False Flag
- Episode aired Dec 6, 2017
- TV-14
- 43m
The BAU is called to investigate when two members of a conspiracy group in Roswell, N.M., perish in quick succession.The BAU is called to investigate when two members of a conspiracy group in Roswell, N.M., perish in quick succession.The BAU is called to investigate when two members of a conspiracy group in Roswell, N.M., perish in quick succession.
- Dr. Spencer Reid
- (credit only)
- Doug Downey
- (as Antonio Robles)
- Truther
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGuest star Zelda Williams (Melissa Miller) is the daughter of Oscar-winning comedian Robin Williams, who named her after the titular princess in the "Legend of Zelda" video games, of which he had been a fan.
- GoofsAfter interrogating Bob, Prentiss then uses her cell phone to call Tara.
The whole reason for Prentiss and the sheriff flying out to Bob's house is there was no cell service in the desert where Bob lived.
- Quotes
Melissa Miller: We're veering dangerously close to "bull crap" territory.
Emily Prentiss: We could call it murder. If the profile was Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, we could arrest the piece of coral, I guess. Or we could just accept that life is...
Melissa Miller: Messy, random. Yeah.
Emily Prentiss: Until it's not.
Melissa Miller: What does that mean?
Emily Prentiss: Well, that seemingly unimportant book, there was one additional detail Bob Orci told us about that I forgot to mention. No, I... I didn't forget. I was holding back for dramatic effect.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Criminal Minds: Miasma (2018)
This is one of the best episodes from this season with moments that makes most of the characters shines, Prentiss shows more leadership (as Hotchner had), Tara deals with the psychological drama which is (or should be) her speciality, JJ show her smarts as always, Rossi brings the rationality with his advices, Matt and Luke operates like the manpower they are supposed to be and Penelope, like always, brings a lot of valuable information to the team, gladly the team is less reliable of her own work to solve the entire case. It's infortunate that Reid is not in this episode.
While the plot is clever and engaging the story is a little hard to follow, the information is given too fast, the situations keeps happening in a quick pace while they touch real events that makes your head wander off from the case, one little distraction and you end up lost in the story. I think it's a little bit too dynamic for the regular viewer of the show that it is used to a regular serial killer with a clear pattern that BAU slowly discovers.
Some negatives that should be mentioned is that BAU shows a mild arrogance dealing with truthers which is only natural given the sensibile subject they constantly challenge and how smug they act but it's not pointless, actually makes sense with the emotional pressure the episode deals and with the ending. Other thing is that, like always, there is some lack of logic behind some minor details (like how the killer preemptibly knew somehow that the metal detector would not work and etc) but nothing that ruins the episode.
It's very interesting to see Criminal Minds not falling into the comfortable pattern (debriefing, jet talk, crime scene analysis, killer strikes again, Garcia extra information/queries, killer reveal, aprehensive arrest) and trying new approachs.
I think other reviewers should watch and judge this episode for what it is in relation to "Serial Killers Investigations and public opinions about the conspiracies around it" subject more than how they position themselves about random subjects they inserted in the middle of the episode, which is pointless to anyone willing to watch the show.
It's a great direction for the show!
- Gustavo_Valadares
- Jul 30, 2020
Details
- Runtime43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD