Criminal Minds

Paradise

Season 4, Episode 4, Aired 10/22/08

Episode Summary

The BAU joins the manhunt in Sherwood, Nevada, to catch a serial killer who conceals the manner of his crimes by staging car accidents.

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Cast & Crew

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Thomas Gibson

Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner
Joe Mantegna

Senior SSA David Rossi
Matthew Gray Gubler

SSA Dr. Spencer Reid

Fan Episode Reviews (11)

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Remind me not to be out on a highway in Nevada when this guys is around.

6.5

"Fair"

By Lady_Lancaster, Dec 18, 2010 Report Abuse

Hotch and the team travel to Nevada to assist in a case after three young couples have been murdered with their deaths being staged to look like car accidents. Autopsies soon prove that the couples were already dead before the look-alike accidents were staged. The women had been sexually assaulted before being murdered whilst the males had been badly beaten. Their cars are then placed around a bend where they are hit and so, the accident theory is at first accepted until the autopsies show the real cause of death.

Meanwhile, a couple who have booked into a motel for the night face terror of the highest order when they are locked in and can't escape. Question is, why?

I wasn't all that impressed with the episode to be honest. The script seemed weak and the episode didn't flow well. The BAU did a great profiling job but the script in general just felt like a let down. Let us hope for better things.moreless

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1 1
Freaky episode! As several others have mentioned, "straight out of a horror movie". I totally agree with that!

9.0

"Superb"

By amazing_race, Jun 05, 2010 Report Abuse

This was a very interesting episode o Criminal Minds, but it certainly wesn't the best. The plot was very well written, and the episode was interesting right throughout it, but it just seemed to lack that special factor that we find in most other episodes.

I thought the case was highly interesting and very intense, and I was quite freaked out throughout it.The ourtcome was terrific and justified, and I highly loved that! Justive was sereved!

I think this was quite a good episode, but not th best. I would recommend it, but not as highly as several of its predecissors. Keep it up, this is going the right way!moreless

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2 0
Could be a psychological profile for Norman Bates (Psycho).

8.0

"Great"

By MizzGMC23, May 06, 2010 Report Abuse

Interesting twist on the "Psycho" theme. The plot ran well but I had most of my enjoyment from the profiling, probably because of the parallel between Norman Bates and the Unsub in this episode. The episode felt a lot faster paced than some of the CM's have been, maybe because we saw the victims storyline as well as the investigators. Excellent performances by Wil Wheaton and William Mapother, but I especially like the humorous lines that the writers give Kirsten Vangsness. Considering Garcia's job is pivotal to any case she is far more understated in her role than for example Pauley Perrette's Abby Scuito in NCIS. I know they do different jobs but their characters personalities are quite similar, and they're both "out and proud" science geeks. A good episode to follow on from all the tension with the season premiere. The tension for this episode was far more horror/thriller based. The "don't want to go out into the back yard when it's dark" kind of tension. The sort of tension that can make you jump out of your skin. It only goes to show that with the right writers and actors a thriller can work in a 45min slot.moreless

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Welcome to the Bates Motel

9.0

"Superb"

By CRaivios, May 06, 2010 Report Abuse

This whole episode had bits of Psycho mixed into it. Cars are hit by semi trucks. It turns out the people are already dead. Oh, and there were two other cases just like it.

I am familiar with the Reno - Lake Tahoe area. There are a lot of winding roads, a lot of tourists and a lot of traffic on two major interstate highways. Restaurants and motels dot the area. Having to canvas the area would have been a daunting task indeed.

Pity poor Aaron interviewing the grief stricken father of one of the victims. The man was immensely sad, but Hotch had to keep asking his questions.

Emily said the couple would probably never recover from the trauma they had been through. I disagree. The husband would not give up and fought the unsub. The wife was not raped. The couple lived to tell about it.

Paradise was yet another CM that had me scared half to death. Next week seems to be more of the same. Yikes! Won't be able to watch it alone or in the dark!moreless

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A couple stops to rest for the night, little do they know they're the next victims!!

10

"Perfect"

By KkMc7080, May 06, 2010 Report Abuse

A serial killer kills couples who stay at his hotel. His dad died he inherited it and went on his vengenful killing spree, raping the women killing the couple and then leaving their car on the road for a truck driver to hit it, and in return at the end of the episode the killer himself gets hit by an 18 wheeler!! A very interesting episode, and Hotchner blamed himself cause he should have guessed the guy was the killer when he went to talk to him, but didn't, Rossi said it happened to all of them and to even the best of them. Overall, not the greatest episode but it was good none-the-less.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Thomas Gibson and guest star Robyn Lively worked together previously on Chicago Hope. Edit
Notes
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- Tommie Harris, defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, had a small role in this episode as the weary traveler who was turned away by Floyd Hansen. Edit
- The song heard during the opening sequence was "Rock 'N Roll Train" by AC/DC. Edit
Quotes
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- Prentiss: Well, roadside motels definitely going on my list... (Reid stares blankly) …of things to never do again.
  Reid: You have a list?
  Rossi: You don't?
  Edit
- Rossi: I wonder if this place was ever nice.
  Hotchner: I was here. I talked to him and I didn't see it.
  Rossi: He made himself look like a good guy. You bought it. It happens… to the best of us. Welcome to the club.
  Edit
- Garcia: For the last two days I've been searching through VICAP for similar rapes and murders in cases that are still open. That has yielded me diddly squat. So I regrouped. I looked at some pictures of baby pandas, I went back in Edit
Allusions
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