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Criminal Minds Season 6 Episode 5

Safe Haven

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8.7

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 10/20/10

The BAU travels to the Midwest to track a serial killer who is targeting families in Nebraska and Iowa. Meanwhile, a troubled Ellie Spicer runs away from her foster family in Los Angeles to visit Agent Derek Morgan in Quantico.

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Fan Episode Reviews (4)

If we are VERY lucky, we just may have seen the last of Ellie Spicer and all of her relatives. Perhaps now we can get back to what 'Criminal Minds' is supposed to be about; catching criminals.moreless

6.0

By Lady_Lancaster, Oct 15, 2011

I had to watch this episode twice before I could write this review because I was so bored the first time that I missed several salient points. The first thing I want to yell about is how, once again, there was little or no profiling of the unsub and when there was, the team jumped to their conclusions so fast my head was spinning! What has happened to the team dynamic where they all sit around and brainstorm to come up with the solutions and put the profile together? It just seems to have gone out the window.

The young unsub seemed to me to be reading his lines but I still found him more interesting than the one from last week. It was a good premise to have such a young killer but it seemed to me that his crimes were a little too neat and clean for one so young. As for this nasty habit of Ellie Spicer being mentioned or seen in every episode, it MAY just be over now but what in the world was Morgan thinking with regard to that whole scenario? So, they couldn't find Ellie's mother? Did they even consider asking Garcia? She would have tracked down Susan Spicer in a matter of minutes because that's what she does.

It seems that access to Quantico and the BAU is quite easily gained as I have lost count of the amount of people who just wander in without security clearance. Ellie just coming in without Morgan's knowledge doesn't ssy a great deal about security there, does it? That journalist who wrote the book about Foyet last season couldn't get in to see Hotch but it seems that just about anybody else can.

One positive thing I did find was the performance of guest actress Mare Winningham who handled the situation she was in very nicely. Her two 'children' were not very good actors though, unfortunately.

The scene at the BAU between Morgan, Ellie and Susan Spicer was appalling. What kind of sane adult would discuss such personal matters in front of a young, traumatized child? I don't know about Mrs. Spicer but Morgan certainly should have known better. His gung ho macho man attitude annoyed me given that he knew none of the details and then, suddenly, he sees the book containing all the letters Ellie's mother had 'written' to her in her absence and he is just about ready to award her the title of 'Mother of the Year'. Was there some reason she didn't mail the letters to her child? And how does the mere existence of the letters themselves prove to Morgan, a BAU profiler, that Susan obviously loves her daughter dearly and will make an excellent mother? This makes zero sense to me. The writers have done Shemar Moore a lot of disservice this season but hopefully, with Ellie now re-united with her mother, we may be fortunate enough to have seen the last of ALL the Spicers!

Is it wrong to want this show to go back to basics? To want the team, working as a cohesive unit, to profile, hunt and track down unsubs instead of letting a dozen side stories get in the way? I don't think it is. The 'Criminal Minds' of old is what has made it such a superb show. Can we please focus on the unsubs, the victims and the cases as a whole so that the BAU can do what we love watching them do so much? Maybe they should not only keep young Jeremy on their 'watch list' but perhaps Ellie as well, given all her traumas, she may turn out to be anything, even an unsub herself. Let us hope not.moreless
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Good but not great, as Criminal Minds episodes go. Warning - a few spoilers.

7.0

By gun_will_travel, Mar 07, 2011

This was not my favorite episode. Another "enfant terrible." Lots of child actors, which means lots of mediocre acting. The plot device for the killer's origin (one twin consumed the other in the womb) felt contrived for shock value. And the Ellie Spicer arc served as a distraction from the main story.

Seemed to me like most of the BAU team had very little to do in this episode, and the Jeremy's story was just not compelling to me at all. There's obviously some political context to the episode about the problems of what to do with sociopathic children, the ills of the foster care system, and the ethics of Nebraska's child abandonment law. But none of that was presented in a way that particularly fascinated me or stirred any emotion.

However, guest star Mare Winningham was strong, and it was still Criminal Minds, making it better than just about anything else on TV during a given week.moreless
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Chilling yet entertaining episode that I felt was the best of season 6.

10

By auyongjin, Feb 09, 2011

1 word: Fantastic!

Personally, I felt that this episode was the best of season 6. I felt compelled to watch every move made by the unsub (played by the young Ben Linus from lost). It was a unique choice to have a thirteen year old kid to be an unsub (last i recall Bogeyman from season 2 episode 6) and this time, they struck gold. Great choice to focus on the unsub instead of the BAU this time and I would say it worked out pretty well. 3 scenes that I loved the most:

1) The unsub acting as a tortured soul where no matter how much one hates that fact that he is killing, one would definitely sympathise with him.

2) The unsub holding the woman on the car hostage. Somehow I had a feeling that he would release her yet he stabbed her all of a sudden. It was a fantastic and compelling scene that shows why I love this show so much: It throws you the unexpected

3) The last scene where the unsub holds his younger sister hostage. I felt that scene was the best scene as all of his anger and hatred for his mother could be seen from that. The hatred and everything threw up and he nearly blew it before the BAU arrived.

However, watching the last part about Ellie uniting with her mother was torturous. It was as if one was watching a cheap love movie. It was definitely uncalled for and we could definitely do without her character interfering with the play. Also, that unsub did not look thirteen at all. Perhaps the writers could have given him a better age to work with (like 16 or 17).

Lastly, it's a great idea to have this unsub to come back again in say 5 years time and be bent on revenge on his parents. It would be fantastic to watch such a continuity. It would give all of us something to look forward to in the near episodes.

Overall: Fantastic episode, best in season 6. And the last episode of season 5 (which was crap)moreless
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I feel this one is underrated. It was phenomenal!

10

By amazing_race, Feb 09, 2011

Criminal Minds stepped up once again with a great episode today. It was better than the last couple (although those were aired a while ago here in Australia).

The storyline was centered around a series of murders with the ivictim being torn apart ouut of sheer curiosity. We soon find out that the killer is a 13 year old, which really caught me off guard! Great surprise!

The episode had it all in terms of suspense, an interesting case, and even the darama, with regards to Morgan and Ellie Spicer.

As a result, I really enojyed this episode, and I would definitely recommend it! It was a great episode, and definitely highly underrated!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
Kirsten Vangsness	Analyst Penelope Garcia

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Michael Reilly Burke	Agent Grady Beeks	Guest Star
Mare Winningham	Nancy Riverton	Guest Star
Isabella Murad	Ellie Spicer	Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (1)
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- Garcia stated in this episode that she was an only child. However, it was established in "P911" that she has four brothers.
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QUOTES (3)
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- Rossi: Niko Bellic is the name of the main character in "Grand Theft Auto IV." (Reid and Garcia are nonplussed)
  Rossi: What? I know things.
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- Morgan: "All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul." Mahatma Gandhi
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- Morgan: "But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost
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NOTES (2)
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Czech Republic - March 27, 2012 on Prima family
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- The song heard in the opening scene was "MoneyGrabber" by Fitz & The Tantrums. The song playing on the reverend's radio was "Cooler Than Me" by Mike Posner.
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