Neon Terror
- Episode aired Nov 22, 2017
- TV-14
- 40m
IMDb RATING
7.0/10
1.2K
YOUR RATING
The BAU is called in to investigate when a criminal sensationalizes his crimes by giving the local media exclusive footage.The BAU is called in to investigate when a criminal sensationalizes his crimes by giving the local media exclusive footage.The BAU is called in to investigate when a criminal sensationalizes his crimes by giving the local media exclusive footage.
Matthew Gray Gubler
- Dr. Spencer Reid
- (credit only)
Aisha Tyler
- Dr. Tara Lewis
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe team is consulting for the Miami-Dade Police Department, which is where Eric Delko, Adam Rodriguez's character on CSI: Miami (2002), was stationed.
- GoofsIn the "snuff film", the murderer's face is clearly reflected in the car window, but none of the team reviewing the film seems to notice -- a peculiar oversight.
- Quotes
Penelope Garcia: Not today, Satan!
- ConnectionsReferenced in Criminal Minds: False Flag (2017)
- SoundtracksShow Up
performed by Khristian B
Played on Lindsey's phone when she drives her Mercedes
Featured review
Amazing plot.. not so great execution
Neon Terror it's a story that shares a perfect balance between following the killer steps and following BAU investigation. The plot itself it's much more clever than the other usual episodes where you just discover who is the killer behind the murders, there is commentary behind it.
While in the very earliest seasons of Criminal Minds the BAU investigators always commented that they share a lot of simmilarities with the serial killers they hunt, in this episode it is shown very subtly to you how they are simmilar. It's very interesting how the killer's motivations, while based on psychosis, are not that different from anyone's motivation in this episode: Rossi starts the episode seeking success while profiting from the death of a lunatic that he hunted and made a celebrity by attending his demands; the journalist director, seeking success while profitting in the murders of a lunatic that she was hunting and making him a celebrity by feeding his demands, there is also a photo journalist and Prentiss (at the end) doing just the same (using death of other people for personal gain while feeding lunatics).
The plot is nicely done, the strutcture works well giving every single actor a chance to shine, the cinematic image it's perfect with a nice vibrant Miami during night and beautiful during day, however, once again, the lack of logic and mischaracterization of the team puts the show down. Just to name a few illogical parts: 1. at the beginning of the episode a new murder is announced by the media at first hand (the killer directly contacted the media) leaving everyone at BAU surprised (including Prentiss) and yet at the same time Prentiss starts to sharing the all details about the murder they just heard in the news at the same moment, like she already knew. 2. The team simply jumps into very specific conclusions in every scene without any hard evidence and even overlooking evidences, like when they conclude that the killer was from the media because apparently you can camouflage in a quiet neighborhood if you are from the media while commiting crime (?), they don't even think about considering that the guy could be someone pretending to provide a service, and totally ignore that the guy was able to invade a house without being noticed, it's imediatly someone from the media or paramedics somehow. 3. They stablish several times that the killer was able go in and out of crime scenes without being noticed because he was from the media but at the end it's revealed that the guy was not working with the media for a long time. 4. They "figured" (wrongly) that some cop was leaking investigation information to the media and yet they deliver the serial killer profile to the cops... a profile that should never go to the media. 5. The killer leave the video recording of the murder with a clear reflection of his face in the mirror of the car... the team totally ignore it, don't bother trying to identify the victim and rather focus on the ground elevation at the background (?). 6. After they identify the killer they don't even bother going to or mentioning about arresting him, they rather sit and talks about his motivations. 7. Penelope couldn't hack the computer of a former news employee, which is an absurd, but yet at the end she was able to turn down his own camera (?)
There is a lot more of more of bizarre logic in this episode but the main plot it's still solid. Overall, even with the bad script given to BAU team, it's a great episode with a very interesting story and good pacing, very memorable!
While in the very earliest seasons of Criminal Minds the BAU investigators always commented that they share a lot of simmilarities with the serial killers they hunt, in this episode it is shown very subtly to you how they are simmilar. It's very interesting how the killer's motivations, while based on psychosis, are not that different from anyone's motivation in this episode: Rossi starts the episode seeking success while profiting from the death of a lunatic that he hunted and made a celebrity by attending his demands; the journalist director, seeking success while profitting in the murders of a lunatic that she was hunting and making him a celebrity by feeding his demands, there is also a photo journalist and Prentiss (at the end) doing just the same (using death of other people for personal gain while feeding lunatics).
The plot is nicely done, the strutcture works well giving every single actor a chance to shine, the cinematic image it's perfect with a nice vibrant Miami during night and beautiful during day, however, once again, the lack of logic and mischaracterization of the team puts the show down. Just to name a few illogical parts: 1. at the beginning of the episode a new murder is announced by the media at first hand (the killer directly contacted the media) leaving everyone at BAU surprised (including Prentiss) and yet at the same time Prentiss starts to sharing the all details about the murder they just heard in the news at the same moment, like she already knew. 2. The team simply jumps into very specific conclusions in every scene without any hard evidence and even overlooking evidences, like when they conclude that the killer was from the media because apparently you can camouflage in a quiet neighborhood if you are from the media while commiting crime (?), they don't even think about considering that the guy could be someone pretending to provide a service, and totally ignore that the guy was able to invade a house without being noticed, it's imediatly someone from the media or paramedics somehow. 3. They stablish several times that the killer was able go in and out of crime scenes without being noticed because he was from the media but at the end it's revealed that the guy was not working with the media for a long time. 4. They "figured" (wrongly) that some cop was leaking investigation information to the media and yet they deliver the serial killer profile to the cops... a profile that should never go to the media. 5. The killer leave the video recording of the murder with a clear reflection of his face in the mirror of the car... the team totally ignore it, don't bother trying to identify the victim and rather focus on the ground elevation at the background (?). 6. After they identify the killer they don't even bother going to or mentioning about arresting him, they rather sit and talks about his motivations. 7. Penelope couldn't hack the computer of a former news employee, which is an absurd, but yet at the end she was able to turn down his own camera (?)
There is a lot more of more of bizarre logic in this episode but the main plot it's still solid. Overall, even with the bad script given to BAU team, it's a great episode with a very interesting story and good pacing, very memorable!
helpful•02
- Gustavo_Valadares
- Jul 29, 2020
Details
- Runtime40 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
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