mr. Bianco because I love Criminal Minds. But is there any truth to his statement that the show is a patchwork assembled from other shows? Is it tired and cliche? What do you think?

Thomas Gibson, Matthew Gray Gubler, Paget Brewster, Mandy Patinkin, Criminal Minds, CSI, Bones, Numb3rs

Wednesday night, CBS aired an episode of Criminal Minds called “Aftermath,” in which the team investigates a series of rapes that start on a college campus and end at a fertility clinic. The most interesting part of the episode, though, was the behavior of Elle (Lola Glaudini). After recovering from an attack at her home, Agent Greenaway returns to work a bit too soon. She personalizes the rapes and blows the cops’ chance at arresting him. After he’s released from custody, Elle follows him. She gets more and more angry with him until she turns pulls out her gun and shoots him. She tells the police that he had pulled a gun on her, and she shot him in self-defense.

It makes the show more watchable to see the characters as humans. They’re not indestructable machines who aren’t touched by the violence they work with everyday. And they’re not always right. Is what Elle did heroic? She saved other women from being raped by this man, but she could have done that by allowing the police and her team to do their jobs properly.
I hope that in season three, the characters’ lives are explored more fully. There are so many crime shows, and that would help this one stand out more.

A little update on the little update from earlier: Shemar Moore was sentenced to serve 80 hours of community service. Also, as part of his plea of no contest, he agreed not to drive with alcohol in his system and may have to wear an alcohol-monitoring ankle device. (BBC News) I wonder if they make those in Lindsay Lohan’s size.

To get your fix of criminal profiling during the long summer months, check out the real deal with some actual FBI agents.
I’ve always wondered if real BAU agents like to watch Criminal Minds. Do doctors like to go home and watch House? Do cops and lawyers like to go home and watch Law and Order? CM has at least one huge fan in BAU Agent Jim Clemente. Clemente gave professional advice to the show and also contributed an episode. “Lessons Learned,” in which Agent Gideon interrogates a Guantanamo Bay detainee while trying to stop a terrorist attack on the United States was written by Jim Clemente. But an even bigger contribution than this was his personalizing the character of a BAU agent for Mandy Patinkin. “It completely set me free in terms of his humanity, his nature, his kindness and concern,” Patinkin says. “I pray that when I talk to him, some of it is left behind in me.”

Another well-known profiler is John Douglass, aka the MindHunter. He’s worked on infamous cases, such as the Jon-Benet Ramsey and Green River Killer investigations. He’s interviewed Charles Manson and the Son of Sam. It’s because of these interviews that profilers learned so much about the behavior of killers.
Douglass says on his website:
“Profiling went from theory to science during my years at Quantico, and my unit turned it into a tried-and-true investigative tool. It’s now an essential part of complex investigations. That’s something I’ll always take pride in.” Without agents like these, our beloved show wouldn’t exist. The jobs these agents do is really as interesting and intense as they make it look on tv.

Just a little update: Shemar Moore, who plays Agent Derek Morgan, on CBS’s Criminal Minds was sentenced to 36 months of probation and community service after he pleaded no contest to charges that he was intoxicated while driving and going over 65 miles per hour on a city street.
Shemar has made the news quite a bit recently with his arrest, as well as the revealing pictures of him taken at a nude beach in Hawaii (yes, those photos are available somewhere online).
Well, at least he gave me something else to write about other than Mandy Patinkin - no, no news there yet.

This killed me!

Criminal Minds fans: who do you think should be Mandy Patinkin’s replacement? We need one soon so I can finally stop writing about Mandy Patinkin.
Man or woman? (I vote man. Maybe I’m being sexist, but I think a man should take over.)
Young, middle-aged?
Serious and dark or more lighthearted?
Who would be a good actor to add into the mix?

Michael Keaton and Geena Davis. Our friendly source for Criminal Minds info, Shemar Moore, tossed those two names out as possible replacements for Mandy Patinkin. Now, though, there are rumors that Geena Davis may be out, leaving other top actors in the running.
I never considered myself a huge Mandy Patinkin fan, but maybe I am, because I don’t think I’d want to watch Geena Davis profile unsubs. Michael Keaton is slightly more appealing. But neither of them seem able to fill the gap. CBS is scrambling to pick a replacement because production on the show’s third season has already begun. I’m curious about who they’ll pick, and I will definately check it out on September 26 when the new season premieres. I think, though, they have to be careful about replacing Patinkin. A new agent might not mix well with the other characters that people have grown to like.
Meanwhile, there is still no clear answer as to why Patinkin left in the first place. Nina Tassler, president of CBS entertainment, puts the blame squarely on him, implying he has “personal issues.” No one seems to know if his departure is health-related or family-related. In either case, the new CM profiler will have to work hard to win over fans.

