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Criminal Minds – Inner Beauty – Review: “Eye of the Beholder”

20 Apr 2016

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It’s been quite the wild time of it lately in the CM world, hasn’t it? We’ve been through the loss of Morgan and the return of Emily, we’ve seen dramatic showdowns between the team and various unsubs, there’s been major life changing events taking place, the season-long storyline involving the hit man group came to an intense climax… In short, there’s been a lot for us fans to deal with and absorb. And if that weren’t enough, we’ll have to soon brace ourselves for what appears to be a pretty crazy season finale in a couple weeks’ time.

Therefore, it’s kind of nice that we get a respite, albeit a very, very brief one, with this particular episode. The biggest drama this week involves Rossi having a very awkward reunion with an important person in his past; otherwise, this was your standard “case-of-the-week” setup. And compared to some of the other cases the team’s dealt with thus far this season, it’s fairly simple...while still managing to be quite poignant and tragic.

So without further ado, let’s delve into the events of “Inner Beauty”.

The Case:

The opening sequence to this week’s episode plays out almost like a mini horror movie, with some unexpected twists and turns along the way. A lady comes home one night, yakking away to someone on the phone. As she enters the floor to her apartment, she sees a guy at the other end of the hall carrying some stuff. He looks harmless, but he is walking towards her at a pretty steady clip, and she’s the only other person in the hall, so she’s rather understandably spooked. Can’t say I blame her, either.

Luckily, she manages to get into her apartment before the guy catches up to her. As she peeks out her peephole, she sees him pulling out a ladder, looking as though he’s going to do some work on the ceiling. Sigh of relief, right? All good.

Or is it? The guy just as quickly packs up his stuff and continues on his way down to the basement area of the building. Surely he’s up to no good now. He’s got to be our unsub.

Not so fast. Turns out he’s just an average repairman who’s about to make a very horrific discovery in the building’s water reserve. After hearing a noise from there, he opens the hatch only to find two dead bodies floating in the water. The woman upstairs has an equally unpleasant experience at that same moment, as the water in her shower suddenly turns all brown and gross. Lovely.

Things get even more nightmarish shortly afterward. A man tries to hit on a woman he presumes to be a druggie, hoping to get a fix, but the guy’s getting rather handsy with her. Thankfully, another man comes along at that moment and manages to get the first guy to back off. He then proceeds to offer the girl a ride, so she won’t have to walk the streets at night. Seems like quite the gentleman, no?

The woman’s understandably a little wary, though, and initially refuses his offer. He tries to reassure her by telling her he’s got a girlfriend, so she needn’t worry about him trying anything with her. Being in a relationship hasn’t always stopped some guys before, but the woman reconsiders. This guy looks pretty harmless, after all.

Unfortunately for her, however, she’s been completely duped. The man opens the back of the van, and to the woman’s horror, there’s a body already in there. Before you can say “unsub”, she’s knocked out and thrown into the van. This part was pretty standard fare for this show (never, ever, EVER get in a van on this show, people! It will not end well for you!), but I rather liked the unpredictable nature of the entire sequence at that woman’s apartment building. Especially the creepy bit with the shower. That was a rather startling and unusual way to introduce us to the icky nature of this case.

As for the two women the repairman found? For the time being, they’re known simply as Jane Does, and the BAU doesn’t have a whole lot to go on as they begin their investigation. Identifying these women is going to be particularly tough, because their faces have been grotesquely disfigured, so photos won’t be much help. All they basically do know is that the women looked to be involved in drugs and prostitution (common activities in the area of Sacremento where they were found), and that has the team wondering if perhaps the women got on the wrong end of a drug deal, or if they were killed by a pimp. They also consider the theory that the person who killed these women might be a moral enforcer, hoping to “clean up” the city in their own twisted way. Again, it’s not a whole lot to work with, but they’ve worked cases with a lot less.

Fortunately, by the time Hotch arrives at the station, he gets a few more pieces of information about one of the women. Her name was Debbie, and she was twenty-two, homeless, and had been arrested before for drug possession. She “worked” for a guy who once took an underage girl across state lines (of course, he claims he didn’t know she was underage), and is basically a pimp. Sounds like a guy worth interrogating. Even if he’s not the unsub they’re looking for, maybe he can share more information about Debbie.

