The Main Cast of Seasons 1 and 2 |
The other problem with characters is the stereotypical characterisation. Every single one of the characters in seasons one and two, bar Hotch, Elle, and JJ, are stereotypes. Morgan is the stereotypical black cop, Garcia the stereotypical computer whizz, Reid the stereotypical asocial genius...do I really need to go on? I'll set it out in a list to make it clear:
Gideon: middle aged man, obligatory murky past, misses his wife and kids (who we never see and are only mentioned every fifth episode), some stupid reason he quit the FBI in the first episode which isn't really followed up convincingly- conclusion: basic characterisation, middle aged man stereotype, fail
Hotch: authoritative but cares for his wife and kid, careerist but still works well in a team, best character in the series- conclusion: good realistic character, pass
Elle: action woman-ish, outwardly confident but inwardly more nervous about her position as a woman in the FBI, completely stupid (she reads a secret FBI file on a public train in full view, I mean seriously)- conclusion: realistic, well done character, pass
Morgan: womanising, shouty, confident and rather incompetent black stereotype. To be fair to the writers be does move away from this stereotype a little but that is with no explanation or development it just happens to stop him being stereotypical- conclusion: gets better but still stereotypical, fail
Reid: boy genius but socially awkward, knows everything but is about as physically capable as someone in a coma, yes he is completely stereotypical. Tried to be made slightly more complex with the introduction of his mother but didn't really make up for the fact that his entire character is one overused stereotype- conclusion: no, just no, fail (that said MGG plays him fairly well and is basically the reason this show has such a larger following of teenage girls)
JJ: okay does she actually have a character? I mean she's hot and everything but what is her character? So Gideon is wise, Morgan confident and Reid super intelligent but what is JJ's character? Organised I guess...when the only description of a character you can come up with is organised then you know that character is basic. I also question what her purpose is in the team. So she holds press meetings but then is sometimes sent to crime scenes to investigate stuff and helps them solve cases despite showing no talent for profiling in most episodes- conclusion: she just doesn't have a character, fail
Garcia: annoying, stereotypical computer geek who makes not very funny wise cracks, I dislike this character so much I can't even bring up the energy to write more about her- conclusion: fail
Emily: haven't really seen enough of her to judge so she escapes the axe for now
A J Cook as JJ, does she actually have a character? |
MGG as Spencer Reid- |
Is there anything I do like about Criminal Minds? Yes there is actually quite a bit. I really enjoy the cases each episodes and although some episodes are naturally better than other most are exciting and tense if occasionally predictable. On a purely episode basis each character gets a good spread amount of episodes- i.e. episodes focused on that character (for example the season 2 finale when Gideon's girlfriend is murdered, oops spoilers sorry). The acting is also good especially as they have to put up with such blank characters, although perhaps that actually makes it easier. The writing is also fairly good on a line to line basis with relatively little cringe inducing dialouge which could easily be inserted. The series also tries to tackle some issues of why criminals commit crimes and the nature police work, although these are fairly low key and not in most episodes.
As I have said I think this is a series with potential and maybe it will get better (as promised). I do feel however, that by the end of season 2 there should have been more character development. This could be a series worth watching if you are into crime dramas or are into psychology.
Ratings: Entertainment: 8 Technical: 3 Intelligence: 3= 14/20 ***
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