User Reviews

I'd read a lot of really harsh reviews of this spin-off, so I didn't have great expectations when I started the series. I was surprised that there are actually some redeeming qualities that have kept me watching rather than switch it off. It definitely has a lot of room for improvement.

The biggest issue I had was the cultural assumptions. I've worked with police in many Asian countries, and as a woman I have seen the misogynistic elements, but certainly not the extent that is portrayed on the show. What they did show was the FBI team showing unrealistic expectations of their influence on another culture. Rather than saying "Well, let's do what we can to show them that women can contribute to law enforcement" all they seemed to do was criticise it. In my experience, you have to take time to build relationships, and not assume that you're the only one who has something to teach.

Other issues I had was that the episodes were a bit formulaic; the part with Rossi in the beginning seemed to be pretty consistent with the opinions a lot of people have about American law enforcement: that they shoot first, ask questions later.

Unlike the original CM, which came out the gate pretty strong, this one needs improvement but I really hope they give it a chance.

Was really hoping that 'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders' would be at least okay, the potential was there (it had Gary Sinise on board for goodness sake), despite really not caring for the first 'Criminal Minds' spin-off 'Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour'. That show was a big disappointment, being a fan of the original 'Criminal Minds', even though it is not a consistent show with the latter seasons being hit and miss. So there was the hope that 'Beyond Borders' would be better.

Sadly it managed to be worse. 'Suspect Behaviour' may have been dull and badly written and acted with very little of what made the original 'Criminal Minds' so good, but at least it wasn't offensive or reach the depths of it. That can't be said for 'Beyond Borders', and it is not just me who feels that way. One of the worst examples is its very first episode "The Harmful One", probably one of the worst first episodes for any show and one of the very few that puts one off from continuing. Did continue myself in order to be fair in the hope it would get better (it didn't) and being a fan of the original 'Criminal Minds'.

The biggest criticism aimed towards "The Harmful One" is its inaccurate portrayal of Thailand, visually and culturally, and the people who live there. Despite being set in Thailand, there is never a sense of being there and there is no real authenticity in look or atmosphere, the episode was shot somewhere but it was certainly not Thailand. What we actually see of Thailand is awkwardly inserted stock footage that never really shows the beauty of it. The Thais are basically caricatures and insensitively characterised ones at that, the representation of their loving culture being the complete opposite and like it was thinking of somewhere else.

As one can guess, "The Harmful One" doesn't look good visually. The way it's shot and edited is incredibly choppy, with it being incredibly obvious when stock footage is used, and completely lacks atmosphere or a sense of mood, either being overly-bright or drab. The music is also annoying, it is too loud and too constant with not a sign of a break and with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, it also does not fit at all (a lot of it is misplaced actually) as well as cheap and out of date.

Even worse is the writing. Writing that condescends to the viewer and filled to the brim with cheese, convolution and awkwardness. The story on top of not being particularly original is both dull and convoluted, with it down to being quite thin and then never really properly explaining. It never rings true, both the case and the team's involvement. complete lack of tension or suspense in action-oriented parts. There is no chemistry at all within the team with no great little character moments (one of 'Criminal Minds' greatest strengths), and the mystery elements (that 'Criminal Minds' did with profiling and psychologically delving into the unsub's mind, excelling so brilliantly at it as well) are severely under-utilised and underdeveloped to the point of non-existence.

None of the characters are interesting or compelling, and have absolutely nothing worth relating to or liking, Mae is an incredibly bland and insensitive character that never seems like she belongs and Russ is basically a pale imitation of Garcia instead being annoying and uninteresting. With the unsub, it is very familiar territory with nothing new and the unsub is also very vanilla, with none of the menace, feel-bad-for factor or development. The episode even shoehorns in Rossi, who has lost his sass (outside of "words don't make you bulletproof", which is pretty uninspired by Rossi's standards) and feels very out of place.

Regarding the acting, that was poor. Gary Sinise has a lot of talent as an actor, but is very wooden and looks incredibly bored and expressionless throughout, at no point does he connect with his material. Annie Funke is incredibly weak as Mae with a very limited and stiff acting range, while Tyler James Williams is dull and obnoxious. Joe Mantegna, one of the main reasons as to keep sticking with latter season 'Criminal Minds', doesn't have the same sparkle and doesn't look as comfortable.

If there is one saving grace, it is enigmatic Alana De La Garza who gives by far the best performance here that deserved a far better episode.

Overall, very poor start all round apart from De La Garza. 1/10

The show held such promise. Borne of the original, it should have been good, but the writing, directing, production quality, and pacing are painfully bad. The cultural insensitivity, overt propaganda, and fear-mongering are appalling. Having lived in Thailand and travelled to Mumbai and Egypt, I can report that CM:BB lampoons these people and their cultures. (And perhaps the others in the series; I could not force myself to watch past episode three.) The acting is not this cast's best and cannot rise above the paper-thin story lines. Having the team travel from one country to the next, episode to episode, there is no way for the show to explore and present a culture with any depth, resulting in stereotypical caricatures and plot lines penned by writers who obviously have never travelled to, nor spent time in any of these countries. (Nor, inexplicably, availed themselves of the internet, a rich repository of information on almost everything.) An FBI team swoops into a country with a big plane, SUVs, judgements, and threats, leaving soon after without having been affected by what they've seen or who they met. There are no sympathetic locals, only criminals and heartless civil servants. Had the creators chosen to delve into one culture for a multi-episode arc, maybe even half a season, and learn about the country, its people, and culture, and see the team grow as a team, struggling with the challenges of being American agents in a foreign country, breaking down their assumptions/misconceptions, forging working relationships with domestic policing agencies - that would have been an awesome series. There was good potential in the bones of this show. The cast and audience deserved better.

Once again, the media painted Thailand as a dirty 3rd world country. Have you ever been to Bangkok? Or at least saw pictures of it? If I could give it a zero star I would. Everything was off. Definitely didn't shoot in Thailand. Even the actors couldn't speak Thai, the only person who actually spoke Thai was the farmer guy (still has slight accent) We also don't have woodsman with pierced mouth like that in our culture.

If you were just gonna save money and shoot multiple set of countries all in one location then don't come up with "beyond border" from the beginning!!