CRIMINAL MINDS “Hanley Waters” Review

CRIMINAL MINDS (CBS) Hanley Waters

CRIMINAL MINDS “Hanley Waters” Season 6 Episode 20 – Last week I was perplexed because of the lack of trauma displayed within the unit regarding Prentiss’ death. This week we got plenty of exposition in the form of a weird therapy session conducted by Hotchner, but it was completely ineffective.

The quasi spiritual/intellectual quote given at the start of the episode, about how a man who does not grieve is nothing (I’m totally paraphrasing here) was clearly not fully understood by the writers of this episode. A therapy session is not sufficient to convey the loss of a dear friend, or, as Rossi put it, a sort of surrogate sister/wife. It’s not enough to say “I’m sad” and then get on with life. The team should have been affected by Prentiss’ death. Their grief, their sense of loss, should have impacted the way in which they investigated cases. They were not affected by Emily’s death.

The case of the episode was pretty awful as far as cases for Criminal Minds go. It involved a mother who went on a murder spree on the anniversary of her son’s death and birthday. She blamed her husband, who seemed like quite a douche, ordering a restraining order on his wife less than a year after their son died. The climax ended up at a burger joint with the woman traumatising a kid as the kid’s parents whimpered at her. You really wish the sniper team would just take her out and end our misery.

Alas, that did not happen. Hotchner worked his magic and got all emotional for whatever reason. I think they tried to draw parallels between this woman’s grief and the team’s grief at losing Prentiss, but those therapy scenes were too bland and this case too generic.

If you want to see a show about loss and grief, skip Criminal Minds and watch The Killing on AMC.

What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below.

Follow me on Twitter @CiaraMoyna

By Ciara | April 7, 2011 | 15 Comments

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Dragonfly

We are all entitled to our own opinions and I certainly don’t agree with yours. This episode was good, the acting superb.

Burer5

I agree with the review, there’s to much going on within one episode this season. There doesn’t always have to be a case to solve. The team just lost a family member so to speak, it was fairly traumatic and the very next week they just gloss over it. Also I like Garcia’s character but her expanded role will eventually be the downfall of the show.

http://www.daemonstv.com/author/ciara/ Ciara

Garcia has become an awful deus ex machina for the show. She sucks up any clever creativity the show once had when solving cases. Now if they’re stuck, the writers turn to Garcia and poof! location of murderer, history of suspects, anything you want downloaded in a jiffy.

http://www.daemonstv.com/author/ciara/ Ciara

I’ve scene better acting on the show. I thought the guest stars were pretty awful and you could almost see the onion slices pinned to Hotchner’s lapels.

RViewer

You did watch the episode but did you pay attention? Hotchner was not conducting therapy sessions but assessments as Hotch told Morgan and Rossi.

The husband was taken to that restaurent and it was the wife who demanded that order. Of course Hotch got all emotional since he knew what it is like to lose a loved. Beside, how was Hotchner suppose to get to the woman? Again if you paid attention to CM, you would know that the profilers have to empathize with the unsubs in order to gain their trust in hostages negotiation ( see Hotch telling JJ what to do when talking Flynn in the Longest Night).

As for you trying to plug The Killing in a CM review, after reading your review, with all its inaccuracies, I’ll pass on The Killing.

http://www.daemonstv.com/author/ciara/ Ciara

When I called them therapy scenes I was being facetious.

I agree with you that in the Criminal Minds universe the profilers have to be empathetic, but a lot on the conflict in the show comes from them having to balance the line between empathy and becoming too emotionally attached to a case. I did not believe Hotchner’s emotions. I thought the parallels drawn between the traumatized mother and Prentiss’ death were weak and therefore unbelievable. They should have been seamless, and they weren’t. You could almost see the cogs turning, which is never a good thing. The whole scenario was fake, obtrusive and melodramatic.

As for me trying to plug The Killing, well, as a long time fan of Criminal Minds I can tell you that there was more emotion, more grief, more intricate characterizations and shocking plotting built into the two hour premiere than in the entire six seasons of Criminal Minds. But that’s just me.
http://www.daemonstv.com/ Sandie

RViewer – You really shouldn’t pass on The Killing just because you disagree with the review. It’s a brilliant show and you would be missing out. AMC is known for quality shows and this is another great one. I really hope you give it a shot.

