Criminal Minds

this episode is still in my memories, and still is mentioned in all the discussions related to these series.. it sank in my heart every minute, and especially the sadism of the abducting women with the kids is portrayed in a very realistic and hard to think way.. not one of but the best of all the series..

Now that I've caught up with this entire, fine TV series, I unhesitatingly rate Mosley Lane the best episode to date -- by quite a bit. From the music to the sustained, multiple emotional peaks in the last five minutes, the pacing makes it virtually impossible (and certainly inadvisable) to look away. From the creepiest of unsubs to the unexpected heroes, this episode does what Criminal Minds does best -- breaking away from the rigid formula that renders many police procedurals too predictable. The "subplot" involving the woman assisting the BAU is as rich as entire episodes of many shows.

The central image of the witch-like old woman threatening to burn children in an oven was straight out of Grimms' Fairytales, but there was never much of a profile to suggest why these people had become serial child abductors. And while I did like the part about the Mom who never gave up hope of finding her son alive, I do wish that other parts of the fairytale had been updated and fleshed out a little more.

Good directorial debut by Mathew Gray Gubler. Reid has always been one of my favorite characters on the show and so I'm pleased to see the actor stretch into new areas of creativity.

When i heard that Matthew Gray Gubler was going to direct an episode of Criminal Minds i got very excited. Brilliant episode, just completely shocked me in how disturbingly good and excellent this episode was. In my opinion it joins the ranks of Revelation and 100 in terms of story telling and guest cast. It was really creepy and a little part of me was appalled at the 2 unsubs and their methods. I was praying for Charlie and the kids to get out of this situation unharmed. I was praying for the parents of the children that were missing. The "Goobs" did an excellent job as director and you can tell the rest of the cast enjoyed it too:)

If this goes on, criminal minds would be breaking records very soon.



Kept on the edge on my seat at every moment, I felt that this episode was one of the best that was done. Unlike other shows like CSI or NCIS, criminal minds focus on a small group of people just doing their job. It keeps getting better and better every season. The leaving of Mandy Patinkin might be a blessing in disguise. Mantaga might not be just as good, but i felt the chemistry between the cast go up due to him leaving. More time to focus on other characters. Keep up the good work guys :)

This was without doubt a terrific instalment of a fabulous show. The storyline was flawless and it was a very sad and quite terrifying one. I was really quite nervous right throughout the entire episode and unlike usual, there were both very positie and negative outcomes at the end.



The episode was increibly suspensful and that was what made it so good. I thought they thought out the storyline very well, and I thought the team's analhysis of the unsub and how the y did what they did was spot on and very inmpressive!



Overall, this will be remembered as one of my favorites. Such asn amazing episode, and I can't wait for more scintillating cases, just like this one turned out to be!

In Virginia, a young child disappears whilst with her mother at a type of fun fair when the mother is distracted by another woman screaming that she has lost her child.



J.J. takes center stage when a woman whose son went missing in identical circumstances eight years earlier makes her annual trip to the BAU headquarters to ask whether there is any new information. You can see that J.J. feels much sympathy for the distraught mother but, at the same time, sees no hope that her son will ever be found alive given that so much time has passed.



Meanwhile, we see the reality. A couple in late middle-age who obviously have serveral screws loose are behind the abductions and are putting the girls and boys they have taken over the years through absolute hell. When one boy tries to assist the latest victim, he is murdered and then cremated in a ghastly scene which shows his body being put in a kiln.



The parents of the young girl, the mother who will not give up hope and others who have lost their children over the years come together and wait ...



The ending is tragic, horrific and joyous all at the same time. Never let your children out of your sight, no matter what.



Terrific episode and suitably scary unsubs for a show like this.

A great episode that deals with what could happen if you take your eye of your child for even a second. The world is full of crazy people out there.



It was sad for the parents of Steven...one day too late but some consolation to know he died trying to help the newest child.



