Crime Drama TV

Wow. What a fantastic episode. I’m still kind of recovering from it AND I have a wicked head cold, so excuse me if I’m not completely coherent.

Gideon is out buying flowers for a date when Hotch calls. It seems the BAU is under review a little bit earlier than usual this year, and the only file not requested for review is Hotch’s. They mention Elle’s departure, Morgan’s arrest, and Reid’s issues and are both a little worried about how this is going to turn out. Wow. Hard to believe all that stuff happened in just one season. Gideon stops when he sees Jane wandering around across the street. When she disappears behind a car, he convinces himself he’s seeing things. Until Frank gives him a call on his date’s cell phone from Gideon’s place.

Gideon rushes to his ladyfriend’s apartment and finds her in pieces. He takes off. The team arrives and decides they need to find both Frank and Gideon despite not being invited into the investigation of the ladyfriend’s murder (I’m sorry, I’m not going to call her his girlfriend. It sounds weird.). Hotch convinces Gideon over the phone to work with Garcia on finding out who Frank really is.

Turns out Frank is really, really evil. He has a list of victims that Gideon’s saved and if Jane is not returned to him, he’s going to kill them all. The team tracks down Jane after she’s arrested and we find out that she left after Frank almost killed her during an argument. She also provides Frank’s last name, which they use to find out that his father was absent and his mother (who Jane reminds him of) was a hooker - the basic recipe for a serial killer. Meanwhile, Frank shows up at Rebecca-From-”The Fisher King”’s place and slices her up.

He arranges a meeting with the team to exchange Jane for the next victim on the list, Little-Sister-Fanning-From-”Boogeyman”, who moved to the New York area after almost being beaten to death by a psychotic kid. Gideon shows up to confront Frank with all the information he has on him. Somehow Frank manages to talk Jane into coming with him again and they jump in front of a train, disappearing behind it as it puls into the station. Reid and J.J. go to Frank’s apartment and find not only Little Sister Fanning, but the decayed corpse of Frank’s mother.

Hotch meets with his boss, Karen Hayes from 24, and she tells him that she believes he is no longer effective in his position as head of the team. Hotch and the rest of the audience thinks this is bullshit, and he profiles her to show her how good he is at his job. He also semi-profiles the team for her. He is able to keep his job for the moment. Karen talks to another member of the team that we can’t see and tells them to help her end Hotch’s career if they want to stay at the BAU. The person she’s talking to? Prentiss.

I have to admit that I’m a little worried about this storyline. A lot of crime shows have tried to do the villian arc with some type of authority figure trying to break up the team or whatever and they usually fail miserably. But if any show can pull it off, it’s Criminal Minds.

The last episode of the season airs in a mere five hours! I can’t be the only one impatiently doing a fidgety dance in their chairs, so here’s a preview of “The Evolution of Frank” to tide us over.

This episode starts out with Piz and Veronica studying; Veronica for her PI exam and Piz for his interview with a Hearst student who was a child soldier in Uganda and wrote a book. The book is a hit and Apollo (the author) is set to appear on Oprah and have a movie made.

A newly-licensed Veronica gets a call from a man who thinks he’s Apollo’s father. In the process of getting a sample of Apollo’s mother’s handwriting to compare with the letter the man provided, Veronica learns the startling truth that the book isn’t true. Apollo was never a child soldier. It’s A Million Little Child Soldiers! Veronica relays this information to her client, who shows up to meet Apollo anyway. And surprise! Apollo actually did write the book! He just had the guy think that there wasn’t any money in order to weed out the cash-seeking people from people who actually cared about him. Smooth move, Apollo. Smooth move.

The rest of this episode has all the Hearst students worrying about their summers. Piz has gotten an internship with a music critic’s website in New York, but is obviously reluctant to leave his newfound relationship with Veronica. His fears are quelled at the end of the episode when Veronica gets her internship at the FBI and will therefore only be a couple-hour train ride away. Dick and Logan’s surfing plans are cancelled when Daddy Casablancas shows up and wants to spend more time with Dick before he goes to jail, but only after Dick gives him a piece of his mind and proves he’s actually a human being. Wallace is moved by Apollo’s story and signs up to go to Uganda to help out.

This week was a huge improvement over the last couple of episodes. The mystery was engaging and promoted a good cause without being preachy. And I did not see the twist of Apollo actually writing the book coming. Next week is the two-hour season finale! I’m excited; I heard that the CW executives really like this episode and it might very well be what saved Veronica from the chopping block.