Cc

I disagree with your review (if you can even call it that). This was a great episode. If you can’t understand why Hotch got emotional, then perhaps you shouldn’t be writing reviews for this show.

The therapy scenes bland? Really? Everyone did an amazing job in this episode, and I particularly loved the Morgan and Hotch scenes. Thomas Gibson was so great in this episode-it was nice to see him at the front again.

As for the unsub, I didn’t know if I felt sorry for her, or if I thought she was just plain crazy,which is what I think the writers were aiming for. I for one enjoyed the case because I thought it tied in nicely with the team’s current situation as they try to cope. (As shown in the last scenes with Hotch and the unsub.)

Maybe you should watch the episode again and re-evaluate.

http://www.daemonstv.com/author/ciara/ Ciara

It’s not enough to have good acting; a scene has to be written well and it has to have context. The therapy scenes had neither.

I know what you mean about the unsub, but when she started waving a gun around a family restaurant I was just hoping someone would take her out. Criminal Minds does this sometimes: it tries to get us to sympathize with seriously awful people, which is partly the appeal of the show but sometimes it takes it too far. In an episode earlier in the season we were supposed to sympathize for a kid who helped kidnap, torture, rape and murder young women. In this episode we were supposed to sympathize for a woman who pulled a gun on a kid and forced him to eat his birthday cake (which reminded me of that awesome/awful scene in Matilda). I am a cold hearted bitch and my sympathy for characters only extends so far. Waving a gun at a kid (at his birthday no less!) and shooting four innocent men, not to mention a cop and running over his partner, pretty much crosses the line for me.

Awesome

No offense, but I completely disagree with this review.
I felt like the writing in the past few episodes (Lauren/Valhalla etc.) was rather weak but the writers really stepped up their game this week.
I especially enjoyed Reid mentioning Gideon (I miss him!) and how sometimes he wonders what the point of their job is if they can’t protect one another.
I also have no idea how you can say that the team didn’t seem affected by Prentiss’ death. Were Reid and Morgan’s tears and words not good enough for you?? What are they supposed to do, go on a shooting spree like the unsub???
The case itself brought a tear to my eye and connected with the team.
I suggest you watch the episode again!

http://www.daemonstv.com/author/ciara/ Ciara

Thanks Awesome for your insightful comment. I guess I don’t want them to cry-I want them to suffer, dammit! It may seem like I’m a horrible person, but this is a show that literally staked Prentiss-if you can’t give me the suffering, then the violence is just gratuitous. Or so I think.

And I also loved it when Reid mentioned Gideon.

Cheyennejsmith

Man, you have got to be the worst reviewer ever. In almost every review you plug another show. Once it was The Good Wife, then NCIS, and now The Killing. You seem to absolutely hate EVERYTHING about Criminal Minds and you have no understanding of the show either. Hotch wasn’t being a therapist for them, it was just to see where they’re at in their grief. I really wish you would be forced to stop reviewing.

http://www.daemonstv.com/author/ciara/ Ciara

You’re too kind, Cheyennejsmith. Look, I really like Criminal Minds which I why I’m disappointed when a episode flops (particularly during an arc which could be so emotionally charged thanks to Prentiss’ death).

I tried to articulate why I did not like this episode and what it was about this episode I did not like. I’m here to offer an opinion and facilitate a debate. As much as I sometimes wish I were, I’m not some Caesar at a Colosseum, offering a definitive view of an episode. I’m just one perspective. So give me yours: I did not like this episode, you did. Instead of getting down to petty insults, why not argue with me. Why didn’t you like the episode? I’m a ridiculously open minded person. A lot of people here seem to have connected emotionally with the material and I totally respect that.

Oh, and I don’t hate everything. Just peanut M&Ms, which are a plague on this earth:).

Jjdunbar

The only thing I would like to sound off about is your awful review. This was a fabulous episode with some powerful acting from all concerned. You seem to have missed the entire point I would watch and review something that doesnt take any concentration if I were you and leave Criminal Minds alone
Motherknowsless

I completely agree with your review. If I wanted to watch Intervention I would.