Gold Star

This might be the best episode ever.

Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss Joe Mantegna as David Rossi They are ALWAYS the Best Friendship/Relationship on the Show.

Emily is Intensely Driven & as Passionate as Ever.

The Team is perfect in Evolution & the former agents that are gone are not missed in the least.

I won't do spoilers.

I am not surprised that they have already been renewed for a third season (18th season overall) ahead of the Premiere of this season today.

JJ, Tara and Luke are also firing on all cylinders.

BAU Team Leader Emily Prentiss?

Emily's sass, intelligence, passion & empathy are all on Display.

Paget Valerie Brewster should win award after award for her talent.

The BAU is back with a bang !!!

Season 17 has kicked off quite close to the S16 finale. We have a serial killer called gold star that the team must track and capture, feeling more brutal and untraceable, this unsub seems to be tricky.

I'm really enjoying how last season is playing into current, Rossi is psychologically struggling after being abducted last season, while other departments are trying to strike a deal with Ellias to uncover the identity of gold star.

Good action, good acting, I love the use of the F bomb a few times in the episode and the whole team feel like they have never left, happy to be back, 8/10.

The second season of the Streaming version of Criminal Minds (Evolution) takes up after that cliffhanger involving Mantegna in peril with many a switcheroo. Having the team in its quest to make sense out of the mysterious unsub Gold Star forces allegiances first with the disgraced Tyler and ultimately (saved for a future episode) the evil Elias, who they foolishly thought was headed for prison and out of their hair.

I enjoyed how the team's private lives and issues were intersecting with their work in a big way, and not just their animosity toward Elias, who keeps popping up here in fantasy hallucinations for Mantegna, a technique usually reserved for bringing back dead characters. While being entertained by all these twists, I couldn't help thinking about what was missing: the ultimate in curve balls: what if Thomas Gibson were brought back somehow to save the day? Fat chance!

We've watched every episode of Criminal Minds...but this season's low-light filming is incredibly annoying. Many scenes are very dark with barely discernable details. We have to turn off the lights or close the blinds to see half the scenes.

It has great writing and action as usual, but someone's attempt at being artistic is a fail. It is barely worth the hassle to watch it.

I would not recommend this show to anyone anymore. If you are a long-term fan, you'll probably try to slog through it like we are.

Mostly, this review is just to try to get the pin heads that are producing this to turn on a little light.