Talk about the wrong show to watch if you have kids. Criminal Minds continues to make a case for just how much shock and horror we can take. An episode all about abducted children? Come on!
And yet there was also something sweet hidden underneath it all. Not with the family McCrazy, but with Charlie (Evan Peters). Although I’m not sure how the episode explained what made him snap after eight years and eleven other kids, but his sense of right and wrong, of putting another’s life before your own, finally clicked into place when faced with Aimee’s (Cameron Protzman) death.
I’m not sure how many of you this will mean something to, but the episode reminded me a lot of a 1989 made-for-TV movie called I Know My First Name Is Steven. Based on the true story of a seven year-old boy who was kidnapped and subsequently raised by Kenneth Parnell, Steven’s snap occurred at the age of 14, when Parnell brought home another little boy named Timmy White. However much of the role played by Parker Lewis (Corin Nemec) was true to life, it appeared to have been the possibility that Parnell would have the opportunity to do to Timmy what he had done to Steven that made Steven run with Timmy in tow.
Not exactly what happened to Charlie, Aimee, and Mae (Katlin Mastandrea) last night, but that movie haunts me to this day. So I’m not sure how long it’ll be before I shake last night’s Criminal Minds. I mean, the fact that Stephen (Austin Mincks) was alive the day before? His parents can gain some comfort in knowing the truth, as well as in learning that their son died trying to protect another, but the day before? They were so close to getting him back!
Which they all have Sarah Hillridge (Ann Cusack) to thank for, of course. I realize that everyone was dealing with their own pain, and that there’s a lot of history there, but we can all be very dismissive of one another, can’t we? Nine sets of parents left FBI headquarters to mourn the death of their children, but would they have been better off not knowing for the rest of their lives? And having Charlie and Mae to talk to about their kids’ last days or years is a gift. It doesn’t diminish the parents’ pain, and I thankfully have no idea what they must have been going through, but we are awfully dismissive of one another. It’s so easy to call someone else crazy. Or culpable. But when you take a moment to think about things from a different perspective….
According to her IMDb page, this is the first acting gig that Brooke Smith has had since being summarily dismissed as Erica Hahn on Grey’s Anatomy. I didn’t like her there, but talk about a fall from grace. Hopefully this will help reboot her career.
I noticed something funny that Reid said when talking to one of the parents. He mentioned that he’s been “doing this” for 5 years, 7 months, and 19 days. This was the sixteenth episode of the show’s fifth season, and Reid’s tenure at the BAU, when translated into television season years, would equal roughly a little more than five and-a-half seasons of episodes. I thought that was a cute little nod to how long the show’s been on the air.
You can, of course, file that under AUK (All Useless Knowledge).
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Mar 04, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT
Never let go of your childs hand. Another reminder of the evil in the world. The show remains good, but needs the humor that Garcia and Morgan bring to it. Shows are often too dark without their friendly banter and/or sometimes loving shows of careing for each other. Let’s try for something besides evil toward children. I’ve seen enough of that.
Another episode to add to my list of ones too creepy to watch in reruns.
I wish they had more time to address some unanswered questions. I don’t understand why the lady kept kidnapping kids. The Las Vegas epi was about someone who lost her own child. So why did this lady do it?
Did you notice that Matthew Grey Gubler directed this episode.
*POST AUTHOR*
I think they mentioned but didn’t delve into a possible sexual angle to the kidnappings. If that were the case, once the kids were too old for her interest….
I missed that about Matthew Grey Gubler. Thanks!
According to her IMDb page, this is the first acting gig that Brooke Smith has had since being summarily dismissed as Erica Hahn on Grey’s Anatomy.
Actually, she shot three movies since leaving Grey’s Anatomy. CM is listed next because it aired before the movies could be released.
*POST AUTHOR*
Sorry … yes, I saw that when I checked. My intent was to indicate that this was the first we’ve seen of her since then, not that her career was on the skids. Thanks for clarifying what I failed to! :)