S15.E05: Ghost

[MMLEsq]

Since no topic had been created for last night's episode, I figured I'd create one.

Quote

Following a series of fatal shootings, the BAU team travels to Des Plaines, Ill. to investigate what appears to be a copycat serial killer. Their efforts are thrown off track when members of the BAU are targeted.

Via https://www.spoilertv.com/2020/01/criminal-minds-episode-1505-ghost-press.html

[BlackberryJam]

I was actually laughing at how there was absolutely nothing to say about this episode. Felt like bad filler.

[Chaos Theory]

I am curious what people thought about this episode.   Yes it was almost pure filler but Criminal Minds is a procedural aren’t 2/3rds of the episodes filler episodes?  
 

What I did like was CM continues to bring back old cases.   I would haves liked it if the show has focused more on that.   Timelinewise it’s been 15 years since LDSK and i think only JJ Reid and Garcia were even on the team back then.  Heck even Prentiss and Rossi weren’t on the team yet.  Plus this was back when Reid couldn’t shoot straight.   

i did like that Simmons and Alvez were doing fine rescuing themselves thank you very much.  It was only the last minute that it was great that the Team AKA Rossi came busting through the door.   

Edited January 30, 2020 by Chaos Theory

[Danielg342]

I was away yesterday so I didn't get to see it. Hopefully by this weekend I'll have a review up.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Danielg342

[Tony Dickson]

Thought it was funny that Anthony Denison was a guest star and there was another character named Luca.  Fans of '80s TV might get that reference.

[Annber03]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

What I did like was CM continues to bring back old cases.   I would haves liked it if the show has focused more on that.   Timelinewise it’s been 15 years since LDSK and i think only JJ Reid and Garcia were even on the team back then.  Heck even Prentiss and Rossi weren’t on the team yet.  Plus this was back when Reid couldn’t shoot straight.   

Yeah, knowing that five of the eight people on that team had no involvement in that case really drove home just how much things have changed over 15 years. 

I liked the nod to the original case, too, and I agree that I would've preferred they just stick with a potential copycat. This whole thing with these mobsters who had a vendetta with Matt and Luke seemed to come out of nowhere, and I would imagine mobsters would go a lot bigger if they really wanted to lure out and trap FBI members. Trying o recreate a shooting spree in a small town seems like an odd way to get their attention. 

I too did like seeing Matt and Luke work together, though. And I liked the idea of a criminal being connected to both their prior jobs in and of itself-it does seem natural that their jobs would overlap at some point. 

[bkathi]

I liked this one 😁

[ams1001]

I love OnDemand's short description for this: "The team searches for a serial killer."

Well...yeah?

[secnarf]

3 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I love OnDemand's short description for this: "The team searches for a serial killer."

Well...yeah?

Still more informative than the official description for tonight's episode of The Good Place: "Various conversations occur, between various groups of people."

Which is itself marginally better than last year's season finale description: "Various events occur, in a certain specific order."

[threebluestars]

I was excited about the LDSK start to the story, but it just went off the rails.

[ForeverAlone]

Meh- the writers bring back a great, classic episode, but only to make it a ridiculous revenge fantasy centered on the two most recent characters. Bah. Don't soil the memory of "LDSK" with this crap. 

[Danielg342]

"I thought last week's episode was the most ridiculous thing I ever saw...then I saw this episode."

My brother gave me that line, but I could have written that about just about any episode over the past several years or so after this show went completely off the rails.

I'm not going to get into all the ridiculousness and stupidity of this episode, because I'd be here all day.

No, what I will say is that when the show was making "L.D.S.K." the writers understood they had to keep the stories simple. The writers today don't seem to understand that.

I mean, that's an awful amount of work for a revenge plot, and too many things had to break the criminal's way for the plan to work. Besides, if this was just about revenge, why did the criminal keep Alvez and Simmons alive?

You know, this would have worked so much better if this was an Everett Lynch case, because he'd have a more plausible reason to want to draw out the BAU and play some mind games with them. I could see Lynch being the kind of guy obsessed enough with the BAU to copycat one of their crimes just to throw them off, especially Rossi, who wouldn't realize he'd be a- or even the- target since "L.D.S.K." was not a crime he worked on.

Instead we get...whatever this is. How many more episodes do we have left?

[Annber03]

24 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

You know, this would have worked so much better if this was an Everett Lynch case, because he'd have a more plausible reason to want to draw out the BAU and play some mind games with them. I could see Lynch being the kind of guy obsessed enough with the BAU to copycat one of their crimes just to throw them off, especially Rossi, who wouldn't realize he'd be a- or even the- target since "L.D.S.K." was not a crime he worked on.

Oh, I like this idea. 

[illdoc]

12 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

How many more episodes do we have left?

Not sure..but there seems to be 2 next week.

[Annber03]

There's five more left in the season. Two episodes back to back next week, then one episode the week after that, then the final two episodes will air together on the 19th. 

[Danielg342]

I was only asking rhetorically but thanks for the clarification. 😛

[Annber03]

Ah, okay :p. Eh, well, benefit for those who may not know, then. 

[Danielg342]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

Ah, okay :p. Eh, well, benefit for those who may not know, then. 

I apologize for being snarky...I was just saying my comment was more along the lines of "how much longer do I have to sit through CM's garbage?"

[Sweet Tooth]

18 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I mean, that's an awful amount of work for a revenge plot, and too many things had to break the criminal's way for the plan to work. Besides, if this was just about revenge, why did the criminal keep Alvez and Simmons alive?

The amount of moving pieces was insane. Copycat. Kill a bunch of people. Kill them faster. DON'T kill the two people you're taking revenge on. Keep two trained agents chained together. 

Simmons' character took a hit. I realize that the bad guy was a bad guy, but lying about him, knowing big bad guy would probably kill him, wasn't cool. I understand law enforcement lies to get confessions and stuff, but he didn't bat an eyelash when the dude was killed in front of him.

And to make up for last week's lack of jibber-jabber, this week it was OMG, LOOK AT THE HORRIBLE PICTURES-SAD FACE! Iwilltalkreallyfastandandthenhitthephonebutton thing is going to be there until the bitter end, I see.

Garcia, you are not twelve. And if I had to stare at that face EVERY. SINGLE. TIME someone was presenting a case, with frowny frown and their near-tears delivery, I'd get someone else to freaking do it. Because every time is like the first time for Garcia.

[Danielg342]

22 hours ago, Sweet Tooth said:

Garcia, you are not twelve. And if I had to stare at that face EVERY. SINGLE. TIME someone was presenting a case, with frowny frown and their near-tears delivery, I'd get someone else to freaking do it. Because every time is like the first time for Garcia.

It's so bad, I wonder why Garcia is not in therapy with Reid.

[Sweet Tooth]

3 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

It's so bad, I wonder why Garcia is not in therapy with Reid.

Why someone didn't send her out for therapy or some kind of training to not act SHOCKED and HORRIFIED every time she has to give a briefing, is beyond me. In real life, her boss would tell her to get some therapy and/or find a way to deal with doing her job. 

[secnarf]

Adding to the comments about Garcia's behaviour - I also find it incredibly unrealistic for someone who works in this world. When you work in an environment that requires you to deal with difficult things, you tend to compartmentalize, with a side of gallows humour. You can't go to pieces on a daily basis and expect to be able to function in your job for very long.