Criminal Minds

“It’s been a hard year for us, Jason.” What an understatement. Season Two of Criminal Minds has seen our heroes through personal tragedies and professional trials. The killers they track seem to get cleverer, more difficult, and more disturbing with each episode. The affects they have on the profilers is cumulative, and the costs for these very compelling characters gets higher and higher. Elle flamed out. Morgan was confronted by his past. Reid was utterly changed by his ordeal. Prentiss still looks on as an outsider. Hotch tries to remain the strong rock of calm amid the scenes of carnage around them. The cases haven’t just been hunt the killer/save the victim cases – “the residual impact” of these cases, as Erin Strauss would say, have left wounds – deep, searing wounds.



But, not to be too cliché about it, the man was right who said that without darkness, the light could not be seen. It’s been a dark year punctuated by moments of brightness and camaraderie – small things – a smile, a shared joke, a Chaplin film, a moment of openness, a nod of understanding. And, even as we wade through the blood of Frank’s victims, that is not forgotten, and the profilers take on added dimensions, and give us more reasons to care about them.



The plotline of the ep itself was brilliant. Ed Bernero + Mandy Patinkin = some kind of wonderful. Every single shot was beautifully orchestrated, especially the rapid cuts of Gideon in the phone booth, the bathroom, remembering Frank in the diner, and leaving the florist – and following Hotch’s eye-flicking POV around Strauss’ office. Hotch’s voice-over profile of the team was a tender accompaniment to the visual scenes, and is one of those things that I can close my eyes and see again and again. Mandy is absolutely emotionally truthful in this one. How he manages to show everything from rage to terror to emptiness is beyond me. His teacher/student moments with Garcia help him get his footing back so he can crack the puzzle of Frank. The framing of Hotch and Reid as bookends of Gideon’s life is also amazing. Gibson is at his best in his quiet white intensity, and Gubler is really the only one who shows his character is truly terrified about what may have happened to Gideon. And one of the most revealing moments was at the very end when Reid re-entered the bedroom to gaze down at the corpse of Frank’s mother.



No matter how many red herrings about Prentiss you pass before my eyes – her insistence on calling in the MPD, wanting to give up evidence, forcefully questioning Hotch about Gideon’s “capacity” at the train station – I believe in her. The CM writers have done a great job fitting her into the team, giving her a role beyond Elle’s and teaching her about her own weaknesses by showing her the weaknesses of others. She will be sorely tried during this political tug-of-war, but she’ll prove to be faithful.



Throw back the curtains, and let in the light. A metaphor for revealing truth – the truth about Frank, the truth about Prentiss’ possible role in the BAU, the truth about Hotch’s position, the truth about Gideon’s standoffishness with the people around him. Bernero gave us two small visual metaphors when first Hotch, and then Reid, opened curtains in this episode. Things are coming to light. Secrets. Conspiracies. Problems. Scars. As with Fisher King I, the minds behind the Minds are giving us a hint of what is to come. Are Hotch and Reid to be revealed? Or, perhaps they will be doing the revealing. But remember, the light can sometimes show us things we’d rather not see. I have a feeling we ain’t seen nothing yet.

Gideon's friend, Sarah, is found murdered in his apartment and naturally, Gideon himself is the main suspect until it is revealed that she is missing a rib bone and then we all know immediately that Frank is back -either that or Gideon is very good at being a copy cat killer! Gideon is missing and Frank is killing again because his beloved Jane has left him and gone to Washington in search of Gideon to tell him that Frank is behaving exactly the way it was predicted that he would. Apparently, Jane has finally realised that a sociopath cannot form proper bonds or feel true love and Frank is not a happy man.



Ordered to stay right away from the case whilst the law hunts an innocent Gideon, Hotch and the team work secretly as they know that Frank is responsible and that they must find him (and Gideon) very soon before more carnage occurs.



Remember Rebecca Bryant and little Tracey Bell whom Gideon saved? They are listed in his special 'Murder Book' where he keeps notes on his successes to remind him that the horrors he and the rest of the team encounter on a regular basis are worth it when some can be saved. What a pity then that Frank has stolen important sections of Gideon's book and begins to wreak havoc. Rebecca Bryant is soon dead and Tracey Bell is missing. Frank is clearly not going to allow Gideon any peace whatsoever ...



