TV Series Lounge

Promotional Photos:

• Episodes 23 & 24 Finale: Hit, Run
• Episode 19: Heathridge Manor
• Episode 15: A Thin Line

Spoilers:

• Sebastian Roche to Return
• Candy Clark as JJ’s Mother
• Tricia Helfer to Guest on Season Finale
• Emily Prentiss Leaving After Season 7
• Charles Dutton as Tony Colt
• Episode 5 Photos
• Jack Coleman as a Kidnapper
• JJ’s Baby Details
• 10 Must-Know Spoilers
• Season 7 Premiere Photos
• Andy Milder as Cy
• Prentiss Resurrection
• Isabella Hofmann as Rossi’s Ex-Wife
• Prentiss Return Details
• Premiere Set Photos and Events
• Mark Moses as a Senator
• Aaron Hotchner Will Return
• Will Hotchner Return?
• Details on Prentiss’ Return
• JJ, Prentiss In; Seaver Out
• J.J. Still The Face of the Team

What a season 6 finale! Episode 24 of Criminal Minds titled “Supply & Demand” supplied one great news for us Criminal Minds fanatics, J.J.’s return. This time it will be permanent and we can expect her full time next season.

TV Fanatic: While exciting, to be sure, she came back in the last 40 seconds of the episode with one line to Rossi that confirmed she was coming back.

This was also not really a surprise to many of the show’s die-hard fans, since it’s been rumored for more than a month that A.J. Cook was returning full time. But it is nice to end the season of at least one show with happy news!

I was on pins and needles after the initial meeting where the BAU team members were each informed that they would be given an opportunity to leave.

After watch Monday’s Castle season finale, I was not sure if the show had another trick up its sleeve and be sneaking in a death or departure of its own.

Thankfully everything ended up okay, or as okay as things can be.

My favorite addition to this episode was Andi Swan, played by Amy Price-Francis. I really enjoyed her work on The Chicago Code as Dina Wysocki, but that really does pale in comparison to the strong, bold, confident, agent she portrayed this week.

I don’t know if we will see Swan again anytime soon but with The Chicago Code not being renewed by Fox, maybe we will get lucky.

While the case that the team worked on this week was mostly enjoyable, I was very disappointed with the big “twist” of Lucy appearing to be a victim and actually being the leader.

We just had an episode of Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior where they used the same trope. So, I had it nailed in about 30 seconds when Lucy looked at Renee all surprised that she had counted the guards.

Apparently when the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, it also borrows plot devices.

Of course, I do love how much more of Garcia we get to see and interact with on Criminal Minds as opposed to Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.

It is great to see her interact with Morgan, who is clearly her rock and homing beacon on the team, helping her stay grounded and finding her way back to safe ground when things go crazy.

We also got to see her with Kevin and they are so cute together. My hat is off to Nicolas Brendon; itís good to see his skills from playing a teenage nerd as Xander have served him well while playing a 30-something nerd as Kevin.

Last night’s Criminal Minds showcased dead bodies found at the bottom of “Big Sea.”

TV Fanatic: When Morgan’s aunt believed that her daughter (therefore Morgan’s cousin) may be among the victims, the case obviously took on new meaning for the BAU member.

Shemar Moore delivered a typically strong performance in a typically strong episode of the CBS procedural that conjured up vivid images of Season 2 of Dexter.

In this case, though, the mass murderer was much less charming.

Based on the watery graveyard’s location, the team assumes the UnSub could be local, and based on some of the skeletal discoveries, may even be a fisherman.

Rather than becoming emboldened and pushing the envelope with each kill, Reid believes the assailant is actually targeting lower-risk victims as he progresses.

After a fun exchange with Reid about how long it will take to reconstruct the first victims, Hotch speaks to the press, asking for help identifying missing persons.

Morgan’s aunt is one such person with a missing loved one.

You had the sense early that Morgan wasn’t telling Yvonne the whole story. Rossi tells Seaver that Morgan’s cousin escaped a stalker and was never heard from.

