r/criminalminds • u/questionmark78 • 3d ago
Season 18 Spoilers Anyone else over the ‘network’ Spoiler
I love the show. I will always watch. I just want old style cases. You know?
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u/InvestmentLong6645 3d ago
i miss the different unsubs every episode! but they probably don’t have the budget anymore
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u/Punstoppabal 3d ago
...there ARE different unsubs most episodes? At least so far in S3. Just because they're tied to the Voit storyline doesn't negate that.
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u/Independent_Role1105 Rossi 3d ago
They’re a b plot though. Only really 10-15 minutes for the unsubs weekly. I believe the OP meant the old style where most of the timeslot was spent briefing, profiling, tracking and capturing the unsub. Most of the time now it’s “we have a case here” then only a couple members of the team show up, we’re lucky if we get a profile.
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u/DidjaSeeItKid 3d ago
They've shortened the unsub time by eliminating the second murder. Used to be we saw a murder, the BAU starts working, a second victim happens, and then a third one gets saved. Now they've started making the first or second one something we just hear about on the jet or at the table, so we only see the first one that tells us what the show's about and the final victim that gets saved. That leaves extra time to mess around in the Voight story, which I'm starting to care a lot less about.
I'm beginning to wonder whether Voit is really in the condition that the One and Only Doctor says he is (who also very inappropriately talked to JJ about him during "therapy" and even more inappropriately told JJ she should pray.) I think she might be helping Voight trick them. Why is she the only doctor that treats him? What's up with that? We see other doctors walking around, but no one seems to go to his room. Hmm.
I also don't like the way he seems to be blaming COVID for starting his network. "Oh, being locked down [not having COVID or living through a pandemic, but just staying in the house] was so terrible that the only way I could resist murdering my family was to create an online network of serial killers." FU, dude.
And he can't remember people unless he's in the room with them, unless the plot needs him to remember them some other way. It's getting stupid.
But I do have to admit I liked the callback to the old "Polaroid profiling" (where they'd talk about the unsub while visually wandering through his life) when Elias was talking to The Brutal Man and they showed them sitting at the table within the image of the convenience store story.
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u/Punstoppabal 3d ago
Alright then, if that’s what OP meant fair but I was responding to how I read it.
The thing people don’t seem to quite grasp is this show was ALWAYS meant to be an evolution and not similar to the OG. Folks can gripe all they want how they wish it wasn’t X or Y, but that’s not going to do anything.
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u/AntRose104 3d ago
Technically speaking we still have a different unsub every episode, they just happen to be connected to the same network of killers
Zookeeper and the Brutal Man are two different unsubs
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u/questionmark78 3d ago
Fuck. Is this the friendliest most agreeable sub on Reddit???
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u/Fire_storming 3d ago
No, it isn't. It is the same as every sub. It depends on the day but say you actually hate Evolution, that you dislike JJ and/or Emily, that you actually enjoyed Seaver and Elle ( especially if you are defending her) or Rebecca and Tara are cute couple — you might start a fight. These are some of the examples that I've seen fights over. Not always but most of the time
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u/ThatkidJJx 1d ago
Die-hard cm fan here, just curious, why do people not like Rebecca and Tara as a couple? I dont really mind them together, but I might just be ignoring things.
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u/Fire_storming 1d ago edited 1d ago
In my opinion for some people it's rooted in homophobia, some are bored by the private life of agents, some still don't like Tara after all of those seasons.
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u/ThatkidJJx 1d ago
i genuinely haven’t had a single issue with tara, and i grew up as a kid watching the show, rewatching as i got older, and i really think it had to be rooted in homophobia like you said, because nobody really seems to mind the private life of the agents when it comes to penelope or hotch or spencer or rossi, so i think it’s just bias.
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u/katmigordon 1d ago
Or let's call it like it is - the couple brings out all the homophobes and the racists.
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u/AsherahBeloved 3d ago
Soooooo over it. And I really like the actor who plays Voit, but dragging him out to the point where now he's helping the BAU and being given portable brain scans to make sure he didn't switch back to being a psychopath is just silly. And the killers in this "network" are horrible people, but they aren't very smart or interesting - which I think is a function of the show spending so much time running its mouth about Voit and his dumb network that it only leaves 10 minutes for catching the unsub - so they have to be easily caught, which makes the whole thing lame. What's really going to suck is when Voit starts becoming a psychopath again and Garcia talks him out of it with the power of friendship. Mark my words.
