After a roller-coaster of a season that saw Garcia going into Witness Protection, team members coming and going in quick succession, Morgan being kidnapped and tortured, a new family being made, and the departure of an original team member (Morgan again), we’ve finally arrived at the end of season eleven. Even then, however, we and the team can’t catch a break, as the season wraps up with one heck of a case that involves Hotch being arrested, a familiar unsub from the past rearing their ugly head, and an unsettling premise for season twelve.
When it was revealed this season would end on a cliffhanger, naturally, everyone was concerned. Especially given the knowledge Hotch would be arrested and accused of being part of a conspiracy, and the fact that at the time the news of a cliffhanger broke, the show had yet to be renewed. Would someone else’s life be on the line? Would another team member be in danger of leaving the group, or the show as a whole?
Thankfully, those fears didn’t come to fruition – the team came out of their latest ordeal in one piece. But the particular cliffhanger the episode did end on has me both quite anxious and slightly nervous about what the show will be cooking up next year, now that we know season twelve is a go.
Before we delve into the many possibilities for next season, however, let’s focus on how this episode, and season eleven as a whole, fared.
The Case:
After such an unsettling encounter with Antonia Slade in “Devil’s Backbone”, things start off surprisingly innocently, with everyone on the team enjoying their own peaceful mornings. Vacations are being planned, reunions are happening (more on that later), and Hotch and JJ are prepping a carpool to take their kids to school. Henry and Jack have this sort of brother-esque friendship going on, which is super cute, and the idea of Hotch and JJ doing a carpool for their kids is rather adorable. All in all, it’s a pleasant start to the episode.
Of course, since this is “Criminal Minds” we’re talking about, we know full well by now that any happiness these guys experience rarely seems to last long, and that’s soon proven in one heck of a dramatic way, as seemingly out of nowhere, a SWAT team barrels through Hotch’s door and orders him to his knees. Despite knowing this was coming thanks to the promos, it was no less startling to see it play out in context – I honestly jumped a little when the door burst open.
True to form, Hotch remains as cool as a cucumber during all of this, which is good, because JJ’s completely stunned, and poor Henry and Jack are looking on in total confusion and horror. Jack especially is understandably deeply terrified and upset – that child has had to deal with far too much trauma in his short life. He watches his dad being cuffed and led out of the house, and ugh, my heart hurts so much for both Hotchner boys right now.
So of course, now the big question is, why in the hell is Hotch, of all people, being arrested?
In no time flat, the rest of the team gathers at the BAU to try and answer that question. Rossi’s focused on trying to figure out where Hotch is being held, and Garcia’s initial theory is that Hotch might’ve been “swatted”. Apparently that’s a term for a sort of prank gamers play on opponents, in which they fake 911 calls to mess with them. Charming, no? Learn something new every day. And since SWAT would naturally take 911 calls at their word, they’d be required to treat this very seriously, not knowing it was meant as a prank. On the plus side, that means there should be recorded proof of such a call for the team to analyze.
Shortly thereafter, JJ and Will arrive with Jack, Henry, and Michael, deciding to keep the boys at the BAU for safety’s sake. Henry, thankfully, seems to be handling all of this relatively okay – he’s mainly happy to see his Uncle Spence, which, aw. Jack, on the other hand, doesn’t really feel like talking to anyone. He wants to stay in Hotch’s office, and I want to give the poor boy the world's biggest hug right now. Rossi then gets word that Hotch is being held downtown, and immediately heads out to meet up with him and figure out what this is all about. He sees that Hotch is being taken to the Department of Justice, so there’s one answer to start with.
To say Hotch is unhappy about being arrested and taken into custody would be a massive understatement. He’s not even remotely pleasant to the agent interviewing him, immediately demanding a phone call to talk to his son.
The agent doesn’t seem to care, though, going right into playing the 911 call, and it’s a rather curious one, containing this cryptic message: “Today will change everything.” He then informs Hotch that that call was traced to his phone, and worse yet, that is unmistakably Hotch’s voice saying those four ominous words. Despite that damning evidence, however, Hotch insists he didn’t make that call. So what’s really going on here? Turns out, through Garcia and Reid’s deductions, somebody spoofed the connection to make it look like that call came from Hotch’s phone, and they took various snippets of Hotch speaking at conferences and spliced them together. Pretty high-tech plotting.
