Criminal Minds

SSA Hotchner is back on the job just thirty-four days after being brutally attacked by George Foyet. The team are loudly wondering why he is so agitated and stressed? Could it be because he almost died at Foyet's hands? Or maybe it's because his ex wife and son have had to go into protective custody for their own safety and he blames himself?



Meanwhile, in a pharmacy in Kentucky, Darrin Call, suffers a psychotic break due to being off his prescribed medication and murders three people, injuring others. The BAU are called in to investigate. Reid is somewhat hampered by a knee injury sustained in the season opener (Matthew Gray Gubler had undergone knee surgery and was, thefore, required to be on crutches and rest as much as possible.) which means his ability to go out in the field has been severely curtailed and this has an effect on the team dynamic - it introduces an aspect of 'boringness' to that particular area.



Investigation into the background of the psychotic Darrin Call shows horrors from his childhood which show very clearly why he is suffering from mental illness and why he kills anyone who physically touches him.



I was rather bored with this episode, except for the parts where we saw Hotch so clearly suffering. The writers can do better than this.

This episode was much stronger than the season opener - less choppy, more direct, and the music wasn't so intrusive. The story itself was beautifully done. CM close to its best. If every episode was paced so well and told so simply, and acted with such feeling - I'd be happy. The Unsub and Tommy and the bearded doctor, they all stood out. For some reason I loved the way the doctor said 'Don't touch him' and then the simple cry 'Oh God' as the other patient was killed in front of him. He got the bare human emotions right. The kids were great, weren't they? The little guy, just getting on with business like he was doing chores. Cop of the week was good, and that was one part of the usual format that was working well. The BAU methods (you have to understand the past so as to get ahead of the guy) versus the cop's methods (we have to catch him), there was a good interaction between those. It skirted really close to sappy that Prentiss sent Tommy to talk to the unsub at the end, and it probably wouldn't really happen at a murder scene -- why was Tommy even there? -- but when Tommy put his hand on the guy's shoulder, that was a good touch.



Handling a story so full of flashback is a hard job and whoever put this episode together, please, can you put the rest of the season together too? Lovely. I think that if you'd turned on to see the usual CM team's interactions, you'd be disappointed. A few characters were missing, understandably since Reid's knee exploded. But JJ wasn't much in it either. And those that survived onto the screen were subtly distorted by the overriding focus being on the one figure alone. Every conversation had to be about H. Every nuance had to be about H. Everyone had to be concerned about him, as if to make up for the deficiencies of the actor's range. Ach. The story didn't need it. There was plenty of resonance there purely on its own terms.

So far this season is gertting better and better. The writing is outstanding! One of the things I love about Criminal Minds is the spotlight it gives to guest actors in the storylines. This paricular story was nicely intertwined with Hotch's slow road to recovery and the team's concerns. I'm glad they are focusing on Hotch a little more, after everything he's been through it'd be sloppy writing not to.



I'm hoping we'll get more insight into what exactly happened in Hotch's apartment as the season continues, but I'm happy to wait and watch it all develop.



Emily's concern for Hotch is a nice touch, as long as it doesn't go down the romantic route. I have faith in this show not to ruin it that way though. I'm hoping it'll be Rossi who gets through to him, that'd somehow seem fitting.



Overall, fantastic episode and the flashbacks were nicely handled; giving enough information without overwhelming the story.

I really liked the writing in this one. I think it had a depth and I liked the new energy between the team members, all because of Hotch. He is so out of the usual position, acting like that, that it is even painful to watch but it gives such a great depth to the whole events. Sometimes to give through some emotion, you have to go so deep and make it so dark and it works.



The story was good one - I mean the case part too. Even thought it was quite well seen and not much surprise what will happen, it was one of those stories that really get to you. It had that really scary and frightening feeling and the thought.. knowing that you were killer's son. What would it mean? What would it do? That was just so well portrayed. One of those stories, where in the end, you wish it had solved differently. I mean, all those dead people.. all those ruined life.



Great performances by quest stars. Specially loved Glenn Morshower's cop.

okay did anyone recognize JJ? Hotch was suicidal, Morgan over protective as always, Garcia not her bubbly self, Rossi is Rossi, Preniss being worried, Reid is injured (and no one cares:() it's a crazy world.