Hotch believes that based on the remains, there is an overkill aspect to one of the early murders, stemming from a troubled personal relationship or several.

Clearly whoever’s doing this is one sadistic individual, as evidenced by the chilling shot of the powder blown into the victim’s face until his struggling ceases.

Reid discovers a substance that can be used to control someone when taken in high enough quantities, while we see more evidence of the UnSub at “work.”

Meanwhile, we get a little back story on Morgan’s family and it doesn’t look good for Cindy, as the victims are all trying to start over, looking for a fresh start.

On the UnSub’s boat, Gary tries to escape, but fails. When his body turns up, the team notes his ability to overcome the drug – and that his son is out there.

The UnSub still has James under his control. Then the breakthrough on Cindy. Yvonne remembers that she flew as an unaccompanied minor back in the day.

They’ve finally got their man in Blake Wells, who nabs his victims in transit. Just as Blake tells James about his father’s abuse, Morgan arrives on the scene.

Somehow, Morgan is able to talk him into dropping the knife, but the most powerful scene of the entire episode came during Wells’ subsequent interrogation.

When Morgan shows him Cindy’s picture, the UnSub senses vulnerability and claims she cried for Morgan before her throat was sliced. Morgan knows that’s a lie.

The killer didn’t know Cindy’s name, but he knew those of the other victims. But Morgan lies to his aunt to give her closure. A difficult decision – but the right one?

For me this is a good episode. But I hope next week’s season finale of Criminal Minds will be better by far. What’s your take?

You can check Criminal Minds Season 6 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

This week’s Criminal Minds titled “Out of the Light” features a young woman’s plunge from a bridge in a southern tourist town. So who’s the woman? What happened to her?

TV Fanatic: We begin with a girl trying to escape the UnSub, while Hotch is shown running as well … after Jack at a soccer game. He’s trying to balance fatherhood and the FBI.

The woman survived the fall, but suffered similar injuries to a case three years ago. The woman been raped and tortured but was able to somehow escape her assailant.

Reid tries to get answers from the girl at the hospital, but “he has mercy” is the only info they can get before she slips away. At the crime scene, more graves are discovered.

Some of them are a decade old, as well, in a case becoming more eerie by the second. Putting the pieces together, Hotch has Garcia look into suspects with sexual offenses.

Marcus Talbot, a teacher at the local school, is the prime candidate, at least at the onset, when Morgan finds a bloody sweatshirt emblazoned with the victim’s college name.

He insists, despite Rossi and the local Sheriff’s interrogation, that he didn’t go it, while Morgan and Reid find pictures of underage girls, which he says his art students took.

Marcy’s parents show Hotch texts from her, and he puts together the fact that her parlance changed and that the UnSub was using the phone, which we previously witnessed.

Rossi is just about to nail Talbot, or so he thinks, before the K-9 unit finds another grave that’s indicative of someone framing Talbot. But who – and where is Marcy then?

The BAU must then walk the tightrope of keeping Talbot in custody even if they know he didn’t do it, because of what he does know, while the sheriff still wants to nail him.

Morgan and Rossi continue prying whatever they can from Talbot, while Seaver talks to Marcy’s parents about what the family does, learning that she sang at their church.

No one at the church had priors, but glass fragments and lead in Angela’s body can be traced to stained glass, and Garcia comes across Robert Bremmer, the new suspect.

Robert’s wife drove a car into a lake because he wouldn’t let her leave with their daughter. Hotch fears Bremmer plans to reenact the event and die with Marcy in the lake.

A police checkpoint doesn’t deter Bremmer, who speeds past it, leading Morgan to chase him on foot and dive into the lake to save Marcy, which is how the episode began.

Morgan gives Marcy CPR and brings her back to life. He was front and center this week, as was Seaver in a more prominent role than we’ve seen in many past episodes.

It was also nice to see Hotch doing the family thing. Rossi joining him as his assistant on Jack’s soccer team is a fun image, too. Good leadership for the youngsters.

