When I started watching I nearly gave up on it. However, as the episode continued it was great . Hence why I gave it 8 = a 2 for the beginning and 10 for the end. Very moving so don't give up on it.
7 Reviews
Improved as it went on.
headandlegs10 February 2021
Great case episode but...
joeyg-149-9944421 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I wasn't to fond of the subplot with Hotchner's borderline-death hallucination but the main story was good. It wasn't the most crazy thing they've done, it wasn't even anything technically the BAU would have needed to be assigned to, but the "bad guy" and his daughter were played perfectly. The actors were extremely convincing in the father/daughter roles. And considering that most of the acting by the one-off characters is subpar, this made the episode great.
One word... Crying!!
alicesmith6725 November 2020
Warning: Spoilers
There is not much more I can say than this episode really tugged at my heart strings.. From Hotch collapsing then Hotch and his dead wife, to the father and daughter torn apart at the end due to the father's crimes. Someone give me a hug 😭. Very emotive 💔
Really good but could have been better
starryuni7 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
The concept of fatherhood is persistent throughout the episode, with both Aaron Hotchner and the Unsub ultimately choosing to live for their children. Hotchner meets with his former wife and Foyett in what appears to be an afterlife, and the one word I woudl use to describe it as silly. Foyett and her were enjoying popcorn while giggling at Aaron's current life, meanwhile Aaron is freaking his guts out. When he realizes he can not stay, he gets into a car where a personal driver drives him away- David Rossi. The behavior of the other character's in this afterlife really set the scene for how easy it would be to just live there, but once reminded of Jack, Hotchner dropped everything.
The parallel with the Unsub where he was going to commit suicide just as his father did, but decided not to because of his daughter, showed that he was willing to give up everything, and live a life locked up. He chose to end the cycle. He chose her.
The writing on this episode was spectacular, though I wish there were more focus on the other Agents. Also the time Hotchner spent in the afterlife movie theatre was a bit too long and got boring. Definitely not the best episode out there because of the room for improvement, but it is one of the better ones of Criminal Minds. I cried. Deserves a higher rating to be honest.
:3.
The parallel with the Unsub where he was going to commit suicide just as his father did, but decided not to because of his daughter, showed that he was willing to give up everything, and live a life locked up. He chose to end the cycle. He chose her.
The writing on this episode was spectacular, though I wish there were more focus on the other Agents. Also the time Hotchner spent in the afterlife movie theatre was a bit too long and got boring. Definitely not the best episode out there because of the room for improvement, but it is one of the better ones of Criminal Minds. I cried. Deserves a higher rating to be honest.
:3.
Great CallBacks!
macylou-8532923 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Meredith and Tommy coming back as Hayley and George was a fun treat. And cute Easter eggs throughout. I loved this was episode 5 of season 9 and Riossi's vanity car plates were 905-509.
The series finale this past week-well-because the final 10 episodes of final season were so strong with OUTSTANDING callbacks of old stories and past visiting actors that I forgive how disappointing the last two episodes were. The season had built up with the quality and story getting better with each passing episode that I really wondered how it could get any better. And proved it couldn't. Alves and Garcia romance to come I didn't buy in to it and Garcia being the one to leave and no Shemar was actually pathetic. Morgan & Savannah work together at CBS still so the not a part of final Rossi party while a sea of unknown faces (hope they were at least crew and not random ppl with zero connectivity) Morgan should have been there as flashbacks only blew. And Thomas after all these years and being drug to hell and back for lesser offenses than many CBS employees across the board have committed - a nice appearance of Hotch and Jack could have salvaged some real bs moves made across all levels on that.
The series finale this past week-well-because the final 10 episodes of final season were so strong with OUTSTANDING callbacks of old stories and past visiting actors that I forgive how disappointing the last two episodes were. The season had built up with the quality and story getting better with each passing episode that I really wondered how it could get any better. And proved it couldn't. Alves and Garcia romance to come I didn't buy in to it and Garcia being the one to leave and no Shemar was actually pathetic. Morgan & Savannah work together at CBS still so the not a part of final Rossi party while a sea of unknown faces (hope they were at least crew and not random ppl with zero connectivity) Morgan should have been there as flashbacks only blew. And Thomas after all these years and being drug to hell and back for lesser offenses than many CBS employees across the board have committed - a nice appearance of Hotch and Jack could have salvaged some real bs moves made across all levels on that.
Spencer Reid. This episode.
giselleginny21 June 2021
Very difficult what to make of this episode
TheLittleSongbird7 September 2016
On first viewing, first impressions ranged from indifference to dislike, finding it too disjointed with too much reliance on the flashbacks and not enough on the rest of the team and the case.
