S14.E01: 300

[Aethera]

Quote

When Reid and Garcia are abducted by Benjamin Merva, it's up to the rest of the team to find them. The BAU finds surprising clues in their own history to solve why the two heroes have been targeted by a mass murderer. It's a race to save them before a "Believers" prophecy is fulfilled.

[Danielg342]

That was awkward.

If having a very bland, generic murderous cult was bad enough, and basing a story around them targeting the BAU's "damsels in distress" is worse, shoehorning one of the best episodes in CM history, "Minimal Loss" to give the cult relevancy is the absolute worst.

Blech.

Just for the record, neither character- Karen David's Mary Meadows and Michael Hogan's Benjamin Minerva- were actually in "Minimal Loss", at least not in credited roles. It's possible they were extras, but I'm banking that the scenes were re-shot- it's doubtful the actors both looked at Reid and Prentiss with purpose in the previous episode, not knowing if they'd be used again.

I'll admit, the team rattling off all those theories concerning "300" was kind of cool, and I at least appreciate that "300" was more than just a reference to the episode count.

Plus, JJ crying over Reid was a real joy to watch, because JJ made it so real.

Oh, and Reid doing what he could to outsmart his captors and actually have some agency was great too. Reid could be a special character if given a real chance.

Still, it's not enough to pull this from the bottom of the barrel- everything else fell very, very flat. 

[Annber03]

3 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

Just for the record, neither character- Karen David's Mary Meadows and Michael Hogan's Benjamin Minerva- were actually in "Minimal Loss", at least not in credited roles. 

I'd wondered about that! It probably would've been more impactful if they'd found a couple actual extras from that episode and brought them back. 

I liked the episode. I agree that some aspects of the connection between this cult and the Cyrus case felt a little awkward and kinda flimsy, but I do like the idea of something from the past coming back to haunt the team like that. Somebody in another discussion made a good point, though-I do wish they'd found a way to have Emily more of an active target by the cult as well. Maybe Meadows could've sent a message taunted her while holding Reid captive, or she could've been plotting some kind of revenge against Emily as well. Or maybe Emily could've tried to talk down Merva and Meadows, or something of that sort. 'Cause the Cyrus case had quite an impact on her as well, so it seems weird her role in that whole thing was kinda brushed aside. 

I also agree that it was good to see Reid doing what he does best. I loved the sign language stuff, and I love that Luke was the one to notice it-nice way to bring back his experience with sign language. It's neat to see that Luke and Reid have that in common. 

I also loved the flashbacks-the clips of when we first met these team members was cute, and I will always welcome a flashback to that adorable moment from the end of "Memoriam" :D. I was also pleasantly surprised that we finally learned the details of the Redskins date! That was fun. 

Yeah. Overall, I thought it was an exciting start to the season. 

[Danielg342]

18 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I do wish they'd found a way to have Emily more of an active target by the cult as well.

It could have been an interesting twist if Emily was the intended 300th victim, and Reid was just a ruse to get Emily there. Cyrus did rough her up in the original episode.

[Mysteyman]

I enjoyed the episode very much.

I got quite emotional.

I was afraid that they were going to make the cult 

The New Foyett.

 A season long nemesis.

Glad that they didn’t go there.

[K42]

Slay Luke Perry for being so iconic even after he was a cult leader. 

On a more serious note, does Erica Messy hate Spencer? I know he's just a tv character but god, I feel awful for him. If you think about it, it's actually a miracle he hasn't committed suicide yet. Also, did anyone get the impression that they were trying to make JJ/Reid happen? If it does, I'm quitting the show. I could handle Elle leaving, Gideon leaving and Hotch leaving (just barely), but I will NOT tolerate the bland JJ being with Reid. Aj Cook and her equally snoozefest character need to get lost. He deserves to be with someone on his level. 

Did anyone notice how they cut out Hotch's scene when Emily was introducing herself? Could there have been more of a F U to Thomas Gibson? What an insult. He held the show for YEARS. That was just disrespectful. 

