Friday, January 8, 2016

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - BTS: 1116. Derek

This post may contain spoilers, probably small, but they may be big too; proceed with caution!
This post will be updated when more images of our dear gang are shared from the set.




Scouting locations for episode 16 at Disney Ranch - Photo by Harry Bring
Sometimes @joseph17981 gets to set-up in some pretty dope spots ☀️ #mrburns
#mixmaster #granddaddyflash - Photo by John Hatchitt
Space waitress compliments of @bijerogers picture by Thomas Gibson our current
fearless director - Photo by Kirsten Vangsness
Someone pretty special is working today and makes this a NOT MISS episode. - Photo by John Hatchitt
Walt had a pretty nice lil get away out here. - Photo by John Hatchitt
How the boys get shit done on the ranch.#disneylife #technoplay . - Video by John Hatchitt
'Twas the night before Friday and all through the set, not a profiler was stirring not even
on the jet! - Photo by Anna Fleiner
My photobomb on set yesterday. ;-) - Photo by Harry Bring
Everyone gathering around this morning to see @hhannamourad new tramp stamp. I love this guy for his boldness.
- Photo by John Hatchitt
Field of Dreams or Pennies from Heaven KV is so bright she suffers from the halo effect
our angel #CriminalMinds - Photo by BJ Rogers
Busy day here on set! @KrishRibeiro - Photo by Anna Fleiner
So this just happened. - Photo by Joe Mantegna
DEREK MORGAN.. The hands of a man that had to TRY and survive his darkest place.. By any means necessary.. Episode 16.. CRIMINAL MINDS.. CBS.. SEASON 11.. This episode airs MARCH 2nd... (I have to finish shooting this episode before I get my posting n flirt game back ON!!! I LOVE you BABY GIRLS and FANS!!! ❤️❤️
- Photo by Shemar Moore
Starting your weekend like this just sucks, unless it's your thing. - Photo by John Hatchitt
This guy was a gem to have around. #trueprofessional #absolutepleasure
- Photo by John Hatchitt
Such an honor to work with Danny Glover. Class act! As for the other 5 faces in this picture, you guys are my
- Photo by AJ Cook
Some last minute discussion's on the scene today in dtla. - Photo by John Hatchitt
And that's kinda what we are doing today. . - Video by John Hatchitt
me and danny glover at prom - Photo by Matthew Gray Gubler
Baby Boy n My Original Baby Girl!!! @kirstenvangsness CRIMINAL MINDS.. SEASON 11.. Aint we cute?!!!
- Photo by Shemar Moore
Got a chance to direct these two guys last week - Photo by Thomas Gibson
Photo by Thomas Gibson
These two... - Photo by Thomas Gibson
This guy - Photo by Thomas Gibson

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1113. The Bond - Press Release

THE BAU INVESTIGATES KILLINGS AT TRUCK STOPS ALONG HIGHWAY ROUTES THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH, ON “CRIMINAL MINDS,” WEDNESDAY, JAN. 27

THE BOND – The BAU searches for a motive and an UnSub when victims are found in truck stop restrooms along highways throughout the South, on CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Jan. 27 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

CHEAT TWEET: Victims found at truck stops have the BAU searching highway routes across the South @CrimMinds_CBS #CBS 1/27 9pm http://bit.ly/1OdYNvw

WRITTEN BY: Kim Harrison

DIRECTED BY: Hanelle Culpepper

REGULAR CAST:
Joe Mantegna (David Rossi)
Thomas Gibson (Aaron Hotchner)
Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan)
Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid)
A.J. Cook (Jennifer “JJ” Jareau)
Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia)

RECURRING CAST:
Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis)

GUEST CAST:
Wilson Bethel (Randy Jacobs)
Veronica Cartwright (Flora Martin)
Sal Neslusan (Chloe Andrews)
Timothy Ryan Cole (Agent William Waters)
Maurice Hall (Dr. Ivan Smith)
JF Davis (John Westchester)
Regina McKee Redwing (Linda Calvary)
Jon Jacobs (Frank Myers)
Neil Barton (Officer)
Jesse D. Arrow (Truck Driver)
Lindsey Marie Wilson (Young Flora)
Benjamin Dean Plessala (Younger Randy)

Thursday, January 7, 2016

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1109. Internal Affairs - Review

INTERNAL AFFAIRS was another solid offering from writer Sharon Lee Watson. The episode had two stories, one where the team was after a serial killer who had abducted and killed two DEA agents and had a third in his evil clutches. Meanwhile Hotch was off on his own repay a debt to NSA agent Axelrod who had helped Hotch in the hunt of Peter Lewis better known as ‘Mr. Scratch’.

