In the season’s 22nd episode, “#6”, the agents investigate an Unsub who targets married couples and Blake gets a surprise visitor. Read on to find out what the minds behind Criminal Minds have in-store for us this week.
For Better or Worse
After the bodies of two married couples are found in Detriot, the BAU is asked to investigate. Each victim sustained multiple stab wounds and the agents quickly realize that the Unsub is holding his victims captive and forcing them to hurt one another. Eventually, the Unsub kidnaps a woman whose husband is out of town and the agents assume the Unsub has abducted a male victim to serve as a substitute. As it turns out, the Unsub is posing as the male hostage and attacking his female victims directly.
When the agents arrive at the Unsub’s location, he is holding his latest victim at knife-point. But since the agents know the Unsub was triggered by the failure of his own marriage, Blake has JJ bring in the Unsub’s wife and she manages to talk him into releasing his hostage. The Unsub is arrested and his latest victim is reunited with her husband.
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Blake’s Special Delivery
In tonight’s B plot, Blake’s husband James makes an unexpected return from his 10 month stint with Doctors Without Borders, much to Blake’s delight. As excited as she is that James is back, Blake also knows that he came home for a reason. James reveals that he has been offered a position at Harvard and he negotiated to get Blake a job in the linguistics department. At the start of their marriage, they agreed that their careers come first but James wants to use his veto power and take these jobs together so they can be a couple again.
Blake opens up to Reid about her new job opportunity and Reid tells her that she should take the job and focus on the person who makes her happy because work will always be there. Though Reid makes a sound argument, Blake is not ready to give up the job she spent 10 years working toward. James might be disappointed in Blake’s answer, but he is in their marriage for the long-haul and says nothing will change that.
Tonight’s episode gives us some decent character development for Blake and it has been a long time coming. Blake’s relationship with James showed us a different side of the character and I liked what we saw. The actors have good chemistry and this is the first time since she was introduced that we have seen Blake look genuinely happy. With next week’s season finale rumored to include a death, I hope James is not the victim and we get to see him alive and well sometime next season.
A Familiar Feeling
The case in tonight’s episode was okay but it also felt similar to two previous episodes, including one from earlier this season. That episode — “Through the Looking Glass” — involved the abduction of several families who were tormented until they revealed their deep, dark secrets to one another. And in season four’s “Paradise,” married couples were held hostage and tortured at a motel.
In a show like Criminal Minds, the cases are bound to get a bit repetitive, especially since the show is now in its 8th season. Yet when you add in this season’s storyline with the Replicator, I have to wonder if the writers are poking fun at the cyclical nature of procedurals.
What do you think? Am I reading too much into it? Did you enjoy tonight’s episode? Are you glad Blake and James worked things out? Hit the comments section and let us know your thoughts.
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(Image courtesy of CBS)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
