Season 6 was a very inconsistent season, with a few good episodes such as "Remembrance of Things Past", "The Longest Night", "Safe Haven" and "Into the Woods" and also lacking ones such as "Corazon", "Today I Do" and especially "The Thirteenth Step" (remember not being a fan of "Big Sea" either, but that needs a re-watch).
"Hanley Waters" for me was up there with the best of the season. Its only major fault is Seaver, there may be some bias as she has never been one of my favourite 'Criminal Minds' characters (that's an understatement, one of my least favourites easily). While she is not as face-palmingly dumb as in "Today I Do" and especially "Coda" she has a bland personality, doesn't fit at all within the team and that she is too much of an inexperienced rookie are general problems with Seaver as well as Rachel Nichols' limited acting.
While there is profiling and it does provoke thought and is interesting, there could have been more of it and less conclusion jumping, which has been a general problem with Season 6.
On the other hand, "Hanley Waters" looks great as always, made and shot with style, atmosphere and class, and is hauntingly and melancholically scored. The script is filled with emotion and intrigue, with nothing coming across as convoluted or dumb. The story is poignant and thought-provoking, with the team's grief and the climax being particularly powerful, never feeling rushed or pedestrian and having moments of tension and suspense too in some shocking murders.
Particularly well done here are the parallels between the struggles of the team with the loss of Prentiss (which, contrary to a couple of reviews of the episode saying that they felt that this was glossed over, was what made it so powerful, really identified with Morgan's grief while Reid's very upset but perceptive one making one think hard long after) and the unsub's grief (despite her actions, she is easily one of the show's most sympathetic and most easy to feel sorry for unsubs). Hotch being given more to do and his role in helping the team was a bonus and saw him not only as a boss but a sympathetic and caring friend.
All the performances are strong, with the sole exception of Nichols. Thomas Gibson and Matthew Gray Gubler fare particularly strongly of the leads, while Kelli Williams' performance ties with Tim Curry in "The Longest Night" as the best supporting turn of Season 6 and one of the show's standouts. It is a phenomenal heart-breaking turn that one only has to see once and immediately it's unforgettable.
In conclusion, a very well done episode and one of the best episodes of an inconsistent season. 8/10 Bethany Cox
"Hanley Waters" for me was up there with the best of the season. Its only major fault is Seaver, there may be some bias as she has never been one of my favourite 'Criminal Minds' characters (that's an understatement, one of my least favourites easily). While she is not as face-palmingly dumb as in "Today I Do" and especially "Coda" she has a bland personality, doesn't fit at all within the team and that she is too much of an inexperienced rookie are general problems with Seaver as well as Rachel Nichols' limited acting.
While there is profiling and it does provoke thought and is interesting, there could have been more of it and less conclusion jumping, which has been a general problem with Season 6.
On the other hand, "Hanley Waters" looks great as always, made and shot with style, atmosphere and class, and is hauntingly and melancholically scored. The script is filled with emotion and intrigue, with nothing coming across as convoluted or dumb. The story is poignant and thought-provoking, with the team's grief and the climax being particularly powerful, never feeling rushed or pedestrian and having moments of tension and suspense too in some shocking murders.
Particularly well done here are the parallels between the struggles of the team with the loss of Prentiss (which, contrary to a couple of reviews of the episode saying that they felt that this was glossed over, was what made it so powerful, really identified with Morgan's grief while Reid's very upset but perceptive one making one think hard long after) and the unsub's grief (despite her actions, she is easily one of the show's most sympathetic and most easy to feel sorry for unsubs). Hotch being given more to do and his role in helping the team was a bonus and saw him not only as a boss but a sympathetic and caring friend.
All the performances are strong, with the sole exception of Nichols. Thomas Gibson and Matthew Gray Gubler fare particularly strongly of the leads, while Kelli Williams' performance ties with Tim Curry in "The Longest Night" as the best supporting turn of Season 6 and one of the show's standouts. It is a phenomenal heart-breaking turn that one only has to see once and immediately it's unforgettable.
In conclusion, a very well done episode and one of the best episodes of an inconsistent season. 8/10 Bethany Cox
