Criminal Minds - Nelson's Sparrow - Review: "The BS Unit"

Whether this was Criminal Minds's way of getting rid of Mandy Patinkin once and for all, or a cheap ploy to increase the ratings because making Spencer Reid upset will generate buzz and money, I don't know. But I do know that it's ridiculous to do anything related to Gideon seven and a half years after he was on the show. The show's original idea was to have Gideon commit suicide, due to the murder of his girlfriend, and him not being able to understand what life means anymore. I thought that would have been a very interesting way to take the character, and would have been very realistic - because this job really does has that effect on people in real life.

Let's just try to get through this review. Apologies in advance, for this review was untimely again, and I wasn't so pleased with the episode. The episode starts with Reid in his car, looking all emotional. This was supposed to echo the ending of In Name and Blood (3x02) where Reid drove all the way to Gideon's cabin to find his gun and credentials. There was a dead body inside; the team is all gathered around it. There was a chess board set up. It was Gideon. They killed off Gideon. That was a very fast intro; one of the fastest ever on the show. I don't like where this is going.

Opening Quote:
Spoken by David Rossi - "The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone." Harriet Beecher Stowe

It appeared that Gideon was murdered. All right, then. Rossi mentioned names of friends who have died. Erin, Harrison, now Jason. Um, aren't you forgetting Carolyn and your son, James? Oh, well you said, "Disease is one thing...now, murder?" Um, diseases are a pretty huge thing. Especially ALS. And Blake didn't die, but she left and was your friend too, wasn't she? Anyway, they also brought Gideon's son in on this. Um, Gideon abandoned him. All he did was call him that one time. There was never any indication that Gideon started caring about him again. Regardless, at least they remembered that he had a son. It seem as though Reid is very troubled by this news. Poor guy. He's crying in the morgue. Morgan is there for him.

Apparently Gideon had a bucket list. That's cute. Hotch said, "I knew your dad pretty well, and he had trouble with a lot of things. Saying "I'm sorry" was one of them." Nice little quote from Hotch there. Elsewhere, Kate said that the letter Gideon wrote to Reid was "beautiful". Um, Gideon quit the BAU, left it all behind for Reid on a piece of paper, much like Reid's father did to him, which I know Gideon was aware of, and that is considered "beautiful" to you? I know she's probably referring specifically to the part where he mentions Sarah, but still. Kate just keeps getting worse and worse to me, and I'm really sorry for that. Next, we get more sad Reid. "I'd just always thought I'd see him again. I'd just really like to play one more game of chess with him." Oh, Reid...don't.

Reid and Rossi are talking about the Behavioural Science Unit, also known as The BSU. You're telling Reid about it like he doesn't know. He gave students a lecture about it in Compulsion (1x02). Time for some flashbacks! All Rossi can talk about is books and money, while Gideon is elated when he looks at birds. I like their mention of Zodiac, and calling it "serial crime". Ben Savage and Robert Dunne look like the perfect Gideon and Rossi. The flashbacks are the best part of this episode, by far. Well, I like seeing the team all huddled up for a case like this. It's unfortunate that this is why they are, though. And JJ needs to stay with Garcia because JJ is afraid of the woods. That's so adorable and sad.

These flashbacks are so wonderful. Ben is honestly so perfect at this role. He is more of a Gideon than Mandy was; is that weird to say? I can just see him so vividly as Jason Gideon. It's such a change from his role on Boy Meets World as Cory Matthews, and I love Cory way more than I love Gideon. He's just this talented that he can do both roles so well. Hey, at the very least we now know why Gideon was always so fascinated with birds. Now, we get the JJ and Garcia scene. They had a taste test with ice-cream for one of Gideon's birthdays? Interesting, I would have loved to see that. And now they're eating a dead man's ice-cream - creepy. They do look like they're enjoying it.

Later, Hotch mentioned, "Arrested Development" at one point, in relation to the unsub's psyche. I got so giddy, I love that TV show. I wish he was actually talking about it, though. Oh well, more flashbacks now; boy oh boy! To my surprise, we got a mention of someone that I wasn't expecting. "You [Rossi] and Carolyn were expecting." I was surprised to hear about their son, James. They haven't brought it up since we saw his gravestone in Epilogue (7x07). Gideon said, "Mazel!", when he found out. That means everything to me, hearing Ben say that. Back to the unsub, although we aren't really paying much attention to him, that is until he killed the bird in front of the woman he has taken. Ew!

Oh, well what do you know. We get some sort of profile on this guy from the BAU. "The years of isolation spent in that house were the stressor. That's why he was obsessed with birds." Um, how exactly do you arrive at that conclusion? I really don't follow how being isolated in a house leads one to having an obsession with birds. Maybe if there were birds inside the house he could have turned to them for growth? But Morgan didn't even mention that. That was a lazy profile, I'm sorry. Okay, at least the team is hunting the unsub now. There's a standoff betwixt Rossi and the unsub. "I killed Jason Gideon." Is that really something to be proud of? He's a retired agent, after all. He retired because he couldn't take the job anymore. He quit. You killed a quitter. On the other hand, he was a very good profiler. Oh snap, Rossi put down his gun! And how the unsub died will be a mystery, now.

Thank goodness for more flashbacks. Gideon is getting snappy! Ben Savage is way too perfect at this. Rossi profiled that Gideon was going to have a kid too! That was ADORABLE! I seriously did not think they would have gotten along at all, but this was so great to see. Young Gideon and Rossi were so believable. I have to applaud the writers for that. Their comments about getting a jet, and about being called "a profiler" were amazing. And the ending was cute, but it doesn't make up for the fact that this was a bad way to go about with the episode. There were some great moments, however.

Ending Quote:
Spoken by Aaron Hotchner - "When a good man is hurt, all who would be called good must suffer with him." Euripedes

Final Thoughts:
- The whole, "Out of respect, I kept him covered." thing wasn't lost on me. You can get any ole' body to portray Mandy, you could've even put Ben under the covers! I just don't understand...
- Having Gideon's son be named after Rossi's middle name, Steven, was very nice. I liked that very much.
- If there were more flashbacks I would have enjoyed it even more. Those flashbacks felt so real.
- The ending song was lovely, and having Reid play with the chessboard was heartbreaking. I so felt like he was going to say, "Checkmate" at the end.
- Hats off to Kirsten Vangsness for her first attempt at writing an episode. It was lovely, I have to admit. The way it was writing was very creative. But the real MVP is Ben Savage.
- I don't know what I would rate this episode. Perhaps a B, because the flashbacks were that good.

What did you think of Nelson's Sparrow? Be sure to leave a comment down below!