Criminal Minds (TV Series) The Wheels on the Bus... (2012) User Reviews

Fresh and Feet-Tapping Episode

[skywritinghotchner · 8/10 · 12 May 2015]

The Writers of The Wheels on The Bus are brilliant!

This Review is to counter the previous Review that wasn't being thought-through. First and foremost, the expensive tools like Shock Collars: It is easy for teenagers these days to purchase those. Three words: Credit Card Fraud!

When they are that tech-savvy (EXACTLY as what the previous Reviewer pointed out: "spending their whole waking hours in front of computers"), it is only another game challenge for them to purchase the tools illegally, online.

So, second, as these tech-savvy teens' crime is crafted from their sociopath-borderline sick minds, it is only logical to have the BAU on the case.

Lastly, I would like to encourage every one of you to just sit and watch and wait for the final closing scenes where two of our most favorite characters (YOU GUESS!) will be having this conversation:

"I don't drink Scotch."

"You'll learn."

That's right. We learn.

Great episode

[LoveIsAStateOfMind · 8/10 · 29 December 2015]

This episode was amazing! I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. Definitely the best episode we've had in awhile, and it was especially surprising because the focus of the episode was on the hostages and the hostage takers, more than on the BAU team. They absolutely nailed the casting with the kids by making you actually care whether they live or die. That Billy kid was cute.

Two gamers kidnap a school bus and reconstruct their favourite killing game by making their hostages complete missions and kill each other? Brilliant! And at the end where the Billy kid just looks at the girl in disbelief that she actually killed their friend. I kind of thought that at the end there where they were being reunited with their parents, dead kid's parents should have been there going "where's my child?" The ending with Garcia/Rossi – LOL, how many phones does Garcia have?!

wtf

[mounabenjazia97 · 6/10 · 13 April 2020]

These kids were the worst. can they be any less horrible at acting. this is one of the most underwhelming episodes i'v ever watched

i don't get the bad ratings?!

[pointnertheresa · 9/10 · 22 February 2024]

I don't understand the bad ratings here? This episode had me glued to the tv from beginning to end. While the whole video game re-enactment concept wasn't the most creative or groundbreaking idea ever, i still found it entertaining all the way to the end - and it's the only season 8 episode that made me feel this way so far. I'm not gonna lie, this season has been disappointing up to this point and i've been kinda bored watching most episodes, so this was probably just a nice unexpected surprise after all the mediocre episodes. I wouldn't necessarily rate it 10/10 and under normal circumstances probably not even a 9/10, but compared to the 7 episodes before this one, and because it's the first one i actually enjoyed since emily left, i have to give it some praise. (and i want to get the rating for this episode up lol)

Worst Criminal Minds episode!

[pizzako · 3/10 · 26 November 2012]

I've always been a fan of this show;heck it's probably one of my favourite shows,but this episode was used to get a younger audience enticed.Sure,this episode was "cool",but they had no real profiling and it was illogical.In almost every episode they talk about a wide variety of criminology; victimization, neurological,physiological,psychological, and even brain chemistry.This "cool" episode had none of that!Also,there were many flaws with the script. How did they afford the electric collars and all the other stuff if they spent 22 hours a day playing video games? How did they find that building? Why did nobody get suspicious when they were buying all of that weird pricey stuff? Also the episodes also stated things like "playing Violent video games will make you violent",and "If you parents are divorced you will be a killer"!

Please don't ever make an episode like that again!

Loved the BAU interaction, really disliked the case

[TheLittleSongbird · 4/10 · 27 November 2016]

The premise for "The Wheels on the Bus" seemed intriguing and had the makings of a good episode if executed well. Unfortunately, it wasn't executed well and the episode ended up being one of the worst episodes of Season 8 along with "Magnificent Light" (the weakest), "Through the Looking Glass" and "The Replicator".

As always the production values are excellent, gritty, classy and stylish with an effective sense of claustrophobia and dread. The music conveys the right amount of moody atmosphere. The acting from the leads is very good, especially Joe Mantegna who bags all the best lines.

