It seems like post-Gideon, Criminal Minds is amping up everything about it's cases. The first few episodes with Rossi are all ungrounded spectacles to the point that it feels ridiculous. It's at it's hardest to watch here, where even the lighting & the flashbacks of the unsub feel more like a bad blumhouse movie than a genuine crime procedural. The disgust we're supposed to feel at the unsub's crimes feels more like shock value than anything insightful about "criminality" or the human condition. It's disgusting on a basic level - yes, but it has no interest in making the audience think. It's less Law & Order, and more American Horror Story, & the tone switch feels cheap & not in line with the show's goals.
More disappointment comes at the resolution of the b-plot - Garcia's meet-cute with the handsome stranger. The beginning of this arc feels promising, her confrontation with Morgan - a departure from their usual flirty banter - gives us a new dimension to their relationship. Garcia pointing out that Morgan doesn't seem to view her as a legitimate option, either for himself or for any conventionally attractive man - is biting criticism, one that begs the question of the show as well - why can't Morgan & Garcia's flirting ever be taken seriously, or brought out of the theoretical? But this episode squanders all that interesting potential by the resolution of Garcia & the handsome strangers date. By making "James" be a violent stalker, the show confirms Garcia's worse insecurities. It essentially reaffirms the idea that yes, no conventionally attractive man would be genuinely interested in her romantically. It's a pessimistic, cruel conclusion - a miserable jump-scare just like the rest of this episode.
More disappointment comes at the resolution of the b-plot - Garcia's meet-cute with the handsome stranger. The beginning of this arc feels promising, her confrontation with Morgan - a departure from their usual flirty banter - gives us a new dimension to their relationship. Garcia pointing out that Morgan doesn't seem to view her as a legitimate option, either for himself or for any conventionally attractive man - is biting criticism, one that begs the question of the show as well - why can't Morgan & Garcia's flirting ever be taken seriously, or brought out of the theoretical? But this episode squanders all that interesting potential by the resolution of Garcia & the handsome strangers date. By making "James" be a violent stalker, the show confirms Garcia's worse insecurities. It essentially reaffirms the idea that yes, no conventionally attractive man would be genuinely interested in her romantically. It's a pessimistic, cruel conclusion - a miserable jump-scare just like the rest of this episode.