That’s not the only thing that has the DOJ concerned about Hotch, though. Seems they’re rather curious about certain purchases in Hotch’s history: a storage unit, a van, and various chemicals to make bombs. Hotch does admit to buying the storage unit, back when he and Haley were together (...oh...), but he says it’s been cleared out for years. He firmly denies ever buying a van or those chemicals, however.
As always, though, his protests fall on deaf ears. The agent interrogating him then lays out various papers and tells Hotch that the DOJ has been watching him for quite some time. Hm. So who would want to frame Hotch? Criminals holding a grudge? The team’s pretty certain Montolo’s gang has no involvement, but they’re also certain that whoever is behind this is sophisticated enough to pull off such a grand scheme, just like Montolo’s gang could.
Garcia works through a list of apps that can be used to splice clips together, and that’s when she hits upon a notable clue. One of the apps is called “The Storm”, a clear allusion to the warning Antonia Slade had given Hotch at the end of “Devil’s Backbone”: “There’s a storm coming, and you’re about to be swept away.” Now the team must ask themselves if, and how, Antonia’s involved in all of this. The fact that she gave that warning to Hotch specifically, despite spending one-on-one time with the entire team, is just further proof that this is all meant to target him; apparently Hotch had touched a nerve when bringing up her son. Looks like another visit to Antonia in order!
JJ comes to see her, and she is in NO mood whatsoever to play nice. She lays out what the team does know about Antonia’s son: he’d be in his forties now, and was raised far away from his mom, but still kept in touch with her. JJ’s convinced that her son is involved in this plot somehow, and figures that Antonia got the team involved because she wants them to help her son avoid being killed by SWAT, preferring he be taken into custody instead.
Thing is, JJ’s awfully furious about the trauma her son, as well as Jack, suffered with Hotch’s dramatic arrest and SWAT teams pointing guns everywhere. So she’s not all that concerned about the safety of Antonia’s son at this moment. But if Antonia promises to cooperate, then maybe, just maybe, they’ll try and keep him safe. Thankfully, Antonia decides to play by JJ’s rules, and the team learns the name of her son: Asher Douglas. He currently lives in northern Virginia, and the BAU finds proof that he did indeed buy the “Storm” app and audio splicing programs. But Reid’s not fully on board with the belief he’s their main mastermind. Yeah, he set up the system that got Hotch arrested, but he seems pretty tame otherwise – no history of violent behavior online or off.
Upon arriving at Asher’s place, Rossi and Reid see that he has something in his hands. He’s hesitant to release it, though, so Reid steps in to try and end this peacefully. Asher admits to researching everyone on the team to try and figure out who was the most prime target for swatting, and claims he settled on Hotch because he was the team leader. Seems an awfully simple explanation for such a dramatic plot, but in a weird way, it also makes a bit of sense (and has me wondering what he would’ve done to any of the others had he picked them now). Thankfully, he then reveals what he’s holding, and much to everyone’s relief, it’s just a couple computer chips.
Reid thinks the real orchestrator of this plot used Asher’s skills for his own gain, and because of his autism, he wound up being an unintentional patsy. So he sits down for a quiet one-on-one chat with Asher, assuring him he won’t go to jail if he cooperates. Asher does confess to the splicing of the call, and shows his knowledge of chemicals on an academic level, but he didn’t actually buy any chemicals. The moment Reid mentions a specific amount of nitromethane, however, Asher reacts strongly. Apparently, he and a friend had talked once about the amount of that particular chemical needed to wipe out a city, purely in a hypothetical sense...on Asher’s end, at least. Unfortunately, his partner didn’t leave their discussion in the hypothetical realm.
So who’s Asher’s partner? Eric Rawdon. The two have a history of communication, and Rawdon also interacted with a group of anarchists, which ultimately lead to his arrest on conspiracy charges. At his trial, Hotch shared a profile of Rawdon he’d written up, and evidently, Rawdon didn’t take that very well.
