S13.E15: Annihilator

[hookedontv]

Can the show please go back to where the unsub and crimes were the main plot? I don’t mind knowing a bit about the team’s personal life but not enough to hijack the show. And we’ve already seen this-I don’t need a 2018 version of Strauss vs Hotch. Been there, done that, and hated it then and I hate it now. 

And I used to love this show...

[K42]

I'm glad we have Barnes. I like her annoying addition to the show. The show has been stale this entire season. Maybe with her around, we won't get another lizard snake girl. Ugh. I kinda hope Barnes is an unsub too. But to be fair, I don't think she's working alone. I think whoever that "Director" is, he's working with her from the inside. Should be interesting to watch. As for Spencer, I wish they would touch on his PTSD and his mother. He was in jail for like 15 episodes then all of a sudden, nothing. 

Oh and one more thing, someone needs to get rid of JJ. I hate her character. I think it's the actress I don't like. She was just as annoying on Tru Calling. (A show that lasted for 5 minutes). I want Emily to come back and be Emily. Ever since she took Hotch's place as Unit Chief, it's like she forgot how to be Prentiss. I miss that sexy dorky badass spy we saw in episodes like Lauren, Coda and so on. 

Edited March 11, 2018 by KatsDivision

[Nancy Nolan]

Sorry guys, I am only able to contribute one thing regarding this episode:  it was fucking lame.  I love this show and now I'm pissed.  What happened to it?

[ReidFan]

If they wanna bring John in they will have to recast :( Michael Ironside is busy shooting s movie.  

I adore him and bringing him back woulda been awesome.  He coulda done a great job of tossing Barnes over a cliff or summat.  

[Mislav]

3 hours ago, KatsDivision said:

I'm glad we have Barnes. I like her annoying addition to the show. The show has been stale this entire season. Maybe with her around, we won't get another lizard snake girl. Ugh. I kinda hope Barnes is an unsub too. But to be fair, I don't think she's working alone. I think whoever that "Director" is, he's working with her from the inside. Should be interesting to watch. As for Spencer, I wish they would touch on his PTSD and his mother. He was in jail for like 15 episodes then all of a sudden, nothing. 

Oh and one more thing, someone needs to get rid of JJ. I hate her character. I think it's the actress I don't like. She was just as annoying on Tru Calling. (A show that lasted for 5 minutes). I want Emily to come back and be Emily. Ever since she took Hotch's place as Unit Chief, it's like she forgot how to be Prentiss. I miss that sexy dorky badass spy we saw in episodes like Lauren, Coda and so on. 

Barnes is one of the worst new characters ever, and her supposed authority and the results of her actions make no sense.

[ReidFan]

agree with Garcia on this one.....

[Mislav]

1 hour ago, ReidFan said:

agree with Garcia on this one.....

Ever since about season ten, "Criminal Minds" keeps living up to that old, wise (and nihilistic) proverb: "No matter how bad things are, they can always get much, much worse".

Edited March 11, 2018 by Mislav

[ReidFan]

was thinking (way too hard and way too much) about this.

All that texting Barnes keeps doing. I wonder if she's being blackmailed/otherwise held accountable by someone else who wants to keep their own hands clean. Next week's episode includes a 'senator' (played by Drake Hogestyn) and I've seen two BTS stills of him, and in both he looks really really angry. There's also a 'cyber crimes chief' and a 'director' in the credits...

thinking whatever it is, it's hitting the fan next week.

[normasm]

No, I don't think it's a reach, makes sense to me. I did think she was either consulting with someone every step of the way, or spying on JJ's phone calls, which would be harder to hide.

[ReidFan]

hmmmm she did make jj put her phone in that box when they first met at her office. maybe there's some way she cloned it or sumpthin' .....that would explain why a 'cyber crimes chief' is around next week....

[ReidFan]

and am I the only one who wishes Michael Ironside was available and 'John' the FBI higher up who gave Reid his one year medallion in Elephant's Memory, would come back and Kick Barnes Ass?

[normasm]

No, you are not, I think about "John" all the time with regard to Reid. I said something here about hoping he was the Director in this upcoming ep, but, alas.

Edited March 11, 2018 by normasm

[Danielg342]

11 hours ago, KatsDivision said:

I'm glad we have Barnes. I like her annoying addition to the show.

I'm with you on this one. As much as I see the (many) faults to the storyline, I think Barnes coming in and giving the team a tongue lashing is welcome. The show tends to write the team as operating "in a vacuum" for far too long, and seeing Barnes, who represents the upper echelons of the FBI, come in and give the team the what-for reminds the team that what they do can affect other people and there are consequences.

We've also never seen the team operate after it was dismantled like it was, so that's a new course I'd love to follow. Of course, I would want it to continue for a few episodes and not just one, so I'll reserve judgement on that front.