The final ten minutes of this episode will blow your mind so I won't spoil it by writing any more. Kudos over and over again to Mandy Patinkin, Keith Carradine and Amy Madigan for being a part of a brilliant season finale and warmest congratulations to the writers and actors for their great work.



I loved it. An amazing episode and worth watching over and over again.

This is why I fall in love with this show. My emotions are all tangled and all are visibile - sad because Gideon' love life were shattered. Hotchner's disturbed heart and mind but he was able to control everything as if nothing is happening inside him. The team is now a real team - rely on each other. I just hope that Emily will not destroy it.

Starting from the begining,this show has made me sitting on my couch without moving.Every urge too pee,i tried to hold it.And,it really worth it.



This episode is trully special.Frank,the psycopath who managed to escape Gideon is back.And what make his return so special is that he killed Gideon's girl and took Gideon's special book.



When Frank killed 1 of the girl from season 2 episode 1,i was sad.I was sad because to think of it,she just escape from a crazy dad,and now being tortured by a crazier psycopath.



The actor also is good in this particular episode.Especially Gideon,the way he talk,the way he faces reacted,you can feel how devastated he is.



Overall,a great episode.My personal favourite,

This standalone show really does know how to do Season finales in style. To begin with - the part 2 of an episode that happened about ten episode ago was a great way to end the season. We didnt have to learn anything, we all ready knew the character well to begin with. I liked part 1 better, mainly because the ending of this episode kind of killed it for me. I thought everything pointed to a picture perfect episode right up until the end of Franks life when he kills himself. I thought the FBI would have handled that situation a lot better then they did in real life. I think if Frank had all ready had Jayne when Gideons team found his dead mother that would have been a more believeable ending to that storyline. Overall, loved the character that played Frank - having that role was the thing that made the two episodes done so well. The feel of the episode was a lot different from most and I liked that alot. The camera tricks were good and the use of flashbacks (the one of Gideon and Frank conversation stood out) were all really well done to me. Shame "The Fisher King" lady had to die - out of all the people he could of choosen he had to pick her? Lol. That woman had to endure so much in these two Season finales. The ending scene with the woman trying to get Hotchner away from his job felt a little too forced. It seemed like they wanted to have a cliffhanger so they forced on in by making it seem Emily's joining the BAU was a little something more then we were led on. Loved Hotchners profile at the end of his superior, I thought that scene was one of the best profiles the show has ever done. Overall, terrific season finale that had a couple of parts I didnt't care for at the end of the episode.

This episode is the continuation of the episode "No Way Out", in which Frank returns to Gideon.



What can I say about this episode? It's just perfect. In the beginning of the episode, Gideon is chosing flowers for his girlfriend (He's old but he had a girlfriend), but later on she is murdered by Frank. So sad, poor Gideon. Then, Hotchner together with his team, arrive at Gideon's apartment to help the investigation. (Wasn't they not suppose to be in the crime sceme?)



I LOVED this episode, especially those mind games part, I love it. Whoever wrote or narrate this episode is a very smart guy/women I've ever known.

I love this episode. It was very exciting!!! I was always wondering whether the victim is going to survive. The beginning was very different. It took me a while to actually understand what happen. Awww... the ending!!! It was good overall other then the ending!!!

I realise that Gideon is hardly in the past few show, I wonder why. Awww... this Garcia is so cute!!! She is so nice. I'm gutted, I missed out on that Derek episode!!! Oh well wait till dvd is out!!!

Yay go Hotch!!! Ohhhh!!! What an ending!!! If that happens I will hate that person!!! Till the next criminal minds season.

OMG I was waiting to find out what happened to Frank and that woman! A train? Random but okay. And how in the h3ll could she love a man like Frank? I know she isn't all there but still, who could love a serial killer? Ewwww and Franks Mom just lying there in her bed for all those years, I bet if it was real they would of ad to block their noses not just look for the lil girl. I would of been sick! And all those flowers around her, man that Frank was one crazy mother.