JJ senses there’s more to this than simple revenge, though. Garcia discovers a whole bunch of e-mails that all contain one simple message: “The storm breaks tonight. Get his bed ready.” Basically, Rawdon and his gang are planning a prison break, and since these e-mails are similar to the kind of coded messages the 9/11 hijackers used in their communications, this group’s also going to carry out Rawdon’s desire to blow up a city somewhere in the U.S.
As all of this is happening, Hotch is still undergoing the utterly maddening interrogation. He’s told that “a confidential source” led the DOJ to put surveillance on him, and at this point all I can think is that Hotch has way more restraint than I do, ‘cause this agent’s sheer smugness makes me want to smack him. At first, Hotch assumes that the DOJ must’ve been in contact with Antonia, given the recent case with her and her “storm” warning to him, but he’s wrong. Turns out another particularly notable figure from Hotch’s past has an ax to grind.
That figure? None other than Peter Lewis, aka, Mr. Scratch. The man who drugged Hotch last season and made him hallucinate the massacre of virtually his entire team.
Yeah. So. That’s not good.
Hotch is then shown a video clip from a prison interview done with Lewis shortly after his arrest, in which he insists that “the world needs to know what kind of man Agent Hotchner really is.” Lewis confesses to drugging him, but claims that in the course of that nightmarish scenario, Hotch “went in his own direction”, to the point where Hotch scared him with his behavior (pardon me while I guffaw loudly at that). As a result, Lewis believes that’s proof that Hotch clearly has the capacity to actually hurt his team for real...or even his own son. Judging from the sheer rage in Hotch’s facial expression at that comment, all I’ll say is that Lewis should thank his lucky stars he wasn’t in the room with him at that moment.
But why in the world would the DOJ bother to believe any of the BS Lewis is spouting in the first place? Well, it seems Lewis’ claims led them to dig further into Hotch’s personal and professional life, just to see if Lewis really was blowing smoke...and this is where Hotch’s professional history comes back to haunt him. After Haley’s death, the DOJ noticed that he started dismissing procedure on the job, and proceed to list some of the more notable examples of his questionable judgment and actions in recent years. The infamous coverup in regards to Emily’s “death”. Justifying Rossi’s murder of the man who’d killed Gideon, “giving him a pass for the same crime you expelled Agent Greenaway for ten years ago” (oooooh, pulling out the big guns now!).
And perhaps the worst offense of all: when it came to Mr. Scratch and the effects Hotch suffered from being drugged, effects that lead to violent psychotic breaks in Lewis’ other victims...he seemed to “neglect” to mention the effects of that drug on him in his Bureau psychological evaluation. Oops. Hotch explains that he knew there was a risk his explanation of the drugging could be misinterpreted by the DOJ (and considering the current circumstances, he would not have been wrong).
His interrogator has another theory, though. He quotes from a profile Hotch gave about workplace shooters, and their behavioral patterns, and believes that very summary now applies to Hotch.
“What did you think? That I was gonna blow up my team, turn my son into an orphan?”
Hotch angrily defends himself against such heinous accusations, rightly pointing out out that the profile also says that workplace shooters generally don’t announce their plans via 911 calls, like he supposedly did. Rawdon’s name comes up then, and Hotch is accused of having worked with the guy. Finally, Hotch manages to shut this nonsense down by claiming that the only reason the DOJ is interrogating him is because they want to to protect themselves from having to admit they completely missed a terrorist attack being planned (ooh). He lays out his reasons for why he thinks Rawdon’s plans include far more than a simple prison break, and makes an offer to work with the DOJ to help bring Rawdon down. Will his plea work?
Not long after all of this, we see a guard making his rounds down the hall of a prison, only to realize with a dawning horror that someone has triggered all the cell doors to open at once. Chaos reigns as the prisoners run loose, and the poor guard is killed after a desperate attempt to call for help. The breakout has officially begun.
Once the team arrives at the prison, Tara, JJ, and Reid are the first ones to encounter a few of the escapees. After a quick chase and takedown, JJ discovers a tunnel. Tara, meanwhile, takes off with some of the SWAT to another area of the prison, and for reasons I can’t even begin to fathom, SWAT tells her to stay there. Alone. With all these prisoners chilling behind their cells that could easily be triggered to open and set them free.
