‘Criminal Minds’ Hits the Big Time
CBS’ Rising FBI Crime Drama Gets the Ultimate Revenge on Critics: Tonight’s Post-Super Bowl Time Slot
Critics have been lambasting CBS’ steadily ascending serial-killer procedural Criminal Minds ever since its debut two years ago. Say what you will about lead actor Mandy Patinkin‘s perpetually sour countenance or the show’s fixation on gory, twisted, over-the-top murders. Who’s giving who the proverbial finger now that the series has landed one of the most coveted time slots in the history of television, the post-Super Bowl prime-time hour?
Methinks it’s the little FBI show that really, really could, despite tons of unabashed criticism that has never abated. I say good for the show, too, since it was and is not as bad as some naysayers would have viewers think. In fact, it’s often quite intriguing, with considerable suspense, interesting bits of info you would not otherwise know, and reasonably imaginative takes on how to kill and kill again.
Tonight’s pivotal episode, “The Big Game,” is the first of a two-parter that will conclude during the series’ regular time slot on Wednesday, February 7. In it, the profilers pursue a typically crafty criminal, played by Dawson’s Creek alum James Van Der Beek, who decides to kidnap the behavioral unit’s resident smarty-pants, Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), after a couple is murdered while partaking in Super Bowl festivities. Will the team of ace profilers find their colleague before the unsub (shorthand for “unknown suspect”) does something unspeakable to him? Well, yeah, of course they’ll track him down—the guy’s a major part of the show. That doesn’t mean it won’t be mighty compelling to see what happens, and how, anyway.
I predict gargantuan ratings that will only help Patinkin and company stick it to livid critics even more … if surpassing ABC’s Lost in the ratings during that megahits last two broadcasts on November 1 and 8 weren’t enough already. Cheers to Criminal Minds. Now I just can’t wait to see who trumps who when Lost finally returns to the small screen Wednesday night against its archrival following a prolonged three-month hiatus. This is a TV battle worth watching.
Criminal Minds airs on CBS tonight immediately after Super Bowl XLI, preliminarily scheduled at 10pm EST
Criminal Minds photo courtesy of CBS