With couple more episodes before season 6 ends, what do you expect now from Criminal Minds?

You can check Criminal Minds Season 6 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

Look who’s in talks to return to Criminal Minds permanently.

A.J. Cook, left the cast of Criminal Minds at the end of last season when her option was not picked up by CBS, sparking outcry among the show’s loyal fans.

She then appeared in the first two episodes of this season to give closure to JJ, her character, who was transferred from the BAU to a job at the Pentagon.

Cook also appeared in Paget Brewster’s (also the subject of contract controversy) final episode in March. But it looks like A.J. may be coming back to stay …

As for Brewster, she is filming a comedy pilot for NBC, My Life As an Experiment, and will continue with that if it gets picked up. But if it doesn’t, she could be back too.

CBS has an option on Brewster for Criminal Minds and, if it exercises it as many expect, the network would reunite the whole cast, just as it was at last season’s end.

Meanwhile, Thomas Gibson and Shemar Moore are still not signed for next season, but talks are underway with the actors, whose deals are up at the end of this cycle.

Suffice it to say, these surprising developments, especially Cook’s potential return to the hit procedural, do not bode well for newly-minted regular Rachel Nichols.

On an unrelated note, executive producer Ed Bernero, who has run the show from the star, is leaving and will be replaced by co-executive producer Erica Messer.

So what’s your say on this rumor-spoiler?

You can check Criminal Minds Season 6 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

This week’s Criminal Minds “Hanley Waters” brings us to another race against the clock as BAU unlocked the mysteries of UnSub’s tragic. On the character development side of the episode, it is good to see Morgan open up some emotionally.

TV Fanatic: Back on the UnSub tragic, her target was the world at large, a cruel place where her son was taken from her. Anybody labeled as a hero – law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs – was in her crosshairs.

Specifically, she honed in on one man by the end.

The theme of grief was also prevalent among the BAU members themselves, as our favorite characters were made to undergo grief counseling after the loss of Prentiss.

These were the most telling scenes of “Hanley Waters” and the most compelling in many respects. For the most part, it dovetailed with the hunt for the UnSub well.

The team members’ responses to Emily’s loss were wide-ranging:

Garcia would rather talk about the good times with Emily (something Don, the UnSub’s target, says he does, but the UnSub, Shelley, says that she cannot).
Morgan runs through the stages of grief and he is angry. He later admits that he believes if he’d gotten there just a minute sooner, Emily would still be alive.
Reid reflects on the void left by his own father and his past counseling, and wonders why they’re doing what they do if they can’t even keep each other safe.
It’s a fair question. By the time Rossi meets with Hotch, it’s clear no one really wants to get into it. Hotch grieves privately, as Rossi says, and has been through hell.

When he says he’s been “more married to the team” than to his own exes, it really hits close to home what a family this is, or what he at least aspires for it to be.

Boldly confronting the UnSub sans vest, Hotch performed a little grief counseling in the field, holding a picture of her family and reminding her of this basic point:

Hurting others won’t bring him back.

It’s profound in its simplicity, and as the woman can’t stop blaming herself and remembering the car accident, Hotch reminds Shelley that Damien lived a happy life.

Analyzing her killing spree, it was Reid who deduced that she was purely on emotion – a sign of reacting to a personal loss – and pinpointed who she was targeting.

He also advised against calling in SWAT, which turned out to be the right call. Turns out Reid’s in-depth experience with counseling and loss was put to good use.

We all react in different ways when someone or something dear to us is taken away, and in the circumstances faced by Shelley, it was all too much for her to bear.

While most of us don’t go shooting people when we feel the universe wrongs us, the episode did a nice job of portraying anguish as part of the human condition.

The parallels with Emily’s exit seemed obvious at times, but in the BAU’s line of work, would be entirely realistic.

I definitely like this episode of Criminal Minds!

You can check Criminal Minds Season 6 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

One thing is evident on this week’s Criminal Minds “With Friends Like These”, the void left by Prentiss (and JJ) continues to hang over the show.

