Criminal Minds - A Thousand Suns - Review: "Planes, Brains, and Backstories"

Despite the lack of Linkin Park songs, this episode was pretty good. But really, Criminal Minds, you missed your chance to have a jaw-dropping soundtrack. "Burning in the Skies" could've been playing while the plane was, well, burning in the sky. "The Catalyst" could've been playing at any time, really. I still enjoyed it, and it is the best episode of Season 10, so far, in my opinion.

If this episode's goal was to try to instill a fear of planes in everyone who watches it, I'd say mission accomplished. This episode was intense and kind of freaked me out. A lot. Especially right before watching Stalker. Needless to say, I went to bed with a fear of planes and stalkers.

The episode started out with a seemingly normal clip of passengers on a plane. It starts to malfunction, and people are panicking. Although, there's this one woman whose main concern is that she can't get her WiFi working. That woman would totally be me. Then we see JJ and Kate hanging out in the car. That was cute, although I wish they talked a bit more before being called away by their jobs.

The plane wreckage scene looked great. The way all those parts were smashed around everywhere looks very realistic, I thought. Props to the prop department (Haha). But I did find that scene where the co-pilot was wondering around, completely unnoticed. I feel like if that happened in real life, the clean up crew would be looking for all signs of life. Well, that was quickly resolved by showing us that he's now in the hospital. And then we find out the exact details of the wrecked plane. Is it any wonder why the plane crashed? The flight's number was 420. Don't do drugs, kids.

Next, we have a Kate and Reid scene with plenty of comments to talk about. "What, are you going to profile me now?" Ouch. This seems to be a question everyone in the BAU has asked from time to time. The masterful profilers always fear to be profiled by their own co-workers and colleagues. I always found this very interesting. Kate then says, "I don't want to be that weepy agent with the tragic backstory." Um, did you mean every agent, EVER? Seriously. It is an actual requirement to have a tragic backstory to be an agent in the BAU. This is just common knowledge at this point. Reid speaks next, with a terribly sad retort:

My girlfriend was killed in front of me, and my mom has Schizophrenia; since we're sharing.

REALLY? Was that absolutely necessary? He's never referred to Maeve as a girlfriend, and the last we heard about Diana, she was getting better. Next, they bring a suspect in for questioning. They think he witnessed something with the plane travelling overhead and a streak of light in the sky. This guy's description of the bright light that he saw was comical. He then said, "I don't know my neighbours." It always has to take place in a shady neighbourhood, doesn't it? Also, he said, "I'm not sure you can be trusted." It's the BAU, for cry in' out loud. You can trust them more than anyone else in the world!

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, JJ is trying to talk to the injured co-pilot. She looked vulnerable. I'm sorry to say that I really like this. I'm getting very excited to see JJ showing emotions again. The Commander called a suspect a "whackadoodle." That is my new favourite insult. We then hear the unsub (Unknown Subject) could be part of a possible terrorist cel? That's interesting. Morgan then proceeds to call Reid by the title of "Agent Reid". That's a bit odd. And then, Garcia just calls him "Braniac". Well, he is a Brainiac, but this is no time for nicknames!

We then hear them talking about more suspects, and "Apocalypse Forever" gets brought up. And something to do with World War 3. Could this be the name of Muse's 7th album? If you know Muse at all, you'd agree that it's a great title. Blah blah blah, JJ called Reid "Spence" again. And then BOOM! The MVP of the episode. GREEN SCREEN!!!!!! It was so nice to see Reid in his element, talking with the green-screened passengers. It always looked so great back in the older episodes. I'm elated they brought it back. Also, there was an intense scene of the plane breaking in half. I'm actually floored at how cool it looked.

Kate calls this "The start of another 9-11?" Well, that's not good. And you would know, Kate, considering we learning that your sister and brother-in-law were killed during that. There was lots of plane talk. I should really learn about planes and their parts. Rossi checking up on Kate was a nice touch. I'm still not sold on her, though. I feel like they're still pushing her too hard on us, and I just don't click with her yet. Be patient, Criminal Minds, I'm sure I'll like her in due time. The next thing I heard was Reid saying this:

We've seen it before with a helicopter.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This Replicator reference not necessary, thank you. I think I'm suffering from Post-Replicator Stress Disorder. Well hey, at least there's some sort of profile with this guy, 33 minutes in. Next, you hear Garcia claim this guy's mantra is: "I am become death, destroyer of worlds." Aside from being grammatically incorrect, it's definitely a familiar quote to me, and I don't know why.

Garcia also mentioned that this girl went on, "The world's worst blind date." Oh yeah, any date you go on where the guy's a sociopath is pretty bad. In other news, Reid's hair is getting long. It really does look like Kate's hair. And then a Rossi quote, "So washington is his Hiroshima. Tt makes sense, in a twisted way." Rossi is the best thing about this show; no questions asked. His sass is always on point, and it never takes away the intensity of a situation. In fact, it makes every situation better. Then, they shot the unsub mid-sentence. I wish we got more of a profile, but I can't ask for much with a plane destroyer.

They saved the plane in time! Hurray! This is yet another episode of Criminal Minds with a happy ending. Only this time, it worked really well for me. I'm a big fan of this. It wasn't some sappy team moment that people are tired of (I'll never be tired of them). It was the perfect way to celebrate the saving of many lives. And finally, Kate calling Meg, her niece, at the end. Nice moments, although I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe it's because a plane almost crashed only moments before it. I don't know.

What did you think of A Thousand Suns? Are you as nervous as I am for creepy crawly The Itch next week? Be sure to leave a comment below!