Edited October 8, 2018 by K42

[K42]

They better not make JJ and Spencer happen. Also, who told AJ Cook that she looks good gaunt? She's turning into a skeleton and those supposed prominent cheekbones are NOT a good look unlike Paget. Super healthy or not, AJ looks gross. She doesn't even look healthy, she looks sick. 

As for Reid, did anyone else get emotionally exhausted after the episode? How is Spencer even functioning after all he's been through? Nobody is THAT strong. He needs to have a break down or develop anger problems or psychopathic tendencies. ANYTHING! Because the way they're going about it now is just unrealistic. Erica Messy has turned Reid into a punching bag. She needs to stop traumatizing him episode after episode and focus on his emotions, mental state and the trauma she built up inside of him.

Also, I want Luke Perry to be a regular. *heart breaks*

Edited October 4, 2018 by The Raw Category

[Chaos Theory]

I think they did a reasonable job with the JJ/Reid stuff because the show never really explained why that first season date never went anywhere.  One day Spencer was awkwardly asking JJ to a football game and then....nothing,  it took years but JJ finally explains to Emily what happened.     

I am not sure the cult would make a good year long Unsub but they did make a intriguing clip show.

the only problem I have is that this is the second time that someone who works in the FBI is the worlds greatest Unsub and we haven’t seen them before.  It would be interesting to have a year long Unsub just once be a recurring character.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Chaos Theory

[TigerLynx]

MGG looked really really tall in this episode even more so than usual.  Also, Reid is so very pretty.

How many times has Reid been held hostage?

I loved Reid having precise instructions for Garcia on how to get out of there, and I was cheering when Garcia ran Meadows over.

I don't want another season long unsub who targets the BAU.  That was played out the first time they did it.

Edited October 5, 2018 by TigerLynx

[Danielg342]

2 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

It would be interesting to have a year long Unsub just once be a recurring character.

They kind of did that when an incidental character from "Profiler, Profiled" became the UnSub in "Restoration", but I would agree that this should be done more often. How many victims experience trauma just as bad if not worse than what many UnSubs go through? You'd have thought by now some of the rescued victims would be so consumed by their experience that they would snap.

[K42]

I feel like they've exhausted every kind of unsub at this point. I think what's left is to focus more on the characters and their personal lives. 

[Kelda Feegle]

I found the music to be overly distracting,  like being beaten over the head with significance.  I don't remember this being an issue before. 

[Chaos Theory]

1 minute ago, Kelda Feegle said:

I found the music to be overly distracting,  like being beaten over the head with significance.  I don't remember this being an issue before. 

Well it is 300 episodes that is pretty significant.  Honestly I didn’t even notice their was music at all but then I was enjoying the clips plus the history of it all.  I don’t usually watch this show live it conflicts with American Horror Story which I like much much much much better but I thought I give the premier a watch and I found this my favorite episode in a long time.  

[mefein]

Only managed glances so far. Daniel and I have in the past shared quite similar views so the F does not bode well.....My Reid adoring sis was happy though. She'd be happy just to have him on screen for 42 minutes saying nothing! 

[illdoc]

At least they (briefly) mentioned Hotch, Morgan (when mentioning the "setting up the Redskins date") and Gideon ("he wasn't with the team then").

[Colorado David]

Yeah, not an F, more a C in my opinion. They tried desperately hard to make this cult something weightier than it was onscreen.  I mean the tent camp at the end - one if they are making a camp, they'd need a LOT more security than they appeared to have, and two - for as scheming as they were being portrayed, you'd think they'd have at least 3 permanent hideouts setup in case 1 gets compromised. 

I still don't get the relevance of the hyoid bones. Anybody? If the message is to keep people silent, cutting out a tongue is way easier and more brutal (and intimidating.)

Agree on the Reid comments earlier - with all that's happened to him, amazing he's not a raving lunatic at this point. Or maybe that'll be the very last episode, where we learn he's been an evil inside man all this time.(?)

[Cyranetta]

Quote

I still don't get the relevance of the hyoid bones. Anybody? If the message is to keep people silent, cutting out a tongue is way easier and more brutal (and intimidating.)