TV Fanatic: The last episode had the feel of a season finale to it, with so much to discuss and so many unanswered questions. But life goes on, as the BAU has new cases to solve.

Not that Emily wasn’t acknowledged. Morgan finds Garcia staring at Prentiss’ picture at the onset, and Hotch tells Rossi he’s already looking for an experienced profiler.

“With Friends Like These,” who needs enemies? The old adage certainly applied to last night’s Criminal Minds, which featured a schizophrenic unsub being manipulated.

Or did it? We zeroed in on a group of unsubs, but it’s Ben who does the killing after Matt, Yolanda, and Tony convince him. Immediately, the BAU knows it’s a group job.

The unsubs appear disorganized, but then Morgan finds an interesting clue – there was only one person other than the victim at the store, and he was talking to himself.

Could it be that unsub Ben is being egged on by voices in his head?

Cut to our suspect trying to convince the “others” not to go after someone else, but eventually giving in. No one else is inside the van he exits to go commit the crime.

Portraying “voices” as actual characters (a la A Beautiful Mind) was a convincing way of showing just how afflicted and helpless a paranoid schizophrenic person can be.

The voices are telling him to kill, but these aren’t typical voices.

This case hit particularly close to home for Reid, who was in his own world (in a manner of speaking) as the team profiled Ben and the hallucinations that compel him.

Reid’s own history has him worried about developing schizophrenia and the potentially terrible side effects. Morgan realizes he’s worried he’ll develop schizophrenia.

Reid tells him about the headaches, but Morgan tries to help him shake it off for now. You get the feeling this is not something he’ll be able to do that with for long.

The latest clue, courtesy of Garcia, is that the unsub wants to exorcise the demons, which is spot on. At least he wanted to, before a priest basically sent him away.

The priest tells Morgan and Reid about Ben and that he had a stutter. Meanwhile, Ben kills a woman he met on the bus, pretending she’s his mother (the catalyst).

Then he wakes up next to her. Thoroughly creepy and sad.

This victim represents his mother and the stresses from childhood that helped make him the way he is. He tries to fight the demons, but it’s a losing battle for him.

All he wants to do is sleep, but can’t. He’s an insomniac, which Reid realizes. After the BAU closes in on the suspect, Reid almost breaks through and disarms him.

Sadly, the voices are just too strong. As he goes after Reid, Hotch is shoots him, disarming Ben at last. Is he a schizophrenic? Was he always? We may never know.

It was an interesting ending to a sad saga. When dealing with such a depraved individual, are you supposed to feel bad? Are they, in fact, a victim in this as well?

As much as we love Emily and J.J., the team as presently constructed can still be a lot of fun to watch, and episodes like this are still grisly and captivating as ever.

That said, there’s a human element missing and Seaver, deliberately or not, has yet to fill the shoes of these women. There’s still time for her to grow, however.

Although there’s something missing on this episode of Criminal Minds, I think the same is still a decent episode. So what do you think?

You can check Criminal Minds Season 6 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

I can describe the last episode of Criminal Minds with just one word – Wow!

After bidding farewell to A.J. Cook and Paget Brewster, how will the show return on March 30? Well, we have an answer below.

“We are all reeling, and yet, there is work to be done, and there’s a case we need to summon our professionalism for and dive into,” Thomas Gibson (Hotch) says.

“We have a community who needs us, and they need us no less in that particular moment in our family’s history, no less than they would in any other moment. I think as the unit chief, [Hotch] is trying to keep everybody focused and keep himself on track as well.”

“It’s something that obviously could be a cause for collapse,” Gibson tells Entertainment Weekly, “but there’s simply too much at stake to let that happen.”

As chief and backbone of BAU, Gibson says Hotch takes his role even more seriously as the loss of Emily Prentiss threatens to briefly derail them.

“She feels like one of the essential limbs of the team, and now that limb has been cut off and they are missing it and missing her. They very acutely feel the loss,” he says.