P.S. For more information about child soldiers in Uganda and what you can do to help, visit www.invisiblechildren.com.

This week, Hearst’s radio station is in danger of being taken off the air due to lack of funding. They organize a fundraiser concert featuring one of the members of the band My Little Pony. Piz earns the “honor” of showing the rock star around and learns the hard lesson that you should never meet your idols.

How does Veronica come into the picture? Well, the backup tapes that the guy uses to perform solo have gone missing. Veronica is sent on a wild goose chase for the tapes and figures out that the bags were accidentally switched just in time for the concert. Only she and Piz decide that they’re going to hold on to the tapes and force him to play his new stuff, so he can realize that he’s not a has-been.

I know I said last week that I enjoy the one-shot mysteries, but I’m getting really sick of the after-school special stories really fast. The mystery felt like an afterthought among all the relationship drama of Piz and Veronica deciding that they should just stay friends and Mac breaking up with Bronson. The writers need to kick it in gear and realize that Veronica Mars is first and foremost a mystery show. Luckily, it looks like next week’s installment is much more promising.

Cancellation Watch Update: There’s a possibility that our blonde crime-solver will be getting a makeover for the fourth season. Rob Thomas is in talks with CW, discussing options such as fast-forwarding to Veronica’s career in the FBI, restarting from scratch with a new title and everything. While I have to admit that I kind of like that idea, I’m a bit worried that the only guaranteed actor would be Kristen Bell herself.

Wow. This one was a little weird. This week’s story revloved around a cult of believers in lizardy aliens and the dead cult leader’s wife. Enrico Colantoni from Veronica Mars plays the cult leader, who has conned the believers into killing his wife and covering up the crime.

but let’s talk about what was really important this episode - Grissom. We get another Grissom/Sara scene in which they watch a Godzilla movie in bed and Sara discovers the letter Grissom wrote to her while he was at Walden Pond. Some people are acting like Grissom/Sara is finally canon. To those people, I say; It’s been canon since the last season finale. Where have you been, my friend? Also? Grissom has a dog. Just thought I’d throw that little tidbit out there.

Anyway, that’s not even relevant compared to the last scene, in which we see Grissom constructing a miniature room. OH NOES! Could Grissom be the Miniature Killer?!?!

My money’s on “no”. I think Grissom’s just trying to get in the killer’s head and see what it takes to build an exact 1/2″ scale model of a room.

Comments? Theories? Leave ‘em in the comments.

I went looking on the premiere Criminal Minds blog, Criminal Minds Fanatic (who admittedly have WAY more connections than little ol’ me) and found that “Doubt” will not air until next season.

That means we only have TWO episodes left of the season. “Legacy” and “The Evolution of Frank”, or as someone called it, “No Way Out Part II”.

Okay. Apprently the Criminal Minds schedule was changed YET AGAIN and last night’s episode was “Open Season” instead of “Doubt”. TV Guide.com, in the brief span of time where it was actually cooperating with my computer, says next week is “Legacy”. Will “Doubt” ever air? I’ll check some sources and get back to you on that.

On to the episode. This episode has the BAU tracking two brothers who kidnap people, set them loose in the woods, and hunt them. Anyone else having flashbacks to the Supernatural episode “The Benders”? Just me, then? Okay. Moving on. Anyway, we get some backstory from Prentiss - she aparently spent a lot of time in the woods with her grandfather who had a whole J.D. Salinger thing going on for a couple years - and an adorable shot of Hotch sleeping on the plane.

Half of the episode has us following Bobbi, one of the brothers’ victims. She stumbles onto a camp and tries to survive with the remaining two campers after the brothers open fire. After the one guy is taken down, Bobbi defies the rules of horror movies/shows by thinking ahead and taking the guy’s knife, which she later uses to stab the younger brother when he shoots the second camper.

The BAU team arrive after some detective work and a lot of blind luck (I think that’s why this episode had a “meh” effect on me) and the older brother is shot. He dies, but not before Bobbi can get in his face and call him the harshest thing she can get away with on network television.

I really think that the focus on Bobbi this episode contributed to the fact that I didn’t like it much. I want my BAU team, dammit! Especially my adorable genius (anyone who hasn’t read this blog before; I am totally shameless when it comes to fangirling the illustrious Dr. Spencer Reid).

