Empty Planet

Season 2, Episode 8, Aired
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Episode Summary

The BAU travels to Seattle to identify and catch a serial bomber who has been terrorizing the city and targeting centers of automated techology. Working with the author of a science fiction novel that has become a guide for the bomber, the team attempts to determine why certain sites have been chosen as targets.moreless
8.9
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Fan Episode Reviews (18)

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  • To be honest, this episode bored me senseless and that doesn't happen very often with 'Criminal Minds'. A serial bomber is setting off bombs of various velocity around the city and his targets are mainly areas of technology and people connected to it.moreless

    5.0
    "Mediocre"
    By Lady_Lancaster, Nov 02, 2011 Report Abuse
    Someone is setting pipe bombs all over the place, mainly in government buildings, such as the library and the post office and some are far more deadly than others when a professor is murdered by a bomb placed in his car and another is almost blown to bits as well.

    The catalyst is a book called 'Empty Planet', which is a work of Science Fiction, written by a female academic who used a male pseudonym. It was the only book she wrote. Naturally, Reid is familiar with it and tells the team that the story ends with 'the son killing his mother'. This is very predictable as the bomber is a young man and the author a middle-aged woman. Bomb expert Morgan is able to stop a detination or two but nobody can stop the inevitable confrontation between the author and the bomber whom he believes to be the mother who gave him up for adoption twenty-six years ago. Turns out she gave up a daughter but he intends to kill her anyway so that he can complete his fantasy and so make the ending of the book 'real' for him.

    Deadly dull, wake me when it's over.moreless

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    1 2

  • Back to real crime fighting!

    9.2
    "Superb"
    By JPPT1974, Jan 22, 2011 Report Abuse
    After all of that high noon drama now that Elle
    Is gone, they have gone indeed back to some serious stuff
    But when they get out of line and do personal stuff
    Not that there is anything wrong with it, sometimes the
    Gang grows apart as that throws a wrench. Having Elle gone
    Perhaps is a good thing perhaps. As the team goes to Seattle
    To track a serial bomber. And work with an fiction author
    with help in catching the bomber who has been getting ideals from the novels!moreless

    DO YOU AGREE?

    1 0

  • One good scene does not an episode make.

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By Finnegan77, Jan 22, 2011 Report Abuse
    A crazy bomber using a sci-fi book as a blueprint to destroy all technology sounds like it would be exciting, doesn't it? So, I have to ask myself, why doesn't this episode work?

    First reason - the plot is off. If they were going to use this book theme, they should have used a real book which someone other than Dr. Reid has ever read. That would have kept him from having to explain every little thing to the rest of the team. The viewers didn't feel the exciting suspense leading up to catching the killer because we didn't really know what was going on. Give us a chance to figure it out along with the team! We like that!

    Second reason - the character of the bomber. Shallow. One dimensional. Most of the villians in this show are beautifully fleshed out - we really really hate some of them, and we feel sorry for others. But this guy? He's just nuts, and we don't get to see him for any time until the last scene. Dr. Kent may feel bad for him, but the rest of us? Ho-hum.

    Third reason - the team. Elle is gone, she's been gone for a while, so why is the team so disconnected? Gideon keeps shooting Reid these nasty looks, Morgan bonds more with the bomb tech and the victim than anyone else, and JJ disppears after her press conference gig. The banter on the jet at the end is the best we get - and even then the scene between Morgan and Gideon falls flat. One good scene - Morgan holding Dr. Brazier's hand as they try to get the bomb out from under her seat - doesn't make a good episode. We love Morgan more than ever in that scene, and it was a great performance by Cheryl Francis Harrington as Dr. Brazier. But, come on, we knew Morgan wasn't going to get blown up, didn't we?

    I guess all great shows have to have some average episodes or we won't appreciate the fantastic ones when they come along.moreless

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    0 1

  • Could have been any city actually.

    6.0
    "Fair"
    By bigpoppa206, Jan 22, 2011 Report Abuse
    Great story but whoever is in charge of trying to recreate Seattle should be fired! Did they even try to research simple things that everyone can find on the Internet in seconds? The name of the city bus is wrong and the colors are not even close. There were not enough real shots of Seattle intercut with the story to make it believable. I was blown away at how inaccurate it was...obviously shot in LA.moreless

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    0 3

  • Why?

    5.4
    "Mediocre"
    By IgnatzNiemand, Jan 22, 2011 Report Abuse
    I can't understand why is so difficult to depict a real sf writer and/or high education professor. All the intellectuals in this episode were as real as a dummies, pompous, unbelieble and bags full of farts. Somebody should tell the people who does TV and movies that the guys and ladies in universities are normal people and that if somebody is a writer or a professor it doesn't mean he/she will use seven syllabes words and look down on everybodymoreless

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    0 3
 

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

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    • When Garcia is conducting a search for Morgan on her computer, the search highlighted "anti-technology" before Morgan even told her to look for it. Edit
    • Morgan was once with the Bomb Squad, which was revealed in the episode "Won't Get Fooled Again." Edit

  • Notes

    • Help by adding notes to this episode. Add notes

  • Quotes

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    • Garcia: Networks say the calls came from a restricted number. Two have given limited permission to trap and trace the lines if we should need to.
      Hotchner: (surprised) You got a news organization to agree to a trap and trace?
      Garcia: (confidently) Who could say "no" to me?

      Edit

    • Gideon: I'd like to attach a protective detail for you Dr. Cooke, until we find the guy.
      Dr. Emory Cooke: No, thank you.
      Gideon: Excuse me?
      Dr. Emory Cooke: Really now. Do I seem like the sort who would want to be followed around all day by a government goon squad? I don't think so.
      (Dr. Cooke leaves as Morgan enters)
      Morgan: Goon squad?
      Gideon: Ever talk to someone who wants to continually show you he's smarter than you?
      Morgan: (motions to Reid) Every day.

      Edit

    • Reid: I need to stop by a bookstore and get a copy of Empty Planet. I want to reread it before we talk to the author. I haven't read it since I was six.
      Morgan: Six? I was still riding my Big Wheel at six years old.
      Reid: Do you mind? It will only take 10 minutes.
      Gideon: To buy it or read it?
      Reid: Uh... both, actually.

      Edit

  • Allusions

    ADD ALLUSIONS
    • Kenneth Roberts' use of the novel Empty Planet as a guide for his rampage may have been based on Timothy McVeigh, the mass murderer who planned a series of terrorist acts inspired by the novel The Turner Diaries. Edit

    • Garcia: Je suis toujours ici pour toi, mon cher.
      Morgan: Drives me crazy when you talk that "voulez coucher" stuff to me.

      This allusion could refer to Gomez speaking to Morticia in the Addams Family series.

      Edit
    • The bomber demanding to have his manifesto published in a newspaper is very similar to what the Unabomber did. Ted Kaczynski sent his manifesto to several major newspapers and said he would stop the bombings if it was published. The publication also led to his capture; his brother Michael recognized Kaczynski's style of writing and contacted the FBI. Edit

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