The tenth season of “Criminal Minds”, while not great, is still quite strong and the ensemble cast including newcomer Jennifer Love Hewitt (albeit in her one and only season) makes the series as enjoyable and enduring as it has been going on 10 years. The set itself is fine with a modest amount of bonus material while the video and audio transfers are both well done.
“Criminal Minds”: Season 10
(2014-15)
Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Suspense
Paramount | NR – 971 min. – $55.98 | August 25, 2015
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MOVIE INFO: Directed by: Various Writer(s): Jeff Davis (created by) Cast: Thomas Gibson, Joe Mantegna, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shemar Moore, Matthew Gray Gubler, A.J. Cook, Kirsten Vangsness DISC INFO: Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1) |
** Click Here to Purchase “Criminal Minds”: Season 10 on DVD from Amazon.com **
THE MOVIE – 3.75/5
Ten seasons in and “Criminal Minds” continues to roll with the flow rarely upsetting the apple cart and churning decent and oft grisly stories with, for the most part, its core ensemble. There is a bit of a change this season with the departure of Jeanne Tripplehorn’s character and replaced, for one season only unfortunately, with Jennifer Love Hewitt.
The tenth season finds the BAU — consisting of Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner (THOMAS GIBSON), David Rossi (JOE MANTEGNA), Derek Morgan (SHEMAR MOORE), Jennifer “JJ” Jareau (A.J. COOK), newcomer Agent Kate Callahan (JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT) and tech analyst extraordinaire Penelope Garcia (KIRSTEN VANGSNESS) — tackling more dark crimes:
A killer who leaves his victims limbless in the season premiere; a serial killer using a popular S&M novel to commit his crimes; a killer working in the Bahamas abducting families in the backdoor pilot for “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” to star Gary Sinise; investigating the deaths of four family members and a missing father with a secret life; and finally, in what is a minor season-long story involving a kidnap-sale plotline, Kate’s young niece is kidnapped by a perpetrator.
“Criminal Minds” isn’t the most profound series and honestly if you don’t like crime stories, obviously this isn’t the show for you. It’s the epitome for the case-of-the-week formula focusing more on the crimes than the personal lives, though we do get some character moments such as Hotch’s father-in-law (guest star EDWARD ASNER) who has Alzheimer’s but the focal point of each episode is about the grisly crimes. Some might call it a relic and going on ten seasons, one would think this is closer to the end but for myself, as someone who has watched from the beginning, it’s hitting on all strides with a great ensemble, though I still miss Paget Brewster’s Emily Prentiss character. Jennifer Love Hewitt makes for a nice addition so it’s unfortunate it was a one and done leaving the show to focus on her personal life (the gull on her!) (Aisha Tyler joins the cast for season 11).
Episodes:
- X
- Burn
- A Thousand Suns
- The Itch
- Boxed In
- If the Shoe Fits
- Hashtag
- The Boys of Sudworth Place
- Fate
- Amelia Porter
- The Forever People
- Anonymous
- Nelson’s Sparrow
- Hero Worship
- Scream
- Lockdown
- Breath Play
- Rock Creek Park
- Beyond Borders
- A Place at the Table
- Mr. Scratch
- Protection
- The Hunt
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3.5/5
To match previous season sets, the 6-discs are housed in 3 slim cases, (2-discs each) the back of each has the episode, plot summaries and whatever features are on the discs.
Disc 1:
Deleted Scenes (1:20) – ‘Burn’
Disc 2:
Deleted Scenes (2:31) – ‘Boxed In’, ‘If the Shoe Fits’, ‘The Boys of Sudworth Place’
Disc 3:
Salute (7:09) is a nice featurette honoring the passing of actor Meshach Taylor who played Rossi’s Vietnam buddy Harrison Scott and completing that character’s storyline in the episode ‘Anonymous’ which Mantegna directed.
Deleted Scenes (5:12) – ‘Fate’, ‘The Forever People’
Disc 4:
Episode Commentary on ‘Nelson’s Sparrow’ with Co-Writer/Actress Kirsten Vangsness and Co-Writer/Executive Producer Erica Messer
Origin Story (6:25) is a behind-the-scenes featurette on making the episode ‘Narrow’s Sparrow’ originally conceived as a spin-off of the origin of the BAU set in the ‘70s.
Deleted Scenes (0:41) – ‘Nelson’s Sparrow’, ‘Lockdown’
Disc 5:
“Criminal Minds” International (9:36) goes behind-the-scenes on the backdoor pilot, ‘Beyond Borders’ and features interviews with cast and crew members including Gary Sinise.
Disc 6:
Episode Commentary on ‘Mr. Scratch’ with Actor/Director Matthew Gray Gubler
“Criminal Minds”: Top Ten (29:47) is an extensive featurette recounting the monumental tenth season and includes interviews with the cast as they talk about working on the series for so long.
Greatest Hits (8:51) covers the music and score created for each episode.
Memo from the Acting Director (6:38) chronicles the episodes directed by Thomas Gibson this season, ‘Boxed In’ and ‘Lockdown’.
H.i.M.: Business as Usual (3:29) is a featurette on a high-energy (white) rapper and “CM” fan.
Deleted Scenes (1:35) – ‘Mr. Scratch’
Gag Reel (4:28) features your usual on-set line flubs and goofs.
VIDEO – 4.0/5 | AUDIO – 4.25/5
“Criminal Minds”: Season 10 is on the case presented in the originally televised 16×9 enhanced 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio. The picture more or less matches up with what was originally shown on CBS with decent-to-good detail levels while obviously the tone is geared more toward blacks than anything colorful. There didn’t appear to be any artifacting or other flaws
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track certainly packs a punch from the boisterous dialogue levels to the opening titles where the subwoofer kicks in providing an unexpected extra boost of depth. The score comes across each channel evenly and any of the numerous action scenes, including car chases and gunfire, provide decent reverberation throughout any media room.
OVERALL – 3.75/5
Overall, the tenth season of “Criminal Minds”, while not great, is still quite strong and the ensemble cast including newcomer Jennifer Love Hewitt (albeit in her one and only season) makes the series as enjoyable and enduring as it has been going on 10 years. The set itself is fine with a modest amount of bonus material while the video and audio transfers are both well done.
Brian Oliver aka The Movieman
Published: 08/09/2015