This episode was pretty much about the many ways the team members can profile differently according to different situations.

For the team, Rossi, JJ, Morgan and Lewis (by the way, feels weird NOT having in that sentence the name of Spencer Reid who was again MIA), the profiling came from doing what we know they do routinely: meet with cops to get the facts of the case, talk with the ME about what was done to the victims, interrogate suspects/witness/family members, then come up with a profile

When it came to Hotch and his hunting down a mole, it was all about noticing things and coming up with his conclusion as to whom was really the culprit. I could not stop comparing how Rossi and JJ work to get information out of the soccer mom, via questioning her and going about it from how she reacted to their questions. Hotch on the other hand was all about observation. I liked that more because as a viewer it got me more involved, had to pay close attention to what was going on because without a team to work the case with Hotch, he could not voice most of his observation. The viewer was clued in by how he reacted to what was happening around him and what he saw. With the team it was easier for this viewer, all I had to do was just sit back and watch Rossi and JJ interview the suspect, Morgan and Lewis work the scenes.

Our first clue that the case Hotch would be working would not be coming to him the usual way, the official way via the Bureau, was when he was accosted by a man out of a black car and handing Hotch a card and telling him Mr. Axelrod wish to talk to him. Second clue was that this meeting took place in a hotel/high-end club and not in an official settings. Detail, when Hotch gets into the room we see men talking, reading in a settings that looks expensive, it had the feeling of a private club ala the Hellfire Club of Old British Aristocracy. Another detail, the man Axelrod was talking too and who left when Hotch’s shows up was Axelrod’s boss, Director Cochrane, who we will learn later was really the mole, the one at the head of cartel!

So why ask Hotch? Because since Hotch’s team are already involved in the dark net investigation thanks to the Montolo case Axelrod thought that the man he thinks is the mole, Assistant DEA Director in Charge of Operations Bernard Graff, would be best caught using the skills and knowledge that Hotch and the BAU had. So Hotch is off on his own, although not before talking about it with Rossi, chasing down a mole while the team are working hard to save missing DEA agents.

Of the two stories, the one about the mole was the most interesting because it was different and required a bit more involvement from the viewer. When watching Criminal Minds, I love to ‘work the case’ with the team, come up with theories, suspects etc… The first case concealed who the Unsub was until the end and that was great; the fact that the team did the work and not the writer choosing to have the Unsub show/tell us was even better. But having a good old conspiracy to work through is great because, as I said, it ratcheted up the involvement from the viewers into the story that is being told.


The case in El Paso we learn that is about a drug cartel run by a mysterious George Washington. The team will learn that the number 2 is another mysterious figure named Ben Franklin, but the team will learn who this Ben Franklin was, the very ordinary soccer mom.

The Unsub was a total psychopath who happened to love to take off the face of his victims, and wears them to see what they see! Did I mentioned he was a total nut?! This part reminded me a bit of the Silence of The Lamb, still didn’t lessen up me enjoyment of the episode, saw it more as a kind of homage to the movie.



WHO WAS THE MOLE? The writer did a good job at throwing at us possible suspects, Graft was a likely candidate but maybe a bit too obvious. Then his assistant, finally Axelrod himself who after all was the one who got Hotch involved and also had access to the case information too.

THE PROFILING: We had two types, as I said one from the team interviewing people, asking questions etc… while the other profiling was done by Hotch mostly through observation and letting people talk. This is where we had great work from both the director Diana Valentine and Thomas Gibson. Both had to show Hotch observing without much commenting, so Valentine's direction was spot on in letting the viewer see what Hotch was seeing thought the camera work. Gibson’s job was harder because he had to portray a man who was mostly observing what others were doing, which since Hotch is not a very expressive man and in this situation he could not afford tipping off his suspect as to what he was really doing, meant he had to control his reactions to what he was observing.

I loved how Hotch did build his profile, asking subtle questions, like if the man in the framed picture on the wall was Graft's father. Told him that Graft was actually proud of his father, who was also a DEA agent, and Graft told Hotch that his grandfather had also been a FBI agent. The way the man dress, not in the more official garb of a suit, spoke of a man who was not afraid of breaking rules but his comment about how maybe what they did was futile also maybe pointed to a man was no longer believing in the job they did.