Bottom line is, for me, Barnes represents the chance to present the BAU with some real adversity and be forced to deal with it for quite some time. I get the mechanics of it are clunky, but the team has just been humming along...we needed something to punch things up.

[mefein]

Dont really have alot to add. Much of my own feelings have been covered by so many of you here. One thing (out of many) that bugs me about this latest 'twist' is Rossi.  Have we not had it hammered into us ever since he arrived how influential he is/was in the whole BAU/FBI.  I mean was he not one of the founding members of the BAU?  Did we not see him using his contacts with the big wigs including the Director on many occasions? I assume there is only one Director, so unless this is a newbie and Rossi is no longer 'in', it strikes me as ridiculous that he would not got inside information on Barnes or pulled his connection with the Director to figure out WTF was going on? 

The other thing thats bugging me is, I just cannot see the point of this storyline, other than its some lame attempt to show how 'tight' the team are, how great they are as a 'family'.  Honestly, if thats it, then yawn yawn and yawn some more.  Add to that we know that the team are not broken up, at least after next episode, and Barnes will not be on screen, so again I ask, whats the point? We have a Simmons episode, a Garcia episode, a clown episode... and don't we have a Rossi ex wife episode ?  So thats 4 out of 6 remaining episodes.  

[Danielg342]

45 minutes ago, mefein said:

Add to that we know that the team are not broken up, at least after next episode, and Barnes will not be on screen, so again I ask, whats the point?

We don't know yet if the team will be put back together after "Last Gasp". There still is, technically, a BAU so the press releases that state "The BAU are called in to..." are not incorrect.

I do have a feeling you are right, which I think would be unfortunate because it will waste a good plot, but I'm not sure it's a given.

[Chaos Theory]

On 3/10/2018 at 12:08 AM, secnarf said:

I gave it some more thought, and the ONLY way I will ever be okay with this storyline is if Barnes ends up actually being an unsub. She'd be the most interesting unsub in years.

You could make a point that SHE is actually the “Annihilator”.  She did one hell of. Job annihilating the team.  

My guess is that they are going to gaslight Barnes.  “Profile” her and then just outright play her. 

Edited March 12, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[normasm]

Chaos, I don't think they'd do that without knowing who she is working with or for. If he or she is truly a tiger-up like the Director (which i doubt), they couldn't succeed and they might as well take their collective ball and go home. But they don't know who else is involved, yet.

[mefein]

23 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

We don't know yet if the team will be put back together after "Last Gasp". There still is, technically, a BAU so the press releases that state "The BAU are called in to..." are not incorrect.

I do have a feeling you are right, which I think would be unfortunate because it will waste a good plot, but I'm not sure it's a given.

I get what you are saying, but I think we if we are being realistic, we know that in all likelyhood "The BAU....are going to be familiar faces.  If nothing else, the BTS pics posted by Karen Maser from her episode which is 20 I think, would seem to confirm that. I guess Wednesday will clear that up...or not.  I just think this 'arc' is just going to be another dead end. 

[K42]

On 3/12/2018 at 2:19 AM, Danielg342 said:

I'm with you on this one. As much as I see the (many) faults to the storyline, I think Barnes coming in and giving the team a tongue lashing is welcome. The show tends to write the team as operating "in a vacuum" for far too long, and seeing Barnes, who represents the upper echelons of the FBI, come in and give the team the what-for reminds the team that what they do can affect other people and there are consequences.

We've also never seen the team operate after it was dismantled like it was, so that's a new course I'd love to follow. Of course, I would want it to continue for a few episodes and not just one, so I'll reserve judgement on that front.

Bottom line is, for me, Barnes represents the chance to present the BAU with some real adversity and be forced to deal with it for quite some time. I get the mechanics of it are clunky, but the team has just been humming along...we needed something to punch things up.

 

That's why I liked Barnes.
I wonder how things are going to turn out.. 

[Mislav]

4 hours ago, KatsDivision said:

That's why I liked Barnes.
I wonder how things are going to turn out.. 

Yeah, only the team seemed to be "humming along" because, ever since season ten or so, they use little to no actual profiling (which is something that takes effort and skills, and it is the premise of the show, as well as interesting to watch), Penelope does most of research/detective work by being able to hack into almost any database (or even just computer [system] itself) within seconds, and there has been no real character development to any of the characters, old or new ones, save for some stuff about Tara's family and that soapy storyline about Rossi discovering he's had a daughter and a gradson the whole time. 

 

 

So including a turd like Barnes won't change anything, the same way almost nobody liked Spencer's prison arc (until maybe the twist at the end of season twelve, which doesn't completely excuse all the shitty episodes building up to it, though I was glad to see Cat Adams back, and it was smart to bring back one of the victims BAU had previously rescued [Lindsey Vaughn) as the unsub). And the same way how they overused Peter Lewis until he was neither realistic or even that scary anymore, and everyone just wanted him to go away. 