Hotchner: My team? Let me tell you about my team. Agent Morgan fought to protect his identity from the very people who could save him. Why? Because trust has to be earned, and there are very few people he truly trusts. Reid's intellect is a shield which protects him from his emotions and, at the moment, his shield is under repair. Prentiss overcompensates because she doesn't yet feel she's a part of the team. She needn't worry. Every day, Agent Jareau fields dozens of requests for our team and every night she goes home hoping she's made the right choices. Garcia fills her office with figurines and color to remind herself to smile as the horror fills her screens and Agent Gideon in many ways is damned by his profound knowledge of others, which is why he shares so little of himself yet he pours his heart into every case we handle. I stand by my actions and I stand by my team, and if you think that you can find a better person for the job, good luck. I loved it when he said that! And if that chick takes over his job I will hate her! Hate her, hate her!!



Well until next season!!

So, this episode really brings back many familiar faces, but not in a way you wish - Frank is back, wanting Jean again.. and he is killing - bringing down Gideon's saves.



I most say the story itself is very fascinating. How and what happened with Frank and Jean. Why she left him? Gideon said it will happen but he was so sure it will not.. And if the chase to Frank is not enough, there are chances coming in BAU - they want to fire Hotchner and use Emily to do so. That's quite an interesting turn and it looks they will keep it to next season.



Really fast moving, out of usual episode.

This is a very well-written episode from its name, I love the play on words, to the very last line. Keith Carradine portrays very well to Frank, a merciless killer who kills again in his search for the only person he loves. Frank is one of the most interesting unsubs appeared on the series and although the BAU has to help Gideon secretly, Frank is the real main character on this episode. It's also interesting the conversation between Erin Strauss and Hotchner, specially when he talks to her about his team and how in the end we discover what the Section Chief asks Prentiss to do.

Only one word to describe the entirety of the Season 2 Finale - brilliant! IT has been a long time since the episode, 'Now Way Out', where the evil Frank (Breitkopf) got away with a mentally unstable partner. Now he returns for one of the fastest paced and most exciting episodes of Crimainal Minds, ever!



I was really excited to see how things would eventuate with Frank, and it was very nice seeing some familiar faces in the episode, in the form of the surviving cvictims from previous epiosdes!



The episode was intense, suspenseful, new, nerve-racking, and absolutely every other positive adjective I can think of!



The ending of the episode is also brilliant, as a huge bombshell is dropped, and we find out the true reason why Emily Prentiss was mysteriously attached to the FBI Team.



Overall, this is sensational stuff! I must highly recommend you to watc this episode, and i can not wait until new episodes from Season 3! Great episode, one of the best, and please keep it up!

Okay, is it just me or do two-parters...follow one after the other. Not have the first part and then like five episodes and then the second part. What the crap?! Anyway, this episode was very good but not as good as the post-Super Bowl episodes. I don't really like the whole Frank storyline and I'm glad he's dead and gone forever. But if they bring him back, so help me God. Can you say FILLER? Anyway, Gideon seemed out of character to me. I've never seen him have such a passion like that. It was very odd for him. There wasn't really a cliffhanger like last season (AWESOME, loved that cliffhanger) so I was disappointed. I hate when shows don't do cliffhangers because then what's to look forward to next season?! I'll just sit here all summer NOT wondering anything and forget the show. Shame. Emily's little ending was great. I'm happy they're doing SOMETHING with her. I like her and I want to see her grow. Still, not a very great ending to a great season. Oh well, there's always next year.

ok, last year was an AMAZING season finale, it was a huge cliffhanger. i couldn't wait until the season opener to see if Elle lived. (but they got rid of her even though she didn't die) the only part of this episode that i sort of liked was the very END! it was just so boring i practicly fell asleep in my chair watching it. not to mention that my favorite character (Spencer Reid) had a ver little part. they could have just as easily made this episode a fantastic one, it was a really good idea but they just went the wrong way with it. it is a season finaleit supposed to be really godd, and it just wasn'tQ

The episode is a very good one till the resolution, which is, in my opinion, rushed and sloppy.

