I was planning on doing an overarching Criminal Minds review of the whole show because it seemed very cut and dry, each episode while building on the characters was easily a stand-alone watch and so no overarching storyline was needed to be reviewed, that was until we got to the last episode.

Criminal Minds is very similar to a lot of other crime shows of the early 2000s from the characters it portrays to the story it tells. At the end of 2021 my big binge-watch show was Bones, Bones was a show I absolutely loved but soon fell out of love with because it became too overbearing and the gore was just too much to deal with. So when Criminal Minds came into my life it reminded me a lot of Bones as a lot of the characters were very similar including the nerdy boffin, the rambunctious man in command, as well as some will they-won’t they relationships going on. So my attention quickly turned from Bones to Criminal Minds, and honestly, I’m really happy with that transition.

Criminal Minds follows the same team every episode but you could easily dip in and out of episodes at any time because there are no overarching storylines. Each one is started and ended in the same episode and there are no big elements that you need to watch or remember to be able to keep watching. Yes, while the characters grow and change throughout the show as any characters would, being able to drop in and out at any time means that there aren’t any huge changes that you need to be aware of, and it also has that re-watch ability because you could easily jump in at any point and it would still make sense.

I especially enjoyed the fact that this show isn’t too gory. For me, I love horror but gore is something I cannot deal with and so to see these people dive into the minds of killers and criminals rather than seeing their victims’ decomposing bodies was really fun and interesting. I never studied psychology at school but it has always been a specialist subject of mine I’ve had an interest in, so being able to dive into the Sherlock Holmes side of my brain while watching this show was really appreciated because you felt like you were part of the team, and often you would figure out the murderer before the team would which would give you the satisfaction as an audience member.

I will say that while the criminals are very varied and interesting the actual storylines of each episode are quite similar with the team being given a new case to solve and saving the damsel in distress in the final minutes of the show. There is not much more to it than that but because of the psychology and seeing how they break down these criminals and who they are, makes it more exciting. While the base storyline may be quite simple the intricacies of the psychology is what keeps you hooked.

But then we come to the final episode where the criminal is a man who has kidnapped a young woman and is playing a game with the team. He knows information about the team members that no one should know and so is able to play into those hobbies and interests in a way that we haven’t seen used before. Because it ends on a cliffhanger it really makes you want to immediately start watching season 2 and see where this case goes, and I can’t imagine watching it live when it first came out and having to wait months for the second season to come out and for all to be revealed. That’s the glory of binge watching these days, but the hook that this show has on you to immediately want to see the conclusion is so good for audience retention and constantly keeps you coming back.

I highly recommend this show if you’re into psychology and not so much the gorier side of crime. It’s a show that’s so easy to watch you won’t get bored, and despite it being 22 episodes long it will constantly make you want to come back for more to find out what happens next and who the next criminal is.

What do you think of Criminal Minds?

Until next time.

Published by shonaharding

Media graduate with a passion for reviewing film and TV. View all posts by shonaharding