As said in my review for "A Higher Power", Season 3 had its bumpy moments, especially starting in difficult circumstances with the abrupt departure of both the character of Jason Gideon and actor Mandy Patinkin, but much of it was a very solid season and did surprisingly well with its difficult circumstances (even if not perfect).
Even its weakest episode, "Identity", was still decent if slightly bland and forgettable, and lesser Season 3 episodes like "3rd Life", "Limelight", "About Face", "Scared to Death" and "Birthright" were not bad at all. It was however great (some more than that) episodes such as "Elephant's Memory", "Tabula Rasa", "Lucky", "Lo-Fi", "Seven Seconds", "Penelope", "Children of the Dark" and "True Night" that helped it make it a solid season.
"The Crossing" is not the season or the show at its best, and like its previous episode the perfectly solid if somewhat unexceptional "In Heat" it was difficult following on from one of the season's (and show's) best ever episodes "Elephant's Memory" and it is not on the same level but with many great merits. Similar instances being with Season 2 with the still very good "Fear and Loathing" following on after a wonderful season high-point like "Revelations", and then there are instances of bad episodes following on from brilliant ones, the prime example being Season 11's "Drive" following on from "Entropy".
Back to "The Crossing", it is not a typical episode. The team are split up here, and instead of one case it is basically two cases in one episode, neither of them serial killer cases. That is not novel for 'Criminal Minds', the splitting up and two cases in one episode was also done (quite well) in "Damaged". Despite how this may sound, the episode executes this very well.
Instead of serial killing (not the only subject 'Criminal Minds' covers but the one they cover the most), "The Crossing" deals with domestic abuse and stalking, familiar concepts in film and television but both done very highly here. Both are also important issues to address, they were 9 years ago, always were and still are. If there was a preference of the two plot-lines in how they were executed in the episode, it would be the very sad and disturbing, also much less easy than one initially thinks, domestic abuse case where one really feels sorry for Audrey and feels no sympathy for the husband.
Not to say that the stalking wasn't done well, it was with some tension and a creepy stalker, plus although stalking has been done before with 'Criminal Minds' with "Somebody's Watching" the conclusion here is far more satisfying and more rounded. Just that it is a somewhat over-familiar concept that has been done before in film and television better, with more consistent tension and suspense, and to me Kerri was not quite as interesting a character as Audrey and one doesn't get behind her quite as much.
Love the team as usual, Morgan, Reid and Garcia are very underused (barely remember Garcia actually), but JJ's passion for helping Kerri was intensely believable and moving and Rossi and Hotch are such a well-matched pair, one even sees Rossi as caring and a good listener.
Visually the production values are without complaint. It's very well shot and lit and is overall stylish, gritty, classy and atmospheric. The music is moody in the haunting and melancholic sense and fits well, without either enhancing or distracting from it. The direction keeps the momentum going but lets the case breathe, and all of the pacing is spot-on.
The script is thought-provoking, well-balanced and solid, and the story well balanced and intriguing. The acting all round is very good.
Summing up, a very good if not outstanding episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox
