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Criminal Minds
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Criminal Minds is an American crime drama series that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. The show is produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television. It follows the adventures of a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico, Virginia. Criminal Minds differs from many criminal system procedural dramas by focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself.
The series' third season, which premiered on September 26 2007, was interrupted in late 2007 by the industry-wide WGA strike.
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Encyclopedia
Criminal Minds is an American crime drama series that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. The show is produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with ABC Studios and CBS Paramount Network Television. It follows the adventures of a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico, Virginia. Criminal Minds differs from many criminal system procedural dramas by focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself.
The series' third season, which premiered on September 26 2007, was interrupted in late 2007 by the industry-wide WGA strike. It aired its last pre-strike episode on January 23 2008. Following the resolution of the strike, the show returned to air on April 2 2008. On May 14 2008, Criminal Minds was renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on September 24 2008.
Background
The series originally centered on Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), one of the BAU's best profilers. On July 17 2007, it was announced that Patinkin had been granted a request to be released from his role on the show. Patinkin was replaced by Joe Mantegna, who joined the cast several episodes after Patinkin left the show. The show is also centered around the BAU's Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson). Hotchner struggles to balance his family life and his job. The rest of the BAU consists of Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Jennifer Jareau (AJ Cook), Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) and David Rossi (Joe Mantegna). The team is headquartered out of Quantico, Virginia at the FBI academy. The show focuses on the BAU traveling around United States as they catch the most dangerous criminals. Each episode, except for a few, begins and ends with a quote that is relevent to the episode. The quotes were overwhelmingly recited by Gideon until his departure; since then each member has said the quotes.
Characters
Current characters
FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent/Unit Chief Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner: Played by Thomas Gibson, Hotch was formerly assigned to the FBI Field Office in Seattle, Washington. Currently, he is the head of the BAU team. He has a son named Jack by his now ex-wife. Hotch's attempts to balance his family life and his job successfully are an ongoing theme on the show. After a two-week suspension for releasing a serial killer, Hotch requested a transfer from Erin Strauss, who was pressuring him for such a request. This pleased his wife, until Agent Morgan begged Hotch to come help on a case in Milwaukee and while he was packing up his desk, Garcia handed him the case file and lied to him, telling him that his transfer was held up and that JJ wanted him to have the file. Hotch decided to stay with the BAU against his wife's wishes—when he returned to Virginia, his wife and son were gone. In episode 3x11 ("Birthright") he was served with divorce papers as he was leaving the office; he is seen signing them in a later episode. In episode 3x01 ("Doubt") it was revealed that Hotchner had previously worked as a prosecutor - more specifically, episode 3x19 ("Tabula Rasa") indicated he had been with the District Attorney's office. In 1x08 ("Natural Born Killer"), when he is interrogating Vincent Perotta, Hotchner comments on the fact that it is logical for some abused children to become killers. Perrotta notes Hotch's use of the word "some"; Hotch responds only by saying: "And, some grow up to catch them." This comment seems to imply that Hotchner was also abused as a child. His hearing has been damaged as a result of the car explosion he was caught in at the beginning of Season 4. The doctor tells him that if he isn't careful he will go deaf, instead he goes on a case and a gun is fired near his ear which nearly makes him lose his hearing, episode 4x02 ("The Angel Maker"). In episode 4x04 ("Paradise") he started to doubt himself when a suspect he interviewed turned out to be the Unsub. Hotch has a younger brother named Sean, who makes an appearance in "The Tribe".
FBI BAU Senior Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi: Played by Joe Mantegna, David was in early retirement until his voluntary return to the BAU. He had retired in order to go on lecture and book tours but returned to settle some unfinished business which wasn't immediately specified. In episode 3x11 ("Birthright") Rossi revealed to Sheriff Caulfield his reasons for returning; he held out a charm bracelet with the names of three children from one of his first cases. The children had watched their parents get beaten to death and he promised them he would find out who did it. Each year on Christmas Eve, Rossi calls the children to let them know he hasn't forgotten them and he hasn't given up on solving the case of their parents' murders. He kept with this tradition through his return to the BAU, though none of the children had replied to his most recent call. Rossi finally told Caulfield that the case had gone unsolved for 21 years; it was finally solved in episode 3x14 ("Damaged"). He steps in as a hostage negotiator in 4x03 ("Minimal Loss") when his fellow employees Reid and Prentiss are held hostage.
FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan: Played by Shemar Moore, Morgan is a confident and assertive everyman character, the son of an African-American father and Caucasian mother. He holds a black belt in Judo, runs FBI self-defense classes, and served in a bomb squad unit and as a Chicago police officer. He and his two sisters (Sarah and Desirée) grew up in a tough urban Chicago neighborhood. After the death of his father when he was ten, Morgan struggled somewhat; youthful fighting earned him a juvenile criminal record. He was taken under the wing of a local youth center coordinator, Carl Buford. Buford acted as a surrogate father to Morgan helping Morgan to obtain a college football scholarship, but also sexually abused him — episode 2x12 ("Profiler, Profiled") revealed and focused on this. Also in episdoe 2x12 his birthday is shown June 6, 1973. In episode 3x20 ("Lo-Fi") it is told that he is being looked at to replace SSA Joiner and head up the New York field office. In 4x01 ("Mayhem") Hotchner doesn't recommend him because he said that Derek doesn't have enough trust in his coworkers. In episode 4x05 ("Catching Out") he chases the Unsub to a train where he hangs on for dear life until Hotchner shoots the suspect and saves his life.
FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid: Played by Matthew Gray Gubler, Doctor Reid is a genius who graduated from high school at age 12. In his youth, his father left him and his mother since Reid's father could no longer deal with his mother's paranoid schizophrenia. He once mentioned that he was victim of bullying in school where he was stripped naked and tied on a goalpost in front of other students. Reid grew up learning nearly everything he knows from books, with his mother (a college professor) often reading to him. Still, Reid knew that the way his mother was living wasn't healthy. When he was eighteen, he had his mother placed in a mental institution. Reid's mother still resides in that same mental institution and Reid has stated that he sends letters every day because of the guilt he feels for not visiting her. Reid is also worried about the fact that his mother's illness can be passed on genetically; he once told Morgan that "I know what it's like to be afraid of your own mind." After being kidnapped by a serial killer with multiple personalities and tortured and drugged for days, Reid developed an addiction problem. This problem was discovered by Hotch and Gideon over time, as well as an old friend of Reid's in New Orleans. He has since become clean; in episode 3x16 ("Elephant's Memory") he attended a support group meeting for addicts in law enforcement. He said he'd been experiencing cravings recently and spoke of the teenage suspect shot in front of him before being interrupted by a page from work. Reid has an eidetic memory, meaning that he can remember an exceedingly large amount of information with extraordinary detail. In the season 4 episode 4x03 ("Minimal Loss") he and Prentiss are held hostage by a cult led by a polygamist (played by Luke Perry) resulting in him feeling guilty over his fellow agent getting beaten by the cult leader. In episode 4x06 ("The Instincts") a young boy disappears and it leads Reid to some questions about his own past. In episode 4x08 it is revealed that he holds PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering and BAs in Psychology and Sociology and is working on a BA in philosophy.
FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau: Played by AJ Cook, JJ acts as the team's liaison with the media and local police agencies. She is not actually a profiler, having once declined Hotchner's suggestion to "take the classes" to qualify as one. She once went on a date to a Washington Redskins game with Reid but little has come of it romantically. JJ graduated from East Allegheny High School near Pittsburgh, PA, where she was the captain of the varsity soccer team her senior year and earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh. When she and Reid split up the night of Reid's abduction, JJ walked into a dark barn and was attacked by several ferocious dogs, which she shot and killed. This had a huge emotional impact but has not come up since. Recently she shot and killed a man in a hostage situation at the BAU which so far seems to have had only minor effects. She is pregnant with Detective William LaMontagne Jr's baby (whom she met in the episode Jones) and he has asked her to marry him. At the end of the season three finale he indicates that he's willing to give up his shield in order to help take care of the baby and allow her to continue to do her job but he is still worried about her safety and the safety of their child. In episode 4x05 (Catching Out) she reveals her temporary replacement while she is out on maternity leave. In episode 4x06 ("The Instincts") it is learned that JJ will be having a boy. And in episode 4x07 ("Memoriam"), JJ goes into labor and gives birth to a baby boy named Henry. JJ and Will name Garcia and Reid as Henry's godparents. It was revealed in episode 4x15 that she attended Georgetown. In the same episode, JJ tells Rossi that she decided to join the FBI after attending one of his book readings at the campus library during her senior year of college. She said she didn't know what to do with her life until she listened to his reading, and applied to the Academy the next fall.
FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss: Played by Paget Brewster, Prentiss is the daughter of an ambassador. In her first appearance, she recognizes Hotch from one of his first commands: security clearance for her mother. Her arrival surprises both Hotch and Gideon, as neither of them had signed off on the transfer. Prentiss insists her parents have not pulled strings for her. Ultimately she joins the team at the end of episode 2x09 ("The Last Word") on a probationary basis. She replaces Agent Elle Greenaway. She is a graduate of Yale and has been working for the FBI for a little under ten years, primarily in the Midwest. She is fluent in Arabic from her childhood spent traveling and residing in the Middle East; she can also speak some Spanish and Russian. After being pressured by Section Chief Erin Strauss to assist in the end of Hotch's career, she resigned from the FBI. However, Garcia managed to keep her departure on hold in the computer system just long enough for the rest of the team to convince her to stay with the BAU. Upon her return, Section Chief Strauss remarked that neither Prentiss, Hotch, nor the rest of the team would be able to climb the ladder to the top because of all this, thus putting an end to some of Prentiss's future ambitions. In the third episode of season 4 episode 4x03 ("Minimal Loss") she and Reid are held hostage by a cult. When the cult leader finds out that one of them is an FBI agent, Prentiss takes the fall, partially to protect Reid, and ends up getting beaten by the cult leader. Reid seems guilty by what happened, since the cult leader appeared to be suspecting him at first, but Prentiss adamantly tells him that it was not his fault.
FBI Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia: Played by Kirsten Vangsness, Garcia is the team's Audio/Visual Technician at BAU Headquarters in Quantico, VA. When she speaks with Morgan they use pet names such as "hot stuff" or "sweet cheeks". Although they haven't pursued a romantic relationship, Garcia did show mild jealousy at the sight of Morgan dancing with two other women. She also started to cry twice when she thought Morgan had been killed, once in 2x10 ("Lessons Learned"), and again in 4x01 ("Mayhem"). Her parents died in an auto accident due to a drunk driver when she was eighteen and she now helps counsel the families of murder victims in her spare time. In episode 3x09 ("Penelope") Garcia admitted that after her parents died she dropped out of Caltech and went "underground" but continued to teach herself computer coding. She had been on one of the FBI's hackers lists and they recruited her from there, hence her job with the BAU. She is into online games, specifically MMORPGs. She has broken down crying several times due to the fact that one area of her job is to listen to and watch terrifying things in her office to analyze them for the team. However, according to Agent Hotchner, she "fills her office with figurines and color to remind herself to smile as the horror fills her screens." Garcia was shot in episode 3x08 ("Lucky") by a man with whom she had just gone on a date but she survived the gunshot when the bullet, which was aimed at her heart, ricocheted into her stomach. It is mentioned that she doesn't get to travel a lot with the team in episode 3x20 ("Lo-Fi"). She is currently romantically involved with fellow FBI Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch (played by Nicholas Brendan).
Other characters
Haley Hotchner:Played by Meredith Monroe, she is the wife of series regular Agent Hotchner. Together they have a son named Jack. Their marital issues are a running theme and by the end of episode 3x02 ("In Name and Blood", also entitled "In Birth and Death") it looks as though Haley and Jack have left. At the end of episode 3x03 ("Scared to Death") Hotch mentions to Morgan that he isn't sure if Haley is coming back. At the end of episode 3x11 ("Birthright") Haley has Hotch served with divorce papers as he is leaving the office for the day.
FBI Section Chief Director Erin Strauss:Played by Jayne Atkinson, she is the BAU's direct superior. Her job lies in administration, and she has no actual field experience. She is under the impression that Hotchner's team is unorganized and poses a threat to the BAU, prompting her to enlist Emily Prentiss to spy on the team (a request that was denied) and to attempt Hotch's removal from the BAU with a pending investigation on his methods. She resigns her attention from the team eventually, but not before making sure that none of them will ever be able to move up in any higher positions within the FBI.
Detective William LaMontagne Jr: Played by Josh Stewart, Detective LaMontagne was first seen in 2x18 ("Jones") as a New Orleans detective investigating a serial killer case which had initially belonged to his father, who had been a detective before unfortunately being killed in Hurricane Katrina. The killer was believed to have suffered the same fate but when evidence to the contrary arose, Detective LaMontagne took over the case using the work his father had done and a single word carved on the wall of his father's home, left as a clue. Detective LaMontagne called in the BAU to assist him and they were ultimately successful in capturing the murderer. In this episode we first see the attraction between JJ and LaMontagne. In 3x16 ("In Heat") it is revealed that they have been involved for over a year and in 3x17 ("The Crossing") we discover JJ is pregnant; in the season three finale ("Lo-Fi") we discover that LaMontagne is willing to give up his job in New Orleans to raise the baby with JJ that he has asked her to marry him.