My favorite part of the epsiode? The cold open with Prentiss, JJ, and Garcia showing up a guy hitting on Prentiss who claims to be an FBI agent. SO funny. I laughed for about five minutes straight, which is something only House has been able to achieve. Seriously. Rolling. On. The. Floor. Laughing.

Until I get back to you guys with some seblance of an explanation to the scheduling craziness, have a preview of tonight’s CSI. This generalization is the best I can find, but pay attention to the stuff about aliens and lizard creatures for an idea of what tonight’s episode is about.

Our favorite teen detective is back! HUZZAH! This week’s mystery concern’s a Middle Eastern restaurant that has been vandalized. Veronica sets out to catch the person in the act, but not before busting some paintballing hooligans and sort-of-but-not-really helping the daughter cover-up her romance with a Jew.

The guy vandalizing the restaurant is the brother of an Iraq vet who came home paralyzed. He decided that the restaurant needed some spraypainting after he saw one of their employees (Nassir), who happens to be working with an expired student visa, handing out a cartoon of a terrorist laughing at the dead bodies of American soldiers. The couple who own the restaurant decide to talk to the guy instead of pressing charges. They also call Homeland Security on Nassir.

From what I understand, the last episodes of the season will continue to be one-shot mysteries like this. And I’m okay with that. To be honest, I could use a break from the drawn-out mystery.

Question: Are there really still people like that kid in the classroom Veronica visited, who believe that girls can’t be in the FBI? ‘Cause if I ever run into one of those people, I think I might have to smack a bitch.

Veronica Mars returns tonight, people! Not only will I be watching to get a fresh fix of my favorite show, but because I’m still bitter at FOX for cancelling Drive. WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS TAKE NATHAN FILLION AWAY FROM ME?! WHY?!

Tonight’s Criminal Minds is actually going to be a repeat of “Jones”. But next week is going to be “Doubt”, which was originally going to be replaced tonight by “Open Season”. Guess who’s ba~ack….

Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund

April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.

To remember and honor the victims of those tragic events, the university has established the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund to aid in the healing process and generate financial support.

The fund will be used to cover expenses including but not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Memorials
• Communication expenses
• Comfort expenses
• Incidental needs

If you plan to give, please click the link below:

Due to the Virginia Tech massacre, next week’s Criminal Minds episode will be “Open Season” instead of “Doubt”. The change is due to the material of “Doubt”, which is about women being murdered on a midwestern college campus.

I’ll keep you updated with any other changes as they occur.

Pretty much everyone’s heard of the Virginia Tech tradgedy by now. I don’t go to Virginia Tech, but I am a freshman college student. It’s a sad and somewhat uncertain time for those of us in college or who have friends in college. I don’t know if anyone I knew was killed or injured.

The loss of those killed weighs heavily on our hearts and our minds. So for today and possibly tomorrow, there will be no posts other than this.

Thanks for understanding,
Lindsay Stetler

Wow. Not much going on in crime dramas. Veronica Mars doesn’t return until May 1 (Boo CW!) and Numb3rs was a repeat Friday. So I’m going to take a moment to pimp a non-crime drama.

Drive, the show about an illegal cross-country race worth $32 million. The season premiere was last night and I was suitably impressed. Of course, with all the Whedonverse alums - including Captain Tightpants himself, Nathan Fillion, as the lead - and Tim Minear at the helm, it could be the worst piece of crap ever to air on FOX and I’d still watch it.

Of course, I’m wary about its chances for success. FOX is not known for giving shows a chance and ever since they cancelled Firefly, I’ve only watched the channel when absolutely unavoidable. 24, House, and Bones are pretty much all I watch.

Anyway, Drive settles into its normal timeslot at 8 tonight. I recommend giving it a shot.

Here’s a question I pose to those of you who have taken classes or are involved in any area of law enforcement? Has taking the class/having your job made crime shows less enjoyable?

For me, it’s a little bit of both. On one hand, watching CSI since I was 12 helped me pretty much ace the blood spatter section of my forensic science class. On the other, I notice the inconsistencies between TV and real life more. While I’m only mildly educated in the area of the criminal justice system, I have a lot more knowledge about the process of making a TV show and can easily let these inconsistencies go.

But what about the rest of you? Anybody got some law enforcement experience and want to share? I’m really curious about this.