Criminal Minds Seasons 1 and 2- 3 Stars

I was recommended Criminal Minds by a friend and intrigued by the premise I decided that I would watch it. Criminal Minds is a crime show focusing on the psychology of the criminal, using this profile to catch them. It is an episodic series with each episode focusing on each case.

The Main Cast of Seasons 1 and 2

Well this series is far from perfect. Let's start with the basic lack of any kind of character development throughout the first two seasons. So we are introduced to the simplistic, stereotypical characters in the first epsiode and by the end of the second season, after 40 hours or 2400 minutes of watching, the characters have barely changed or developed. Reid (MGG or Mathew Gray Gubler for those of you who are unacquainted with this screenlegend) is still a stereotypical asocial genius, Gideon (Mandy Patinkin aka, the guy who was much better in Homeland) still a weary but wise middle aged man and Garcia (Kirsten Vansgness, an actress so obscure she wasn't even on the opening titles) is still unbearably annoying. Nothing changes. Each episode might contain its own character arc (e.g. the one where Reid fails to pass his weapons test and then shoots the bad guy at the end) but these character arcs rarely impact the rest of the season. This leads to frustration because if the characters aren't really affected by the events of an episode then it makes that episodes happenings feel irrelevant.

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?

There have been occasions where the characters have felt more real and we feel invested in them- most notably in the last episodes of each season. However, these are one offs and don't reflect the seasons as a whole. Now a lot of people tell me that the characters improve as you go through the seasons. In response, I would compare Criminal Minds with House. Both are similar shows- episodic with a different mystery each episode to be solved by a team (obviously House is a medical drama and Criminal Minds is a crime drama but the way both shows are handled plot wise they are very similar). However, House is a superior show because it gives more time to its characters. The first season gives us some time to get to know the characters and then starts some subplots involving these characters. Basically what a TV show needs to have to be successful is good characters and plots revolving around those characters or we might as well just have a different set of characters each episode. I mean seriously if you had a different team for each episode of Criminal Minds seasons 1 and 2 it would not make much difference. In House however, as many of the subplots revolve around these characters and their varying personalities replacing them would render those episodes nonsensical. What Criminal Minds needs is an extra 10 or 20 minutes at the end of each episode so there can be more room for character subplots. I can't emphasise this enough- it is not the repetition of the mysteries that make a series successful but the characters. Criminal Minds, without this, basically becomes a far inferior version of Silence of the Lambs.

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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