Said guy comes in for questioning, and initially claims he doesn’t know Debbie. After Hotch calls him on his lie, however, he relents and admits that she did work with him, and their relationship was...tempestuous, to put it lightly. But he also insists that Debbie wanted out of the prostitution business, and he was more than willing to let her go. He’s also visibly upset and shocked by Debbie’s death, which confirms he’s not the guy they’re looking for. Before the interview ends, he also gives the team another rather intriguing piece of information. The dress Debbie was found in wasn’t the sort of thing she was known to wear. Looks like we’ve got one of those unsubs who likes to dress up their victims.

Elsewhere, Rossi and JJ spend their time scouring the neighborhood and building where the bodies were found. None of the neighbors prove helpful – this unsub was apparently really good at not attracting attention or witnesses. That has JJ believing that this unsub’s motive isn’t morality-based, since “moral enforcer” unsubs often like to put their victims on public display to “shame” them for their crimes. These victims were very well hidden away.

Rossi and JJ also make comparisons to Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer as a means of showing some of the notable similarities and differences between them and this unsub. The guy isn’t a necrophiliac, like Bundy was (thank God), but he is clearly holding the bodies for safekeeping of some sort. Rossi can’t figure out why the unsub chose that water reserve, though – surely he’d have to know the bodies would decompose quickly in such a setting. This speaks to some sort of disorganization on his part. JJ also notes that the Green River Killer changed disposal sites when his initial one was compromised. Will their current unsub follow suit?

At the morgue, Reid and Tara go over the women’s various methods of death and injuries. Debbie died from severe blood loss, and the other woman, whom we later learn was named Belinda, died from sepsis. Both women are also being tested for drugs in their systems. Despite Debbie’s newfound sobriety, Reid considers the possibility she might’ve relapsed, but Tara points out that she, and perhaps Belinda, could’ve also been drugged by the unsub.

Reid’s also particularly struck by the fact that the unsub used two types of weapons on the women’s faces, and the unusual cuts he made. Tara, meanwhile, is curious about the unsub using chemicals to try and color Belinda’s hair blonde. Between dressing these women up in a specific outfit, altering their faces, and changing their hair, it’s obvious their unsub is clearly trying to replicate someone from his own life.

And we soon see him going at it again with his latest victim. A young woman wakes up in a small bedroom that’s in some sort of prison cell that the unsub has crafted in his basement. That’s totally not creepy at all, no. Upon seeing her captor, she begs to be let go, but to nobody’s surprise, he ignores her. Instead, he simply asks, rather chillingly, “Do you trust me?” She barely even gets a chance to answer or fight back before he begins strangling her to death.

Reid and JJ investigate the crime scene this time. This latest woman’s name was Leslie, and she appears to have been dead for two days prior to being found, Just like Debbie and Belinda, she was dressed in a specific outfit, and dumped into a watery grave, covered up like the women in the water reserve were. There are a couple notable differences with Leslie’s death, though. First, she was dumped outside, in a jacuzzi of all places. Second, unlike the other women, she’s a natural blonde. This fits with the mix of organized and disorganized behaviors Rossi and JJ discussed back at Debbie and Belinda’s crime scene.

Soon after, we learn a little more about the other two victims. Belinda was a shoplifter at one point, and Leslie was a drug addict. They’d also attended a local rehab community called Changing Lives, as had Leslie. Clearly that community is where the unsub’s finding his victims. And since the unsub is trying to turn these women into someone from his own life, the team refers to this special person as “Victim Zero”. If they can find out who that person is, and if they can connect them to the rehab community somehow as well, that should help them find their unsub.

In the meantime, said unsub’s found yet another victim. Just like Leslie, we see this newest captive waking up in the same prison cell, only to note with horror that her face has been completely bandaged. She stumbles about for a bit, trying to gather her bearings and possibly escape, and through the gauze, she can faintly make out various things scattered about the room, all of which have labels on them. There’s a dress with the tag “Your favorite dress”, a stuffed toy with a “Your favorite toy” tag. “Your favorite color”, “Your poetry”, etc. You get the idea. It’s quite unnerving, and further proof of just how far this unsub’s willing to go to recreate a special time and person from his past.

The conversation between this woman and the unsub is fairly similar to the one Leslie had with him, only this time, the guy informs the woman that she’s in “phase one” of his experiment. He also keeps referring to her as Sarah. Is that her name, or is that the name of the woman who haunts him so deeply?

Back at the station, Tara informs Rossi and JJ of an interesting discovery about the drugs found in the women. They all had heavy doses of morphine and other pain medications in their systems, and a saline implant was found in one woman’s cheek. These are all things used to heal people. Apparently, the unsub, in his own twisted way, thinks he’s somehow helping these women.

