Like Season 5's "The Fight" introduced the 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior' team, "Beyond Borders" introduces the team for 'Criminal Minds' second spin-off 'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders'. Just for the record, while a fan of 'Criminal Minds' (if more the earlier seasons), neither of the spin-offs do anything for me.
While it is still not particularly good, "Beyond Borders" is marginally better than "The Fight", unlike that episode there are a couple of bright spots in the cast and while that episode was one of the worst-looking episodes of the whole show (along with Season 6's "The Thirteenth Step") despite parts being choppily edited this one had two well shot scenes- Hotch's chase and the search for the boy.
It still makes the mistake of not feeling enough like 'Criminal Minds', and not having enough of what makes it so great when on form and at its best, being too much of the unsub show and also failing as a cross-over, the BAU mostly are underused and the episode doesn't do enough with the personalities, stories and roles of the 'Beyond Borders' team.
There are things that "Beyond Borders" does well. As said, there are two particularly well-shot scenes and the scenery is lovely and atmospheric. In terms of acting, Thomas Gibson and Anna Gunn are most successful, while the unsub is creepily played and one really roots for the family, rather than getting frustrated at overacting and frustrating decision making like other family abduction episodes (especially Season 8's "Through the Looking Glass").
The music is suitably haunting and melancholic. Of the partnerships, Hotch's and Lambert's is a sheer delight, there is real chemistry between the two and it is the partnership that feels the most organised.
However, the rest of the partnerships don't work. Rossi and Garrett's is the most disappointing, being the one that on paper should have worked the most, Rossi has lost his sass while Garrett looks wholly disinterested (not helped by the wooden and bored-out-of-his-mind acting of the normally good Gary Sinise) and there is no chemistry between them. Worst of all was Garcia and Monty, they just don't work well together with Monty being too perfect and like a pale and annoying imitation of "caricature-Garcia" (his actor Tyler James Williams plays him obnoxiously) and Garcia should have found more of a voice in communication, far too wimpy and with most people she would have been more out-spoken. The rest (particularly Reid and Kate) suffer from being criminally underused.
As said, "Beyond Borders" is too much of the unsub show, which already dilutes the suspense and robs the BAU and 'Beyond Borders' teams of scenes that were needed much more as well as profiling (at least there is some but there isn't anywhere near close to being enough). The suspense is further diluted by by-the-numbers writing, too many flashbacks, too many repetitive self-explanatory scenes with the unsub, too much gratuitous violence and a completely over-heated climax regardless of how well shot it is.
Overall, not quite a low point but a mediocre episode and one of the lesser ones of Season 10. 4/10 Bethany Cox
While it is still not particularly good, "Beyond Borders" is marginally better than "The Fight", unlike that episode there are a couple of bright spots in the cast and while that episode was one of the worst-looking episodes of the whole show (along with Season 6's "The Thirteenth Step") despite parts being choppily edited this one had two well shot scenes- Hotch's chase and the search for the boy.
It still makes the mistake of not feeling enough like 'Criminal Minds', and not having enough of what makes it so great when on form and at its best, being too much of the unsub show and also failing as a cross-over, the BAU mostly are underused and the episode doesn't do enough with the personalities, stories and roles of the 'Beyond Borders' team.
There are things that "Beyond Borders" does well. As said, there are two particularly well-shot scenes and the scenery is lovely and atmospheric. In terms of acting, Thomas Gibson and Anna Gunn are most successful, while the unsub is creepily played and one really roots for the family, rather than getting frustrated at overacting and frustrating decision making like other family abduction episodes (especially Season 8's "Through the Looking Glass").
The music is suitably haunting and melancholic. Of the partnerships, Hotch's and Lambert's is a sheer delight, there is real chemistry between the two and it is the partnership that feels the most organised.
However, the rest of the partnerships don't work. Rossi and Garrett's is the most disappointing, being the one that on paper should have worked the most, Rossi has lost his sass while Garrett looks wholly disinterested (not helped by the wooden and bored-out-of-his-mind acting of the normally good Gary Sinise) and there is no chemistry between them. Worst of all was Garcia and Monty, they just don't work well together with Monty being too perfect and like a pale and annoying imitation of "caricature-Garcia" (his actor Tyler James Williams plays him obnoxiously) and Garcia should have found more of a voice in communication, far too wimpy and with most people she would have been more out-spoken. The rest (particularly Reid and Kate) suffer from being criminally underused.
As said, "Beyond Borders" is too much of the unsub show, which already dilutes the suspense and robs the BAU and 'Beyond Borders' teams of scenes that were needed much more as well as profiling (at least there is some but there isn't anywhere near close to being enough). The suspense is further diluted by by-the-numbers writing, too many flashbacks, too many repetitive self-explanatory scenes with the unsub, too much gratuitous violence and a completely over-heated climax regardless of how well shot it is.
Overall, not quite a low point but a mediocre episode and one of the lesser ones of Season 10. 4/10 Bethany Cox