For starters, the little girl is found so easily in an apartment we are supposed to believe that contained the cadaver of Frank's mother for who knows how many decades.

And a serial killer living with his mother's corpse... mmmm... they did it before in CM and it was as unoriginal as this time.

The scene at the train station was good till Frank and Jane jump to the incoming train. Are we supposed to believe that a train would be running just by where is the most prolific serial killer surrounded by the FBI, SWAT, CIA, KGB and the odd boy scout? Please! In any civilized country (and most of the uncivilized) the train traffic should have been suspended or at least detoured until the situation is solved. And here a train passes by, as if nothing is happening around, conveniently in the very moment the dramatic tension is at its higher point. How convenient indeed!

And the ending part, mmmmm... An inside double-agent, a superior that wants to disolve an FBI special unit... mmmmm... haven't we seen this before?

Maybe in next season the guys will be profiling alien criminal minds and discovering ET-government conspiracies.

Maybe next season is good and all my worries are... worries.



Anyway, good episode, flaws and all.

Everytime I watch Criminal Minds, I fall in love with the show more and more. It is by far, the most underrated show on television and has an exceptional cast. And the season finale is no exception. I won't go into many detail but Frank the most prolific serial killer is back with a vengeance and it is up to Gideon to stop him. This is the first episode where I saw that Gideon was tormented and it was played out very well. Also we saw a tidbit of what may happen next season. We see that Hotch's boss is trying to get rid of him. Let's hope she fails at that!

By the title of the episode you already know that the unique murderer they couldn't caught is back, but now he is worst. He kills Gideon's friend only to hurt him, and then he goes after every person Giden saved, it's really scary. I feeled really sad when Rebecca was found dead. After all she passed for ending that way...and then the poor girl fortunately they arrive at time to rescue her. Poor Gideon...And at the end Jane returns with Frank and they just suicide. I am really scared of what is going to happen between Hotchner and Prentiss. I don't think she is going to betray the team now that she is a member. I am worried and I am waiting for the new season to beggin!!!

Just watched this, well i watched No Way Out Parts 1 & 2 back to back, as i like to watch shwo that way when they are split into 2 parts mid-season.



I loved the story, Frank is an awesome villain, he doesnt care about anything other than Jane, thats what makes him a great character and serial killer, as he is incapable of feeling anything, love, hate e.t.c.



Gideon's character was awesome in this episode, Mandy's acting was at its best in this in my opinion, he can play everything, and his facial expressions are just so realistic!



I liked the way the episode visited past season 2 cases, brings the whole season to a close perfectly, i am very much looking forward to season 3, i can't get enough of this show!



But i do hope that Hotchner stays and does not get sacked, and i wonder if Emily actually does help in getting him fired, i dont like her character much, but it makes you think maybe she was put in the BAU just to slowly take over from Hotch! as it never seemed like an official transfer anyway, maybe she is a mole put in there to report back on the team and specially Hotch!



Who knows, lets just wait and find out! bring it on!

This is a very well done season finale for season two. It brought to a close a season two major thread. It leaves open who will be the 'leader' of the BAU team for next season.



Hotchner gave his boss a run down of the members of the team which she appears to be using to get him removed.



I am looking forward to both the dvd release (HD-DVD as well PLEASE) and to season three.



The show continues to deliver on serial killers and big crimes as it has in the past. Obviously since the Behavioral Analysis Unit is involved this is the case.



The character interplay is good, hopefully it continutes with the same team for season 3.

A huge "Great Job!" goes out to the Criminal Minds writers. They did a fantastic job with this one. After a season that was shaky and filled with lots of problems they did a fantastic job wrapping it all up in a suspenseful and exciting hour. The plot was perfect, creepy, suspenseful and I loved every minute. They did a good job of working in old cases into this one. It was great, smooth and entertaining. I love Gideon and the way that he handled everything. His reaction to the mutilation of his girlfriend, his anger with Frank, and the determination to catch Frank this time. It was great! Hotch at the end was also awesome. He knows he's good at what he does and I love how he profiled his superior at the end. Go Hotch! Then when Hotch's superior put getting rid of Hotch on Prentis(s?). Man was I mad! I'm hoping she stays loyal to the team because the team with Hotch is...not the team. We'll see I suppose. Let's just hope for the best!!! Anywho, overall this was a fantastic way to end the season and again great job Criminal Minds writers!!