"The Wheels on the Bus" works best in the scenes with the BAU, and there are some lovely moments with them that one wishes there was more. The only let-downs being the underuse of Reid and the rather cold personality of Blake. Nicholas Brendan however makes a welcome return, and his chemistry with Garcia brings some heart though occasionally feeling forced and unnecessary. Also loved the exchange when it is realised that the unsubs are replicating a video game (though it did happen out of the blue and was for a while just a theory with no tangible proof) and the very sweet conversation between Rossi and Garcia about Scotch.

On the other hand, the case didn't do much for me. It could have been really creepy and suspenseful, but ended up being rather goofy and illogical with some of the actions of the hostages often being called into question even for the concept. This was not helped by the stupid decision-making and indifferent attitudes of some of the hostages, only from a couple was there a sense of terror and desperation for survival, or the rather half-hearted game set-up. Didn't find the unsubs particularly interesting or menacing and equally didn't buy their reason for the crimes (going against proved evidence), in fact they were pretty hammy with some cringe-worthy dialogue and the acting from both was nothing to write home about.

Storytelling is a bit slow and the transitions from the scenes with the team to the scenes with the unsubs very disjointed. Too much of the script, apart from some nice moments, is too much of a second draft, while there is too much unsub-and-scenes-with-victims heavy (another major problem with why the story didn't work) and with not enough of the BAU and the profiling, some of the case being solved through conclusion jumping.

All in all, nice BAU interaction but the case didn't do anything for me. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The Infamous Gamer episode

[MaximumDong · 4/10 · 3 August 2020]

I'll be honest, I only know this show because my girlfriend binged it, leaving me to be an unintended viewer. But boy do I now know 15 seasons of a show because she binged it.

But this episode? Insanely hilarious. Every part of the unsubs' actions and dialogue are just so distanced from real life. I would sooner believe a man that breaks peoples arms to control them like puppets due to childhood trauma than this. I'm not sure how much research goes into what an unsub's action would be if they played games, let alone much research into video games at all.

Lmao I can't picture a divorce and getting banned from a server of a game you played nonstop would be a slippery slope to plan a mass kidnapping and make video game out of real life, like there are other games you can play guys, one of them is called CHESS. (Side Note: 'Gods of Combat'? Really??)

You get a feel for what this show twists and turns and that sometimes it's obscure but it the characters interactions with each other can cover that up or make it work. But they spent the first half of the episode not explaining a thing and trying to look into the adults on the bus, the kids are being used for the game without an explaination, only in the last act it's revealed like BAM! THEY'RE VIDEO GAMERS BAYBEEEEE.

The writers, in 2012, said "yeah this one time on the news, video games were trying to be linked to violence, must be true; but also throw in some lines about them staying together when their parents were splitting up." The two unsubs pitting kids against each other as if they are competing, getting that trademark gamer rage. Which leads up to an absolute BANGER of a line after the one finds out the other was shot and killed and mumbles to himself "I guess I won...." LIKE DUDE WHAT.

This is a very unique episode in that unique means not very good, this gets 4 stars because cringe and because Ned Bigby's actor being a character in this and I just keep imagining him looking at the camera and saying: TIP #47 DON'T INTERACT WITH GAMERS. THEY'RE TOTALLY GROSS.

Bad Episode with Unexplained Parts

[faithtonette · 1/10 · 17 July 2016]

Too many portions of this episode are really puzzling. The boys were too obsessed with their game. They came from a family that is not well off. In fact, their parents divorced because they were each having two jobs just to make ends meet. I don't buy what the other reviewer assumed that the boys were tech savvy and probably committed credit card fraud. As I said, they are too obsessed with their game. When did they find the time to perfect that crime? Even the FBI did not mention that in the story. Furthermore, I agree, wouldn't they have been required to show IDs at least when buying those sophisticated collars, the guns, etc? Notwitstanding the money issue. Besides, when did they find the time and the savvy to research all the 10 kids?

