Criminal Minds: Critics have not always been kind to Criminal Minds but it doesn't get much worse than this review by Robert Bianco, USA TODAY:
Working actors don't always get to work in shows that are worthy of their talents.
Tonight, that mismatch hits Joe Mantegna, who replaces the departed Mandy Patinkin on CBS' Criminal Minds (9 ET/PT). His character is introduced while bird hunting, presumably because the show can't stand to go five minutes without killing something. But never fear: A woman is attacked soon after. And because Minds just seems to get uglier and sicker by the week, this week's "unsub" sexually assaults his victim, drowns her and then, in a true Minds touch, cuts off her face, a visual lovingly dwelt upon.
Other shows are dark, and murder is a prime-time staple. But none is as regularly or preposterously dark as Criminal Minds; the dialogue is like a spoof of bad crime dramas. And none so explicitly revels in finding new ways to kill women. It says a lot about a series that this is the plot it would choose to introduce a major hire: a stalker who rips women's faces off.
And it says a lot about the lack of network responsibility. CBS continues to turn a blind eye toward violence against women.
Let others congratulate Joe Mantegna for joining this show. My congratulations go to Mandy Patinkin for leaving.
http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/criticscorner/2007-10-30-critics-corner_N.htm?csp=34