Well, this was the very first episode of Criminal Minds that I have ever seen and, I must say, it was impressive. Frank comes back looking for Jane and kills Gidean's girlfriend and another girl before they find him. The boss, I don't know his name, it worried about loosing his job and, at the end, we find out they are really trying to get rid of him. Frank was very creepy and the episode was very good in most aspects: acting, plot, and so on. The only thing I don't really like about the show is that it is kind of jumpy and the flashbacks are chaotic and there are a lot of, I can't really explain it. Anyways, great episode and I can't wait to see next season!

Knowing he has psychopathic enemies, I wondered that Gideon didn't warn Sarah not to ever open his door unless she knew it was him? Mandy P. is a good actor. It was touching when he begged Frank for her life but I hope Gideon mentions in later episode that he warned her not to open door for anyone else. I'm glad Prentiss is going to be Hotchner's boss. He did make a reckless mistake when he sent Elle home knowing the unsub knew where she lived. It doesn't justify what Elle did, but demonstrated poor management on his part.

Okay, I say this in my review every week. By the number one thing that keeps me watching this show is the relationships. One that has always been interesting, because the dynamic is unclear, is Garcia and Gideon. But I think I've figured it out. It's very father / daughter like, but it's more then that. He's the father who constantly wants her to do better. Who uses every technique in the book who forces her to strive to do better. Garcia, on the other hand, wants his approval so badly that it's almost needy. Sometimes he gives her a compliments. (Once Hotch sent her flowers under his name and she almost swooned to everyone.) Sometimes he insults her. (Last years season finale, he asked her how she could do something so stupid and you could just see her heart break. The time they spent together figuring out the evilution of Frank was the best the ever worked together. Because as much pressure as Gideon was under and as much pain as he was in, he allowed Garcia to work with him, using her fresh, untrained eyes to actually make the most important leap in profiling him.



I also loved Hotch profiling the team at the end, and how they are coping. Bringing up how Morgan and Reid are dealing with their recent traumas was important. Some TV shows ignore things like that. Some deal for a few weeks then drop off and never mention them again, which I was starting to worry might be happening with Reid. Hearing Hotch mention it again was very reassuring. I also liked how he profiles the women. We think we know these things about Prentiss and Garcia, and maybe about JJ, though we see that the least, but we're never quite sure. Now we've heard it outloud. I was kind of hoping it would be someone else in the chair rather then Prentiss, because it was too predictable. However, anyone else would be too loyal. So, next year is off to a good start.

One of the things I liked about this episode was the team was off balance. Not being directly involved, but needing to be to save on of there own. Especially if other lives were are risk. Frank & Jane's return, knew it would eventually happen, now we have to see they come back again, just like a cat, how many lives do they have. I like the fact Garcia got to spend some time with Gideon, it's something that's not normally done. But WTH is with them "releaving" Hotchner, and putting Prentiss in charge, give me a break. There is something more to it than that....Hotchner not being able to do his job and lead the team, please he know the team and his job better than anyone. But I guess that what you would classify as a cliffhanger, we have to tune in next season to see what happens.

This will lead to a great cliffhanger as well as what we can expect come in the fall. Gideon becomes both the haunted and the hunter. As he tries to get at Franks, as his girlfriend is murdered. We also wonder if the couple really jumped in front of the train really made it out or are dead. As well as Hotchner's job on the line and Prentiss maybe betraying him and the team.

The finale was great Gideon's vast memory of Franks words and the teams ability to put things together solved the case. The finale left you wondering. When Frank and Jane jumped in front of the train did they die or did they get past it. I thought that was a great cliff hanger, BUT what will happen to the team with thier superior wanting Agent Hotchner out of his job and trying to get Agent Prentiss to betray Hotchner. I guess we will see in September/October. It'sgoing to be hard waiting.