Much to Tara’s surprise, Ennis is one of the prisoners in that cell block. Remember Ennis? He was a prisoner she’d interviewed at the end of “The Night Watch” earlier this season. Turns out he’s apparently been transferred since that interview, and he’s none too happy about it. It’s then he points out what part of the prison Tara’s in: the serial killer wing. Wonderful. As predicted, the doors are opened, and one by one, all those serial killers begin stalking towards her. I seriously half expected them to start chanting, “One of us. One of us...” at some point.
She tries to call Reid and JJ for backup, but someone else gets there first: Hotch! They, along with SWAT, manage to take out the prisoners before Hotch runs to go help Reid and JJ. The latter two manage to hold their own pretty good, though, making some serious headway in their own shootout with the prison gang.
At long last, Hotch manages to find Rawdon, and through process of elimination, he figures out where the bomb and the gang Rawdon’s working with are. It’s a place known as the Ivory Tower, a safehouse for fundamentalist groups. The team arrives just as Rawdon’s gang is loading themselves and the bomb onto a helicopter. Yet another shootout ensues, and the helicopter barely gets into the air before there’s a spectacular explosion and crash, killing everyone on board. Any prisoners remaining on the ground are then taken back into custody, and with the case finally wrapped up, the team returns to the office. JJ is reunited with her family, while Hotch has a chilly reunion with Jack.
There’s no rest for the weary just yet, however. Towards the end of the episode, the team gets another work call, reluctantly pulling them away from a party at Rossi’s place. It’s not just any work call, either. Seems there’s been three more big prison breaks orchestrated by Rawdon’s partners from his last bombing attempt. All three prisons are super max ones (comforting thought, no?)...and all of them have serial killer wings. Naturally, those prisoners were released first. Most of them were killed or recaptured quickly, but as of now there are thirteen serial killers who are still on the run. Nobody yet knows the names of twelve of those prisoners, but the thirteenth one is very well-known to the team.
That thirteenth prisoner? None other than Mr. Scratch. He was part of the plan all along – hence his testifying against Hotch. And on that deeply unnerving note, season eleven comes to a close.
Overall, I was pleased with this finale. Like with “Devil’s Backbone”, I felt this episode nicely showcased the team’s strengths. Hotch going into full-on lawyer/team leader mode with the DOJ interrogator was awesome – he’s never been one to respond well to his abilities and authority being questioned or doubted (“Minimal Loss”, “Tabula Rasa”, pretty much anytime he butted heads with Morgan or Strauss...), so it was very fitting to see him reacting similarly here, demanding answers and proof. The fact that the DOJ presented what they had to know was a flimsy as hell case to Hotch makes me wonder if someone in that organization will be revealed to have their own shady role in this whole plot somewhere next season.
JJ confronting Antonia was fantastic. Whereas she was occasionally a little taken aback by Antonia’s behavior last episode, this time around she pulled absolutely NO punches, and I liked seeing her in total command of the situation. I also loved seeing her express such intense anger over the trauma inflicted on Henry and Jack. We’ve seen her protective mother side come out in full force before (her showdown with Izzy being a notable example), and it was cathartic to see that side of her come out here again, not just for her own son, but for Jack, too. She spoke on behalf of all of us who felt for those poor kids.
Reid was at the top of his game again this episode, just like in “Devil’s Backbone”. I quite liked seeing him bringing his well of expertise to the case: helping figure out the fact that the 911 call was a splice job, his knowledge about various chemicals and personality traits of unsubs who pulled these sorts of online pranks, being able to easily pinpoint Asher’s autistic/Asperger’s tendencies.
But the best part was seeing how utterly compassionate he became when talking to Asher. Reid’s always been so good at empathizing with unsubs, trying to take the time to understand them as people rather than criminals, and he’s also the team member who tends to have the most patience in interviews, so I love that we got to see that aspect of him here.
