Criminal Minds 3x01, Bones 3x01 - reviews
The following reviews contain SPOILERS, so feel warned.
Criminal Minds 3x01 - Doubt
The episode was heavily edited due to the fact that Mandy Patinkin had decided to left the show and they needed to add scenes that would explain his departure as the character. Luckily, the cuts were invisible. I knew of course which scenes had to been added but if I didn’t know about the edit, I wouldn’t notice them at all.
Ever since I’ve begun watching the show, I’ve waited for a particular episode - an episode in which the profilers profile the unsub, catch the person that seems a perfect match, are convinced that they have “their guy” even as the evidences seem to oppose it and in the end find out that they were wrong. Oops!
You see, profiling is a tricky art. Not once and not twice the profilers in real life had been mistaken, it’s enough if I mention the DC Sniper who was (were!) as far from the profile as it gets. I think my need to see such plot comes from the fact that in the very first episode, Derek chats up some girl by saying what a great profiler he is… and uses the DC Sniper as an example. Oh, baby, I wouldn’t brag about that.
This episode should be a dream come true but it wasn’t. Gideon profiles the guy, they catch the suspect, the BAU is convinced that they have their unsub, Gideon confirms… another murder happens, profilers are blamed. AAAAANGST! It’s obvious that they were mistaken… but WAIT! That murder was not committed by the unsub but by the copycat. The copycat (that turns out to be an emo girl that cuts herself… oh gawd) kills the “real” murderer and commits suicide. This way AAAAANGST turns into WAAAAAANGST!
What’s wrong with the episode? They should have left the guy as an innocent victim of Gideon’s mistake and the girl as the actual killer that kills a man that “steals her spot”. That would make this episode really scary and the pain that forces Gideon to quit (commits suicide????) would be far more genuine. Instead we are suppose to believe he quit because a serial killer and a one-time killer died on his watch, yet, in the last episode of the 2nd season a serial killer and his girlfriend kill themselves also “on Gideon’s watch” and I didn’t see him crying over that. The circumstances were different, yes but the impact is lost. The opportunity for some genuine angst have been wasted and instead we got wangst - the profilers are still perfect and didn’t make a mistake, and suspending Aaron was an Evil Act of Evil and Manipulative Lady who is Evil and Manipulative, and had nothing to do with the fact that Aaron and his people screwed up royally.
The title of the episode, “Doubt” strongly suggest that it’s about Gideon’s doubt is he a good profiler. Considering that Gideon’s life is profiling it’s an absolutely terrific idea and so very in-character! Brilliant way to deal with Gideon’s departure. No, in the end it’s about Gideon’s doubt if he made a mistake allowing the unsub and the copycat to meet. That’s, and I apologize for the use of such word, lame.
Now, about Gideon’s suicide - I don’t believe it. I think the producers wants us to believe he killed himself but in fact, he just quit. The “suicide note” is a goodbye letter that explains why he quit the job and the gun we see in the last scene is just a symbol. I believe in Gideon wanting to quit, if we combine the events of “No Way Out (2)” with “Doubt” but in the end they’ve made it almost totally about “Doubt”. Nope, not buying it as completely as I should to feel comfortable with that.
Overall: uneven. Great idea but the execution could be much better and the whole episode seems rushed. 7/10
Bones 3x01 - The Widow’s Son in the Windshield
I think the major drawback of that episode that such a small portion of it concentrated on the investigation and so much on private lives but I understand it; it’s the season premiere, a lot has changed and a lot of things need to fall into place, plus, this is only the first installment in an arc, that’s why I’m not bothered. The premise looks interesting and LOLZ Illuminati! Oh, how I laughed!
I’m glad Zack is back, I panicked when they were searching for a replacement, I thought he would be back from Iraq before the episode started. I’m fresh to the series and I wouldn’t know if Eric quit. Fortunately, Zach is back. Yay. The scene when Bones noticed him and the whole teamed rushed to welcome him back was great and very touching. I must say however, I’m not entirely pleased with the way they treated the replacement :I’m a nobody”. I hope he’ll get a job in the Jeffersonian after all.
Zack’s new look doesn’t suit him but it does makes him look very vulnerable and that’s good. Hopefully, the hair will grow back. Speaking of new looks: WTH Hodgins! I didn’t recognize him the first minute.
