The BAU is stumped to find the common denominator among male victims in Montana, making it difficult to profile the UnSub. Meanwhile JJ deals with her feelings about a family crisis.The BAU is stumped to find the common denominator among male victims in Montana, making it difficult to profile the UnSub. Meanwhile JJ deals with her feelings about a family crisis.The BAU is stumped to find the common denominator among male victims in Montana, making it difficult to profile the UnSub. Meanwhile JJ deals with her feelings about a family crisis.
- Detective Sandra Carpenter
- (as Ellie Jameson)
- Lillian
- (as Lauren Virginia Albert)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMatt Cohen (John) also plays young John Winchester in Supernatural (2005). He also later appears in Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders (2016) as a different character.
- GoofsAll entries contain spoilers
- Quotes
Jennifer Jareau: My mother believes that children shouldn't be shielded from the realities of the world. I do. Isn't that why we read them fairy tales in the first place?
Dr. Spencer Reid: No, actually most fairy tales in their original form were gruesome to the extreme. In Cinderella, the stepsisters had their feet mutilated to fit in the shoe and her eyes were eventually picked out by doves. Sleeping Beauty was raped while she was unconscious by the King. Hansel and Gretel were held captive by a half blind cannibal. Solders were instructed to cut out Snow White's liver and lungs so the Queen could feast upon them.
Jennifer Jareau: Thanks for that, Spence.
Dr. Spencer Reid: My point is one could argue that the sanitized versions we have today are actually counterproductive to the original purpose of fairy tales, so the children can safely confront their darkest fears.
Jennifer Jareau: Maybe my mom was right.
- SoundtracksTheme from Criminal Minds
Composed by Marc Fantini and Steffan Fantini
There are definitely good things about "If the Shoe Fits". Once again production values are very high, the music fits well and much of the acting is very good, especially from Joe Mantegna, Matthew Gray Gubler and AJ Cook (Abbie Cobb also does a good job with her role, but doesn't have an awful lot to work with and the character was not as interesting or as fully developed as she should have been, pretty underwritten actually).
Rossi has some brilliant one-liners here, his quote "I appreciate your concern, but I appreciate my brain just the way it is" is hilarious. Also priceless is Reid talking about night owls, in fact Reid and Rossi make this episode and help make it watchable. While it did feel like filler and took up too much of the episode, JJ's (who is more in character than in Seasons 7-9) subplot was still very touching and anybody who's been there will find her easy to relate to here, also liked the way she stood up to her mother.
However, the unsub is blandly written and not developed very well, a big problem when "If the Shoe Fits" was an episode that was unsub heavy. Also got the sense that the show was running out of ideas because the whole psychosis thing is not much new and even when putting a fairy tale spin on it it felt really strange and jarred tonally, making it very difficult to take it seriously in a show that is often dark and very gritty. The episode also neglected to give a reason for why the unsub started killing, to me if it was because of her troubled past she would have started killing much earlier.
Quite a lot has been said about the denouement. It is certainly memorable, unfortunately not for the right reasons and really did ring false. It isn't as patronising as the denouement in "Till Death Do Us Part", but it did feel awkward and unintentionally comical as well as taking uncomfortable weirdness to a whole new level. The direction is lethargic and the script only really shines with Rossi and Reid (and sometimes JJ) while others seem underused.
And this reviewer really doesn't like Kate, she doesn't fit with the team, is a dull character and comes across as too cocky in interrogations and Jennifer Love Hewitt feels out of place. She has impressed in a couple of Season 10 episodes, "Lockdown" being a notable example, but mostly she doesn't work.
In summary, don't think 'Criminal Minds' has been any more strange than here, and it really didn't feel right. 4/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Aug 19, 2016
Details
- Runtime43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD