I’m not sure how many of you get the reference, but I was reminded a lot during last night’s Criminal Minds of the new USA Network series White Collar. Not that our Unsub could hold a candle to Neal Caffrey, but the conman angle, the FBI white collar division … all very similar.
Until, of course, the Unsub lost it and started killing all of his marks. Well, that and Agent Goldman (David Eigenberg, or Steve from Sex and the City) being nothing like Peter Burke. But I never said an exact recreation.
This was, however, an unusual case for the BAU, and even seeing how things ended I don’t really understand why they were there. I guess I can see why the urgency increased when he started to kill, but at most I’d expect a consultation from our team, something I imagine they spend much, if not most, of their time providing to other agencies, as well as other divisions of the FBI.
The truth is that it’s a bit worrisome if the best that the white collar division can do is track a criminal through their paper trail. Like Goldman said, the data can sometimes be months old. Now, that might be closer to the truth than White Collar, but at least Burke and his boys run surveillance, go undercover, and get the bad guy before they can terrorize an entire victim group for years.
Or whatever Goldman called them. Did you notice how Rossi almost laughed out loud at Goldman a few times? I think the shoving match to be on top of the mountain is generally pathetic, but Rossi has a pretty solid case for it here, and I liked how he looked down on Goldman and his division. Not because what white collar does is any less important, but because it’s clearly the BAU that really gets down and dirty with its cases, and our agents are routinely putting themselves in more danger and working with higher stakes. If, you know, you were into such comparisons, which I’m clearly not.
I’m surprised at times to see some of the guest stars on procedurals. Granted the “main stars” of an episode beyond the core cast are going to have relatively small parts, but when an actor who’s played a leading role on another show drops by and it’s not an advertised, gimmicky moment, it’s always weird.
While she wasn’t the only one (Eigenberg counts too), here I’m specifically referring to Annabeth Gish, the Unsub’s wife. While wider audiences may know Elizabeth Bartlet Westin (The West Wing), or Special Agent Monica Reyes (The X-Files) better, Gish for me will always be Eileen Caffee, State Senator Caffee’s wife, on Brotherhood. Sure it was short-lived, and yes pay channel shows are seen by less people, but could you imagine Jason Isaacs (her brother-in-law on the show) just popping up here and there as a guest?
Anyway, last night’s episode was just a little weird for me. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the break from gore and horror, but I felt as if this case was the other end of the extreme spectrum; I just didn’t get what they were doing there. Oh well.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Feb 04, 2010 @ 10:00 EST5EDT
I agree with you, it was a strange episode. What was the finger picking all about? Prentiss mentioned that he did it when stressed, but it seemed strange to add it into the story. There’s been talk of a Criminal Minds spin off. Did we just see the new team – a white collar crime team?
Did you catch the part where the pregnant victim closed her front door to all the horror going on in her driveway? I thought that scene was good.
*POST AUTHOR*
The impression I get from Ausiello is that the new team will be introduced in the spring, and it sounds like it’ll be a BAU-themed thing, but who knows?
I LOVED when she just closed the door!
I have to say that most of the cases this season kind of smack of “we ran out of the usual form of serial killer case.” This one, and the doll lady, and various other ones this season, have been making me think, “Um, REALLY?”
Though on the plus side, I always hated Steve from SATC’s whiny voice, but he really toned it down in this episode.
Just finally watched this episode. No real comment except to say, I don’t watch much TV except for ncis and this show. Too busy for any other programs. But something is still missing. Actors are fine, but still can only do what they are given. Keep Morgan and Garcia together and give the rest of them some personal lives occasionally. Get rid of that so called boy friend of Garcia’s. Beginning to think the death of Hotch’s wife was for ratings.
*POST AUTHOR*
Seconded on Hotch’s wife. It would be impossible otherwise for him to be back to normal.