This is the most awful episode I've seen. I actually skipped minutes because it was too awful to watch and makes me think the writers were thinking the viewers are too stupid to think while watching the episode. I just went back to find that portion about the parents and the divorce because I could not believe the fact of the money to buy everything and acquire the warehouse was never explained, much less the sophisticated technology they were using and had installed in the warehouse.

do not watch this episode

[rodipuu · 1/10 · 8 September 2018]

Damn bro,, this is the cringiest episode of cm ive seen, do not watch this episode if you want to preserve your idea of the show, i dont know, it just seems they let a teenage white kid write the script ( "i guess i won") man, smh, embarrassing representation of what the show in totality is and embarrassing to what real gamers alike.

Worst. Episode. Ever

[drewbacca777 · 1/10 · 6 June 2021]

I had to take this with a grain of salt. I watched it 9 years after it aired. But, it was clearly written by someone that has no idea what a computer is, let alone how online games work. The dialogue about the gamers came straight out of Tipper Gore's playbook. The "techy" dialogue from Garcia and her ex, was so lame. Just throwing out a bunch of technical jargon that made no sense in hopes that the regular person wouldn't understand it. Garcia's lines about her computer work usually isn't like this.

The line by the surviving unsub at the end, "I guess I won.", gave me the biggest headache from my extreme eye roll.

So bad!

[sofia5553 · 1/10 · 8 February 2020]

Not worth to describe how bad this episode was. And what does this have to do with serial killers? Ffs! Why is this team investigating something like this??!! The whole thing makes no sense and it's incredibly badly written

this is only the beginning of the worst

[mimikylie · 1/10 · 15 August 2020]

I love criminal minds with all my heart and after binging this show up to this episode, i was ashamed. this episode made no sense and was so stupid. there was no real basis for anything and it was illogical. also, why can't the camera ever just sit still? every episode before this, the camera could just sit in a position for at least for an entire clip but this episode and every episode after this, it's always moving around or panning in and out like it's so weird. the writing was awful and it only gets worse along with the acting. it's like the budget was cut so all the good writers directors, and producers left. they were so bad i had to skip through a lot of this season and i couldn't even make it to season 9 and i had to come back and skip through the rest. the whole reason i came on here in the first place was because i was genuinely curious if the writers or something changed. don't waste your time watching this or the rest of the show.

Imagine a low budget horror film but with CM cast

[kmfillingsne · 4/10 · 10 August 2021]

I won't trash it as much as others as the premise was intriguing enough to get me to the end. I do agree that the actual profiling was lacking and they were banking on the audience being sold based on the "video game" premise. Dialogue was cringe-worthy at points and it was definitely off-base for the series.

Oh dear..

[whoman2 · 4/10 · 17 June 2021]

I'm watching these in order for the first time so I've seen almost 200 episodes so far. This is by far the worst. It starts out good but when they introduce the gaming aspect, it gets really silly. Who would really believe that these guys would go THAT far? The kidnapped kids weren't much smarter.

Wow, stupid.

[joshsegismundo · 1/10 · 3 October 2018]

Umm, stupid, cringey episode. Why not shoot the collar off? Duh doy

Good gods, y'all

[lirmihn · 2/10 · 18 April 2022]

What happened here?!

I've got it: the writers were held at gun point & forced to wear shock collars by psychopathic producers who partied too much & wanted an Evil Gamers episode.

Result: contrived & substandard story resolved only by Penelope giving up all her mobile tech & learning to drink good scotch, which I'm quite sure the whole team needed after they finished.

Two stars for good actors sucking it up & doing their jobs as best they could.

Criminal Minds loses their own

[randishme · 2/10 · 22 December 2021]

Shows that last as long as this one are bound to have some bad episodes and possibly bad seasons. They lost their way during season 7 and then fizzled in season 8. Something bad happened in popular culture in 2012 generally speaking. It hasn't improved since. This is why I looked for an old TV show to watch but the closer it gets to today, the worse movies and TV have become. What's really surprising is that Joe Mantegna spoke the words in the script. I thought he had more integrity than that.