His interaction with Asher also helped us sympathize with him – the poor guy basically got roped into this whole mess by someone who knew how to exploit his abilities and struggles, an issue with which Reid can easily identify. The fact that someone like Asher is Antonia’s son is so striking, too. Enough to make one wonder how his life would’ve turned out had Antonia been a much better mother, and person, in general.
Tara wasn’t a major presence this episode, but I like that she remained the steady, calm agent we first saw back at the start of this season, when she waited thirty plus hours in the midst of so much chaos to see whether or not she’d be joining Hotch’s team. If she stays on next season (and I rather hope she does), whether she’s a recurring or full-time character, I’d like to get to know a little more about her as well. This may be the best way to introduce new members in the future, come to think of it – start them off as recurring, let us get used to them a little, and then once they’ve settled in, we can start delving deeper into their lives.
And of course, seeing Garcia get a chance to use her tech skills to try and tie down who might be behind this whole plot was fun. It says a lot, too, about how dedicated she was to helping Hotch that she was willing to take such risks with her online investigation, considering her doing the same thing with Montolo’s gang wound up putting her and the team in peril this season. And yet, despite her knowledge proving helpful, the case didn’t rely too heavily on her tech savvy. So many of the ways in which the team gathered clues and solved the case were through other means, which was kinda refreshing.
I also think this finale’s set up some very intriguing potential storylines for season twelve, most notably the issue of Hotch’s decision-making skills in recent seasons, and the team’s tendency to skirt around the law sometimes. Sure, we fans can understand and sympathize with everything involving Emily and Doyle, or Rossi taking out Gideon’s murderer, or Elle’s PTSD getting the better of her (and I love that they mentioned Elle at long last all these years later – I wonder if that’s a hint that the show might work on trying to bring back more past team members next season).
But in the eyes of the higher ups, it’s logical they would have questions and want to scrutinize the team as a result. Heck, even the team themselves acknowledge this is an issue – we saw that back in “Beautiful Disaster”, when Morgan took issue with Hotch ordering him to stay off the case. There is a bit of a double standard there, and I’d really like to see the show delve deeper into that next year.
For all its aggravation, the interrogation was also quite poignant thanks to the mention of Haley. This fits well into a season where many team members’ personal issues came to light (Reid’s struggles with his mom and her illness, JJ dealing with a growing family, Morgan trying to reconcile this job with raising a new family, Rossi reuniting with his ex-wife), and it also tied perfectly into the change in Hotch and Jack’s relationship. Now that Jack’s old enough to understand what happened to his mom, and is more likely to struggle with his dad’s job in many ways, I think this could be a very important and moving aspect of their relationship to explore further, and I hope we get to see that next season, too.
As for the case itself, I’m very glad that it was not tied to the Dirty Dozen storyline. Every other time we thought this group had finally been dealt with this season, they’d reared their heads again, so I wondered if that’d happen here, too. Thankfully it didn’t. I did like that we got to see Antonia again, if only briefly, and I’m very intrigued by the idea of a group of prisoners on the loose, Mr. Scratch included, as the setup for a possible season-long arc next year. The interviews I’ve read have indicated that the show’s open to the idea of having some of those twelve prisoners be unsubs the team dealt with in the past, so if that’s the case, I’m looking forward to seeing which ones they’d choose to bring back.
I also think it’d be particularly fascinating if some of those prisoners were those who were merely budding unsubs when the team first encountered them, and turned into full-fledged criminals down the line. Maybe Nathan Harris wasn’t able to control his urges in the end. Maybe Jeremy from “Safe Haven” got even deeper and darker in his criminal sprees. Does Owen Savage still hold any bitterness and thirst for revenge? There’s so many places they could go with this idea.
And of course, the thought of Mr. Scratch being on the loose again has me intrigued, mainly because I’d be curious to see if and how he might try and exploit the rest of the team’s worst fears, the way he did with Hotch. Plus, frankly, I’m just really excited by the thought of another episode like “Mr. Scratch”, especially if Matthew Gray Gubler gets to direct it.
