Review for Criminal Minds Ep 10×06, “If the Shoe Fits”
Review for Criminal Minds Ep 10×06, “If the Shoe Fits”
“Somebody better get the ‘legal eagle’ a barf bag…”
Highly inventive, if a little far-fetched, Bruce “Big Money” Zimmerman has left his trademark gross-out tendencies behind in this almost whimsical offering. The UnSub with a Cinderella delusion was fun throughout, and the actor cast to play her was thoroughly convincing in both menace, and in her ability to sweetly lure her victims in.
Long-time fans were treated to several touching scenes with this episode, including the return of both JJ’s mom and son, and a welcome harkening back to the Bedtime for Baby Star* story that JJ told Henry from memory over the phone at the end of the season 7 episode “There’s No Place Like Home”. JJ’s unresolved grief from her sister’s suicide was touched on, and the element of tension present with her mother Sandy because of it was a telling moment. It’s likely we’ll see the resolution of this for our Agent Jareau in episode 10×11.
Reid fans were gifted with an abundance of our Gifted One this time around, too. His warm inquiry to JJ if everything was okay led to an explanation of the original purpose of fairy tales, and a bit of advice from our darling doctor to her. I liked the way she seemed amused but took his point to heart, and was encouraged to see another example of her moving past her previous knee-jerk eye-rolling at him. Can we be done with that forever now, writers? Yay!
Callahan is finding her groove within the team, and the writers are right there with her. I like her ‘tough’ style, she has zero sympathy for jerks and crooks and is not shy about showing it. She isn’t past misleading a scumbag witness if it will shed more light on the UnSub, and it’s a dynamic we haven’t seen with any other team member, except maybe Rossi. Hotch got REALLY pissed at Jordan when she did a similar thing, but I think he’s eased up a little as time has gone by. Aaron has shown since early on that he’s capable of bending the rules when it comes to his team (even as far back as when Gideon was temporarily on the run), even though he holds himself to a higher standard.
Garcia was wonderful this episode, tempering her Morgan flirtation to just the perfect level, and even coming up empty on one bit of info, according to Reid. I enjoy it when she doesn’t have the magic cure-all in her computers every time, and the more sparingly she is used, the more I miss her.
Morgan, Hotch, and Rossi were used to great effect throughout (though I can always use more Hotch), on-point and well integrated within the framework of the entire team, and local law enforcement Detective Carpenter was well cast and showed gumption and gravitas, as well as being welcoming to and impressed by our team, an easy way to make points with this fan.
According to the boards, the penultimate scene with Spencer as Prince Charming set many a fangirl heart aflutter. It was deeply reminiscent of how Reid spoke to Samantha, the poor UnSub from The Uncanny Valley, a revered episode that’s high on every fan’s ‘best of’ list. I loved watching him go through that routine of his, and caught JJ’s look of admiration as he was successful in getting Cinderella to her ‘carriage’ without firing a shot, and by using her own murder weapon (a ‘glass slipper’, no less) as a lure. Excellent idea, Hotch!
Many thanks to writer Bruce, director Bethany Rooney, and the editors for not having anyone from the team inexplicably disappear from the second half of the show, and for giving us a uniquely emotional story. With only six episodes in, season 10 is showing us a deep understanding of and appreciation for CM’s core characters, and the continuous fleshing out is a pleasure to watch.
*Fun Fact: The book “Bedtime for Baby Star” isn’t a real book at all, but a prop created for the aforementioned season 7 episode, containing only the one page of text – all the other pages are blank. Dylan Hay-Chapman in the graphics department suggested they use it again this time around, and it ended up being a fan-favorite moment in the episode.