Criminal Minds (TV Series) 200 (2014) User Reviews

JJ episode

[Jackbv123 · 8/10 · 4 October 2019]

I really like that we learn more about what JJ did in the year away. And Will is a saint to know what he knows and not be worried or jealous. I hated (in the way you are supposed to in a good episode) what was done to Matt and especially JJ. It was good how the story lead JJ to the truth and the team to JJ.

I can't give the episode a full endorsement for a couple of reasons. One is a reality check. If JJ entered the panic code, how can the system still give the data?

A bigger issue is a pet peeve I have with shows like this and the two NCIS spinoffs. On TV, government agents go "off the reservation" constantly. Well you don't keep you job if you do that, especially if you act contrary to a direct order from the high honcho (was it the Director or the Secretary - I missed that). Even if you save the day doing it, you get punished somehow and heavily punished. TV writers and viewers seem to think it's OK, but really it is not a good thing for the overall picture.

Wtf

[clevelandher · 8/10 · 7 November 2019]

So JJ became a mom in 2008 but in the flashback she lost her baby in 2010. Wtf

200

[emily2906 · 10/10 · 5 February 2014]

Great to see Emily Prentiss back!! She was always my favorite and she should stay permanently! She really pulls the team together! This was the best episode they have had in a long time! Good to get some more background on JJ, but sorry to find out she lost her baby. Only downside is it was too short, it could easily have been made into a double, and everything explained in more detail. Also, Prentiss should have had more face-time and the episode shouldn't have ended so abruptly - they were going to get 6 more hours with Emily that we see nothing of. JJ and WIll's (and Henry's) reunion should have been included as well!

AMAZING EPISODE for those loyal CM fans out there

[Blondexilla · 10/10 · 6 February 2014]

Although some people are very critical of 200, I absolutely loved it. This was the kind of show that rewarded the viewers who have been here from the start. We get to see the lovely Paget Brewster back in her role as Emily Prentiss and some major plot holes were filled! The flashback scenes clarified a lot of the mystery surrounding Prentiss' death and JJ's transfer, and plus THEY WERE HEARTBREAKING. THE WHOLE TIME I CRIED LIKE A LITTLE KID. The use of the song blackbird and it's meaning is so touching. AJ Cook absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one! Very well done, congrats to the cast on making it this far!

My ONLY complaint is at the end they used a cover of the original version of Blackbird. Would it kill you to use the Beatles version? I hate the cover!! It sounds so off! Other than that, well done on an amazing episode. I don't recommend watching if you haven't seen season 6 yet!

Well done episode - spoiler alert

[shirleyshani · 10/10 · 9 June 2016]

This review will be filled with spoilers! I know a lot of people found this episode to not fit with other plot stories, but I think all these supposed "holes" can be explained or are explained in the episode.

Let's start with the jumps between past (JJ's flashbacks to the events in Afghanistan), her current tortures and the team's work. Accurate. Not one detail is needless or missing.

The team's determination to work the case, after being told to stand down, Hotch being so protective of JJ & Matt: I love those episodes where we can see their devotion and care for each other, not just the job. But to do so while risking their jobs and freedom, rebelling against the system they serve, was an added bonus.

AJ Cook is playing this episode accurately. Outstanding work. The fact that in her time of need, JJ hallucinates of Emily, not other members of the team or Will, coming to her rescue, is a nice tribute to a rare TV womanly friendship.

And last, but by no means least - it takes great writing and directing to use subtle hints to show a mental and physical condition, without specifically wording it. The final scenes are exactly that: Emily releasing JJ, and keeps one hand to her the whole time she unties her, thus creating the "safe" feeling without saying it; JJ, full of rage and adrenaline, not giving in to pain but rushing after her kidnapper - but one can still see she's off her A-game; the bar scene, where JJ is sitting with her family of BAU and husband, supposedly as if nothing happened, but anyone can see she's shaken up and hurting in her body language. Saying so much, with no words of added scenes, is extraordinary.

One of the best episodes

[azmogroupon · 10/10 · 18 May 2020]

I like thi s episode. Good story with lots of suspension moments. Plus A J Cook's excellent acting as always. Nice team work despite the authorities' restriction. The final part when JJ was running after and fighting the guy was a little poorly-thought. knowing that she was held captive hanging all-day and tortured with electricity and beaten, it was impossible that she could climb up the ladder and run and fight the guy so well.

A waste of a milestone episode

[TheLittleSongbird · 3/10 · 2 July 2016]

This is not going to be a popular review from the looks of it, though "200" has garnered a very mixed reception with those who disliked it being particularly vocal.

As a 'Criminal Minds', speaking as someone who has been a great fan for 7 years or so now, episode, this will (and has done) leave a lot of fans short-changed (unless one is a die-hard fan of JJ), one could say it's a slap in the face. So much so that it is hard to judge it from a standalone episode, as something standing on its own two feet.

Credit is due. The acting is very good, AJ Cook in particular doing a fantastic job, JJ's pain, anguish and determination coming over incredibly powerfully. Production values are high, with a superb stark and claustrophobic atmosphere created, that one wishes was matched by the writing. The music is suitably haunting too, with a touching use of "Blackbird".

"200's" biggest problem, especially considering that it's an anniversary special (very like "100" was, except that it was unquestionably 'Criminal Minds'), is that it didn't feel like an episode of 'Criminal Minds'. If it weren't for the throwing in of the rest of the team who come and go within the episode it would have felt like something else entirely. Despite it being a JJ episode (in a situation that realistically she shouldn't even have been in the first place), even with her situation it did feel like too much focus was given to her and the rest of the team were given a back-seat. This does hurt the dynamic of the team and of the rest of the characters properly shining, as their screen times are far too short and their personalities seemed dumbed down and out of character.

Even the much touted return of Emily Prentiss feels wasted. Lovely to see her again, but again screen time is too short and in a way it didn't seem like there was much need for her and that anybody could have been in her role. The writing lacks its usual tightness, light humour, sense of dread and suspense, while the storytelling is implausible, contradictory (going against what we were already told in Seasons 6 and 7, rather than filling in major gaps, and doesn't fit within the 'Criminal Minds' timeline) and rushed in an episode that should have really been a two-parter. Apart from the acting and the production values, there was little urgency or momentum here. The climax and final scene (which also ends abruptly) are pretty intelligence-insulting and like the rest of the episode and JJ's predicament had never happened.

In conclusion, for a milestone episode "200" was a sad waste of great potential. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Bad episode in a good season

[kellielulu · 1/10 · 14 November 2022]

JJ centric episodes are generally among the worst. This is no exception. The show tried too hard to Mary Sue her character. The problem is it too often makes her annoying.

The other problem is the rewrites. JJ left the BAU it seems against her wishes to stay to take a high level position at The State Department. Trying to make it seem like the country needs her there . That's the excuse while they fired AJ Cook and Padget Brewster. This episode makes it seem like that was just a cover but a season seven episode Will is complaining she is gone so much but when she worked at the state department she was home every night. Whatever another wasted episode on JJ and Will and their personal life and issues and how brave and heroic JJ is .

JJ is a good character but the propping of her is incredibly annoying and unnecessary.