The unsub was awesome...crazy dude who gets off on touch, only wants to remember his past. Who can't sympathize with him?

Hotch, dude...things will get better. That was so out of character, it was hard to watch. He won't take his life, but will stand by and let someone else do it? If Reid can beat is habit(Flawed reasoning,it sounded better in my head), you can catch Foyet(He will. It will be sweet.) Morgan was worried a bit too much. He did the same thing to Gideon when he came back with the first epi...not good to doubt. But then again Hotch is a gonner if he keeps this up. I can sit through many epi's with Hoych this weak.

What was up with the stupid cord on Reid's wrist? I've read too many bad slash fics...starting to worry. Can't wait to see more CM. They're back!

A nice change of pace episode finds the team searching for the cause of a mentally disturbed man's rampage inside a pharmacy. Adding to the tension is Hotch's unexplained personality change that keeps the agents on alert. One has to wonder if Hotch's personality change is the result of PTSD or some other event that we are unaware of.



While the agents have dealt with subjects suffering from psychotic breaks, tonights unsub had a past so haunting that one couldn't help but sympathize with.



I loved how the team showed their concern for Hotch in their own special way. I also loved the scenes between Rossi and Morgan concerning Hotch's return. As usual, Morgan proved that he cares for Hotch more than he shows. I loved Rossi's nonchallantness regarding Hotch's ability to lead the team. While he did take on the personality of Hotch from time to time, he did seem to have a clear understanding of why Hotch needed to return to work after a month. I also liked the fact that Rossi didn't second guess some of Hotch's actions and always had his back.



I also loved the scenes between Hotch and Emily. While I hope the writers don't pair them up romantically, I do enjoy watching their mutal trust and repect for each other deepen. I think Hotch trusts Emily the way Morgan trusts Garcia. I liked the way the writers ended the episode and the message that was evident from the final scene between Hotch and Emily: as long as we have one special person in our lives, we are never truly alone.

Love this show!! All the characters are great and love the interaction! This episode really showed Rossi's emotional side. Loved how the team came together and showed their support for rossi and then when he explained the case to them and why it affected him so deeply they understood him a little better. All the characters are so complex and I love how the show really takes the time to really show you all sides of each character. They are all so unique and different yet together they make a really great cast. Hotch is a great boss. I like Dr. Reid the best I think. His endless babble of knowledge cracks me up!

It's been thirty four days since the events of the last episode and Hotch is ready to return to work, but there is something noticeably off with his reactions. He's edgy, unfocused and a little off kilter. This is not the Hotch we know. The case itself was rather sad and disturbing. The unsub's father was a serial killer, and as a young boy he saw what his father had done to young boys. He came off antipsychotics to try to remember his past. The team figures out that he's having a psychotic break late and Hotch doesn't take that well. In the end, Hotch puts himself in danger to save a boy that the unsub grabbed as a part of his delusion before he faced his serial killer father. All ends up well that ends well, but the team is deeply worried about Hotch. Overall a good episode, but it is very hard to watch Hotch so off balance.

In this episode of Criminal Minds, the following happens. We open this episode with a man flipping out at a pharmacy, and he attacks several people, before leaving. All because they don't have a refill on screen for his prescription.

We also see that it has been a month since the last episode, and that Hotch is only now returning to work. As we learn that from the attack 2 people have been killed, the BAU are called into Louisville to help with the investigation. As we try to track down the Unsub, we start to learn things from hi past. He was found at the age of 5 and didn't speak for over a year. It turns out that his father was a serial killer, who killed young boys, and made his son help him to bury the boys. As the team find him, he is with his father in his father's house, and when he won't give him answers, he kills his father. We also see in this episode, that what happened to Hotch has badly affected him, and he even puts his life at risk in this episode.

This was definitely an enjoyable showing of Criminal Minds, but there have, ansd will be, better episodes thatn this one. My favourite thing about this particular episode was the writing of the storyline. It was one of those cases where is tricky to feel angry towards the UnSub, as their crimes were genearally as a result of someone else's actions.

However, I did think that some portions of the storyline were a bit too stretched out, while aother parts were too rushed. Overall, though, it certainly was quite a good storyline.

All up, not quite up oto the calibre that we expected, but a decent episode. Hopefully this will set up a decent foundation to build a great season!

Keepp it up, guys!