FBI Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch: Played by Nicholas Brendon, Kevin first appeared in 3x09 ("Penelope") in which he is required to search Garcia's computer to learn who shot her. Kevin sends the team live video alerting the team the Unsub is in the BAU headquarters. At the end of the episode Garcia was introduced to Kevin and the two have been romantically involved ever since.
Former characters
FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Jason Gideon: Played by Mandy Patinkin, Gideon was the BAU's best profiler. He helped both Morgan and Reid through separate bouts of nightmares. Prior to the series he was said to have had a nervous breakdown after sending six men into a warehouse with a bomb in it. All six agents were killed and he was heavily criticized for his decision. Gideon is also skilled at chess, having continually beaten Dr. Reid. After a series of emotional cases, Gideon began to feel burned out. The last straw was Hotchner's two-week suspension, for which Gideon felt responsible. He retreated to his cabin during the suspension and left a letter for Dr. Reid, whom he knew would be the one to come looking for him. When Reid arrived at the cabin, it was empty except for the letter and Gideon's badge and weapon. Gideon was last seen remarking to a Nevada diner waitress that he didn't know where he was going or how he'd know when he got there, leaving the diner and subsequently driving off in his vehicle. On July 17 2007, it was announced that Patinkin had been granted a request to be released from his role on the show. Patinkin was replaced by Joe Mantegna, who joined the cast several episodes after Patinkin left the show.
FBI BAU Special Agent Elle Greenaway:Played by Lola Glaudini, Elle was formerly assigned to the FBI Field Office in Seattle, Washington, and assigned to the BAU as an expert in sexual offense crimes. Her father was a police officer but was killed in the line of duty. She is half Cuban and speaks Spanish. After she was shot she returned to the BAU rather quickly, against the advice of the rest of the team. Not long after, she staked out and shot a serial rapist in cold blood because of his crimes against women (and, probably, her part in accidentally ensuring his freedom). Her ability as a profiler was questioned by Hotchner and Gideon because of this, even though the local police force deemed it self-defense. She turned her badge and her gun over to Hotch, declaring that it wasn't "an admission of guilt."
Episodes
DVD releases
CBS Home Entertainment released season one of Criminal Minds on DVD in Region 1 on November 28 2006. Season two was released on October 2 2007. Meanwhile, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Entertainment) released an R2 set on February 12 2007 in Europe. At the time of the region two DVD release, the season had not had a complete run on national television. The DVD set was released with the season finale set to be aired three days after the release, on February 15 2007.
| DVD Name | Region 1 release date | Region 2 release date | Region 4 release date | Region 2 release date |
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| The Complete First Season | November 28 2006 | February 12 2007 | April 18 2007 | June 7 2007 | | The Complete Second Season | October 2, 2007 | May 5 2008 | May 5 2008 | TBA | | The Complete Third Season | September 16, 2008 | April 2 2009 | March 18 2009 | TBA |
Ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Criminal Minds on CBS:
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Season Premiere | Season Finale | TV Season | Rank | Viewers
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| 1 | Wednesday 9:00 P.M. | September 22 2005 | May 10 2006 | 2005-2006 | #27 | 12.8 |
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| 2 | Wednesday 9:00 P.M. | September 20 2006 | May 16 2007 | 2006-2007 | #22 | 14.0 |
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| 3 | Wednesday 9:00 P.M. | September 26 2007 | May 21 2008 | 2007-2008 | #23 | 12.7 |
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| 4 | Wednesday 9:00 P.M. | September 24 2008 | May 2009 | 2008-2009 | #10 | 14.71 |
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Series High: 26.31 million viewers (10:30pm ET; week of 1/29/07) (following Super Bowl XLI-93.18 million, and Super Bowl XLI Post Game-57.34)
DVR Ratings
The show ranked number nine in DVR playback (2.35 million viewers), according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data from 9/22/08 - 11/23/08.
Internet Ratings
Syndication
The series is now in syndication on A&E Network. It will enter syndication on ION Television in fall 2009.
External links
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