Criminal Minds - Lockdown / Breath Play - Double Review: "Greatness & Mediocrity"

Sometimes real life gets in the way of my normal viewing schedule. Fear not, for I have decided to review back-to-back episodes of Criminal Minds. Apologies if this article runs really long. I like to write a lot! Anyway, the first episode, being Lockdown, was very refreshing. Thomas Gibson and Virgil Williams did a great job with this prison story. The second episode, being Breath Play, was pretty bland. They didn't really explain the concept of "breath play" that much, and they didn't have a lot of profiling, which seems to be happening a lot. However, Kate's moments were cute. Now, let's delve into the two reviews.

Lockdown:

This episode starts off inside of a dark and ominous prison. A guard says he needs to use the restroom, but something caught his eye. It appears to be blood on the floor. One of the guards was killed and stuffed inside of the supple closet. Ouch, that's a symbol of something alright. That transitions into the guard calling Rossi, who's in Hotch's office, telling them that they have a case out there. I love scenes with Hotch and Rossi; so much. The guard informs them that it's an older building and the surveillance cameras were shut off. Hotch and Rossi tell the guard to hang tight, they'll discuss it with their team, and they'll let them know how they are going to help. This episode is already off to an interesting start. "Well, the good news and the bad news is we've already got our suspect pool." Sassy Rossi starting us off right. A nice scene after with suspect lining up to take their mug shot is next. The song playing in the background was very interesting. The main focus here is on their tattoos and scars. This is going to be good.

Opening Quote:
Spoken by Aaron Hotchner: "When the prison doors are opened, the real dragon will fly out." - Ho Chi Minh

Jet time! The BAU are figuring out why these guards were targeted. The discuss why the sock was put in the guard's mouth. They also mention how it's most probably multiple unsubs, which means it's mostly a cult with a leader. Yikes, this could be really dangerous. Garcia can't find much information on the inmates. Well, that's not good news at all. But, Reid is able to spout out a lot of facts about prisons. I liked that a lot. Rossi then delivers an excellent quote. "Guess I had it wrong all this time. Crime does pay." We then are greeted with a cool scene where we see the SUVs drive into the prison. The soundtrack is on point in this episode. I really got the feeling that the team were going into the prison. The setting in general was really well made. Props to the crew - they really did a great job. And of course, props to Thomas Gibson (who plays Hotch). I liked how their wifi was spotty in places; that really gave it a feel of a prison, because I'm almost positive there is limited internet usage in prisons. The guy running the prison talks about how there will be beds for them and meals for them. Oh snap, they're going to be locked in! Nice!

At the morgue, the M.E. doesn't seem to be of much help. At all. He can't tell JJ or Rossi anything. Rossi notices that the victim's fingers are broken. Poor guy. And there weren't even any defensive wounds! That's horrible, really. "Well, I'm gonna go light a fire under Dr. Helpful over here." JJ's got some sass of her own! That was nice to see. Kate and Morgan go investigate the scene of the crime. Morgan notes that the shelf is high up, that at least two inmates would have to lift the body up there. Kate inquires about the spotty surveillance cameras and how they didn't see anything. The guard seems really shifty. He hesitated with his answer, and when he did respond, it was very snarky. He's definitely got something to do with this, I think. Anyway, Kate and Morgan seem to notice this too. Something is truly off about this place. Morgan tells Kate they need to consider another angle - what if a guard is actually involved. See! I told you guys this is happening! I'm finally right in my deduction of an unsub; it feels pretty good. Gloating aside, let's get back to the episode.

Morgan and Kate now don't know who they're going to trust, and the inmates are discussing their distain for being in lockdown. The man who delivered packages of some sort to the inmates informs them that the Feds are here, and they should keep their mouths shut. Ah yes, this was a very threatening warning. Next, Hotch and Morgan go to interrogate the leader of a known gang in the prison. Aw, I missed scenes with these two! The leader cracks a joke about how Morgan was brought in so "they could relate". Morgan immediately shuts that down. They ask him if they know about what's happening, he says no. A flashback to him get hosed off is next. He admits that he wish he committed these murders; that they would've given him something to do to pass the time. Oh boy, that's not a good thing to respond with. Back with the team, Hotch suggests that maybe this has nothing to do with a gang. He says that they need to complete the profile - that the answers are there. Reid is looking through files and Hotch asks him how much more time he needs. Reid says, "Uh, 126 more minutes?" Hotch responds with, "Hurry." He's doing the best he can, Hotch! A nice little time-lapse happens with Reid. That was really cool!

Hotch checks in with Garcia. Although, we don't see it. Reid then states a bunch of facts about the number "7". Hey, that's my favourite number! Hotch then asks Reid if he found anything with the files. Reid says there's a discrepancy - an inmate unaccounted for. His name is Devon White. There's no file for him, yet in the prison manifesto and the visitor logs, he's there. Oh, all right, then. The man who delivered the packages was showering one second in great light, and being killed and gagged in complete darkness the next second. Wow, if you blinked you would've missed the time where he wasn't being murdered. So much has happened already, and we're only 15 minutes in! I like how they were informed of the next murder by walkie-talkie. The delivery man was a serial rapist who was give special permission to not be on lockdown because he gave the prison heads information from time to time. Reid states that doing this while they're here is bold; it's almost like a taunt. "Or a message.", replies Hotch. Well, I guess you could say the unsubs are being very ballsy. One of the guards goes to open his locker, and there's a photo of presumably his daughter with a drawn red X on it. Yikes. That can't possibly be good.

