It is a real shame that it is botched by very wanting execution. 'Criminal Minds' generally is a favourite of mine, but the general consensus is that it has become hit and miss Season 6 onwards with a mostly underwhelming Season 11, a consensus personally agreed with.
Of the inconsistent Season 10, the only outstanding episodes, though some of the season needs a re-watch, are the poignant "Nelson's Sparrow" and the absolutely terrifying "Mr Scratch", two of the best episodes of the show in years. "Burn" is not quite one of the worst of that season (a very strange-and-in-a-bad-way "If the Shoe Fits" is a contender for that), and there are worse episodes of the show too, especially the worst of Seasons 9 and 11. However it is close and one of the biggest wastes of potential in the latter seasons. It could have been intriguing but was left severely wanting.
Garcia's subplot is the biggest flaw to me. It takes up far too much of the story, and is far too overwrought and melodramatic as well as feeling completely disconnected from the rest of the episode. What saves it from being a disaster are good performances from Nicholas Brendan, as the most sympathetic character in the episode, and Potsch Boyd, especially at the end. Kirsten Vangsness also does her best, but Garcia has had a tendency to be a pale and annoying caricature in the later seasons and it is the case here, and the material is too over the top, Garcia's feelings and obsession with making amends not feeling natural within the story. Other flaws with this subplot are the implausibly fast execution date (may be British but you don't have to be American to know that not only are death row inmates in almost all case are on death row for at least a decade but also cases often take several months/a year or more to go to trial) and Morgan being an out of character jerk towards Garcia (it's not his strong feelings about her decision that is the issue, it was how he worded his reaction and he didn't have to be so cold, it would have been much more justified if it was Reid seeing as it was not Morgan who was affected by Baylor's actions).
The case/mystery itself could have been stronger, though of the two stories it was the far superior of the two. It does have tension and suspense, with shocking murders based on an intriguing modus operandi and a victimology that made one sort of understand why the unsub killed. CS Lee is also both chilling and moving, even with material that didn't give him much to do. The actor playing his father is also spine-tingling and you actually hate him more than the unsub. What wasn't so good was that the murders were so cruel that sympathy towards the unsub does diminish. This was a shame, as his childhood scenes were really harrowing and made it very obvious as to how he came to be that way, there were shades where it was easy to feel sorry for him but not to a fully-realised degree.
Writing is not as tight as it could be, with the best lines of "Burn" quite easily being given to Rossi (particularly the line about the love child which brought a nice if brief humorous edge), and there was often too much of a melodramatic and unnaturally over-the-top tone. Pacing is erratic, the actual case is paced reasonably and doesn't feel rushed or convoluted at all but Garcia's subplot often drags and bogs down the story considerably. The music is sometimes haunting but when it's very dramatic or melancholic it goes overboard and gets overbearing and sentimentalised.
Despite the criticisms, there are things that salvage "Burn". It is very high in the production values, some of the case is intriguing and the performances are very good, with the exception of a dull and out of place Jennifer Love Hewitt, looking too young and somewhat delicate-looking for such a stressful job. The ending is also very poignant, and along with the childhood flashbacks and Rossi's love-child line is the highlight scene.
All in all, had all the makings of an intriguing episode but "Burn" mostly squanders its potential. 4/10 Bethany Cox
Of the inconsistent Season 10, the only outstanding episodes, though some of the season needs a re-watch, are the poignant "Nelson's Sparrow" and the absolutely terrifying "Mr Scratch", two of the best episodes of the show in years. "Burn" is not quite one of the worst of that season (a very strange-and-in-a-bad-way "If the Shoe Fits" is a contender for that), and there are worse episodes of the show too, especially the worst of Seasons 9 and 11. However it is close and one of the biggest wastes of potential in the latter seasons. It could have been intriguing but was left severely wanting.
Garcia's subplot is the biggest flaw to me. It takes up far too much of the story, and is far too overwrought and melodramatic as well as feeling completely disconnected from the rest of the episode. What saves it from being a disaster are good performances from Nicholas Brendan, as the most sympathetic character in the episode, and Potsch Boyd, especially at the end. Kirsten Vangsness also does her best, but Garcia has had a tendency to be a pale and annoying caricature in the later seasons and it is the case here, and the material is too over the top, Garcia's feelings and obsession with making amends not feeling natural within the story. Other flaws with this subplot are the implausibly fast execution date (may be British but you don't have to be American to know that not only are death row inmates in almost all case are on death row for at least a decade but also cases often take several months/a year or more to go to trial) and Morgan being an out of character jerk towards Garcia (it's not his strong feelings about her decision that is the issue, it was how he worded his reaction and he didn't have to be so cold, it would have been much more justified if it was Reid seeing as it was not Morgan who was affected by Baylor's actions).
The case/mystery itself could have been stronger, though of the two stories it was the far superior of the two. It does have tension and suspense, with shocking murders based on an intriguing modus operandi and a victimology that made one sort of understand why the unsub killed. CS Lee is also both chilling and moving, even with material that didn't give him much to do. The actor playing his father is also spine-tingling and you actually hate him more than the unsub. What wasn't so good was that the murders were so cruel that sympathy towards the unsub does diminish. This was a shame, as his childhood scenes were really harrowing and made it very obvious as to how he came to be that way, there were shades where it was easy to feel sorry for him but not to a fully-realised degree.
Writing is not as tight as it could be, with the best lines of "Burn" quite easily being given to Rossi (particularly the line about the love child which brought a nice if brief humorous edge), and there was often too much of a melodramatic and unnaturally over-the-top tone. Pacing is erratic, the actual case is paced reasonably and doesn't feel rushed or convoluted at all but Garcia's subplot often drags and bogs down the story considerably. The music is sometimes haunting but when it's very dramatic or melancholic it goes overboard and gets overbearing and sentimentalised.
Despite the criticisms, there are things that salvage "Burn". It is very high in the production values, some of the case is intriguing and the performances are very good, with the exception of a dull and out of place Jennifer Love Hewitt, looking too young and somewhat delicate-looking for such a stressful job. The ending is also very poignant, and along with the childhood flashbacks and Rossi's love-child line is the highlight scene.
All in all, had all the makings of an intriguing episode but "Burn" mostly squanders its potential. 4/10 Bethany Cox