I don't either, but I do think that hyoid bones make better commemorative jewelry than tongues, since I think they said something about the members of the cult being given them as a reward(?).

[Danielg342]

3 hours ago, Colorado David said:

for as scheming as they were being portrayed, you'd think they'd have at least 3 permanent hideouts setup in case 1 gets compromised.

Prentiss mentioned that there were two possible locations that the cult could have driven to- Caanan or Arcadia- and she concluded they were headed to Caanan because it was close to where Cyrus was incarcerated. I thought then, "watch them go to Arcadia to throw them off", and I'm thinking now that the FBI could have easily sent two teams to both locations, the team didn't need to put all their resources in one town.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

Ignoring the obvious manufactured backstory of the revenge-disguised-as-worship plot to bring back a group of unsubs from a previous episode to celebrate the 300th, this episode (& s13 finale) was pretty solid.  The [non-Cyrus & his cult] flashbacks were appreciated.

Just goes to prove my point that the strongest episodes of CM are the one's that are built around a Reid-heavy focus.  Coincidence?  Unlikely.

I'm taking JJ's telling Prentiss of the "Redskins 'date'", as the writers & PTB telling us viewers that JJ didn't see Reid that way, even back then.   [doesn't change the fact that I'll still read the sh*t out of Reid/JJ fanfics, though]

Edited October 7, 2018 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Rambler]

20 hours ago, K42 said:

Also, who told AJ Cook that she looks good gaunt? She's turning into a skeleton and those supposed prominent cheekbones are NOT a good look unlike Paget. Super healthy or not, AJ looks gross. She doesn't even look healthy, she looks sick.

Well let’s just say that speaking as someone of the male persuasion who possesses two functioning eyes that we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

Also thank goodness for that random cult guard wandering around. I thought all the FBI agents were gonna stand around and watch poor Reid be gutted like a fish before he showed up.

[K42]

4 hours ago, Rambler said:

Well let’s just say that speaking as someone of the male persuasion who possesses two functioning eyes that we are just going to have to agree to disagree on this one.

Also thank goodness for that random cult guard wandering around. I thought all the FBI agents were gonna stand around and watch poor Reid be gutted like a fish before he showed up.

Oh well, to each his own. I'm all for being fit and healthy but her face looks really harsh. She looks borderline sick to me this season and mid of season 13. She looked better in season 10, 11, 12. 

As for Reid, I really wish they would stop traumatizing him and focus more on making him go through a break down or something. He's been bottling up so much his trauma yet somehow he continues to function normally. The actor needs to become more aggressive. He still comes off as this "naive adorable genius" whose been through a lot. I want Reid to change. 

Edited October 5, 2018 by K42

[mefein]

7 hours ago, K42 said:

Oh well, to each his own. I'm all for being fit and healthy but her face looks really harsh. She looks borderline sick to me this season and mid of season 13. She looked better in season 10, 11, 12. 

As for Reid, I really wish they would stop traumatizing him and focus more on making him go through a break down or something. He's been bottling up so much his trauma yet somehow he continues to function normally. The actor needs to become more aggressive. He still comes off as this "naive adorable genius" whose been through a lot. I want Reid to change. 

 

I was only able to watch the episode online so maybe not the best view.  I don't know if I'd characterise AJ/JJ as being 'too thin'.  I mean, she has always been slim. I saw a few random posts over the Summer and she and her family seem to be really into outdoor sports so I'm thinking its more than likely this.  I have a sister, (yes another one, 5 in total),..lol.  Shes always been slim..grrr, but in the last few years she has started running alot, marathons.  She is even slimmer now but shes certainly not unhealthy just really lean.  Eats like a horse!  In saying that, we do often tell her that she exercises too much, thats definitely a thing. 

Does she look much different than last season? I don't know.  I guess if its some sort of drastic weight change, that could be something, which of course I hope it is not.  I remember back around Season 6? Thomas posted a pic on twitter of last day on set.  I used to interact on twitter alot then...until it became the cess pit it is now.  None of us recognised him, he looked so thin.  Then when he came back in S7, the episode where he is called back from Pakistan and has a beard, when the beard went, it was like OMG, he is so gaunt.  Remeber the do say (and its true) that the camera adds a few llbs.  So the comments about his appearance became so much, there were stories online that he must be really sick, because this change seemed to have happened very quickly and was so drastic.  I remember him addressing it in some article saying that he had a really bad back pain?? and had not been feeling well. He did seem to gain some healthy weight in the later seasons.  

