8 reviews
Improved as it went on.
When I started watching I nearly gave up on it. However, as the episode continued it was great . Hence why I gave it 8 = a 2 for the beginning and 10 for the end. Very moving so don't give up on it.
- headandlegs
- Feb 9, 2021
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Great case episode but...
- joeyg-149-99444
- Mar 20, 2021
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Loved the case not so much the flashbacks
- Just-A-Girl-14
- Sep 14, 2024
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One word... Crying!!
- alicesmith67
- Nov 24, 2020
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Really good but could have been better
Spencer Reid. This episode.
That's it. That's the review. (With a side note of the rest of the team)
- giselleginny
- Jun 20, 2021
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Great CallBacks!
- macylou-85329
- Feb 22, 2020
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Very difficult what to make of this episode
On first viewing, first impressions ranged from indifference to dislike, finding it too disjointed with too much reliance on the flashbacks and not enough on the rest of the team and the case.
Re-watching it "Route 66" does fare better on re-watch, but at the same time it is not a particularly good episode. It is nowhere near on the same level of bad as "200" and "The Black Queen", as far as Season 9 episodes go, and the worst of the mostly underwhelming Season 11. It was however a strange and not easy to rate episode and while there are some definite good things initial criticisms still stand.
The production values are very high throughout, the flashbacks are beautifully filmed and the theatre setting and a classic-film-star-made-up Haley is the very meaning of glamorous. Apart from a wasted Kirsten Vangsness and a dull Bellamy Young, also have not been much of a fan of Haley so it was difficult to feel much for her here, the acting is good. Thomas Gibson is marvellous here, and C. Thomas Howell worked better on re-watch than on initial viewing, was put off at first at the more clownish personality to one of the show's most iconic unsubs but along with Gibson's performance and the production values his black humour and the chemistry with Haley was more noticeable and gave some levity to the episode.
With the case itself, it definitely should have featured much more in the episode but there is enough tension and suspense to keep it afloat, and the very good performances from Todd Stashwick and Madison Davenport and their touchingly realised chemistry are further advantages. Their final conversation epitomises that and is a real tear-jerker.
For all these good things, "Route 66" does fall short. The flashbacks do take up too much of the episode, you know there's something awry when fans of 'Criminal Minds' remember the flashbacks more than the case itself. When it comes to their execution, they are very much mixed. The good elements about them have already been discussed, but they are also too glib, gimmicky and overwrought, giving the episode a rather weird rather than affectionate tone. Haley and Foyet's chemistry is far more believable than with Hotch and Haley, which comes over as cold with some clunky dialogue that tried too hard for the sincere and emotional edge but came over as stilted and cloying. Beth has always struck me as a rather empty character, dully played and with not much chemistry with Hotch.
Writing is also uneven, the black humour with Foyet and the final scene with Stashwick and Davenport stands out as good but it's forgettable at best in many other scenes, especially the underused rapport between the rest of the team which is barely there. The episode also feels disjointed, not just the imbalance of the flashbacks and the case but also that it often feels like two different episodes, know it's hard with two different plot-lines but tonally and quality wise they were too far removed from the other. The order that it comes in the season feels oddly random as well, would have fared better as a milestone episode or something.
All in all, a difficult episode to rate and make heads of. There's much worse in the show but "Route 66" is also not even close to being one of the best of the latter seasons let alone one of the best of 'Criminal Minds' overall. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Re-watching it "Route 66" does fare better on re-watch, but at the same time it is not a particularly good episode. It is nowhere near on the same level of bad as "200" and "The Black Queen", as far as Season 9 episodes go, and the worst of the mostly underwhelming Season 11. It was however a strange and not easy to rate episode and while there are some definite good things initial criticisms still stand.
The production values are very high throughout, the flashbacks are beautifully filmed and the theatre setting and a classic-film-star-made-up Haley is the very meaning of glamorous. Apart from a wasted Kirsten Vangsness and a dull Bellamy Young, also have not been much of a fan of Haley so it was difficult to feel much for her here, the acting is good. Thomas Gibson is marvellous here, and C. Thomas Howell worked better on re-watch than on initial viewing, was put off at first at the more clownish personality to one of the show's most iconic unsubs but along with Gibson's performance and the production values his black humour and the chemistry with Haley was more noticeable and gave some levity to the episode.
With the case itself, it definitely should have featured much more in the episode but there is enough tension and suspense to keep it afloat, and the very good performances from Todd Stashwick and Madison Davenport and their touchingly realised chemistry are further advantages. Their final conversation epitomises that and is a real tear-jerker.
For all these good things, "Route 66" does fall short. The flashbacks do take up too much of the episode, you know there's something awry when fans of 'Criminal Minds' remember the flashbacks more than the case itself. When it comes to their execution, they are very much mixed. The good elements about them have already been discussed, but they are also too glib, gimmicky and overwrought, giving the episode a rather weird rather than affectionate tone. Haley and Foyet's chemistry is far more believable than with Hotch and Haley, which comes over as cold with some clunky dialogue that tried too hard for the sincere and emotional edge but came over as stilted and cloying. Beth has always struck me as a rather empty character, dully played and with not much chemistry with Hotch.
Writing is also uneven, the black humour with Foyet and the final scene with Stashwick and Davenport stands out as good but it's forgettable at best in many other scenes, especially the underused rapport between the rest of the team which is barely there. The episode also feels disjointed, not just the imbalance of the flashbacks and the case but also that it often feels like two different episodes, know it's hard with two different plot-lines but tonally and quality wise they were too far removed from the other. The order that it comes in the season feels oddly random as well, would have fared better as a milestone episode or something.
All in all, a difficult episode to rate and make heads of. There's much worse in the show but "Route 66" is also not even close to being one of the best of the latter seasons let alone one of the best of 'Criminal Minds' overall. 5/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Sep 6, 2016
- Permalink