Shemar Moore shared a little more at a CBS party last night. He again talked about former costar Mandy Patinkin’s abrupt departure. While expressing his admiration and respect for Patinkin, Moore didn’t mind saying that he and the rest of the cast of Criminal Minds were angry.

“We just want the courtesy and the respect that we deserve. We felt like if he had given us that initially this would be much easier to deal with. But he essentially slapped us in the face. That may sound extreme, [but] he simply didn’t show up for work and hasn’t told us why. Collectively, we don’t know what we did wrong, because we always did what we could to make him comfortable. We just don’t know what happened for him to make this decision.” (MediaVillage.com)

Moore also talked about his recent trip to Hawaii and being “caught” naked. He says he was with two “hot chicks” who wanted to go skinnydipping. The beach wasn’t a gay beach, though he has no problem with gay people. “It’s interesting that when you see the pictures you don’t see the two girls, because that’s not interesting. ‘Let’s make him gay and we can sell some papers!’” So he went to a beach. Wow. What a story. And if it were a gay beach…so what? What is our fascination with other people’s sexuality? I don’t think Shemar Moore should have to vehemently deny being gay…that’s just my thought on it.
While at the CBS party, Moore also talked about his recent arrest. “I’m a risk taker. I’m not above the law. I was taking my chances and I got caught.” He said his problem was speeding and that alcohol wasn’t an issue.

Shemar Moore wasn’t shy about speaking out against Mandy Patinkin’s abrupt departure from Criminal Minds. “If you needed to leave the show to kind of feel better about yourself, that’s fine,” Moore, who plays Agent Derek Morgan, said. “You want to be closer to your family, that’s fine. You want to go sing songs and travel, that’s fine. But give us a heads-up. Give us a warning.” While his words sound angry, Moore did offer a possible reason for Patinkin leaving. “The content is tough, but at the end of the day, I’m an actor who learns lines and I say my lines and then I distance myself from it and go back to my life,” Moore said. “(Patinkin) took it a little more personally.” Moore called Patinkin an “emotional guy” and someone you felt “you had to take care of.”
Did the often intense scenes of Criminal Minds cause Mandy Patinkin to leave? The show often describes grisly crimes and monstrous unsubs, but would an actor playing an FBI agent become so involved in the “crimes” (which are realistic but not real) that he can no longer handle it…kind of a post-tramatic stress syndrome for actors? Is he that fragile? His character, Agent Jason Gideon, was also seen as emotional and somewhat unstable. He showed the impact working on these investigations has for the agents involved. Apparently, it has an impact on the actors as well.

We’ll have to wait until September 26 to find out how the BAU handles Agent Gideon’s leaving…and even why he’s leaving. Mandy Patinkin cited “creative differences” as the reason for not returning for the third season of Criminal Minds . But even Nina Tassler, president of CBS entertainment, said that was code for “personal issues.” So now that he’s gone, we can speculate about who they’ll replace him with. No news on that yet. Any suggestions? What about Vincent D’Onofrio? He’s kind of nutsy and intense. I can’t decide if it’ll make a huge impact on the show. The rest of the cast is so solid, maybe replacing Agent Gideon will be easier than people think.
At least we still have Shemar Moore. (I don’t care which beach he swims at!)

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451 Press, Criminal Minds, Writers Needed

Las Vegas Now has a written transcript of an interview done with Matthew Gray Gubler back in May. It’s excellent, giving some details as to how he approaches his role. He also mentions the rough time that poor Dr. Reid has had as of late.

“I’ve been kidnapped three times, held hostage twice, I’ve watched my best friend kill a man, I’ve seen a kid commit suicide in front of me, I’ve been shot and even set on fire,” Gubler explained.

The transcript also mentions his summer hiatus project, in which he plays someone on the opposite side of the law in “How To Be A Serial Killer” - after playing someone who catches the killers, I bet it must be fun to try the killer role for a short time too!

The entire transcript is below the cut.

Read the rest of this entry »

The other night, here in re-runland our Canadian network (CTV) played two episodes of “Criminal Minds” in a row. For some reason, our satellite on screen guide almost never gives any details as to which episode it is, but I didn’t care; I sat down to enjoy it anyway.

Much to my surprise and delight, it was “The Big Game” so I watched it and loved it as much as the first time around. When the credits rolled I waited with anticipation for the 9 pm episode to get going, expecting to see “Revelations” since that would make SENSE.

Instead, they inexplicably showed “Fear and Loathing”. I was so annoyed. Hopefully they’re planning to show it next week, but it’s just silly to jump over “Revelations” straight to a later episode that shows Reid dealing with what happened to him.

To help myself wait for next week, I found a nice long promo for Revelations on YouTube:

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