Right on cue, we see Sarah getting some of that “helpful” medicine via a drink. Shortly afterward, the unsub asks if she’s ready for phase two. I sense she’s the first of his victims to be asked that question. It’s at that point that he uncovers a mirror, and begins cutting off and unwrapping her bandages. Once her face is fully uncovered, he directs her to the mirror, and we now see the full result of what he’s done to her. Nearly the entire right side of her face is horribly disfigured and bloody.

At one point, she starts telling the guy, in emotional detail, about her past. She apologizes for any mistakes she’s made, insisting she’s working on turning her life around. She mentions her beloved brother, and how determined she is to attend his high school graduation as a way to make up for missing out on so many other important moments in his life. She also keeps repeating her actual name over and over, which is Danielle. Maybe, just maybe, by getting this guy to see her as she is, he’ll show compassion and let her go.

Her story is backed up by the latest news from Garcia, too, as Danielle’s brother did indeed report her missing recently. This just adds to the team’s urgency to solve this case. As they examine all the evidence before them, Reid can’t stop thinking about why the unsub is intentionally disfiguring the women’s faces if he’s also hoping to help them. Then it hits them. Most people wouldn’t consider such disturbing face alterations beautiful...but the unsub does. He genuinely thinks this is how the woman he loves should look. Interesting.

That’s when it finally hits Reid what’s going on here. The women’s faces are made to resemble faces of those who suffer from a disease called neurofibromitosis. Apparently this disease causes tumors to grow in a person’s face, leaving it looking all lumpy and misshapen. “Victim Zero” must’ve suffered from that disease, and now the unsub’s trying to make these women look EXACTLY like her, lumpy face and all. That’s...incredibly specific.

Through some of Garcia’s rapid-fire internet searching, the team’s able to finally narrow down a connection between neurofibromitosis and the guy they’re looking for. They learn that the unsub’s name is Joseph, and he has quite the tragic story. At one time, he was madly in love with a woman named Sarah Sherwood. They met at Changing Lives. He was there as part of his job working at a food delivery, she was there getting help for her disease. He was able to nab drugs from the rehab center in the hopes of helping her. As Reid rather poignantly notes, the worse the rehab center, the easier it is for people to steal drugs. So evidently this facility wasn’t all that concerned about the safety of their patients and staff.

Joseph and Sarah went on to forge a loving relationship, and had planned on moving in together eventually...until one afternoon, when they made the simple mistake of going out for a picnic at the local park. According to e-mail exchanges between Sarah and her parents, Sarah had long felt deeply self-conscious about her looks, to the point where she barely ever went outside. Joseph tried his best to be supportive of her, but Sarah just couldn’t shake the self-loathing, and it all came to a head at that infamous picnic date, when she felt everyone was gawking at her. Whether they really were staring, or whether she merely imagined it as a result of her insecurity, I don’t know, but she wound up having a massive anxiety attack right then and there.

Two days after that traumatic incident, Sarah sadly committed suicide...by drowning. To make matters worse, she held the tarp over herself to ensure she would never come out. And her dress? It’s exactly like the one that the unsub used to dress his victims. Joseph was utterly devastated by her death, and ever since then, he’s been desperately trying to redo that tragic day, in the hopes of bringing her back to him. He’s even put a bunch of disfigured dolls around his house in the hopes of putting “Sarah” at ease and making her feel less alone. Yikes.

As if all of that weren’t heartbreaking enough, we also learn that when Joseph was eleven years old, his mother was severely disfigured as a result of a car accident, and was bedridden for three years before eventually dying from her injuries. After her death, Joseph was put into foster care, and the home he was in eventually got busted for child abuse and holy crap, could this story get any more depressing?

The next time we see Joseph and Danielle, he’s showing her the room in the house that he and Sarah were meant to live in together. He’s all excited as he shows “Sarah” all the special things of hers that he included in the room, even holding up a beloved doll Sarah had liked, because it looked so much like her (and said doll isn’t disfigured, interestingly enough). It’s deeply creepy and sad all at the same time. Danielle plays along, pretending to be Sarah as she tries to avoid looking at all the creepy disfigured dolls and the favorite things scattered about. She takes advantage of Joseph’s insistence that he’d do anything for her, hoping to trick him into letting her go outside.

