Given the suspense of the moment, the extreme grief of the outcome, and the profound consequences, this episode is the most memorable of the Criminal Minds show. It also contains many of the elements that I love, that make the show what it is. There is a lot of profiling and deduction. There is sparkling witty dialogue. The few moments that we see Spence, his character excels. There are so many poignant moments. The code with Jack is brilliant. The actions of the villain are awful. This episode is literally filled with these elements, especially suspense and poignancy.
1 star deduction for things I hate. I hate witch hunts. I hate when a procedural show starts with a bureaucratic investigation and uses flashbacks to tell the story (although in this case that didn't ruin the flow as much as they sometimes do). As to the basis of the witch hunt, in an unbiased world with no agendas and where rules are secondary to people, it would be hard to fault anything Hotch did. However, there are rules and agendas in the world and many of them exist for a reason. An organization like the FBI needs to, and should, live by rules. Rules protect the general public and actions based on personal feelings can and are damaging to others outside the immediate situation. What doesn't make sense is Strauss suddenly changing her official stance as if none of it mattered. (I never liked Strauss. As a villain, she was weak. As a boss, she was indecisive and too political. ) Perhaps they wink at these things a little and keep him in the agency and on the team, but they don't immediately return him to unit chief especially if any of the earlier questions about him were legitimate.
Because of the objections I raise, I can't give this episode a perfect 10. That doesn't mean it doesn't stand out at the top of the list in so many ways. Especially if you don't personally cringe with me at some of my pet peeves, this episode is eminently watchable and brilliant.
1 star deduction for things I hate. I hate witch hunts. I hate when a procedural show starts with a bureaucratic investigation and uses flashbacks to tell the story (although in this case that didn't ruin the flow as much as they sometimes do). As to the basis of the witch hunt, in an unbiased world with no agendas and where rules are secondary to people, it would be hard to fault anything Hotch did. However, there are rules and agendas in the world and many of them exist for a reason. An organization like the FBI needs to, and should, live by rules. Rules protect the general public and actions based on personal feelings can and are damaging to others outside the immediate situation. What doesn't make sense is Strauss suddenly changing her official stance as if none of it mattered. (I never liked Strauss. As a villain, she was weak. As a boss, she was indecisive and too political. ) Perhaps they wink at these things a little and keep him in the agency and on the team, but they don't immediately return him to unit chief especially if any of the earlier questions about him were legitimate.
Because of the objections I raise, I can't give this episode a perfect 10. That doesn't mean it doesn't stand out at the top of the list in so many ways. Especially if you don't personally cringe with me at some of my pet peeves, this episode is eminently watchable and brilliant.