“I think, at that point, he doesn’t have internal dialogue about that. I think the internal dialogue needs to take place, and it will take place at an appropriate time and moment, but it should not take away from the time the team is needed and when they need him.”

“There are going to be repercussions emotionally, and it’s not going to be easily digested and moved on from.”

While Cook and Brewster are gone, if not forgotten, Rachel Nichols is here to stay.

Is there a chance she and Matthew Gray Gubler’s Reid might forge a romantic connection?

Probably not, says the actor, who seems to have other ideas for a Reid love interest:

“I think Reid’s girl would be more of a champion knitter. I think he would fall in love with someone who couldn’t kick down a door. He’d be happy with a masseuse, or a woman who makes candles, or a champion yodeller. Oh, or a Himalayan Sherpa,” says MGG.

“Someone from the Himalayan mountains would be his dream girl.”

Any thoughts?

You can check Criminal Minds Season 6 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.

Episode 18 of Criminal Minds is an explosive episode. The past weeks built up the suspense as “Lauren” features events such as when the time came for Emily Prentiss to deal with Ian Doyle once and for all. But would she survive this IRA villain’s malicious intentions?

TV Fanatic: As the BAU profiled one of its own to prevent a terrorist from shattering the “family,” Prentiss again took matters into her own hand as she confronted nemesis Doyle.

In what was a gripping final episode wrought with violence, emotion and suspense, Paget Brewster’s character left Criminal Minds last night, but with a surprise twist.

Following a gruesome fight to the death with Doyle, we were led to believe Prentiss perished in Morgan’s arms, pleading with him, “Let me go,” with her final breaths.

Perhaps he did, but not in the way we thought.

In the episode’s closing moments, Prentiss was shown (presumably) only from the rear at an outdoor cafe in Paris, implying she somehow escaped death by stake.

Unlike The Vampire Diaries, there are no mystical rules that could have saved her after being impaled. Yet there she was, living to fight another day, in a new life.

The episode title, “Lauren,” referred to the secret alter ego of Emily. Will she assume that alias again, or adopt a new one? And will we ever see Prentiss’ face again?

As much as I like the character, the open-ended conclusion seemed a bit out of place. They even went as far as having a funeral for her? It was just a little bizarre.

Maybe Emily really will return? It was an awfully long buildup to her demise in any case, only to be faked out in the closing moments. But it was a strong episode.

Timothy V. Murphy’s Ian Doyle was as convincing as a bad guy gets on TV, and the climactic fight scene as gruesome as you’ll see. Parts of it were hard to stomach.

A major highlight for me was Kirsten Vangsness’ Garcia showing so much emotion over these events, especially given how the BAU “family” is trained not to do so.

The possibility of losing their colleague definitely hit Garcia and Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler, who directed the episode) the hardest, and the actors played this well.

Matthew’s direction was also excellent. Cutting between the past and present scenes could have easily been hokey, but it was done seamlessly and effectively.

While she obviously took a back seat to Brewster, it was great to see A.J. Cook back for this one episode as J.J. We can only hope it wasn’t her last appearance as well.

It was J.J. who told the others Prentiss assumed the identity of Lauren, that Doyle was their last case, and that Prentiss went undercover on it because she’s his type.

In France, it was J.J. who hooked Emily up with her new identity before she disappeared. A.J. playing a central role in Paget’s exit was both bittersweet and compelling.

Brewster will be missed on Criminal Minds. I doubt I’ll be the only one to say that. Her style was a nice counterbalance to some of the melodrama exhibited by others.

Her last episode really had the feel of a season or series finale, didn’t it? That’s a compliment to the cast and crew, but it had an air of finality. Certainly momentous.

It’s hard to imagine the show just picking up with a standard installment in two weeks, but we’ll be watching when it does, of course (and missing our favorite ladies).

So how will you rate this episode?

You can check Criminal Minds Season 6 Reviews and Spoilers HERE.