As for AJ, I don't see a huge difference.  Her hair seems fuller.  I like Aj/JJ, always have, even if some of the character changes were not to my liking. And much as '200' is loathed, I thought AJ/JJ was great in it. 

Edited October 5, 2018 by mefein

[Chaos Theory]

This made me almost like Reid.  I know wrong place to come considering that Reid is my least favorite character on the show.   I can’t explain exactly why I dislike him so much.  Maybe it’s his archetype. I have gotten exceptionally tired of the adorable genius.  So episodes that focus on him tend to bore men. Completely skipped his prison episodes.  Anyway I kinda like this one.  So maybe I am over my dislike.

[BellyLaughter]

Ugh.

Penelope's escape had me rolling my eyes so hard I was afraid they might not come back....and the identical hyoid bones...that's just piss poor, lazy art production....and laughable.

Edited October 7, 2018 by BellyLaughter

[Hotchgirl18]

I'm back after a long and much needed hiatus. It was decent. I won't say it was the best episode.  But it was better than 200. I was just hoping for more. And we didn't get much. 

On 10/4/2018 at 3:01 AM, K42 said:

Slay Luke Perry for being so iconic even after he was a cult leader. 

On a more serious note, does Erica Messy hate Spencer? I know he's just a tv character but god, I feel awful for him. If you think about it, it's actually a miracle he hasn't committed suicide yet. Also, did anyone get the impression that they were trying to make JJ/Reid happen? If it does, I'm quitting the show. I could handle Elle leaving, Gideon leaving and Hotch leaving (just barely), but I will NOT tolerate the bland JJ being with Reid. Aj Cook and her equally snoozefest character need to get lost. He deserves to be with someone on his level. 

Did anyone notice how they cut out Hotch's scene when Emily was introducing herself? Could there have been more of a F U to Thomas Gibson. What an insult. He held the show for YEARS. That was just disrespectful. 

Erica Messer pretty much has a grudge against Hotch, Reid, well...pretty much intellectual males. 

On 10/4/2018 at 8:32 AM, Danielg342 said:

They kind of did that when an incidental character from "Profiler, Profiled" became the UnSub in "Restoration", but I would agree that this should be done more often. How many victims experience trauma just as bad if not worse than what many UnSubs go through? You'd have thought by now some of the rescued victims would be so consumed by their experience that they would snap.

And don't forget Lindsay Vaughn from season twelve. 

[Hotchgirl18]

On 10/5/2018 at 4:38 AM, K42 said:

Oh well, to each his own. I'm all for being fit and healthy but her face looks really harsh. She looks borderline sick to me this season and mid of season 13. She looked better in season 10, 11, 12. 

As for Reid, I really wish they would stop traumatizing him and focus more on making him go through a break down or something. He's been bottling up so much his trauma yet somehow he continues to function normally. The actor needs to become more aggressive. He still comes off as this "naive adorable genius" whose been through a lot. I want Reid to change. 

We need SOMEONE to be more aggressive. The closest thing that ever happened was the Cat Adams fiasco. If someone's gonna be aggressive, it's gotta be Reid. As far as I'm concerned, the BAU got hijacked by pandas and teddy bears. 

[Danielg342]

35 minutes ago, Hotchgirl18 said:

If someone's gonna be aggressive, it's gotta be Reid.

I do think Reid has been more confident as of late. He didn't cower at all in this episode and seemed calm and in control throughout. I'm hoping this means this is an actual transformation for Reid where he takes charge more often and is no longer a pushover.

[Hotchgirl18]

23 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I do think Reid has been more confident as of late. He didn't cower at all in this episode and seemed calm and in control throughout. I'm hoping this means this is an actual transformation for Reid where he takes charge more often and is no longer a pushover.