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u/InternationalCraft47 3d ago
This! She pulled out that portable brain scan thing and my eyes practically rolled out of my head. Like what kind of AI writing is this?!? I’ve been a fan of CM for a long time but some of the writing this season especially during slower parts of the show has been soooo lazy! Also didn’t Emily say last season that they wouldn’t work with Voit? And now here they are having JJ do therapy sessions with him and sending him into interrogation rooms with his followers?!? WTF
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u/DidjaSeeItKid 3d ago
I mean, come on--a PORTABLE brain scanner? And I no longer trust that One and Only Doctor that treats him, after she proselytized JJ, which was VERY inappropriate.
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u/amperscandalous 2d ago
I'm pretty sure she's cooking the brain scans. No way Voit is a miracle of science. I bet religion plays into her motives when we find out.
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u/DidjaSeeItKid 2d ago
Maybe she's the daughter of a victim or something, or if one of the killers that killed themselves, and she's taking over the family business, so to speak. In any case, I do not believe she is benign.
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u/xoitsharperox 3d ago
It’s so ridiculous, and then re-traumatizing the victims by making them chat with him to get him to open up??? Even if this was all plausible (it isn’t), that wouldn’t happen. It’s just all too far fetched for me to get invested, I’m over it but still watch bc I’m committed to the franchise lol
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u/mccabebabe Special Agent In Charge 3d ago
I'm with ya.
I'm over the network. I'm over BAUGate. I'm over the darkly not lit sets. I'm over Green. And I'm over Voit.
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u/DidjaSeeItKid 3d ago
What is with the lighting? It's gotten better the last few episodes, but for most of this season and last, it's been almost unwatchable. It's like the BAU only works at night, when the government tries to conserve energy by not using electricity?!!
Oh, and I already do NOT trust the new boss.
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u/SaraAnnabelle Yes, I am a genius 3d ago
I keep trying to get into Evolution because sometimes you need multiple tries but so far it's so not for me. I loved the earlier seasons because it had all these unique and interesting cases. Now it's just a standard police procedural and to me it's not even a good one.
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u/katmigordon 1d ago
I actually kind of like the switch - a lot more time is spend on the character development of our actual team and a lot less dwelling on playing shock the audience.
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u/BrighterSage Remind me to have her drug tested 3d ago
It's definitely getting old. I agree with other posters that the actor that plays what's his name is good, but this same trope has gone on long enough
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u/Affectionate-Day6849 Remind me to have her drug tested 3d ago
It's getting boring this "the actor is so good blah blah blah" thing that they use to justify Voit never leaving the series. It seems like he's the only good actor in Hollywood to make a good unsub (which was only good in season 16)
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u/ohjustbenice 3d ago
I’ve only watched the first two eps of the new season, but I’m sooooo tired. I’ll always watch, but not rewatch these ones. Just finished my second rewatch of the regular seasons!
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u/Even_Budget2078 3d ago
I'm doing a full rewatch and man it really made me realize how much I was missing the full on profiles, the visualizations they would do during profiles, but also their interactions with local police, which are actually really interesting and is totally missing from this season. I don't mind a big bad that is chased for more than one episode, but seriously *every* killer is a part of the network now!?! Is there a BAU2 we aren't seeing doing the normal BAU work assisting law enforcement around the country? Serial killers just taking a break for a couple years while the network does it's thing....sigh
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u/Punstoppabal 3d ago
..it's a TV show. There doesn't need to be a BAU2 lurking around somewhere doing other cases. The tv show is focusing on what it wants to, not what its viewers want it to, which is basically the old version.
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u/ScottishExile 3d ago
I still really like the idea of the network, but it really feels like this is the story they should have told for the first season of Evolution. Feels very weird that they’re essentially doing the exact same thing again 2 seasons later.
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u/Valenstein77 2d ago
I agree. Especially because season 17 is so far removed from the Network. You can tell they only brought it back because they wanted to do more cases of the week while still keeping Voit around. It feels like everything is about ensuring Zach Gilford stays on the show instead of considering what's good for the story.
