Each week I think the case is weird strange etc and this one reallt creeped me out. I mean burning those kids alive and using their ashes as ferilizer
Wednesday 9:00 PM on CBSBetween Seasons
Each week I think the case is weird strange etc and this one reallt creeped me out. I mean burning those kids alive and using their ashes as ferilizer
Good episode they had the creep factor down packed as one has said earlier but not really a great episode. Really it was like filler only with a more superior storyline.
| Kalel18 wrote: |
| It did seem strange that they never really completed a profile. And Charlie's mom sitting in on the round-table discussion, as if she were part of the team, was a bit odd. I found myself saying: What's going on here? I still liked the episode though. If this was MGG's directorial debut, I'd say he did a pretty good job. I did find it interesting that the camera seemed to linger on JJ and Emily in close-ups more than what I have noticed in previous episodes. Not than I'm complaining. |
I noticed that too. I thought it was because this case was about children, and JJ obviously has a child herself and we all know Emily wants children...
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| Lastly, and this may sound silly, but in the climactic scene in the crematorium, I was really hoping that Charlie and the teenage girl would have gone "Hansel and Gretel" on the "witch", and tossed her in the incinerator. |
I honestly thought they would, too! But maybe it would've been too 'standard'. She totally deserved it though...
I'm not sure how muchI can credit lastnight's episode to the great writing team and whoever casts the episodes, but I gotta say "Mosley Lane" now ranks as one fo my favorite episodes over the whole run of the series, and I would contribute most of that to Matthew's outstanding directorial talent. They gotta let him direct every episode from now on, or alternate between him and Jason Alexander. Holy crap that was one tense creepy hour of television on par with any horror or thriller I've seen on the big screen.
GrantedI would've liked to see more profiling done of the unsubs, who were scary as hell, but the pacing was so well done. I also liked that JJ and Prentiss and Garcia got a lot of screentime.
MGG rules. Wonder how the other cast members would do behind the camera now.
| Finnegan77 wrote: |
| why was Morgan acting all "in charge" again? |
I noticed that too and thought that maybe wearing a suit affects his personality!
The unsubs reminded me more of characters from a Brothers Grimm fairy tale than any real criminals I've ever heard of. They were incredibly creepy and it wasn't hard to believe that these kids were previously too frightened to try to escape or even fight back (kudos to the casting directors as even the people in the door to door "enquiry" scene scared me!). I couldn't quite figure out if the children had been sexually assaulted or if they were taken to create some wierd little "family", maybe so the couple could have absolute control over others. I believe that the woman being brought up in a funeral parlour had desensitized her to death and she was probably so used to the process of cremation that she thought nothing about using it as a convenient method of disposal.
Although the music was good, I personally thought it was a bit too loud as I occasionally found it difficult to understand what some of the characters were saying. Apart from that it was a very good episode and an excellent directorial debut from Mr Gubler 
| Will_of_the_D wrote: |
| Is there any way I can watch this episode online? |
I have to play the devils advocate and stir the pot some. Yes, MGG did a fine job - but the directing did not make or break this episode. It was flat and lackluster, no action, no profile, no team really. The creep factor was there, and the potential to go somewhere.... but it pretty much fizzled after the first several minutes. The parents agony was palpable, and the unsubs / potential suspects were well cast. Just... didn't do much for me.
| CMJunkie wrote: |
I have to play the devils advocate and stir the pot some. Yes, MGG did a fine job - but the directing did not make or break this episode. It was flat and lackluster, no action, no profile, no team really. The creep factor was there, and the potential to go somewhere.... but it pretty much fizzled after the first several minutes. The parents agony was palpable, and the unsubs / potential suspects were well cast. Just... didn't do much for me. |
Definitely high on the creep-o-meter. One of the creepiest, along with the human doll episode this season.
And I agree with previous posters, I am not sure how much credit should be given to MGG as the director, or give credit to the writers.
Also - This episode remineded me a little of the movie "The People Under the Stairs".
| Finnegan77 wrote: |
| There were far too many static shots, close-ups, reaction shots. It felt more like a horror movie than an ep of Criminal Minds. |
| phf3947 wrote: | ||
I've been scratching my head about this one since Wednesday night. Was this experimental television? What happened to the Criminal Minds that we've grown to know and love? Then it dawned on me. We were being punk'd by the writers and the director! Barring that, the story editor channeled Rod Serling to write and Alfred Hitchcock to direct. FWIW, epic fail. |
Ooh, now I'm confused as to whether this episode was intentionally creepy or a joke! I did enjoy it but as I said before, I also thought the storyline was more like a Brothers Grimm fairy tale rather than anything based on reality and after reading the recent comments I decided to watch it again and noticed several references to nursery rhymes as well as fairy stories. These could be coincidences or even an affectionate homage to children's literature. At the beginning of the episode Amy said she would have called the ponies they were looking at Sugar and Spice, as in the nursery rhyme "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and this was while wearing a red hat which could have been a reference to "Little Red Riding Hood" (ok, I'm doubtful about that one... but it is possible!). The female unsub was singing "Hush Little Baby" and out of all the lines available she used "Mama's going to buy you a billy goat" (as in Billy Goats Gruff) and this was while she was acting like the witch from Hansel and Gretel! Ok, so I might have let my imagination take over but on second viewing I half expected the big bad wolf to be a surprise accomplice!
| phf3947 wrote: | ||
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Could just be the result of an inexperienced, first-time director at the helm.
| phf3947 wrote: |
| ...Profiling, serial killers, no strange directing, no balloons going up the air, nothing from a Fellini film. Just good ole television - the way it's supposed to be. |
It's funny, even before the baloon floated away, the scene made me recall an old X-File episode, where a toddler follows a floating baloon, only to be run over by an amusement park childrens train. Fortunately, the CM episode went in a different direction and didn't rip-off the X-Files plot. Now, Brothers Grimm, that's a different story.
| tellygirl wrote: |
| Ok, so I might have let my imagination take over but on second viewing I half expected the big bad wolf to be a surprise accomplice! |
What did you think about all those dirty faces? Those kids looked like they hadn't seen a bar of soap in a month...| Kalel18 wrote: |
| It's funny, even before the baloon floated away, the scene made me recall an old X-File episode, where a toddler follows a floating baloon, only to be run over by an amusement park childrens train. Fortunately, the CM episode went in a different direction and didn't rip-off the X-Files plot. Now, Brothers Grimm, that's a different story. |
| phf3947 wrote: | ||
What did you think about all those dirty faces? Those kids looked like they hadn't seen a bar of soap in a month... |
There's something familiar there but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe I'm thinking of a mixture of different stories involving neglectful or wicked step mothers/supposed guardians like the characters in Hansel and Gretel, Babes in the Wood or even Cinderella where Cinders was a bit of a scruff before the makeover!