Overall: strangely, not as absorbing as I thought it would be, considering the plot, yet still a decent episode. 8/10
Criminal Minds 3x01 - Doubt
The episode was heavily edited due to the fact that Mandy Patinkin had decided to left the show and they needed to add scenes that would explain his departure as the character. Luckily, the cuts were invisible. I knew of course which scenes had to been added but if I didn’t know about the edit, I wouldn’t notice them at all.
Ever since I’ve begun watching the show, I’ve waited for a particular episode - an episode in which the profilers profile the unsub, catch the person that seems a perfect match, are convinced that they have “their guy” even as the evidences seem to oppose it and in the end find out that they were wrong. Oops!
You see, profiling is a tricky art. Not once and not twice the profilers in real life had been mistaken, it’s enough if I mention the DC Sniper who was (were!) as far from the profile as it gets. I think my need to see such plot comes from the fact that in the very first episode, Derek chats up some girl by saying what a great profiler he is… and uses the DC Sniper as an example. Oh, baby, I wouldn’t brag about that.
This episode should be a dream come true but it wasn’t. Gideon profiles the guy, they catch the suspect, the BAU is convinced that they have their unsub, Gideon confirms… another murder happens, profilers are blamed. AAAAANGST! It’s obvious that they were mistaken… but WAIT! That murder was not committed by the unsub but by the copycat. The copycat (that turns out to be an emo girl that cuts herself… oh gawd) kills the “real” murderer and commits suicide. This way AAAAANGST turns into WAAAAAANGST!
What’s wrong with the episode? They should have left the guy as an innocent victim of Gideon’s mistake and the girl as the actual killer that kills a man that “steals her spot”. That would make this episode really scary and the pain that forces Gideon to quit (commits suicide????) would be far more genuine. Instead we are suppose to believe he quit because a serial killer and a one-time killer died on his watch, yet, in the last episode of the 2nd season a serial killer and his girlfriend kill themselves also “on Gideon’s watch” and I didn’t see him crying over that. The circumstances were different, yes but the impact is lost. The opportunity for some genuine angst have been wasted and instead we got wangst - the profilers are still perfect and didn’t make a mistake, and suspending Aaron was an Evil Act of Evil and Manipulative Lady who is Evil and Manipulative, and had nothing to do with the fact that Aaron and his people screwed up royally.
The title of the episode, “Doubt” strongly suggest that it’s about Gideon’s doubt is he a good profiler. Considering that Gideon’s life is profiling it’s an absolutely terrific idea and so very in-character! Brilliant way to deal with Gideon’s departure. No, in the end it’s about Gideon’s doubt if he made a mistake allowing the unsub and the copycat to meet. That’s, and I apologize for the use of such word, lame.
Now, about Gideon’s suicide - I don’t believe it. I think the producers wants us to believe he killed himself but in fact, he just quit. The “suicide note” is a goodbye letter that explains why he quit the job and the gun we see in the last scene is just a symbol. I believe in Gideon wanting to quit, if we combine the events of “No Way Out (2)” with “Doubt” but in the end they’ve made it almost totally about “Doubt”. Nope, not buying it as completely as I should to feel comfortable with that.
Overall: uneven. Great idea but the execution could be much better and the whole episode seems rushed. 7/10
Bones 3x01 - The Widow’s Son in the Windshield
I think the major drawback of that episode that such a small portion of it concentrated on the investigation and so much on private lives but I understand it; it’s the season premiere, a lot has changed and a lot of things need to fall into place, plus, this is only the first installment in an arc, that’s why I’m not bothered. The premise looks interesting and LOLZ Illuminati! Oh, how I laughed!
I’m glad Zack is back, I panicked when they were searching for a replacement, I thought he would be back from Iraq before the episode started. I’m fresh to the series and I wouldn’t know if Eric quit. Fortunately, Zach is back. Yay. The scene when Bones noticed him and the whole teamed rushed to welcome him back was great and very touching. I must say however, I’m not entirely pleased with the way they treated the replacement :I’m a nobody”. I hope he’ll get a job in the Jeffersonian after all.
Zack’s new look doesn’t suit him but it does makes him look very vulnerable and that’s good. Hopefully, the hair will grow back. Speaking of new looks: WTH Hodgins! I didn’t recognize him the first minute.
Overall: strangely, not as absorbing as I thought it would be, considering the plot, yet still a decent episode. 8/10