By Matt Thompson
As CBS’ “Criminal Minds” entered its seventh season, I questioned
whether the show’s fans would continue to embrace some of its darker themes. I
also questioned whether I would continue to follow the police procedural drama
on a weekly basis when crimes became increasingly heinous, and resolution and
happy endings became more and more rare. But Wednesday’s episode, titled
“Foundation”, helped settle some of these questions for me as I thought this
particular episode was beautifully written. One aspect where I think CriminalMinds continually triumphs over other shows is their continuity of plot
storylines. The show will often reference a team member, villain or issue from
years past in a subtle way that re-energizes me as a viewer. It is an important
point for me to know that the characters I watch and love from week to week are
still learning from their past and evolving as a character. This week, that aspect
became integral to the plot.
The BAU began their latest journey already boarding the plane on
the way to Flagstaff, AZ, receiving background from computer-analyst Penelope
Garcia on the fly. A child had been kidnapped in the area immediately upon the
escape of another child, who had been held prisoner underground for years. The
problem the BAU immediately encountered was that the original captive was so
traumatized by his experience, he could not speak or identify his captor.
That’s where Agent Derek Morgan and his backstory come into play. Morgan is
able to earn the child’s trust slowly but surely throughout the episode, eventually
coaxing him to talk by revealing his own past story of abuse. (This was
featured several seasons ago in an episode and showed not only Agent Morgan’s
roots, but also what makes him who he is and tells us why he eventually went on
to join the bureau. In addition, it illustrates that the past continues to fuel
and motivate Agent Morgan). As it usually does so brilliantly, the team is
eventually able to track down the unknown subject – UNSUB to seasoned viewers –
and give us what I thought was a surprising and upbeat conclusion.
(Spoiler Alert) As the writing is crucial to my opinion this week,
the following is an analysis of that aforementioned surprising and upbeat
ending.
Most noteworthy about this week’s conclusion is that they closed
with a back-and-forth scene of the two boys reuniting with their parents. Many
episodes, especially in recent seasons, have ended in a grim manner or at least
one that didn’t end happily. I thought the reuniting scene was a nice change of
pace for the series. At some point, viewers will tire of negative endings, and
I thought this served to remind us that sometimes they catch the bad guy AND
save lives. We know that the villain will be caught between 50 and 55 minutes
past the hour, but we don’t know if the other characters end up okay. Usually,
the conflict ends abruptly and leads into the team plane flying back to
Quantico with little explanation or final resolution of events. It was good to
see last night that everyone ended up okay.
In fact, Mandy Patinkin, who played Agent Jason Gideon in the
first few seasons, actually left the show because of its increasing level of
violence, CSI-esque approach of revealing gruesome forensic pathology scenes
and lack of happy themes. Obviously, many fans of the show come for these types
of storylines, wherein forensics helps tie theories to villains. But for a
while, I really believe the show was trying too hard to be emulate CSI. What I
love about the show is the mental aspect, not the physical one. Getting inside
the head and studying the behavior of criminals and our weekly protagonists is
much more appealing to me.
And that’s why I must praise the writing of this particular
episode so much. From Agent Jareau’s comforting motherly instincts to Dr.
Reid’s cerebral analysis to Agent Morgan’s heartfelt recollection of his past,
each character’s strengths were highlighted in a way to contribute to the team
and still allow viewers to embrace their flaws as human and endearing. Each
time I become disillusioned with the direction of “Criminal Minds”, I’ll think
back to last night’s show. Just as the result inspired hope for the characters,
my restored confidence in the writing will inspire hope for me each Wednesday
at 9:00 p.m.
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