After the tragedy with Sarah, however, Joseph is hell bent on not recreating that horrific scene. In a final act of desperation, Danielle manages to attack Joseph with a mirror and make a break for it. She actually does get out of the house, too, and there’s a brief moment of hope when she flags down a man and begs for help. Joseph catches up to her pretty quickly, though, and after rattling off some explanation to placate the man, he manages to drag her back into the house. Dangit. He then proceeds to tell Danielle that that man was only pretending to care about her, that he is the only one who truly loves her. He vows they’ll stay inside their little house of safety forever, and if that doesn’t tell you just how broken he is by all that happened to Sarah and his mom, I don’t know what does.

Luckily, by this point, the team is on their way to the house, but it’s at that very moment that Danielle begins to suffer a nasty reaction to the medication Joseph’s been giving her. Just as he’s trying to figure out what to do, the team arrives and tries to get him to back off. True to form, though, Joseph resists at first. All he wants to do is protect his precious “Sarah”.

Finally, though, the team does manage to talk him down and pull him away, by making him see that this isn’t Sarah he’s holding, and that he’s only hurting innocent women in the process. Thankfully, they also manage to get Danielle the help she needs just in time, and we end with the good news that she’ll be all right. And Rossi makes sure to call her by her real name, to help keep her from falling further into that fantasy.

It was hard not to feel for Joseph in this episode. The show did a good job of balancing the creepy/sympathetic factor, I felt. That’s the show’s trademark, that’s what makes them stand out from other procedurals, and I like that we got to see both sides of the unsub in this episode. By the end of the episode, I was seriously hoping Joseph would get serious mental help instead of jail time.

I was also intrigued by the setup for the case. Sure, the fact that Joseph was trying to recreate someone from his life was pretty obvious from the get-go, but the idea that this man was striving for an extremely unconventional method of beauty, and the disease angle, were curious little flourishes that added to my interest in the case. The fact that Joseph could find the beauty in something that most would consider ugly, and was recreating that exact look to the letter, no less, not only added to the sympathy factor for him, it was also a creative twist on all the cases we’ve seen where unsubs strive for a more stereotypical “perfect” ideal of some sort, be it in looks or lifestyle or whatnot. This episode’s writer is new to the staff, and if the unusual and slightly unpredictable touches they put into this case are any indication, I’d be rather interested to see what other sorts of cases they could come up with in the future.

I also liked the slight suspense throughout as well, with the simplicity of statements like “Do you trust me?” and the mention of “phase one/two” leaving us wondering just what all Joseph meant with those words, what they entailed, what would happen next.

And I must confess to getting a bit of a classic “Twilight Zone” vibe from this storyline as well. The unwrapping of Danielle’s facial bandages, the flipped attitude about what’s considered beautiful – it all reminded me of the classic “Twilight Zone” episode “Eye of the Beholder” (hence the review title). Whether that similarity was intentional or not, I don’t know, but either way, it worked for me.

My biggest question about Joseph’s recreation story is that if he was looking for a blonde-haired woman, why not just take natural blondes from the get-go? It made sense he was picking women who went to the same rehab center Sarah went to, but were there just not enough natural blondes congregating there for him to pick from? The episode didn’t really go into too much detail about why he picked women whose hair he had to dye – if the objective was to show us that he was trying to recreate Sarah, the facial disfiguring and dressing them like her was more than enough to hint at that. And if the theme was that their hair color was one of the many things he wanted to change about these women, that he was so despondent that he would take ANY woman he could find and remake her in Sarah’s image, then why start going after natural blondes at all? I think it just would’ve made more sense if he’d gone strictly one way or the other the whole way through on that front.

And as heartbreaking as the stories about Joseph’s mother and Sarah were, I can’t help but wonder if part of the reason, if not THE reason, Joseph was so attracted to Sarah was because she reminded him of his mother? If that’s the case, that seems to imply he might’ve had an unusually (and possibly creepily) close bond with his mom that he then hoped to recreate with Sarah. Considering he wanted to recreate Sarah by attempting to make his victims look like her, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. In some ways, I’m glad the show didn’t touch on that aspect of Joseph’s personality, because that might’ve robbed him of any potential sympathy and turned him into a disturbed mama’s boy sort...but on the other hand, I think it would’ve been worth seeing the team explore that possible theory a little more deeply, to help further explain and understand his motives. He was set up to have serious issues with loss and abandonment from such a young age, and I would’ve liked to delve into that part of things further.

For the most part, though, this case worked for me. It was rather slight compared to some of the complex, crazy cases the team’s dealt with throughout this season, sure, but it was a haunting little story, and it was a good change of pace to have something a little simpler after so much chaos. Especially given the team’s personal lives seem to be full of that very same chaos – which brings us to Rossi’s awkward reunion.