That said, I also understand the concern about bringing back unsubs from the past when there’s still so many new ones they could create. And with Mr. Scratch, the episode about him was perfect as it was, so I can see being hesitant about doing another episode similar to it (especially given it might be tough to recreate the sheer terror that episode brought us viewers). There’s good arguments to be had on both sides, and I’d love to hear where you guys stand on this story idea, or any other possible ways in which you think it could be handled.
If I had one main complaint about this episode, it’s that after the drama of Hotch being arrested in such a spectacular fashion, and the great buildup we had in “Devil’s Backbone”, the main case and the arrest fallout seemed to just kinda wrap up rather anti-climatically. Having a unit chief get arrested by a SWAT team and accused of conspiracy would surely warrant a meeting between Hotch and the higher ups, would it not? How would Cruz handle this, in comparison to Strauss? Would there be talk of Hotch stepping down yet again, or being transferred? So many questions, it’d have been nice to see some of that addressed in the finale, even if only in passing (“I’ve got to meet with the Section Chief on Monday”, or something).
It also would’ve been nice to see the team talking a little about all the big changes they’ve been through this season, especially with the loss of Morgan. Maybe give us an idea of where their minds and emotions are at going forward, and how they are dealing with, or will learn to deal with, everything they’ve been through. And it’d be nice to have an idea of where Tara might be in terms of staying with the team as well.
Of course, the ending seems to indicate this plot runs a lot deeper than what we saw, so I assume those questions, as well as any further fallout of Hotch’s interrogation, will be dealt with more deeply next season. Still, it would’ve been kinda nice to get a few answers here all the same, especially since, at the time the episode aired, the possibility of a season twelve was still uncertain.
Overall, though, since this finale set up an interesting premise for season twelve, and since the cliffhanger was not so urgent to where we’d have been left hanging TOO badly had the show been canceled, I think it ultimately worked. There was a decent amount of action and some good teamwork throughout, and after all the team went through this season, I think having this kind of a finale, with everyone making it out okay, was the right way to go.
Meanwhile, on the personal front…:
Before the insanity that was the SWAT takedown happens, we get a happy glimpse into how the team’s lives. Tara Is talking with Reid and Garcia about the latter two’s potential vacation plans – Garcia is going to see Emily, and Reid can guess that because “nothing else would make you this excited”. Awwww.
Reid, meanwhile, is looking at planning a trip with his mom! He was initially considering an Alaskan cruise, but his mom’s wary of cruises, apparently. She has mentioned a longing to visit Paris, however. As sweet as the thought of Reid and his mom taking a vacation together is, I can’t help wondering if this is a sign that Diana’s doctors have found a way to stave off her illness a little, or if this is part of Reid’s attempt to do any and everything he can with his mom before her dementia and Alzheimer’s takes her completely?
(Also, Reid mentions his mom is okay with flying, so either she’s changed her views since “The Fisher King”, or her memory is to the point where she forgets things like her fear of flying much more easily. I need to stop with these upsetting theories, I really do.)
Rossi, meanwhile, has apparently managed to get even closer to Hayden since the events of “Inner Beauty” - they’ve been working on rekindling their romance! Thing is, though, they’re unsure of how to reveal that news to Joy. Fortunately, their worries wind up being unfounded in the end, because Joy kind of already has a clue as to their relationship (“She is a reporter”, Rossi reminds Hayden).
The subject of their relationship comes up again towards the end of the episode, and at first it sounds like their romantic bliss may be short-lived. After Rossi had to run off to help with everything regarding Hotch, Hayden started second guessing whether it was wise to start things up with him again.
“Do me just one favor, before you make any decision. Meet my team. They’re the only family I have outside of you and Joy.”
Rossi’s not letting things end that easily, though. Maybe by meeting his team,, he reasons, she’ll truly understand why he is so devoted to this job, and this group of people. He doesn’t want to make the same mistake he made thirty years ago by walking away again. It’s a sweet plea, and luckily, his words convince Hayden to keep giving their relationship another try.
