Best criminal minds episodes

Criminal Minds is not a show for the faint of heart.

This article contains spoilers for Criminal Minds. Criminal Minds had us hooked on the F. The more notable exits included Mandy Patinkin, who left the show in season three due to his emotional distress from the dark subject matter. And this time most of the original castmembers would be returning. Ad — content continues below. Despite being two episodes, the season 1 finale and season 2 opening episode are one narrative arc and a story that had fans on tenterhooks.

Best criminal minds episodes

Like those two venerable institutions, it adheres to a strict formula, as easy for the showrunners to make as it is for audiences to binge-watch. In the average episode, a new threat is established, the BAU banter their way through the case, and catch the baddies in the nick of time. Every element of Criminal Minds is of a piece with other network procedurals. The production has that slick CBS sheen which brings to mind time spent on a couch watching reruns on a Saturday afternoon. Even the soundtrack, consisting of omnipresent ambient cues and the occasional needle drop, is similar to what one would find on NCIS. But the killers in Criminal Minds are rarely satisfied with murder methods as pedestrian as stabbing or strangling. They skin people alive! They feed people to rats! They set a house ablaze and put on a fire suit to watch the family burn to death! They tear a woman apart with rabid dogs! At its weakest, Criminal Minds verged on PG torture porn, relishing the horrible things done to terrified young women and not remotely earning its resolutions. But it was also capable of some great, tense television, as well as the occasional detour into gleeful insanity.

Expand the sub menu Global. This episode in particular is a strong standout from the first season, especially in the editing department. So why does she have someone willing to kill for her?

By Amber Dowling. And they witnessed beloved actors transform into unrecognizable killers in water-cooler-worthy, guest-starring roles. Behind the scenes, there was plenty of drama to keep track of as well thanks to actor exits and returns. The result was a series full of ups and downs, on-screen and off, right up until its February conclusion. To commemorate the series while fans await word on any official movement on the potential revival at Paramount Plus, Variety selected and ranked 21 of the best episodes from the series.

Things you buy through our links may earn Vox Media a commission. One thing was clear when Criminal Minds premiered in The show was horrific. The CBS series was the most psychologically gruesome of its early-to-mid-aughts procedural counterparts, at times even surpassing SVU in the kinds of disturbing crimes it featured. Each week introduced a fresh serial killer and an alarmingly creative new way for humans to hurt each other. The grim nature of the show did not go unnoticed, including by cast members, and the series was characterized by several major actor shake-ups. But the show, defined not by its terrifying look into the criminal psyche but instead by the found-family aspect of the series, managed to endure and gain a devoted following. Throughout the seasons, the agents of the BAU went from being colleagues to dear friends to de facto family members, carving out a closeness in the day-to-day tragedies they endured.

Best criminal minds episodes

TV 42 min Crime, Drama, Mystery. A group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit BAU using behavioral analysis and profiling to help investigate crimes and find the suspect known as the unsub. Cook , Joe Mantegna. Votes: , The unit works against the clock when a little girl disappears in a mall, believing a serial killer has struck a second time and the first girl died within an hour of abduction. Votes: 2, TV 44 min Crime, Drama, Mystery.

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There's no other way around it. Funnily enough, Shemar Moore is officially a father himself as of early Ian Doyle Timothy V. Episode: The Instincts. The depths of her trauma add another layer of horror to this episode and eventually leads to a genuinely sweet coda. A copycat serial killer is recreating murder techniques used by famous killers from the past. Derek is arrested as a serial killer, and the team must delve into his secrets in order to free him. The twist is that Hotch uses the coded message "work on the case" over the phone so that Jack can hide in his office like he used to before the divorce, and ultimately this is why he survives the attack. The former Dawson Leery plays three very different people — a meek boy, his abusive father, and an emotionless archangel — and switches between them with frightening acuity. In an attempt to dismantle the group, the profilers organize an undercover operation for Reid to meet Cat on a date in order to catch her, not knowing that she had an agenda of her own. Liv Facey is a freelance multimedia journalist and producer. Though Hamill's portrayal of the character was restricted to just a handful of episodes, his presence in Criminal Minds is certainly welcomed, even drawing comparisons to Tim Curry's guest performance in "Our Darkest Hour.

Like those two venerable institutions, it adheres to a strict formula, as easy for the showrunners to make as it is for audiences to binge-watch. In the average episode, a new threat is established, the BAU banter their way through the case, and catch the baddies in the nick of time. Every element of Criminal Minds is of a piece with other network procedurals.

The team search for multiple serial killers. Aside from being another fantastic episode centered around Spencer Reid, it's a paramount episode for Spencer's development as a character. The episode is all about Nathan, and the sensitive performance of the late Anton Yelchin , as it raises uncomfortable questions. A social worker, she ran a fake youth hot-line as a means to lure her victims to her home, where the dead bodies of the young teens were found encased behind her basement drywall. Meanwhile, Hotch's absence is noticed by Prentiss. However, when a federal raid happens on the compound they are investigating, both Prentiss and Reid, are taken hostage prompting another investigation on top the current one. In theaters near you. If JJ doesn't make it, Reid will not only lose arguably his best friend, but he and she will not have been able to clear the air about the strain that has existed between the two of them since their previous case. The actual reveal isn't quite as shocking as the episode might think hint: no one casts an Oscar nominee for no reason , but the show often crackled as a sort of political thriller, and the intrigue, coupled with the change of pace, makes this one sing. While the BAU is able to put him away in Season 10, this isn't the last they have to deal with him as he escapes prison in Season 11, and makes the BAU the source of his targets in Season Show all titles. In "Green Light," an increasingly anxious Reid is worried his mother has been abducted and enlists the BAU to investigate, meanwhile the team is still working overtime to clear his name and get him out of prison.