Charlie is a typical of a kidnapped victim....just trying to survive. I was glad to see he was able to be strong and save himself and the other two girls.

He will need years of counseling...as will the other two girls.



I love Criminal Minds and I hope the show continues on.

What started out as a regular abduction story quickly took a turn for the worse in a Criminal Minds style. This episode is very different from the others primarily because it seems like there was much less of a focus on the profile, and more on the plot itself. Now normally, I would not be a fan of this deviation, but the emotion was enough to change the tone.



Skipping over the basic summary of the episode, the timing of the episode was ridiculously on point. An abduction story that directly hits home for JJ was inevitable, but the audience got to see a little bit of an outside perspective of JJ before and after Henry was born through the eyes of the mother.



Hope was the main theme of the episode. You were given one mother who lost all hope because she felt guilty for letting go of her child's hand. Then you were given a drunk mother who held on to hope for eight years and lost her family in the pursuit of finding her one lost child. They don't just hope for survival of their own child, but closure or reassurance that it was not their fault and that they aren't in pain anymore or that they taught their child well enough.



While a lot of these episodes end in either a sad or happy ending, this one had both. What I think was really great about the episode was the aspect of closure. I don't think I've ever seen any of the other crime series out there display the idea of closure as well as Criminal Minds did through this episode. By juxtaposing closure through the survival of some kids and the deaths of others, we were able to see how important it is to close a chapter of one's life after traumatic events.



I really liked the episode and at the end, what the survivor children said, was extremely moving. If you haven't seen the episode yet, watch it. You will feel moved at the end.

I don't think words can describe how amazingly good this episode was, although sad as well.

I started crying in the end, watching some families go home sad because their children weren't alive, but yet happy for closure. And 3 families had their children back.

And to think that Steven had died just like one day before the team found the house is so sad. I have to say that the man/husband in the kidnapping duo was scary, he really looked like a criminal. The mother was just crazy. I'm glad she got shot.



I love these emotional episodes and I hope they make more like this. It's hard to imagine what it's like when your child has been missing for 8 years. To wake up everyday and not knowing if your child is still alive or dead.

Amazing episode, in my opinion. MGG made this episode spooky and scary without much gore and he added simple little things to add to the effect. Also, the main plot line was disturbing-ish. A family who are abducting children and killing them. I mean, any plot line with kids is aalreadyy really disturbing. Despite the scary quality of the episode, it was really moving. It protrayed the love of a parent and the everlasting hope and faith they have. I mean, that woman didn't give up for 8 years...WOW. The end was EXTREMELY moving. Great Reid moment and all the families hugging their children tore me up inside (in a good way). This episode really captured all the components of Criminal Minds that I love. The spookiness and darkness on one side and the love and all the happy tears on the other. GREAT EPISODE I wish they were all like this

What Charlie/David said at the end of the episode made me cry, i cried for at least 5 minutes and I don't even have kids, a very touching episode. It was full of every emotion imaginable especially if you're a parent, it focused on every emotion possible, it really dived into every emotion possible, it kept you on the edge of your seat emotionally, wondering if they will survive or not. Especially with Charlie's mother, thinking she's deranged/crazy and realizing she's a loving mother who's lost her way and still hoping her son's alive. A very powerful and moving episode!!

I'm not a regular Criminal Minds watcher - I watch reruns on A&E or whatever channel more often than the current airings of the show. It's even less likely for me to even write a review. But I was flipping through the channels and came across this episode (early enough to realize it was a "typical" abduction episode and just kept it on) and am glad I did. This is definitely one of the best episodes I've seen in a long while. It did stray a bit from the typical "profile" episode but the show definitely drove home the "why" this show/career path exists. I definitely liked the change of direction for this episode...and am guessing a lot of others will feel the same. It might even renew my interest in watching the show regularly. There was a lot of emotional involvement in this episode which completely sucks you in. (I'll probably even watch the ep online so I can see the parts I missed.)



