Season 8 was a good season in my opinion, with just a few subpar episodes. A couple episodes I didn't care for in this season was the dreadful "Nanny Dearest" (8x21) and the so-so episode "The Good Earth" (8x5). But overall, season 8 was a good season.
At the beginning of the episode, the Yamada family is found dead, close to a construction site at night by a drifter. Three members of the family are found dead, but the son is missing. He's later found dead by a construction site, with no evidence of sexual abuse or torture. The Yamadas were missing for 5 days before they were killed. The killer tried to frame the father by putting a gun in his hand. The BAU team quickly deduce that it was an attempted frame-up.
Hotch gets a call reporting to the team that another family, the Acklins, have been reported missing. A father, mother, 17 year old daughter and 11 year old son. The father is in the middle of a lawsuit, so at first they wonder if the family disappeared voluntarily. They can't take any chances.
The unsub in this episode locks the father, mother and teenaged daughter in a basement room that's in a house in the middle of nowhere. But he doesn't lock the son in there. The Acklins are obviously worried about the youngest member of their family. The BAU deduce that the unsub probably broke into the boys room first, held a gun to his dead and forced the family to tie each other up and put on hoods so they wouldn't know where they were being taken.
In this episode, the family argues with each other a lot. Some viewers may find that or them annoying, but to me, they're just like a normal family who has fights. It's part of being human. The actors playing the father, mother and daughter did a good job interacting with each other. I believed that they were a real family. They had good enough chemistry to be believable.
The killer communicates with the family with a built in mic that's in the basement room that he's holding them in. And the situation is tense and threatening. I can imagine myself in the same situation with a madman holding me and my family hostage in a basement room. You realize that this unsub either enjoys seeing the families he holds hostage argue about their problems or he's upset that they're not the "perfect family". He could be angry that they're misbehaving and making a mockery out of the family unit.
The unsub forces the family to to come clean with their flaws. The father has been having an affair with his sons tutor. The daughter sometimes takes drugs, starting with her mom's pain pills and then illicit drugs. The mother is obsessed with money and she's a shopaholic. It's a normal family with normal problems. Everyone has faults, so you realize this unsub is out of his mind. The mother does make a choice in this episode though that was disturbing and will probably turn most viewers against her.
I did like how one character gave his commentary on how the family unit was dying. He told Blake and Reid that everyone was on their phones, texting and tweeting and e-mailing. I thought it was a good commentary.
Also, the main cop in this episode made a comment on a suspect and said "I say he's guilty". The suspect was totally innocent and there was no real evidence against him. However, it reminds you that throughout history, there have been many people who were wrongly convicted of serious crimes because cops/detectives were too lazy to investigate crimes properly and look for multiple suspects and just settled on the first person that "looks good" for the crime so they could close their case.
Damn good episode.
At the beginning of the episode, the Yamada family is found dead, close to a construction site at night by a drifter. Three members of the family are found dead, but the son is missing. He's later found dead by a construction site, with no evidence of sexual abuse or torture. The Yamadas were missing for 5 days before they were killed. The killer tried to frame the father by putting a gun in his hand. The BAU team quickly deduce that it was an attempted frame-up.
Hotch gets a call reporting to the team that another family, the Acklins, have been reported missing. A father, mother, 17 year old daughter and 11 year old son. The father is in the middle of a lawsuit, so at first they wonder if the family disappeared voluntarily. They can't take any chances.
The unsub in this episode locks the father, mother and teenaged daughter in a basement room that's in a house in the middle of nowhere. But he doesn't lock the son in there. The Acklins are obviously worried about the youngest member of their family. The BAU deduce that the unsub probably broke into the boys room first, held a gun to his dead and forced the family to tie each other up and put on hoods so they wouldn't know where they were being taken.
In this episode, the family argues with each other a lot. Some viewers may find that or them annoying, but to me, they're just like a normal family who has fights. It's part of being human. The actors playing the father, mother and daughter did a good job interacting with each other. I believed that they were a real family. They had good enough chemistry to be believable.
The killer communicates with the family with a built in mic that's in the basement room that he's holding them in. And the situation is tense and threatening. I can imagine myself in the same situation with a madman holding me and my family hostage in a basement room. You realize that this unsub either enjoys seeing the families he holds hostage argue about their problems or he's upset that they're not the "perfect family". He could be angry that they're misbehaving and making a mockery out of the family unit.
The unsub forces the family to to come clean with their flaws. The father has been having an affair with his sons tutor. The daughter sometimes takes drugs, starting with her mom's pain pills and then illicit drugs. The mother is obsessed with money and she's a shopaholic. It's a normal family with normal problems. Everyone has faults, so you realize this unsub is out of his mind. The mother does make a choice in this episode though that was disturbing and will probably turn most viewers against her.
I did like how one character gave his commentary on how the family unit was dying. He told Blake and Reid that everyone was on their phones, texting and tweeting and e-mailing. I thought it was a good commentary.
Also, the main cop in this episode made a comment on a suspect and said "I say he's guilty". The suspect was totally innocent and there was no real evidence against him. However, it reminds you that throughout history, there have been many people who were wrongly convicted of serious crimes because cops/detectives were too lazy to investigate crimes properly and look for multiple suspects and just settled on the first person that "looks good" for the crime so they could close their case.
Damn good episode.