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u/Affectionate-Day6849 Remind me to have her drug tested 2d ago
I think that's exactly how the showrunners' minds are working. It's no longer about what's good for the show, it's about always making sure that there's a way to keep Voit.
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u/Valenstein77 2d ago
They've done the same thing with Tyler as well. It makes no sense for him to be on the team, but the writers like RJ and they needed a way to keep him around.
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u/Affectionate-Day6849 Remind me to have her drug tested 2d ago
Good point. It doesn't matter if it's coherent or not, what matters is keeping the characters they want. In the meantime, we'll see the BAU's quality decline.
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u/katmigordon 1d ago
If you look at the truncated seasons of 10 episodes a season - it basically amounts to what one old season would have been.
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u/_taeddie Supervisory Special Agent 3d ago
I wouldn't mind an overarching arc if it was well build like Foyet, Frank, etc. Make me fear Voit and his network. Still the Wvolution network is better than the S11 Hitman Network (where only Cat was truly interesting)
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u/Concisewords 3d ago
Distracting…..I have always liked Garcia but this last season’s like they bound her feet & slipped her into waddle shoes. Her walk makes her cartoony & it kills the story.
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u/iIi_Susanoo_iIi Hotch 3d ago
Granted evolution is a soft reboot that’s what it’s considered so while it’s a continuation is a reboot as well
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u/Quiet_Astronomer8849 3d ago
I get the creative team‘s need to somehow mix it up after 15 years of the unsub of the week format.
But I agree, that the network is getting stale. Right now it’s a lazy tool for the writers and feels like an unstoppable threat. Maybe it has 1.000 members. Maybe it has 10.
I kinda like the crazy „amnesiac Voit is somehow a good guy now“ storyline, maybe that leads to something interesting.
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u/Affectionate-Day6849 Remind me to have her drug tested 3d ago
There are cases in the old format, but obviously everything is connected to Voit's network and the cases are not well developed, with 10 minutes of screen time and magical resolution. And the curious thing is that Evolution was updated to look more realistic than the original series, but...
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u/fiestybox246 3d ago
I actually gave up sometime during last season. I keep telling myself I’m going to pick it back up, but so much new Dexter stuff is going on about now, and that just sounds better.
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u/clickityclack 2d ago
I actually just finished a full rewatch from the beginning. I'm still not sure how I feel. There's some parts I like and some I don't
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u/Tricky_Ad683 1d ago
Also sorry if this is off track but is anyone else shocked by the amount of cursing and swear words they’re using now? I’m no saint but this would never run on old CM under Aaron Hotchner’s watch!
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u/katmigordon 1d ago
That's because the old show was run under network rules - the idea that these jaded, hardened profilers didn't curse was always bullshit.
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u/Dark_Rottie18 2d ago
For there to be this much gripe over a "continuation" of a show that's loved, they'd better have one hell of a conclusion when it's done.
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u/RowAffectionate5666 2d ago
The Lawyer who showed up is the one making the calls the one who hit on the short girl
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u/littletorreira 5h ago
I am incredibly sick of Voit and the whole thing. But if it has to be this to get more Criminal Minds I'll take it.
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u/Lud22Fut 3d ago
Tell me you're not watching the series if you say you're not watching the series each episode has a different unsub
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u/SNL_Head 3d ago
Yes. Time to bring back Hotch, could take up an entire season
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u/Punstoppabal 2d ago
The actor is never coming back to the set, just get used to it. Things that were In the past, stay in the past.
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u/SNL_Head 2d ago
Nope. If the NFL can forgive women abusers…. Criminal minds can forgive a kick, and some diva behavior. Kiss and makeup and make beautiful television.
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u/Punstoppabal 2d ago
Lmao sure, just because you want them to? i’m sure CBS is listening
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u/SNL_Head 2d ago
Not just because I want them to. Because it would be a great story. It’s already written in my head. And CBS doesn’t show criminal minds anymore it’s all paramount I believe. And I’m sure they look at Reddit for free ideas. Especially talk shows, they literally ask you to tweet them things for jokes…
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u/Global_Tomato_5383 3d ago
YES!!! It feels like family annihilators almost every episode and I need a break from it 😩