I have been doing a slow binge watch. This is my favorite episode to this point. Forrest Whitaker is such a talented, versatile actor.
2 Reviews
Best So Far
duku6514 September 2020
Innocent or guilty
TheLittleSongbird10 May 2019
Have said many times before about loving detective/mystery/procedural shows and dramas. The same goes for my love for the original 'Criminal Minds', or at least Seasons 1-5 with Seasons 6 onwards being hit and miss. When the episode was a hit it came close to equalling the best of the prime 'Criminal Minds' episodes, when the episode was a miss like the worst of Seasons 9 and 11 it didn't feel like 'Criminal Minds' and was lacklustre at best if even that.
A couple of episodes aside, where the show tried to do something different (none of which were really successful, but appreciated the effort), 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour' was a show that never did anything for me, didn't really get into it. Always give short-lived shows a chance, and there have been some where a large part of me has felt that the show deserved to last much longer than it did and didn't get a proper chance. In 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour's' case, can as much as it pains me to say it totally see why many dislike it and why it only lasted one season. It disgraces as a spin-off and is weak as a procedural show as well as on its own.
"The Time is Now" is one of the better-faring episodes, as it tries to do something different from the show's usual formula structurally and it also tries to address one of the show's biggest persistent problems, but is still not particularly good and lacking in too many areas.
It does have a contender for the show's best supporting cast of all the episodes. It is not the usual case of only having one good performance and everybody else being forgettable or nobody being especially good. While Richard Schiff makes a major effort and successfully to get some mileage and interest value out of a not very well written character, it is Mariana Kavenko's unsettling and at times moving performance as Veronica that's hard to forget. One of the show's best supporting, and overall, performances. Actually think the regulars are at their least problematic here as they are more involved than usual.
What is a major improvement here in "The Time is Now" is that as said tried to address one of my biggest problems throughout 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour' and one of the few episodes of the show to do so. There is far more chemistry within the team and the overall character interaction, while still with not an awful lot that sticks in the mind as special (excepting Cooper and Veronica which was at times surprisingly poignant), actually shows signs of existing. Props have to be given to making Beth at her most useful (she is pretty assertive here) and least irritating, still am not crazy about her but there is nothing here that makes me want to hit my head against a wall. While not wow-worthy, the photography is slick enough.
On the other hand, the story is nowhere near as compelling as it should have been and brings down "The Time is Now" significantly. It was like the writers were making an effort to address the character interaction and had not paid as much attention to making a story that interested or made sense. The momentum was not there, neither was the tension and suspense. Any emotion was provided by Kavenko and by not much else. The structure was intriguing on paper but "The Time is Now" executes it messily. Too much of it was unnecessarily convoluted (like with the whole business with the signature, the supposed reasoning of which is up there with the strangest in the history of procedural television), or so it felt that way to me, and came over as quite odd and at times inconsistent.
Direction is functional but perfunctory and not much else, while the script lacks tautness and flow, often coming over as wooden. It struggles with provoking much thought and the legal stuff perplexes rather than intrigues. The music is forgettable at best and can be obvious in placement. The cast do well, but the characters are not very interesting apart from Veronica and not always plausible. Giancarlo Esposito is pretty wasted. Profiling is not enough and what there is really varies in how much it adds to the case.
In conclusion, lacklustre although one of the show's better episodes. 4/10
A couple of episodes aside, where the show tried to do something different (none of which were really successful, but appreciated the effort), 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour' was a show that never did anything for me, didn't really get into it. Always give short-lived shows a chance, and there have been some where a large part of me has felt that the show deserved to last much longer than it did and didn't get a proper chance. In 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour's' case, can as much as it pains me to say it totally see why many dislike it and why it only lasted one season. It disgraces as a spin-off and is weak as a procedural show as well as on its own.
"The Time is Now" is one of the better-faring episodes, as it tries to do something different from the show's usual formula structurally and it also tries to address one of the show's biggest persistent problems, but is still not particularly good and lacking in too many areas.
It does have a contender for the show's best supporting cast of all the episodes. It is not the usual case of only having one good performance and everybody else being forgettable or nobody being especially good. While Richard Schiff makes a major effort and successfully to get some mileage and interest value out of a not very well written character, it is Mariana Kavenko's unsettling and at times moving performance as Veronica that's hard to forget. One of the show's best supporting, and overall, performances. Actually think the regulars are at their least problematic here as they are more involved than usual.
What is a major improvement here in "The Time is Now" is that as said tried to address one of my biggest problems throughout 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour' and one of the few episodes of the show to do so. There is far more chemistry within the team and the overall character interaction, while still with not an awful lot that sticks in the mind as special (excepting Cooper and Veronica which was at times surprisingly poignant), actually shows signs of existing. Props have to be given to making Beth at her most useful (she is pretty assertive here) and least irritating, still am not crazy about her but there is nothing here that makes me want to hit my head against a wall. While not wow-worthy, the photography is slick enough.
On the other hand, the story is nowhere near as compelling as it should have been and brings down "The Time is Now" significantly. It was like the writers were making an effort to address the character interaction and had not paid as much attention to making a story that interested or made sense. The momentum was not there, neither was the tension and suspense. Any emotion was provided by Kavenko and by not much else. The structure was intriguing on paper but "The Time is Now" executes it messily. Too much of it was unnecessarily convoluted (like with the whole business with the signature, the supposed reasoning of which is up there with the strangest in the history of procedural television), or so it felt that way to me, and came over as quite odd and at times inconsistent.
Direction is functional but perfunctory and not much else, while the script lacks tautness and flow, often coming over as wooden. It struggles with provoking much thought and the legal stuff perplexes rather than intrigues. The music is forgettable at best and can be obvious in placement. The cast do well, but the characters are not very interesting apart from Veronica and not always plausible. Giancarlo Esposito is pretty wasted. Profiling is not enough and what there is really varies in how much it adds to the case.
In conclusion, lacklustre although one of the show's better episodes. 4/10
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