That’s right … Criminal Minds went political on us last night, which is about the nicest thing I can say about an episode that was just plain boring. Note to the writers: there can be excitement to an episode even if you’re trying to not give us viewers nightmares for a week.
In fact, while we’ve talked so much about character focus this season, or lack thereof, what I was actually looking for was more time with the characters that we know. Not the exposition of a one-off character like Sheriff Ruiz (Marlene Forte). Why’d we need to get to know a person who came and went in 30 minutes?
I’m not about to take an impossible-to-please position, where I demand non-violent episodes that feature character focus without losing sight of interesting cases (though that does sound good). But surely there are many shows out there that manage to find a healthy balance. Hell, this show did so for four seasons. So what’s changed?
I think it’s one of two things. Either this is just a mid-life slump, in which case all we need to do is hang in there and we won’t be sorry for having stayed. Or, it’s time for a reboot. And by that I mean a cast shakeup. It would seem as if there just isn’t any more that we can still learn, or that the writers want us to learn, about the current cast. And that’s problematic.
Hotch had his biggest moment in the sun earlier this season, so he surely is done for the time being. Don’t expect to see more of who he is, including his son, anytime soon. Morgan experienced some bad stuff when he was younger, but we spent a week or two in his life and we’ve shut that door. Sure there’s plenty more we don’t know about him, but he doesn’t seem to be talking, so what can we do?
Reid should still be fighting his addiction, and his mother is a fascinating study, but we haven’t checked in with him in almost a full season. JJ’s married with a baby … aside from getting scared whenever kids are the victims of their cases, we get nothing from her. Garcia had her stalker, Prentiss is an enigma, and Rossi has lots of ghosts in his attic, but none that we’re likely to ever see after that one. Which leaves us where exactly?
I’d say with tons of great personal histories to mine! Are you kidding me? Even to make everyone equal we need to spend a week on stories that hit JJ and Prentiss too close to home (more than we may have already; I mean personally). And that’s even before we find out who Prentiss is and where she comes from. Or if Reid ever earned his own medallion. Or what brought Morgan to the FBI. And Rossi could fill seasons with his skeletons before regaling us with something — anything — of a personal nature.
So yes, a shakeup is needed, but only if it occurs in the writers’ room. With so much yet to mine, how in the world can there be any fans out here wondering why the characters are being ignored? You’ve got a plethora to choose from writers — get on it!
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Apr 15, 2010 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
Interesting– when you think about the history of the show, there have been several character shake-ups. The first, to my great relief, was Elle leaving, bringing Prentiss aboard. The next, even though it was not a decision of the writers, was Gideon leaving ( :( ) and Rossi coming. Even though I’d rather that not have happened, at least there was some variety. Maybe a casting reboot is in order?
*POST AUTHOR*
I had the same thought, though I think Elle is the only instance where “reboot” might be an accurate description, considering the circumstances surrounding Gideon’s departure.
In truth I agreed with you until I was halfway through writing my review, when all the possibilities with the current cast of characters just started flooding my mind. We need to at least exhaust them first before moving on, and we have to blame the writers for failing there.
I liked the story as it was different. But, I do think this show needs new writers.
I thought the sheriff was killed at the “sun” building, so why was the discovery of this building such a surprise to the FBI? Was the sheriff’s body moved or were there two buildings?
The other parts that bothered me were Hotch and Rossi at the sun building by themselves. It seemed that two agents alone wouldn’t be protocol. I also didn’t like the fight between Prentiss and Morgan about him shooting the gun in the car. The fight seemed out of character.
One of these days I’ll do some research and look at the history of the writers. There is something going on there as there are too many inconsistencies.
The Sheriff’s body was moved.
I questioned how if the killer’s trailer smelled that bad it was not carried on his clothing. When I was a kid both my dad and sister smoked, so the house and everything in it smelled slightly of cigarette smoke. It was not gag level like the trailer so how is it that no-one noticed he smelled like decay?
*POST AUTHOR*
I’d hope smoke is different than bad odors. If not, all little kids would walk around smelling like their diaper genies! :)
*POST AUTHOR*
It looks like 17 writers have dabbled on the show, writing between 2 and 15 episodes apiece, mostly over the entire life of the series. But Jeff Davis has writing credits on 91 episodes, so unfortunately it might not be a writing room face-lift as much as its been the existing writers going crazy.
I did take a look at wikipedia and there is a chart showing the writers and directors. There was no consistency with these two positions so no wonder there is no consistency in the story lines.
I’m a long time fan of the show so I’ll stick with it – for now.
I have mentioned all along that this is a writers problem. There are too many fingers in the writing pot. It’s not the cast that is the problem. It is the WRITERS. The actors can only emote what they are given. At this time they are not given anything worth their abilities and this makes tham all look rather bad. An after thought, have Garcia get rid of that ugly red hair
*POST AUTHOR*
Yours was definitely one of the opinions I was referring to. The only way in which I disagree is that I don’t think the writing has gone bad … I think the writers are for some reason not exploring the vast character development at their disposal. The question then becomes why not, and do they have a different vision for the show that they’re failing to express onscreen.
I have to say that there is definitely something missing with the shows lately, it seems like the characters are just going thru the motions, and little or no team involvement in the cases. It almost feels as though the energy everyone on the team had has gone away.
I see that many are begining to believe that the writers need new brains….I’ve been gone for a while, so trying to catch up with several episodes.