Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior Review: "Jane"
Who would notice if I went missing? If you took nothing else away from this week's episode, it likely made you ponder this very question.
I can safely say that Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior has found its stride. Granted, that stride seems dependent on "larger than life" cases; but, it is not the first show to do so and I am willing to go with it if the episodes stay as good as "Jane".
This week we got to see a softer side of Beth, her moment at the end where she let her guard down and told Cooper that she still didn’t have an emergency contact was very well done and made me like her character that much more. Even as brash as she is, it’s hard not to like her when she is not going off on someone.
We also saw a new side to Cooper, that being a strong violent side as he nearly strangled the unsub while he was subduing him. Honestly, I was hoping the bastard would keep struggling so Cooper would strangle him. It is a credit to the writing and acting how much I was loathing the unsub by the end.
Was anyone else confused as to why Gina and Beth gave different answers to Amy’s friend when she asked what unit they were from? Beth started to say Behavioral, and then Gina interrupted with missing persons. I was hoping Beth and Gina would have a short conversation to explain why they had different answers; but, apparently I will be adding that to the mysteries of life.
This week’s unsub was nearly the team’s personal white whale as they could not nail down his behavior and ran into more dead ends than anyone they have chases so far. It almost felt a little anti-climactic when Cooper confronted him and gave the obligatory explanation of the man’s psyche. It would have almost been better to have just left him a conundrum and gone straight to the funeral of Jane.
And Jane, amazingly portrayed by Lisa Kay Jennings. Again, the writers showed some amazing writing fortitude when the episode ended with us not figuring out who she was. So many shows would have wrapped things up neatly and told us who she was and why she was at the club, and maybe why nobody was missing her (see my comment above about Cooper.)
Kudos to the writers on that small bit of genius, this ending reminded me to value my friends, my wife, and talk to my siblings a bit more often as I can’t imagine how horrible it would be to go missing and nobody miss me for days or ever.
To all the fans out there, take a moment and call a friend or family member and let them know you are okay. If not for yourself, do it for Jane.
Jim G. is a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow him on Twitter.
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April 7th, 2011 9:35 AM
Do people realize this is a different show? Sure, it's a spinoff but I'm pretty sure it doesn't share a budget with the original Criminal Minds. They didn't get rid of JJ/Prentiss so that they could have this show. If they cancel this show CBS will be paying for another show in it's place.
April 3rd, 2011 10:30 PM
I agree with Robin 100%. The chemistry is not there! Please bring back our original cast....this show seems like a cut-rate low budget imitation. Most of the dialog is garbled and I can't understand much of what they are saying. The actors seem like they are not really interested.....and it makes the whole episode unbelievable and dull. PLEASE DUMP IT! Bring back the originals.
March 31st, 2011 1:21 PM
I have watched every episode and I want to like it but the cast does not have a good chemistry. They need to cancel it so they can "afford" to bring back JJ and Prentiss on Criminal Minds. This is a cheap knock off version that is pointless! Penelope is the only good thing about this show.
March 31st, 2011 12:10 PM
I have to disagree about this show finding it's 'stride'. While I completely adore the show to death, this episode seemed like the purple elephant in the room. I couldn't put my finger on why this one felt so different than the others (it's quite possible that it's because they never truly found a reason as to why the Unsub did what he did. But you know what, there might not always be a reason, so in the end I can kind of see it)
I have a theory about the whole Gina, Beth thing. Playing on their character's personalities, Beth seems the more (most?) blunt of the two. Gina, however, knows the inner workings of people and their emotions. With this being said, if Beth had said Behavioral Analysis Unit, the Amy's friend would have know that they weren't necessarily looking for Amy, but for the killer. Signifying that all hope was lost in Amy's friend seeing her alive. with Gina telling Amy's friend that they were missing persons, there was still that little bud of hope/confidence that
March 31st, 2011 12:08 PM
I have to disagree about this show finding it's 'stride'. While I completely adore the show to death, this episode seemed like the purple elephant in the room. I couldn't put my finger on why this one felt so different than the others (it's quite possible that it's because they never truly found a reason as to why the Unsub did what he did. But you know what, there might not always be a reason, so in the end I can kind of see it) I have a theory about the whole Gina, Beth thing. Playing on their character's personalities, Beth seems the more (most?) blunt of the two. Gina, however, knows the inner workings of people and their emotions. With this being said, if Beth had said Behavioral Analysis Unit, the Amy's friend would have know that they weren't necessarily looking for Amy, but for the killer. Signifying that all hope was lost in Amy's friend seeing her alive. with Gina telling Amy's friend that they were missing persons, there was still that little bud of hope/confidence that Amy
March 31st, 2011 11:29 AM
That was 'stride'? If so this show is in lot of trouble.