Meanwhile, on the personal front…:

Rossi’s in full on grandpa mode at the start of this episode. He’s come out to visit his grandson Kai, who’s celebrating a birthday, and there’s all sorts of adorableness between the two of them as they bond over a bit of baseball.

Unfortunately, Rossi’s daughter Joy isn’t there at the moment – she’d been on assignment overseas and wound up stranded in customs. Rossi’s a little bummed about not getting to spend time with her, but at least she’s all right where she is, and her being away gives him an opportunity to get to know his son-in-law Sean a little better. Joy would be thrilled to see that the two men seem to be hitting it off quite nicely.

All this happy fun time comes to a screeching halt, however, with the surprise arrival of a certain guest: Hayden Montgomery. Aka, Rossi’s second wife and mother of Joy. Awk-ward...

According to her, she initially didn’t plan on coming, claiming that upon hearing Rossi would be there, she “didn’t want to intrude” (subtle, Hayden). But she did want to see her grandson, and so she finally worked up the nerve to visit in the hopes that she and Rossi might be able to finally clear the air about their past. So that should be a fun conversation.

Not surprisingly, things get off to a rather bumpy start. Rossi tells Hayden about how, after he learned about Joy, he’d attempted to call and text Hayden for a full week. All he got in return was complete silence, though, and he can’t figure out why. Nor does he fully understand why she kept Joy a secret from him for twenty-nine years, venting his frustration that she never gave him a chance to be a dad in the past.

Hayden counters his argument by reminding him that when they were married, she always came second to the job. Naturally, she figured Joy would come second, too. She then asks him the question that he’s mulled over ever since he found out he had a daughter. If he’d known back then that he was going to be a father, would he have stayed with Hayden and Joy?

It’s at that point that Rossi gets called in to work the case. He’s been “saved by the bell”, so to speak, but by rushing out the door with little more than a hurried, bittersweet goodbye to Kai, he’s basically confirming Hayden’s assumptions about where his loyalties really lie. Even when he explains the team is “a man down”, nodding to Morgan’s recent absence, she still looks very displeased.

The funny part? Rossi probably would’ve been better off staying with Hayden and Kai. He can’t stop thinking about his conversation with her, or the question that has haunted him for a little over a year, to the point where he can barely even focus on the case! Fortunately, he gets some help and advice from JJ, of all people…and the advice she gives him isn’t quite what I expected. We’re all familiar, of course, with the push/pull of family versus the job that these team members have dealt with over the years, and JJ is one in a lengthy list of team members (Hotch, Blake, Kate, Morgan…) who’ve been down that road. This debate has been a source of tension between her and Will, too, at times, so naturally, one would expect she’d immediately side with Rossi.

Except she doesn’t. At least, not entirely. She asks Rossi what Hayden’s reason was for not telling him about Joy, and actually takes the time to help Rossi understand Hayden’s side of the debate. Yes, she can relate to Hayden’s frustration by virtue of the fact that she’s a mom, just like Hayden, but that’s not the main point. Instead, she reminds Rossi of how dedicated he was to his work. He can protest all he wants, but she knows how hard he works, she’s heard the stories about his past, and she gets it because she’s the same way (though her devotion to both family and job is more balanced than Rossi’s was). Everyone else has tried to placate Rossi and assure him that he would’ve made the right choice back then, but JJ’s willing to call him out on the fact that that might not be true. It may not be what Rossi wants to hear, but there may be a little more truth to it than he wants to acknowledge. It’s easy now for him to say he would’ve stayed back then, she points out, because he’s seen how Joy turned out. But could he have given it all up back then to go on full baby care duty, and be a full-time dad?

JJ’s words stick with Rossi, and after the case, he calls Sean for one quick favor. This time it’s him who’s appearing at Hayden’s door and wanting to talk. He admits that he can’t fully defend the sort of person he was back then, and doesn’t have a pat answer to the “which would you choose?” question. But he also understands better Hayden’s reasons for not telling him about Joy back then. He expresses his admiration for all the hard work Hayden put into raising Joy and causing her to turn out as great as she did.

After sharing a few stories about Joy, they agree to start this newfound bonding process by spending a little time with their grandson...together. Aw. This doesn’t look to be the last of their interactions, either, as we’re expected to see Hayden again in the season finale in a couple weeks. Very curious to see what’ll come of that.

