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Criminal Minds Season 7 Episode 8

Hope

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AIRED: Nov 16, 2011

8.7

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Episode Summary

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Garcia asks the team for help after a woman in her survivors' support group disappears on the seventh anniversary of her daughter's disappearance.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

A Couple Of Excellent Parts - And Quite A Few Highly Predictable Ones.

6.5

By Lady_Lancaster, May 12, 2012

The 'people going to support groups' has been a little overdone on 'Criminal Minds'. These groups are wonderful things for people in need of help for various things, but I think this may be the third or fourth episode where we have gone down this road and it is wearing a little thin. It was nice to see a little more interaction between J.J. and Garcia as I haven't found in previous Season 7 episodes that they have regained their old closeness. The plot was predictable but understandable in in places at the same time. A desperate mother would indeed follow the instructions of her daughter's abductor to the letter, especially when she had nobody else to advise her. It was very typical of Garcia's character to refuse to be left behind when her friend was in danger, so that part was well written.

The unsub himself wasn't very convincing for me. It seemed as though he had rehearsed his lines a million times but had not managed to capture the character. I found that disappointing. The young girl who was friends with Hope did a much better job.

I was very pleased to see Reid being a part of the action right at the end and seeing how calm and professional he was. J.J. allowing Garcia inside the house with an armed unsub was a bit harder to swallow but I'll allow some artistic license for television. The episode was okay but certainly not nail biting edge-of-your-seat stuff.moreless
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Wow... Extremely creepy yet compelling

8.5

By Slytheus, Apr 19, 2012

Warning: spoilers ahead

I thought this was a great Garcia episode. I enjoyed seeing her on screen and interacting more with the other main characters instead of staying behind screens and talking just on the phone.

At the beginning, I thought it was going to be a 'normal' abduction episode. However when Monica got into the car, I knew it was going to be something more.

As the story progressed, it got increasingly interesting and a bit scary. When Bill brought Monica to the places where he stalked her and Hope, I found the scenarios terrible. This guy gets off kidnapping girls and now he's 'reenacting' one, telling the story to a woman whose daughter he actually has.

At his house, we see a chair with cuffs on the chair. That just being there is disturbing as someone can imagine what happens there.

I think the turning point is when Monica stumbles upon what used to be Hope's room. When they show her mummified body, I had goosebumps. I knew Hope was dead but seeing what happened to her is sad. When Bill tells the story of how/why she died and the disturbing message on the wall in the flashback, it just made the whole situation disgusting. The whole thing just made me freeze and think about how this man could've done all this.

In the end, I think Bill takes the cake as to my most hated character in CM so far.

Overall, I think this episode is well written and really gets one thinking of how far humans will go for love. At one point I really questioned if I could get through the whole episode but I'm glad I did. In my opinion, Bill didn't deserve to die in such a quick and painless way but at least he's gone. Monica got a bit annoying as the episode went on but it's understandable with the loss of her daughter. Thought provoking and emotional, I think this episode is one of the best, though creepier than most.

(And just because, I thought Reid looked badass in the end with his gun when they're in the house.)moreless
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Finally a Criminal Minds Episode that sucked!

6.0

By ryanhd83, Jan 20, 2012

I adore Criminal Minds but this episode was weak to say the least. Shoddy writing, immensely predicting circumstances and a horribly weak case were a recipe for a mediocre episode [and the opposite of what i think makes Criminal Minds so compelling]. Season 7 has been insane so far but out of nowhere this episode emerged. I "hope" that the next episodes regain retains to glory.
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This season 7 episode 8 show called 'Hope' offering from Criminal Minds has some serious 'splaining' to do. The kidnapping story is typical with some variations but it's other deviations that caught my eye. This is because after season 3, I lost track.moreless

1.5

By lemongirlclone, Dec 13, 2011

Now all living things evolve but shouldn't TV shows stay consistent? Of course, the core was there but the soul was missing or something deep occurs when a viewer doesn't continue watching for a span of time (4 years). Has this happened to you? Anyway, back to Criminal Minds and Hope.

Specifically, Garcia's nerd look went from loud individualistic to hellish geometric psycho. Maybe I'm color sensitive but that cobalt blue eye-shadowed accessorized costume was the real killer in this episode. It's the exact shade of blue you might see just before Armageddon and a lot of screeching. Holding my breath continued until Garcia changed outfits near the end. Intelligent women shouldn't be fools or clowns. Perhaps I am unaware of the subtext that developed while elsewhere.

Morgan was ok, but why mirror Rossi with the facial hair? It gives Morgan a different attitude (gone to the dark side), but again, I was out of the loop and it's an observation. Reid's new hair style was easily the biggest fright jump and personality change. He lacks the weirdness and youth that made him appealing.

These criticisms reflect a long absence from Criminal Minds and seeing drastic changes but, the story was honestly blah. Also, isn't it a death knell when emotional responses to the physical set over ride plot-lines? The team synergy got lost some where in episode Hope. I want to have hope for this series so I will tune in to try.moreless
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Really good Garcia-centric episode, but creepy as hell.