And that’s how we wind up with another lovely team gathering at Rossi’s house. Like promised, Hayden gets to meet the team, and seems to hit it off well with them (and really, how could you not?). A short while later, everyone’s gathered in the backyard, where Reid has a captive audience in Henry and Jack as he performs a whole bunch of magic tricks, with Garcia as his lovely assistant, in one of THE cutest scenes this show’s ever done. After the trauma Jack witnessed earlier, it was nice to see him laughing and having a bit of fun, and I loved seeing Henry get to spend time with both his godparents. Plus, that scene was a sweet example of Reid and Garcia’s friendship, which made me happy as well.
“You’re his hero. Not a pretend hero, a real hero.”
JJ and Hotch watch the magic show from the sidelines, but Hotch is having a harder time enjoying himself. He’s clearly concerned about the effect his arrest and interrogation will have on Jack, noting that unlike when his mom died, Jack’s old enough to remember this event. JJ does her best to reassure him that things will turn out okay, however, so here’s hoping Hotch can take her words of comfort to heart. I liked that Hotch and JJ got to bond over this incident thanks to their shared parental struggles. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them connect on the parental front like this, and I want more of that.
So that’s my thoughts on the finale itself. What about season eleven as a whole?
Season Eleven Summary:
Obviously, the biggest issue this year was the revolving door of team members coming and going, culminating in the team losing one of its original members when Derek Morgan left the series for good. On the one hand, this sort of cast change is something fans are used to dealing with, because this show’s had quite the history of team members coming and going over the years. So it seemed fitting that trend would continue this season.
At the same time, however, those transitions were usually more spread out through the season, and there weren’t so many changes all at once. At most, we usually only lost or gained one or two team members, either temporarily or permanently, within the span of a season.
But this season alone, JJ was gone for a time at the start because of maternity leave, Tara was the latest newbie (and yet there were a few episodes in the middle of the season where she didn’t appear), Reid was gone for three episodes, Morgan left for good, and Emily stopped in for a visit. That’s a LOT of back and forth in such a short time span, and it made the season feel rather disjointed. It’d be really nice to have a season again where we didn’t have so much of that back and forth (or, preferably, any at all), and things could remain steady with the team lineup for a while. Obviously, though, much of that will depend on whether or not they replace Morgan, and if Aisha Tyler’s schedule allows for Tara to stick around.
Another thing adding to the disjointed feel of the season? The Dirty Dozen story arc. I love the idea of the show doing serialized or season-long story arcs, because at their best, they can pull out some really great ones (Foyet being the most notable example). I just think some of them need to be tighter in terms of the story setup. The Dirty Dozen storyline had some intriguing moments and led to some great episodes (“The Job”, “Entropy”, “Derek”, “Beautiful Disaster”), but it was also kind of all over the place. I felt like those threads weren’t connected as well as they should’ve been, and there was a weird “stop/start” style to the storyline as well. You thought it was over, but nope, here’s a new angle...okay, now that’s done, and yet here’s another popping up. That sort of setup would’ve worked better if there was a little more organization to everything.
That’s not to say there shouldn’t ever be any mysteries left over, or questions that linger, of course. A lot of cases don’t always wrap up so neatly, and with this show, a bit of eerie mystery is good. But I do think trying to keep the basic storyline from veering off in too many directions just to try and force some sort of twist and unpredictability would help. I think the show is capable of making that work – they’ve had some good elements to their other season-long story arcs that showed promise (notably with the Replicator). It’s mainly just a matter of some focused storytelling.
And with that, season eleven is a wrap! I would like to take a moment to express my deep thanks and gratitude to all of you who’ve read and commented on my reviews throughout the season. It’s been an absolute blast and pleasure covering this show, and I loved having another means through which to discuss the series and these characters with fellow fans. Your support is greatly appreciated, and I thank you all so, so much. I look forward to being back here come season twelve, reviewing and discussing the new season with all of you!
What did you think of this episode? Did you love the nods to past team members and events? Did the cliffhanger leave you intrigued for what may come in season twelve? What past unsubs would you like to see possibly be among the missing twelve prisoners? Do you think we’ll have a “Mr. Scratch” Part Two? How do you think Hotch and Jack will fare in the wake of the finale’s events? What aspects of season eleven did you like/dislike? Favorite/least favorite episodes? And finally, what are your hopes and wishes for season twelve? Share your thoughts in the comments!
