Am a huge fan of detective/mystery/procedural shows and dramas, and 'Criminal Minds' has always been one of my most watched shows since getting into it. So there was no bias against 'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders' before watching, was actually rooting in favour for it to work and was hoping it would be better than the very underwhelming first 'Criminal Minds' spin off 'Suspect Behaviour' (though it did get marginally towards the end). This was actually even worse.
The show's third episode "Denial" is not quite as bad as the first episode "The Harmful One", being not quite as offensive. Then again it would have done a lot more bad to be worse than the for me worst first episode of any show, am not joking here. It does have the same flaws as that episode though and after an ever so slight improvement in "Harvested" (not saying much) the quality is back to where 'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders' started.
"Denial" is very close to being total doom and without redeeming qualities, but Alana De La Garza (the most consistently only halfway decent thing about 'Beyond Borders') does decently with the little she has. Unfortunately she deserved much more and much better to work with.
Gary Sinise is sleepwalking again, while Annie Funke and Tyler James Williams grate on the nerves. Did hope that Kirsten Vangsness would liven things up, but Garcia's dialogue is very poorly written here (really felt for her when having to sit through that very awkward exchange between her and Russ) and didn't really see much point here, if anything she felt even more shoehorned in than Rossi did in "The Harmful One". Really didn't care for any of the characters, people will find the stereotypes and culture portrayal objectionable and the chemistry between the team isn't there. Same with any little character moments and how they work in solving the case isn't delved into enough. The perpetrator has no menace or with anything that makes one feel sorry or anything for them, they are just bland.
Writing is condescending and awkward and the story is dull and never really plausible. Found it pretty muddled too, and tension and suspense (or even any kind of atmosphere) were nowhere in sight. The visuals again are choppy and obvious and the music is overbearing and could have done with being used less, it is also at odds with everything. One never really feels like they are in the setting, so much the lack of authenticity.
Summarising, worse than very bad. 1/10
The show's third episode "Denial" is not quite as bad as the first episode "The Harmful One", being not quite as offensive. Then again it would have done a lot more bad to be worse than the for me worst first episode of any show, am not joking here. It does have the same flaws as that episode though and after an ever so slight improvement in "Harvested" (not saying much) the quality is back to where 'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders' started.
"Denial" is very close to being total doom and without redeeming qualities, but Alana De La Garza (the most consistently only halfway decent thing about 'Beyond Borders') does decently with the little she has. Unfortunately she deserved much more and much better to work with.
Gary Sinise is sleepwalking again, while Annie Funke and Tyler James Williams grate on the nerves. Did hope that Kirsten Vangsness would liven things up, but Garcia's dialogue is very poorly written here (really felt for her when having to sit through that very awkward exchange between her and Russ) and didn't really see much point here, if anything she felt even more shoehorned in than Rossi did in "The Harmful One". Really didn't care for any of the characters, people will find the stereotypes and culture portrayal objectionable and the chemistry between the team isn't there. Same with any little character moments and how they work in solving the case isn't delved into enough. The perpetrator has no menace or with anything that makes one feel sorry or anything for them, they are just bland.
Writing is condescending and awkward and the story is dull and never really plausible. Found it pretty muddled too, and tension and suspense (or even any kind of atmosphere) were nowhere in sight. The visuals again are choppy and obvious and the music is overbearing and could have done with being used less, it is also at odds with everything. One never really feels like they are in the setting, so much the lack of authenticity.
Summarising, worse than very bad. 1/10