Morgan and Garcia's weekly banter happens next. "Chocolate Thunder! Chocolate Thunder, where have you been?! I’ve left like four messages!" "Yeah, I'm sorry, Mama. You know there's no signal inside." "That is cruel and unusual punishment! You know that if I don't phone flirt with you at least twice a day, I get all itchy!" Glorious, just glorious! Garcia informs Morgan that the first two victims had the exact same bank activity. She guesses that they were probably paying for each other's bets. Nice job, Garcia! Good to see you getting involved in the profiling. Hotch informs the team that there's nothing on the cameras and the power was cut. Devon White appears to be showing up again and again in their findings. He was taken to the infirmary over and over again for injuries, yet in his past, there was nothing indicative of violence. This is getting intense! Rossi has a nice interrogation with Pritchett. We find out that the victims (the guards) would raid his cell and take away his books. Aw, that's so sad. This case is actually unravelling really well. But it's also quite sad. I like the way Rossi is talking to Pritchett. We get flashbacks to see that Devon was smuggling books for Pritchett. That's so sweet.

This episode is doing a good job at showing how cruel some of the guards can be, all the while showing how the inmates fight back in these situations. The guard that I said is definitely in on the killings, indeed was in on the killings. In fact, he killed an inmate himself. He tried to hide it when the head guy and the BAU showed up to investigate. That's a sure sign of true sociopathy. The teams wonders if the guards were really involved in the killings. I should be in the BAU - heck yeah, they were! Hotch asked JJ to tell Garcia to monitor the guard's cell phone in case he runs. Then, we get to see another cool time lapse of each team member interrogating a different inmate. These are really sweet! Thomas did a great job. Morgan and Kate are interrogating one of the guards. They notice that he's scared and he has a burden on his shoulders. They cut to the chase and proclaim that he should speak up about what's going on. Yet another flashback happens, and some of the guards incinerated Devon. Wow. He tells them that he's trying to keep his daughter safe.

Rivers was listening and watching the camera. He then cuts the cameras off and unlocks all the prison cell's doors. A war ensues when another guard runs by. Morgan and Kate are now fighting too! Oh my! That was crazy! Hotch and Rossi are informed about the fight. The inmates are being really creepy towards Kate; that's not okay. Morgan's fighting for Kate to be released. Rivers locked the control room door from the inside. He commits suicide, dang. Back with Morgan and Kate, they almost killed the other guard. Kate tells him he's going to be okay. Morgan thanks the inmate that helped them get out. He replies, "Well, brothers got to stick together, right?" And Rossi returns the books to Pritchett, aw! Once again, the song playing in the background is great. Kate leaves the prison, looking really horrified. Uh oh. Morgan asks her, "You ready to get the hell outta here?" She replies, "Am I ever." That was cute.

Closing Quote:
Spoken by David Rossi: "Dwight D. Eisenhower once wrote, "If you want total security, go to prison. There you're fed, clothed, given medical care and so on. The only thing lacking is freedom.""

My final thoughts for this episode? Wow, what an intense episode. I thought it was really, really good. I'd probably give it an A-, simply because I wanted to know more about Rivers and Chavers and the corrupt prison guards. But I thought the prison itself was realistic, the story was heartbreaking at times, and the acting was spot on. A truly great episode from the season that I was not expecting we'd get. Bravo!

Breath Play:

This episode starts with a woman jogging to her house. All seems calm...perhaps, too calm. Yep, there's an unsub climbing up the stairs. She hops into the shower. Of course, the unsub is snooping around her possessions. What a nice guy. He waits until she sleeps to turn on night visions googles and hover over her face. That's pretty horrifying. I wouldn't want a creepy man to be hovering over me in my sleep. Fade to black, next scene. Kate's niece, Meg, pierced her belly button. They went to Savannah to check if it was infected. Aw, that's cute. A great way to get Savannah back on the show without having her and Morgan have relationship issues. Back at the BAU, Kate "is glowing"! She's pregnant! Morgan, Garcia, Reid, and the rest of the team are so happy for her! Now, if JJ can announce to the team the same thing - I will be a happy camper. Garcia informs the team about the case, and Rossi makes this comment. "And mosquitos the size of an impala, I swear on my life." That was hilarious.

The rest of the episode, however, was very generic, mediocre, and kind of disappointing. I would never recommend that you watch or read 50 Shades of Grey, but this episode was a direct carbon copy of it. The novel they used was called "Bare Reflections", and the characters were similarly named. The case featured our unsub breaking into homes of the women that he previously development relationships with online, and then they would engage in foreplay, until his fantasies and desires took control. We did get a funny moment where Rossi admits to have experimented in his senior year of High School. That's a bit more information than I needed to know, though. Kate and Meg have the usual drama and arguing, although she did show some sadness towards the situation, which was nice to see. The ending was cute.

The opening quote was spoken by David Rossi: "There is hardly anyone whose sexual life, if it were broadcast, would not fill the world at large with surprise and horror." - W. Somerset Maugham

The closing quote was spoken by Kate Callahan: "Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression." - Haim Ginott

Final Thoughts:
This episode was not great for me, which I kind of expected it not to be. 50 Shades in and of itself is a pretty terrible story, so an episode that was only made to copy it and try and get some views because of it isn't going to impress some people. I know I'm being a bit harsh, it just wasn't my thing. I'd give the episode a D+ solely because the Kate moments were cute and Rossi and Garcia were hilarious.

Now, what did YOU think of Breath Play (and Lockdown)? Please be sure to leave a comment down below!