Review for Criminal Minds Episode 9×22, “Fatal”
Review for Criminal Minds Episode 9×22, “Fatal”
“Greek is the word…”
First of all, if anyone had told me I’d be able to forget that Brian Baumgartner was Kevin, even just for a few minutes, I’d never have believed it, but forget I did. This character was written and acted with subtlety, even depth, and I was able to completely buy into him being the UnSub. His motivation was interesting, and plausible. A life lost, and bitter towards any whom he felt fared better than himself. Funny how so many of our UnSubs could be normal people who just got kicked in the head by fate one too many times. Anyway, good job, NotKevin!
The writing was impressive all around, and we were treated to a warm familiarity with our team evident in their interactions without being forced or cloying. I’m a fan of the Morgan/Garcia banter, though I know some are not, and it felt natural and… normal. For them. Still, Morgan had an ease with everyone here that I haven’t noticed from him in a long while. His “Reid, tell him what you did for breakfast this morning…” as he stood back with his arms crossed, proud of his friend, was a highlight. We don’t get enough of Reid and Morgan any more, and I liked seeing them finishing each other’s sentences for the benefit of others. Smooth.
Reid was written perfectly here too, exactly how I like seeing him. Not some bumbling child, but a more than capable grown man with irreplaceable and incomparable gifts that he brings to the team at the first sign of need. I’ve never bought Spencer as the comic relief, although he can be funny, but it’s an irritant to me when they try to make him ‘less than’ he is, or sneered at by others on the team. We got to see his contributions full-on this episode (as we have several times this season), and I happily cheered him on.
The side story with Hotch and Jack was just the right amount of sweet and cute, and I thought the kids all did great, very natural acting, and hey! Hasn’t Cade Owens grown up? Jack is so big now and I was glad to see him. The teacher crushing on Hotch was a nice touch, and felt organic. Who wouldn’t crush on Hotch?
They smartly dialed back the JJ this episode, maybe realizing we’ve had just about enough of her outshining the other members of the team this year. She still contributed, but it wasn’t front and center and even I, a confirmed JJ fan, was glad. And Blake… Blake. I really hope Jeanne is staying for ten, because I’m very fond of her calm, matter-of-fact demeanor and her logical approach. Her delivery always comes off as soothing to me and it was no exception here. She’s really integrated well with the rest of the BAU and I think that this late in the game it would be a mistake to let her go.
I felt sorry for Rossi when the woman he’d been talking to became a victim. Rossi is such a good guy and such a dedicated agent. He’s a man of deep feelings and for all his years with the team he hasn’t become jaded. I’m always glad the show never takes him there, because it would be a cliché best avoided in Rossi’s case.
Some small things I noticed and liked were Reid referencing a previous case – good continuity there, and appropriate. I also liked everyone’s positions on the plane on the way back, so familiar. We’ve seen Morgan listening to his music, JJ reading or on her phone, Reid napping (Gube socks!), and Rossi and Hotch in quiet conversation so many times that it just seems right. Like their world is all right, for now.
The boards were immediately crazy for this episode, and it isn’t hard to see why. If I had to come up with one negative thing to say I might be tempted to bring up how there’d be no way in hell NotKevin wouldn’t have known about the van crash, and it was unclear whether Morgan was just bullshitting to disarm him or not, but that is a small thing. I enjoyed this episode far too much to let such a minor thing dampen all the good. Kudos to Larry Teng for proving that he can direct well without blowing something up! And to Bruce Zimmerman, an honest Thank You for an awesome episode that felt spot-on in character and realistically represented. I’m off to watch it again!