9.0

By Augustdragon, Dec 07, 2011

I normally don't review episodes, but I don't know, something made me want to review this one. Anyway.

Note before I begin: I've skipped episodes (two now) based on things in them, so if you're like this too, please note that this episode has (spoilers here, and throughout the review!): suicide (cutting) seen on screen (teenager), hebephilia (the teenage version of pedophilia -- techinally not seen on screen, but really hard to ignore), abduction (of a grown woman and of a child), sexual assault, erotomania (delusion disorder centered around a falselyperceivedlove), restraints (seen, but not used in the episode, though it's clear they've been used before), hints of father/daughter incest (not happened, but implied was his eventual intent)and I think that's it. Oh, and abusive relationship? Er, between the unsub and his "wife" (not seen, but pretty obvious).

Going forward: this episode is Garcia-centric, and I think it sucessfully emphasized herparticulartalent of empathy and sheer amount of heart. Not that the other characters don't have these qualities, mind you, but Garcia has this in excess, and is very open for someone working in a unit that tracks down serial killers. It's this quality that allows for her to bring attention to Monica and her abduction fairly quickly, and ultimately save her life when talking to the killer.

The killer this time is unsympathetic, and I honestly don't think you're supposed to emphasize with him at all (which is why Garcia's empathy - or pretend empathy - at the end is all the more impressive). Sure, you could argue that his motive is love gone to the extreme, but once you kidnap a child, keep her captive, rape her and ultimately drive her to suicide in the name of love, you've pretty much destroyed any sympathy possible. (Others may find this different, and he is suffering from a delusional disorder beyond his control, but screw it, the episode following Monica like that makes it pretty much impossible for me to empathize with him at all).

This episode manages to show the ugly and the good parts of positive human emotions: the ugly in the unsub's obsessive "love", the good in the power of Garcia's empathy (mentioned above) and her dedication to helping others through grief, and the courage of a mother in an impossibly hopeless situation.

There was some fine little details that added to the horror of this episode: the obvious unhappiness in the pictures of the victim at the unsub's house (compared to the pictures seen in the mother's old house), the ring on the unsub's finger (that sent chills down my spine at the end of the episode, because it just reinforced the sickness of the whole thing), the scratched-in name at the table, the restraints, the "why me" on the wall -- lots of little details that made my stomach turn beyond the obvious sickness and horror of the episode.

The scene with the friend was a nice detail and added some depth to the entire story, and the case-wise, this was a fascinating episode - very unexpected. It worked for me, but I can't say it will work for anyone.

I personally found the butterfly metaphor a bit heavy-handed, but that might just be me. I'm better at judging writing than execution, but I thought it was overall well-done.

As for the father/daughter incest hint thing mentioned in another review: it didn't go over the line for me, and it made sense in context, since the original father was dead, the man was obviously disconnected from reality, and adding in another person would have complicated the whole episode even further. YMMV.

Finally, I would have liked to see them doing something (I have no clue what) with JJ and the butterflies, since it was mentioned she collected butterflies as a kid. I don't know, I just think the writers have missed some connections/emotional reactions from the characters when it comes to the backstory and plot (see also last episode with Reid and the whole "mentally sick mothers who devote themselves to their children" thing that was an obvious connection to his backstory and yet the backstory didn't even get a mention.) Anyway, I'm rambling now, so this review ends here.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Thomas Gibson	Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner
Joe Mantegna	Senior SSA David Rossi
Matthew Gray Gubler	SSA Dr. Spencer Reid
Shemar Moore	SSA Derek Morgan
Paget Brewster	SSA Emily Prentiss
A.J. Cook	SSA Jennifer "JJ" Jareau

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Brigid Brannagh	Monica	Guest Star
Jack Coleman	Bill	Guest Star
Reganne Sheely	Young Hope	Guest Star
Brian Appel	Agent Anderson	Recurring Role

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Shemar Moore and Kirsten Vangsness in Cr...

©2011 CBS Broadcasting, Inc
Shemar Moore and Kirsten Vangsness in Cr...

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Kirsten Vangsness in Criminal Minds from...

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Kirsten Vangsness in Criminal Minds from...

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- After The Inheritance and Dharma & Greg, this was the third time guest star Brigid Brannagh and series star Thomas Gibson had worked together.
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QUOTES (3)
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- Garcia: We are each on our own journey. Each of us are on our very own adventure encountering all kinds of challenges and the choices we make on that adventure will shape us as we go. Those choices will stretch us and test us and push us to our limit. And our adventure will makes us stronger than we ever knew we could be.
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- Garcia: "Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." Joseph Campbell
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- Garcia: "Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark." George Iles
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NOTES (1)
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- Production on this episode wrapped on October 4, 2011.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Reid: Joran van der Sloot extorted $25,000 from Natalee Holloway's mother in exchange for information.
  
  van der Sloot, who is suspected of murdering Natalee Holloway in Aruba on May 30, 2005, is now awaiting trial in a Peruvian jail for the confessed murder of Stephany Flores on May 30, 2010, exactly five years after Natalee disappeared.
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