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Criminal Minds Season 5 Episode 14

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8.4

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 2/3/10

An FBI agent from the San Diego White Collar Crime division seeks assistance from the BAU when the con artist he's been tracking for years has begun to murder his victims.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

I have to be perfectly honest here and I hate to smash the show, but that episode was absolutely terrible, what the heck were they thinking? The only good thing was JJ...she looked hot as hell...02/10/09 looks good tho.moreless

6.5

By ChristianLeavit, Dec 05, 2011

Well since I have to write at least 100 words here, I will use this opportunity to once again slam this episode and share my thoughts on what direction the show should go in. The acting in this episode was horrendous, that is the same guy that use to play in Days of Our Lives when he use to see Kate...hahaha. He was terrible on that show to. As I said above, JJ looks absolutely stunning. She should def be given more of a role in the show. She has the personality and the look. They could make her a star. One last thing, I get the feeling that the show maybe running out of creative ideas. I know this sounds crazy, but what if one of the characters was to have a secret life? Plotting and planning something big? Maybe one of the characters becomes a victim? Start creating more sub plots, exciting ones. Maybe one of the characters suffers a serious stressor and sends them spiraling out of control into a crazy rage. They could play this out over time and would generate crazy ratings if its done properly. I dunno, I like to ramble, but maybe someone else out there feels the same way?moreless
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Are you sure this was a Criminal Minds episode?! Certainly didn't feel like it.

5.5

By gamerb83, Dec 05, 2011

I really wanted to like this episode, I really did. But the longer I watched, the harder it became to fool myself. This episode didn't feel like a Criminal Minds episode to me. It was very blah and boring. Nothing really kept my interest. In fact, I spent most of the ep playing UNO on FaceBook. It wasn't that the case was boring. The premise was interesting in and of itself. But it was very poorly executed, and I think that's why it fell short and failed to keep my attention. I doubt I'll be re-watching this episode any time soon.moreless
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Boring. Boring. Boring. And as dull and predictable as it's possible to be and still actually leave the television switched on. And where exactly was the profiling? Or in fact, the team themselves half the time? ...moreless

4.5

By Lady_Lancaster, Dec 05, 2011

A con man has been using a large number of aliases to get money from wealthy, single women. Some he has affairs with, some he probably just defrauds. He has a wife and son but he is such a narcissist that the only person who matters is himself.

When the conman turns killer and a police officer thinks he knows exactly who he is dealing with, the BAU investigate. Pity they didn't actually do any proper profiling. Also, a pity we saw more of the unsub, his victims and his family than we did of the regular cast.

More than a little yawn worthy in my opinion but, then again, there have been plenty of those in Season 5.moreless
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Surprised people have marked this down so low. I've just started to catch up with the series, which I fell out of faith with end of last year - largely due to the writers' obsession with one of the character. This is much much better, IMOmoreless

9.5

By eggyface, Oct 09, 2011

Love the actor who played the white collar cop. Now THAT is a good actor. Who is he? He got inside the role, didn't he? And he stands out head and shoulders above cut outs such as Gibson. This was a good plot, nice tension, and beautifully acted by a serious actor and there was -- blessed relief -- none of that over-sentimental flaccid stuff we were given the first half of this season. The con guy and his family were OK but the detective made it. Him and Mantegna. Similar weight and energy in their styles.

It's an interesting premiss for the unsub. The underlying narcissism and whatever else made up his 'dark triangle' condition, but put under pressure by his high-stress job and the economy. You kept thinking the kid might save him. A simple identity: not Hunter or Grant or Randy but 'Dad'.

But really it was the desk cop's personality and vague intensity that made the main interest. There was one beautifully filmed moment, the angles and the attention on the plane where the cop looks out the jet window watched by Rossi. Subtle. More human relation and depth in that one moment than in most of what we were served up through the long Hotchner arc.

BRAVO the writer and the director, whoever you are, and particularly white-collar cop guy, whoever you are. Good on you. Ah... it was Oanh Ly. No wonder it was so good.moreless
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A pretty interesting episode, and I enjoyed the storyline.,

10

By amazing_race, Feb 28, 2011

This was a very interesting episode of Criminal Minds, although it was a rather unusual and different one, which to me, is usually a great thing.

I thought the case was highly interesting, mainly because it was set out so differently to most other episodes. The killer in this episode wasn't some soulless animal, as we usually have, and this really provided us with so many different views into the show.

OI did think that the episode focussed too little on the actual team, and we hardly saw most characters. That was disappointing for me, but the case was quite good.

It was a very touching case, with a very sad ending, and I would hjighly recommend watching this one, as it is so different!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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David Eigenberg	Agent Russell Goldman	Guest Star
Annabeth Gish	Rebecca Hodges	Guest Star
Victor Webster	Unsub/William Hodges	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- When the unsub is choking his first victim, and she scratches him on the hand. The image comes up several times throughout the episode. The scratches on his hand were large enough for a skin sample under the victim's fingernails. Forensics should have been able to find skin cells.
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QUOTES (2)
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- Prentiss: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." Sir Walter Scott
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- Rossi: "If I am what I have, and if I lose what I have, who, then, am I?" German psychologist Erich Fromm
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NOTES (2)
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- Shemar Moore sported a new look as of this episode with a goatee.
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- The song heard in this episode was "Luck Be A Lady" by Frank Sinatra.
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.