Through Hotch’s observations and investigation we discovered that 1. Graff isn’t the mole, he too suspected there was an inside person running/dealing with the Libertad group. 2. The flash drive he had on his wrist wasn’t the information about the Libertad servers like Axelrod was led to believe, but rather it was the evidence of his own investigation into a possible mole. And finally 3. With Hotch’s help Graff’s assistant, who Graff gave the flash drive to just before his death, discovered that the inside man was non-other then the NSA Director Cochrane. The final scene with Hotch in that club we see that. Yes, Hotch can play in the political arena too. He’s sitting in that red leather chair with authority, much like how Axelrod was with him in the beginning, and explains to Cochrane what he knows and that now Cochrane is being arrested. Hotch explains what he did, and subtly looks to Cochrane’s pen and shows that he knows it’s the real flash drive with the Libertad server information.

In the end we see Axelrod acknowledging to Hotch that if Hotch wasn’t so suspicious of him, and wouldn’t be investigating everything Axelrod did, they could actually be friends. Hotch’s slight eye movement as they’re walking out says volumes. Hotch is too dedicated to the truth and justice to ever play those political power games.

What I did like:
  • The last scene between Hotch and Garcia! Hotch joining Garcia and cooking was priceless! Love the smile he had! Since Hotch did clean the blood off Elle’s wall we have known how great and caring he is, that scene reminded us of that fact!
  • Rossi and JJ interviewing the soccer mom. She started by playing her card of a innocent housewife, then tried to bring his big time lawyer to try to scare the FBI off. JJ and Rossi just dismantled her one piece at a time.
  • Morgan and Lewis at the Unsub place. Really people have you NOT learned anything from Reid and JJ not staying together which resulted in Reid being abducted by Tobias Hankle?! Seriously, love this scene, especially the camera work from the payphone where we see from some camera, that the Unsub is watching them. Also, I loved when Morgan went after the Unsub, after he had used a taser on Lewis, I shouted at Morgan ‘get him!’ :D
  • Best scene was when we had Hotch, in full paranoid mode (with good reason after he learned that the DEA informer had been blow up) took a few steps away from his car and started it. When it didn’t blow up, he cautiously open the door. Hotch did learn something from the events in LoFi/Mayhem :D
What I didn’t like:
  • No Reid. I have missed Spence in the last two episodes.
What I wished for:
  • Wish those two cases had actually been two episodes. I felt that both cases would have benefited from having more time spent on them.
Another great episode from Sharon Lee Watson in which Thomas Gibson was excellent in. The directing from Diana Valentine was top notch. I enjoyed this episode a lot, unlike the one prior, only wished that Reid had been in it, still it gets a 9.5/10.


~~~~Merlin

Monday, January 4, 2016

CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1112. Drive - Press Release

THE BAU LOOKS FOR AN UNSUB KILLING VICTIMS WHO ARE DISCOVERED IN PUBLIC PLACES THROUGHOUT BOSTON, ON “CRIMINAL MINDS,” WEDNESDAY, JAN. 20

DRIVE – When bodies are discovered in public places throughout Boston, the BAU investigates whether a taxi or ride-share service the victims used before their deaths could lead the team to the UnSub, on CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Jan. 20 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

CHEAT TWEET: Can a ride-share service hold the key to an UnSub targeting victims in Boston? @CrimMinds_CBS #CBS 1/20 9pm http://bit.ly/1Z38W8E

WRITTEN BY: Karen Maser

DIRECTED BY: Tawnia McKiernan

REGULAR CAST:
Joe Mantegna (David Rossi)
Thomas Gibson (Aaron Hotchner)
Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan)
Matthew Gray Gubler (Dr. Spencer Reid)
A.J. Cook (Jennifer “JJ” Jareau)
Kirsten Vangsness (Penelope Garcia)

RECURRING CAST:
Aisha Tyler (Dr. Tara Lewis)

GUEST CAST:
Eric Nenninger (James O’Neill)
Jenna Willis (Amy Gibb)
Leslie Murphy (Detective Connie Lawlor)
Matt Odachowski (Male Reporter)
Dorcas Tejada (Female Reporter)
Melissa Ciesla (M.E. Janet Foster)
Joseph Callari (Arthur Gibb)
Paolo Andino (Anthony Simmons)
David Lim (CEO Kevin Bruner)
Kavi Ladnier (Elaine Simmons)
Frederick Dawson (Curtis Price)
Maverick Thompson (Young James)
Rick Steadman (Principal Brendan Burke)