 

 

Bringing in a new character thirteen seasons into the show, just for drama's sake, is probably the most desperate thing showrunners can do, save for, God forbid, killing off one of the "original" characters. They already did that with Matt Simmons [I'm referring to including a new character thirteen seasons in, of course], and now they're doing it again. Honestly, it isn't even funny anymore. Disobeying the rules was never the main problem (though Garcia's hacking abilities have become increasingly outrageous-but I somehow doubt they will really address that, of course!), so this changes nothing. And even so, we've already seen things like that addressed and explored before, and addressed and explored better, multiple times (in most of the episodes featuring Strauss).

 

Yeah, I know that TV shows change, and the quality is almost guaranteed to drop after this many seasons, but after bullshitting through over three seasons, maybe it's time for writers and producers to get their shit together, and make the show interesting and exciting again by focusing on the characters that are already a part of it, and on the core premise of the show: profiling.

 

I'm sure there are bunch of real-life cases that could inspire you, writers and showrunners. If that isn't enough, go watch "Wire in the Blood" or something. Or hire Sharon again. Or, if you're feeling adventurous, hire me as a writer. I'd do it for free. Just stop with all... this, please.

Edited March 13, 2018 by Mislav

[Tony Dickson]

We were sad when Strauss died.  We won't be when Barnes goes out the door.  Of the jet.  And through one of the engines.

[ReidFan]

7 minutes ago, Tony Dickson said:

We were sad when Strauss died.  We won't be when Barnes goes out the door.  Of the jet.  And through one of the engines.

OMG I haven't laughed this hard since.........

[CKTV123]

Quote

I gave it some more thought, and the ONLY way I will ever be okay with this storyline is if Barnes ends up actually being an unsub. She'd be the most interesting unsub in years.

I'd settle for her being confronted about her unacceptable behavior (getting a survivor shot - WTFingF!!!!), humiliated and fired from the FBI in front of the BAU.

[Annber03]

Episode review:

https://www.spoilertv.com/2018/03/criminal-minds-annihilator-review.html

[ReidFan]

well I know I'm relatively alone in this, but I *liked* Annihilator. Didn't care much for Breath Play but I'm not a 50 Shades fan

[MMC]

32 minutes ago, ReidFan said:

well I know I'm relatively alone in this, but I *liked* Annihilator. Didn't care much for Breath Play but I'm not a 50 Shades fan

While it wasn't a favorite of mines neither can I say that I outright disliked it. At least in comparison to the way I have felt about some of CM's other episodes. And of course like you I was also a fan of Greenlight. Now I am waiting for Karen Maser to come up with an episode that I'd be able to find at least half way decent. Because so far she has been one big disappointment as far as I am concerned.

[BakerStreet]

I liked it. I have liked most of the episodes this season. I watch because I like those people and their stories, and I'm not any good at hate watching.

[JMO]

I don’t ‘hate watch’, either. I ‘hope watch’.  It springs eternal. 

[Fashionista7]

Imagine if Reid had come with the team and Barnes, what do you think she would have talked to him about?

The last year's events, academia, his long-time career with the BAU; imagine if she had brought up his mother and...

[Annber03]

I wondered about that, too, @Fashionista7 . She definitely would've known just the right buttons to push for him, for sure. I think he could've handled her needling him about his time in prison and such, but man, if she dared to bring up his mom....I think he'd have a few choice words for her on that one. 

[Fashionista7]

4 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I wondered about that, too, @Fashionista7 . She definitely would've known just the right buttons to push for him, for sure. I think he could've handled her needling him about his time in prison and such, but man, if she dared to bring up his mom....I think he'd have a few choice words for her on that one. 

Imagine if she had dared brought up Maeve Donovan--may she rest in peace...

Edited March 17, 2018 by Fashionista7

[1TrackMind]

I mean, Barnes actually pisses me off to the point it hampers my enjoyment of the show. I would have really liked this one, it was a bit of a throwback because we didn't follow the UnSub around but her constantly getting in the way was pissing me off. And yes she was supposed to but it actively brought my enjoyment down. I was not loving to hate the character. I just hated her. The amount of times I said 'Oh f**k off already!!' was pretty high.

Only Barnes I support is Bucky.

[Bookish Jen]

17 hours ago, 1TrackMind said:

I mean, Barnes actually pisses me off to the point it hampers my enjoyment of the show. I would have really liked this one, it was a bit of a throwback because we didn't follow the UnSub around but her constantly getting in the way was pissing me off. And yes she was supposed to but it actively brought my enjoyment down. I was not loving to hate the character. I just hated her. The amount of times I said 'Oh f**k off already!!' was pretty high.

Only Barnes I support is Bucky.

The only Barnes I support is Barnes and Noble.