One can only hope. Let's cross our fingers. He told off Barnes in season 13. 

[K42]

13 hours ago, Hotchgirl18 said:

We need SOMEONE to be more aggressive. The closest thing that ever happened was the Cat Adams fiasco. If someone's gonna be aggressive, it's gotta be Reid. As far as I'm concerned, the BAU got hijacked by pandas and teddy bears. 

Reid has become sorta.. weird. We see glimpses of him toughening up then he goes back to being this adorable dork from season 1. MGG really needs to get himself and Reid out of those cutsey, dorky look and mentality. MGG can look 10x better and more appealing if he just toughens up a little bit. I reaaally want him to become aggressive and react. MGG is capable of doing that. I want him to unleash his emotions in an aggressive way. 

[Colorado David]

8 hours ago, K42 said:

Reid has become sorta.. weird. We see glimpses of him toughening up then he goes back to being this adorable dork from season 1. MGG really needs to get himself and Reid out of those cutsey, dorky look and mentality. MGG can look 10x better and more appealing if he just toughens up a little bit. I reaaally want him to become aggressive and react. MGG is capable of doing that. I want him to unleash his emotions in an aggressive way. 

I get the feeling the writers are constraining him character-wise. Interesting that the show the past few seasons is toning down any aggression, esp in the lead male characters (remember Gideon, Hotch, Morgan, even Rossi the first few seasons - a lot more serious and imposing in their attitudes. Reid always seemed the naive brainiac, tho the story with he and his mother was pretty intense.)  I wonder if events the last year are influencing writers to ease things down? I would hope the writers aren't compelled that easily, but they don't operate in a vacuum either.

[Hotchgirl18]

15 minutes ago, Colorado David said:

I get the feeling the writers are constraining him character-wise. Interesting that the show the past few seasons is toning down any aggression, esp in the lead male characters (remember Gideon, Hotch, Morgan, even Rossi the first few seasons - a lot more serious and imposing in their attitudes. Reid always seemed the naive brainiac, tho the story with he and his mother was pretty intense.)  I wonder if events the last year are influencing writers to ease things down? I would hope the writers aren't compelled that easily, but they don't operate in a vacuum either.

Yeah, the BAU turned into a group of clowns and wimps. They may as well let Lucy and Ricky Ricardo join the BAU. 

[dkb]

I liked it. I thought that connecting it to the old cult case made it better, even though it was obvious Meadows and Marva were added in recently. 

I didn't know who was or wasn't coming back this year, so I was actually scared for Reid. Glad he's okay. 

Still feel that they can decrease the number of agents on the team though; although I like both Luke and Matt (had to pause and search up his name!) I feel like one of them can go. Probably Matt considering I couldn't remember his name.

[Hotchgirl18]

14 minutes ago, dkb said:

I liked it. I thought that connecting it to the old cult case made it better, even though it was obvious Meadows and Marva were added in recently. 

I didn't know who was or wasn't coming back this year, so I was actually scared for Reid. Glad he's okay. 

Still feel that they can decrease the number of agents on the team though; although I like both Luke and Matt (had to pause and search up his name!) I feel like one of them can go. Probably Matt considering I couldn't remember his name.

I'd rather Matt go. Luke is ok. 

[K42]

7 hours ago, Hotchgirl18 said:

I'd rather Matt go. Luke is ok. 

I like Matt and Luke. Them and Alex are the only ones I liked. I just feel like this show had waaaaay too many characters. 

[Annber03]

Episode review:

https://www.spoilertv.com/2018/10/criminal-minds-300-review-history.html

[Mislav]

On Wednesday, October 10, 2018 at 12:15 PM, K42 said:

I like Matt and Luke. Them and Alex are the only ones I liked. I just feel like this show had waaaaay too many characters. 

K42, I will reply to you in "Criminal Minds Analysis" thread, because it would probably be off topic on the episode thread. Just to let you know.

[Hotchgirl18]

I thought Garcia would be a quivering mess while being held hostage. No, she proved plenty tough and gave it right back to Meadows and when that wasn't enough, she ran the bitch over with a car. That was my favorite part.