(Sorry this doesn't have much detail :P But I don't want to spoil anyone!)

This episode reminds us why we started watching Criminal Minds. It reminds me of the first season of the series. The ending not so subtly reminds us that there are people out there staring into the dark abyss that is the worst of humanity with the chance of using the darkness as a tool for happier outcomes. Remember that in Season 1 Gideon reveals that he carries a picture of a girl he saved to remind him when the job seems bleak why he did the job. Weaving complex characters that you can sympathize with and a storyline instills fears that you or someone you know could go through this type of rollercoaster of emotional hell in the blink of an eye. An 8 year old girl named Amy is abducted from a winter festival while her mother is next to her. The unsubs used a brilliant distraction technique that has one person creating a scene looking for their son. While everyone's attention is distracted another unsub grabs the girl and is taken away before the mother knows what has happened. Total abduction time is in seconds.



A mother comes to the BAU again, convinced that the girl was abducted by the same people who took her son 8 years ago. Every time there is an abduction of a child the same age as her son this mother comes to the BAU. This time she is correct and when a connection is realized JJ visits the woman at her home and discovers that she has identified 12 abductions that are similar to her sons. The woman lost everything (her marriage, daughter, and friends) because she refused to give up on the belief that her son is still alive. She has complete background research on the abductions and has been in support groups with most of the parents. Armed with this wealth of information the BAU is able to interview the parents of the abducted children and quickly confirm that all 12 of the abductions were performed by the same unsubs using the same signature for their abductions. I will stop here to keep from spoiling the enjoyment of the ending of this episode. But needless to say it has been a long time since a Criminal Minds episode left me emotionally charged.

That was.. something really good. I really loved the way it was not win or loose situation. It was hard and thought provoking from the start to end. It was very moving.. it was.. I have no words. It was one of the best episodes on a some time.. One what really moved me and I loved that.



The best part of it, was probably the writing. To write a story, what is so dark, but still follows the usual genre of the series... and have the whole thing around hope.. how it can be imprisoning, how it can be saving and how hard it hurts when you realize that it was all a hope. The stories of those other parents.. they just added so much and portrayed the no-win situation so well.



And the no-win storyline was brilliant. Most tv shows never go for bad endings and there is always some kind of closure but it would have not felt right when it had had happy ending, so that kind of ending.. and all the thing with that Charley.. all he did and all he knew and coming back from that.. the moment when he pulled a gun. That was a brilliant scene and you did not expected it to go like that so fast. Worked brilliantly.



And some brilliant acting too. That mother.. wow..

A girl is kidnapped in a winter fair in Virgina and the team is called to help. First they think it's just that but after the testimony of a woman that her son was abducted 8 years ago the team decides to stay since they suppose that this thing could have been going on for years. They find a dozen of kidnapped kids in the last 10years and their stories match the ones Aimee's and Charlie's moms tell. After digging up families with social services troubles they find the right house but the kids are not there. Garcia finds out that the woman's family owned a funeral house and they discover that they've been burning the bodies of the kids they killed. While the kidnapper sets the oven ready to incinerate Aimee, Charlie shoots her just in time for Morgan and Prentiss to get there. At the end 3 of the 12 kidnapped kids are reunited with their families. It made me cry like a baby. Matthew did an amazing job with this one. Really good chapter!:)

A mother's intuition leads the team to investigate the kidnappings of children over an eight year period. She believes her son who was taken 8 years ago is alive and contacts BAU every time a child disappears. They initially scoff at her but JJ feels her pain and connects with her on her level as a mother when another little girl disappears. I am struck by the physical similarity between the main child character and Shawn Hornbeck who was kidnapped and held for 4 years in Missouri. He was even forced to drive the escape vehicle when another boy was kidnapped just like this character. An excellent, if very dark and disturbing, episode. I was totally sucked in and sat with tears in my eyes because it was definitely one of the most emotional episodes ever. This is consistently one of the best crime shows on TV.