Re-watching it "Route 66" does fare better on re-watch, but at the same time it is not a particularly good episode. It is nowhere near on the same level of bad as "200" and "The Black Queen", as far as Season 9 episodes go, and the worst of the mostly underwhelming Season 11. It was however a strange and not easy to rate episode and while there are some definite good things initial criticisms still stand.
The production values are very high throughout, the flashbacks are beautifully filmed and the theatre setting and a classic-film-star-made-up Haley is the very meaning of glamorous. Apart from a wasted Kirsten Vangsness and a dull Bellamy Young, also have not been much of a fan of Haley so it was difficult to feel much for her here, the acting is good. Thomas Gibson is marvellous here, and C. Thomas Howell worked better on re-watch than on initial viewing, was put off at first at the more clownish personality to one of the show's most iconic unsubs but along with Gibson's performance and the production values his black humour and the chemistry with Haley was more noticeable and gave some levity to the episode.
With the case itself, it definitely should have featured much more in the episode but there is enough tension and suspense to keep it afloat, and the very good performances from Todd Stashwick and Madison Davenport and their touchingly realised chemistry are further advantages. Their final conversation epitomises that and is a real tear-jerker.
For all these good things, "Route 66" does fall short. The flashbacks do take up too much of the episode, you know there's something awry when fans of 'Criminal Minds' remember the flashbacks more than the case itself. When it comes to their execution, they are very much mixed. The good elements about them have already been discussed, but they are also too glib, gimmicky and overwrought, giving the episode a rather weird rather than affectionate tone. Haley and Foyet's chemistry is far more believable than with Hotch and Haley, which comes over as cold with some clunky dialogue that tried too hard for the sincere and emotional edge but came over as stilted and cloying. Beth has always struck me as a rather empty character, dully played and with not much chemistry with Hotch.
Writing is also uneven, the black humour with Foyet and the final scene with Stashwick and Davenport stands out as good but it's forgettable at best in many other scenes, especially the underused rapport between the rest of the team which is barely there. The episode also feels disjointed, not just the imbalance of the flashbacks and the case but also that it often feels like two different episodes, know it's hard with two different plot-lines but tonally and quality wise they were too far removed from the other. The order that it comes in the season feels oddly random as well, would have fared better as a milestone episode or something.
All in all, a difficult episode to rate and make heads of. There's much worse in the show but "Route 66" is also not even close to being one of the best of the latter seasons let alone one of the best of 'Criminal Minds' overall. 5/10 Bethany Cox
Re-watching it "Route 66" does fare better on re-watch, but at the same time it is not a particularly good episode. It is nowhere near on the same level of bad as "200" and "The Black Queen", as far as Season 9 episodes go, and the worst of the mostly underwhelming Season 11. It was however a strange and not easy to rate episode and while there are some definite good things initial criticisms still stand.
The production values are very high throughout, the flashbacks are beautifully filmed and the theatre setting and a classic-film-star-made-up Haley is the very meaning of glamorous. Apart from a wasted Kirsten Vangsness and a dull Bellamy Young, also have not been much of a fan of Haley so it was difficult to feel much for her here, the acting is good. Thomas Gibson is marvellous here, and C. Thomas Howell worked better on re-watch than on initial viewing, was put off at first at the more clownish personality to one of the show's most iconic unsubs but along with Gibson's performance and the production values his black humour and the chemistry with Haley was more noticeable and gave some levity to the episode.
With the case itself, it definitely should have featured much more in the episode but there is enough tension and suspense to keep it afloat, and the very good performances from Todd Stashwick and Madison Davenport and their touchingly realised chemistry are further advantages. Their final conversation epitomises that and is a real tear-jerker.
For all these good things, "Route 66" does fall short. The flashbacks do take up too much of the episode, you know there's something awry when fans of 'Criminal Minds' remember the flashbacks more than the case itself. When it comes to their execution, they are very much mixed. The good elements about them have already been discussed, but they are also too glib, gimmicky and overwrought, giving the episode a rather weird rather than affectionate tone. Haley and Foyet's chemistry is far more believable than with Hotch and Haley, which comes over as cold with some clunky dialogue that tried too hard for the sincere and emotional edge but came over as stilted and cloying. Beth has always struck me as a rather empty character, dully played and with not much chemistry with Hotch.
Writing is also uneven, the black humour with Foyet and the final scene with Stashwick and Davenport stands out as good but it's forgettable at best in many other scenes, especially the underused rapport between the rest of the team which is barely there. The episode also feels disjointed, not just the imbalance of the flashbacks and the case but also that it often feels like two different episodes, know it's hard with two different plot-lines but tonally and quality wise they were too far removed from the other. The order that it comes in the season feels oddly random as well, would have fared better as a milestone episode or something.
All in all, a difficult episode to rate and make heads of. There's much worse in the show but "Route 66" is also not even close to being one of the best of the latter seasons let alone one of the best of 'Criminal Minds' overall. 5/10 Bethany Cox
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