After seeing five of the first six episodes of season 5 (missed #5.2 thanks to broadcaster's "creative" 2-episodes-in-a-week-instead-of-1 scheduling), it is safe to say that the great season opener was no fluke. Criminal Minds proved to be a late bloomer, but better late than never. The series has had a clear re-design with season 5 - a new episode is now something to look forward to, instead of being unsure whether it will turn out to be a gem like, for example, "The Fisher King: Part 1", "3rd Life", "Lo-Fi", "Omnivore", the criminally under-rated "The Big Wheel", and "Roadkill" - or a turd like "The Popular Kids", "Scared to Death", "Children of the Dark", "Mayhem" and the ironically named "Masterpiece".
So, the foremost change is the shift from stand-alone episodes to a more continual narrative. Hotch probably has one for the whole season with the hell The Reaper is putting him through, but Morgan has been having one also so far. Even better, as Rossi points out, Hotch and Morgan's character arcs seem destined to collide during the season. Other characters seem so far to be placed in a supporting role - an understandable decision: after all, you can't jump from what was practically stand-alone episodes to seven overlapping ongoing character arcs. So, Prentiss remains The Lady Males Imagine Sexed Up (See Paget Brewster's appearances in late night talk shows where she gets to shed the Fed look), Spencer is now The One With Injury, while Rossi remains The Wise Mentor and Garcia, well, Garcia. The one character that exudes network-suit involvement is JJ, who's suddenly been turned into Hot JJ. Not that I am complaining, but I can almost hear a suit demanding, "We need more sex appeal on this show! Why does NCIS have Abby and Ziva, but our JJ is introverted? Send that woman to makeup!" Plus, character-wise, JJ's makeover makes little sense. Isn't she the one with a family? If someone should sex up, it's Prentiss, since she's the single one. As Homer Simpson would no doubt say, "Mmm... Hot Prentiss..." (Watch or re-watch #4.9, "52 Pickup", to see Hot Prentiss, if needed.)
There are other changes. The sickness level has been amped up, plausible reason being the success of the Saw franchise and the fact that the much more successful NCIS has been gorier from the start. It's all done gradually, of course, with the gore in, for example, "Hopeless" being there for just a few frames - not long enough to scare away the viewers not accustomed to sustained gore shots. Elsewhere, in "Reckoner" and this very episode, the gore is mostly implied or the aftermath (severed limbs or eyes) is shown. Nevertheless, the sickness level has risen. The thing is, on episodes like the sickeningly twisted "Cradle to Grave", the disgusting premise works in favor of the episode, whereas in "Reckoner" the plot justifies the gore, but in this episode it feels like it's there just for the shock value.
Finally, and most crucially of all, the level of writing seems finally to have stopped fluctuating, with all five episodes I've seen being at least 7/10 or better. No more 4/10s. Hopefully, this continues. It is also worth pointing out that the BAU no longer *seem* unerring - in the past 70 episodes I *remember* their Unsub profile to have erred *once*. Here, in "Hopless", the group is completely baffled by the Unsubs. It's *good* to see that the BAU are humans, who err.
This episode is no classic, but it's good, *solid*, riveting stuff with no elephant-sized plot holes or delusions of grandeur. There's nothing wrong with this being a 7/10. If this level is maintained, this would actually be the first season I'd like to own as a box set.
So, the foremost change is the shift from stand-alone episodes to a more continual narrative. Hotch probably has one for the whole season with the hell The Reaper is putting him through, but Morgan has been having one also so far. Even better, as Rossi points out, Hotch and Morgan's character arcs seem destined to collide during the season. Other characters seem so far to be placed in a supporting role - an understandable decision: after all, you can't jump from what was practically stand-alone episodes to seven overlapping ongoing character arcs. So, Prentiss remains The Lady Males Imagine Sexed Up (See Paget Brewster's appearances in late night talk shows where she gets to shed the Fed look), Spencer is now The One With Injury, while Rossi remains The Wise Mentor and Garcia, well, Garcia. The one character that exudes network-suit involvement is JJ, who's suddenly been turned into Hot JJ. Not that I am complaining, but I can almost hear a suit demanding, "We need more sex appeal on this show! Why does NCIS have Abby and Ziva, but our JJ is introverted? Send that woman to makeup!" Plus, character-wise, JJ's makeover makes little sense. Isn't she the one with a family? If someone should sex up, it's Prentiss, since she's the single one. As Homer Simpson would no doubt say, "Mmm... Hot Prentiss..." (Watch or re-watch #4.9, "52 Pickup", to see Hot Prentiss, if needed.)
There are other changes. The sickness level has been amped up, plausible reason being the success of the Saw franchise and the fact that the much more successful NCIS has been gorier from the start. It's all done gradually, of course, with the gore in, for example, "Hopeless" being there for just a few frames - not long enough to scare away the viewers not accustomed to sustained gore shots. Elsewhere, in "Reckoner" and this very episode, the gore is mostly implied or the aftermath (severed limbs or eyes) is shown. Nevertheless, the sickness level has risen. The thing is, on episodes like the sickeningly twisted "Cradle to Grave", the disgusting premise works in favor of the episode, whereas in "Reckoner" the plot justifies the gore, but in this episode it feels like it's there just for the shock value.
Finally, and most crucially of all, the level of writing seems finally to have stopped fluctuating, with all five episodes I've seen being at least 7/10 or better. No more 4/10s. Hopefully, this continues. It is also worth pointing out that the BAU no longer *seem* unerring - in the past 70 episodes I *remember* their Unsub profile to have erred *once*. Here, in "Hopless", the group is completely baffled by the Unsubs. It's *good* to see that the BAU are humans, who err.
This episode is no classic, but it's good, *solid*, riveting stuff with no elephant-sized plot holes or delusions of grandeur. There's nothing wrong with this being a 7/10. If this level is maintained, this would actually be the first season I'd like to own as a box set.