Just as I liked getting to know Carolyn (brief though her introduction was), I also liked getting to know Hayden a little more in this episode. It’s always interesting to explore this part of Rossi’s past – I feel like we learn a lot more about him through Carolyn and Hayden, and I always like hearing about what was going on in his life at the time he was married to each of these women. Hayden seems tough but fair, the sort of woman I could see Rossi going for, and I can see where their personalities would’ve both complimented and repelled each other. It was also sweet to see them bond over Joy and Kai – I like the idea of their daughter and grandson bringing them back together, be it as friends or possibly something more, and I’d be interested to see how Joy would react to her parents reuniting like this sometime.

I also liked the talk between Rossi and JJ. In some ways it would’ve been great to have Rossi and Hotch have this heart to heart, because Hotch can sympathize with Rossi’s situation, and yet I think he too could’ve looked at Hayden’s side of the story in a sympathetic light. Especially given all the regrets and guilt he’s felt ever since Haley’s death – you know he would’ve had some great advice about how to deal with those regrets and guilt, and the importance of being there for one’s child. Plus, we just haven’t really had much in the way of good Hotch/Rossi heart to hearts recently, and I wish we could’ve had that here.

But of course, Hotch is not a mother, at least, not in the biological sense. JJ is. And she can see both Rossi and Hayden’s perspectives, because she lives both of them every day. She’s devoted to the job like Rossi – the fact she’s still doing it despite now having two kids at home is testament to that. But she also understands a woman’s desire to want her husband/boyfriend there to help her raise her child. And she’s a little more blunt in her honesty in some ways, and I liked that she didn’t hold back in reminding Rossi of how things really were for him back when he was married to Hayden (at least, how they were according to him). If he himself acknowledges he was devoted to his job back then, then he should just acknowledge that fact.

That said, I do also understand Rossi’s hesitation to admit he might not have stuck around for Joy, because nobody wants to admit to choosing to abandon their child. And given some of the other regrets about his past that he’s shared over the years (making killers popular in the media through his books, not always being the most faithful or committed husband), it also makes sense he’d want to believe he could redo things with his daughter given the chance, too.

Thing is, though, Joy wasn’t the first child in his life. He’d had a son, James, with Carolyn. Sure, James wound up dying the very day of his birth, but the show’s seemed to always indicate he’d been more than willing (in fact, downright excited) to be a father to his son had he lived, despite just starting out in the BAU at the time. Maybe it would’ve been easier to consider being a father when the BAU was still in its infancy versus a few years later, when the organization was really up and running, but still, I think his feelings about his son should be taken into account when he’s debating what he would’ve done regarding his daughter.

And while JJ made a lot of good points in her conversation with him, I also think the fact that Rossi is even debating this issue seems to indicate he would’ve been willing to stick around. It just seems odd that a mere two episodes ago we had Morgan reassuring Rossi that he would’ve made the right choice back then, and now here’s JJ saying practically the opposite. I suppose that can be chalked up to Rossi being rattled and uncertain again thanks to Hayden’s sudden appearance, but still...it felt like that debate had already been settled in some respects, so why rehash it again?

Besides that, while I understand Hayden still holding on to her feelings about the way things ended between her and Rossi, at the same time, it’s been nearly three decades, and they can’t go back and change the past. The bottom line is that Rossi and Joy know each other now, and while they may not be able to recapture the moments that they’d missed out on with each other, they’ve managed to forge a great bond since then, and Joy’s accepted Rossi’s explanation about his absence in her life, so I think it’d be worth it for everyone else to do the same, and focus on moving forward. Hopefully, if the ending scene between Hayden and Rossi is any indication, that’ll be the case from here on out. Only question I have now is, when do we get to meet Krystall?

So now we’re down to the final two episodes of the season! Hard to believe we’re so close to the end. Judging from the news about those episodes, though, it sounds like this season will end on as crazy a note as it began, so all I can say now is, bring it on!

What did you think of the episode? Were you moved by the case and Joseph’s plight? Did you enjoy the reunion between Rossi and Hayden? Where do you stand on the “family versus the job” issue, and which decision do you think Rossi would’ve made? What do you think their tentative reconciliation means for the two of them in the future? Share your thoughts in the comments!

About the Author - Angela
Angela resides in the state of Iowa, in the town that was the inspiration for the Music Man. She loves to read and write, and enjoys a wide variety of music. She also enjoys various TV shows, including ""Criminal Minds"", ""Community"", ""Sleepy Hollow"", ""Bates Motel"", and ""How to Get Away with Murder"", as well as older shows such as ""Frasier"" and ""The Twilight Zone"". She will be reviewing ""Criminal Minds"" for SpoilerTV.
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