This won't follow the typical Review/Thoughts format of my blogs since I'll be talking about things across the seasons. Plus, as mentioned above, I am two seasons behind so... I'm not up-to-date enough to even give any kind of review.
SPOILER ALERT WARNING!!
THIS BLOG WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. Since I'll be talking about the show across seasons, I cannot help but spoil some things. So unless you have watched at least to the end of Season 9, I'd suggest only reading "Personal Standing" and "Overall Premise + Thoughts". Anything past that would be spoiler territory.
PERSONAL STANDING
My first exposure to this was about seven years ago through my boyfriend's mother (now ex-boyfriend's mother, of course). Often whenever I visited his place (he lived with his mother at the time), she would be by the TV watching the show. At first the theme song caught my attention (mysterious and intense with a strong, bold finish). Then the dialogues piqued my interest, like, over 9000. I just thought, This is really stimulating. Since I don't watch TV at home, it was a treat whenever I got to catch an episode or two at my boyfriend's place.
The first episode I watched in full was "Penelope" (season 3, episode 9). That is actually one of my favourite episodes, among many others.
OVERALL PREMISE + THOUGHTS
So in a nutshell, Criminal Minds focuses on a team of FBI agents from the Behavioural Analysis Unit (a.k.a BAU) who try to catch suspects via profiling. That pretty much means developing a profile of the likely suspect(s) by observing the crime scenes, analyzing possible patterns and behaviour. What I really like about Criminal Minds, over other crime shows I've been exposed to, is that behaviour and psychology of the criminal(s) are more focused instead of the crime. I have a strong interest in behaviour and psychology so watching a show with that kind of focus is, well, it's very riveting to me. Add in likeable characters and I'm invested all the way.
Sometimes it makes me wonder what could be said about me if I was profiled. If I was profiled... would they be able to say what things or who I value most? My overall behaviour / personality? How I would usually act with others? What would they get right about me?
Another thing that I really like about Criminal Minds are the quotes / phrases that are said at the beginning and end of an episode. Sometimes they make me think, or I just like them. Below are a couple quotes / phrases I like:
"Scars remind us where we've been. They don't have to dictate where we're going." -- David Rossi (from Criminal Minds)
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." -- Richard Bach
And that's it for my non-spoiler thoughts. If this is where you stop, thanks for reading! :) To get into spoiler territory, just keep scrolling. Also, keep in mind that I've only finished watching Season 9, so there would be no mention of Season 10 nor 11.
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CHARACTERS
Well, I like almost all the characters in the BAU. As mentioned in an earlier blog, my favourites are Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid, and Penelope Garcia. My absolute #1 favourite character, though, is Emily.I don't really know why, but I really like Emily. To me she comes off as very professional, but also a bit mysterious, playful, ruthless, and even intimidating. I will always remember that scene from "Seven Seconds" (season 3, episode 5) where Emily gets Susan (the aunt) to give up the whereabouts of Katie Jacobs (missing niece). I thought it was a very strong scene.
I also really enjoyed the episodes focused on her, letting us know more about the character's past. I was very upset when Emily's character left the BAU.
About Spencer Reid, well -- he's a total brainiac and nerd. Already that hits "hot guy" status for me, hahaha. I also love his sense of humour, especially that prank he played on Derek in "Painless" (season 7, episode 4). You can view a clip of it here. When Maeve (Spencer's love) was killed ("Zugzwang -- season 8, episode 12), I was very, very sad. I guess I thought, 'He's so smart, it must be difficult to find somebody he could feel equal to... and now he's alone again...'.
About Penelope, I think she is really cool. I like that she dresses differently from the rest of the BAU and displays deep care and love for the team and for all life in general. Her story episode ("The Black Queen" -- season 9, episode 12) was very interesting.
Another character I really like is Alex Blake. I like her casual yet sometimes curt demeanor. She gets straight to the point and doesn't hold back. I guess I kinda see her as brutally blunt and honest, and I like that. I also really enjoyed the interactions between her and Reid. I'm really sad to see her go at the end of season 9.
About the rest of the team -- Aaron Hotchner, Jennifer Jareau (JJ), David Rossi, Derek Morgan -- I like them all, too.
One thing that I like about the team overall, is the emphasis that even though they have separate lives outside of work, they are still a family who cares and looks out for each other.
EPISODES
I like many episodes from Criminal Minds, but I really want to talk about the last episode of season 9 ("Demons"). That really had me on the edge of my seat. I was really, really worried for all the characters, especially for Reid. From my sister who's watched season 10 and is currently watching season 11, I learned that a new person joins the team in season 10, meaning that somebody leaves at the end of season 9. And I was thinking, 'Please -- please, don't let Reid go!' I was also really scared that Reid would be killed off, which would be much worse. That episode... I think it placed everybody in difficult situations. Penelope having to shoot for the first time... I can only imagine how anguishing that feeling would be. Even though that episode made me so tense and worried, it was actually really well done, and I'll most likely watch it again.Other episodes that I really like... there are really too many for me to list. One episode that I do watch a lot, though, is:
"Pleasure is My Business" (season 4, episode 16) -- The subject matter is really interesting and I really enjoy the interactions between Hotchner and Megan Kane (the suspect). Megan's last scene with Hotchner always affects me when she asks him, "Will you stay with me?" and he says, "Yes". Then she asks "Promise?", and he says, "Promise". Then Megan starts shaking as the poison kicks in to kill her, Hotchner staying by her the whole time. I find the scene very sad. Finally she meets a man who doesn't let her down... and it's too late. I always feel that even during the pain of the poison kicking in, there is some feeling of gratitude that at last -- somebody is there for her.
And that's it! Thanks for reading :)
Feel free to comment, but please make sure to note if something is a spoiler.
These last scrolly things are for people who want to comment, but don't want to be spoiled.
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