Criminal Minds revolves around an elite team of FBI profilers who analyze the country’s most twisted criminal minds, anticipating their next moves before they strike again.Viewers who feel they may have been C.S.I.‘d, S.V.U.‘d, or NCIS‘d to death, should really keep an open mind concerning Criminal Minds, because this compelling procedural crime series brings fascinating new facets to this crowded genre. The always galvanizing Mandy Patinkin (Chicago Hope) makes a welcome return to the small screen as Jason Gideon, head of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and sage mentor to his elite team of profilers, including compassionate Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson, of Dharma & Greg), Lola Gladini as sex-crimes expert Elle Greenway (since departed from the series), live-wire hunk Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), and genius-geek Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), who actually looks creepier than many of the perpetrators that the team races against time to apprehend. Before they can do that, they must establish psychological profiles of the criminals and think as they do. Given they have handles such as the “Seattle Strangler” and the “Keystone Killer,” this can be psychologically taxing (in one episode, Spencer confides to Derek that the job is giving him nightmares). While cliffhangers frame this inaugural season, each episode (except the season finale) wraps up its cases in the allotted hour.
In addition to serial killers, the series unleashes a gallery of twisted and depraved specimens. “Trust me,” Derek comments early on, “we cover the whole spectrum of psychos.” This includes arsonists, rapists, child abductors, and even a cannibalistic killer. Anchoring the proceedings is Patinkin, who exudes authoritative gravitas, and who is always good for scenery feasting. He really comes to life when killers have Gideon at gunpoint and he taunts them into losing their already unsteady grip. Most episodes feature the voiceover of a team member reciting a pertinent quote from such varied sources as W.H. Auden (“Evil is always human”) to actor Peter Ustinov, a literary conceit that could stand to be retired. Stylistic flourishes in the editing and camerawork are likewise more of a distraction when the cases themselves are so gripping, given that the victims are primarily women and children. “There’s nothing I would rather do than put the bastards away,” Greenway states at one point. And there’s nothing we’d rather do than watch them do it, which has made Criminal Minds, initially Lost opposite that ratings juggernaut, one of television’s solid hits. –Donald Liebenson
Buy “Criminal Minds – The First Season” For Only $19.73
January 23, 2006
#1
I ORDERED THE DVD CRIMINAL MINDS,,, IT SKIPS DURING SOME PARTS OF THE SHOWS, I AM PLANNING ON RETURNING IT, ASKING FOR A REFUND OR A NEW ONE
January 23, 2006
#2
Well, I feel so dissapointed because I purchased this item from Amazon and as you can see, they say it comes dubbed in Spanish and French. That is NOT true. It only comes in English 5.1, 2.0 and thats it. So don’t waste your money. Of course this only apply for us who made International purchasing trough Amazon.
January 23, 2006
#3
I really do love this show but honestly all they focus on is the three main men. Come on they are all main characters in the show all of the actors and actresses should get the same airtime. It just really pisses me off when I only see Reid, Hotchner and Gideon only. The other cast members are cast members who need more screen time.
January 23, 2006
#4
I ordered this product new as a gift for my boyfriend for Christmas. I received the item before Christmas and was very happy with how fast it arrived. Although, the DVD case was damaged in several places. I attempted to contact the seller about the damage and did not even get a response from them. I love Criminal Minds and would recommend it to everyone, but would definitely not recommend this seller. You will not be happy with them if you choose to buy from them. I learned my lesson the hard way.
January 23, 2006
#5
This is network TV, closer to “Mission Impossible” and “Charlie’s Angels” than, say, “Hill Street Blues”, or more to the point, “The Shield” or “The Sopranos”. Why? It adopts the traditional format of one mystery to solve per episode; subtracting precious minutes for commercials, that leaves 40-45 minutes to open with a killing, move on to the investigation and resolution, and squeeze in a little epilogue. The characters have little space to breathe, and virtually none to evolve from one episode to the next. That’s not to say the actors are bad, far from it. The team’s moral leader, professorial/fatherly Jason Gideon projects humanity, concern and commitment. The others make credible personas out of only the flimsiest material: Hotch (my favorite) is so repressed it’s almost painful to watch, and Elle is both fun to watch and a believable being.
But there are serious structural problems. One is that “Dr.” Reid, the resident genius, is kind of a fifth wheel since basically everyone on the team seems to know everything. Weakness two is the “tossing the ball around” scenes (that’s what they’re called in the audio commentaries), where plot exposition is dealt out in equal shares to the whole team — Gideon will ask, as if leading a graduate seminar, “So what do we know about (icepick murderers)?”, and team member A will pipe up, “Well, there are four main types, the first is the (repressed avenger), who …”; member B continues, “The second type is the …”, etc. These people spend an inordinate amount of time telling each other things they seem to already know. Press conferences work the same way — Hotch (standing stiffly before the flipchart): “Our killer is a white male with a broken arm”; Derek (one buttock on a cop’s desk): “He collects bottle caps or lives with his mother”; Elle (near the window): “He probably flunked out of 8th grade, maybe 9th” … but never interrupting each other, never stepping on anyone’s toes, just fluidly segueing from one voice to the next like interchangeable extensions of a hive mind. In some episodes, everything clicks, or the writers made an extra effort to complexify the basic premise, and you buy it: “Won’t get fooled again”, “Poison” and “Ride the lightning” are episodes that really worked for me. Others are unconvincing, going-through-the-motions deals where you mostly feel guilty for watching such sordid stuff in the name of entertainment. “The Fisher King, Part 1″ comes to mind. Note the part 1, and the fact that it closes the season (’nuff said).
Series signatures are: 1- They call suspects “Un-subs” (it sounds cool, and they say it’s authentic); 2- While the team flies to and from the crime scene in their private jet, voice-overs deliver quotes (“G.K. Chesterton wrote …”) which are supposed to have relevance to the episode in hand (kind of a “thought for the day”); 3- As a team member builds up the profile for his listener (say in a press conference), the background will occasionally melt into a special effect reconstruction of the hypothetical killer in his environment, and the speaker will enter this imaginary space to conjure it up more fully (interesting; a bit gimmicky, though – I’m not sure it really adds anything useful).