Esprits criminels : Unité parallèle

This review will reference the original Criminal Minds a lot and is solely based on first and only episodes released so far, therefore my opinions may change as the season progresses.

Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior follows a Rapid Response Team (aka RED Cells) consisting of SA Sam Cooper (Forest Whitaker), the "level-headed" leader, Mick Rawson, the calm "foreign-accented" pretty boy, Simms, the trouble-some, angry vigilante, Beth Griffith, the overly attached empathizer, Gina LaSalle, the yet undeveloped personality, and lovable tech-savvy Penelope from the original CM. The team contains the typical garden variety of character archetypes.

Like I mentioned in the title, CM: SB is more detective work than profiling unlike the original series from which it took its name. Also unlike the other series which utilizes natural dialogue to explain what they are doing, CM: SB crowbars this in awkwardly with pointless conversation and ridiculous monologue. Characters also jump from one conclusion to another without much thought and rely much on assumptions. Other details such as when the team found the location of the body annoyed, since it is rather impractical to take your whole team without police help to canvass an area for a body. I know the opening title said "untraditional" but seriously, an FBI team operating from a gym? Little stuff like that bothered me in this series for some reason.

One last thing, in CM, the unsub was revealed more and more as the episode progresses and based on what the team concludes which I think is a very clever method. However in this, the unsub was hidden and then totally shown midway through the episode even though RED Cell didn't have a clue as to who he was. The hints of his identity came after his identity was already revealed.

All in all, it is an average detective show but no way on par with the original series.

I like it. Not the best show ever made, but certainly isn't the worst. You have to separate it from the original. I appreciate that they tried to tie them together by bringing Garcia in to it, but there's no way the FBI would have only one tech master so they could have had a completely different character for that roll, but all in all I like it. I like the cast together and don't feel like I'm "missing" the cast from the original because I can watch them too. Too bad people couldn't give this show a shot as a stand alone from the same family. If you can see it as a completely different show I think you'll find its just as good as anything else out there right now. The more episodes I watch, the more I like it, which is unfortunate since its over.

In season 5 of 'Criminal Minds', the BAU team up with another Cooper and his team to solve the murders of homeless men. The Red Cell team is led by Sam Cooper (Forest Whitaker). The rest of the team is Beth Griffith (Janeane Garofalo), Prophet Simms (Michael Kelly), Gina LaSalle (Beau Garrett) and Mick Rawson (Matt Ryan).

It's a bit darker and more grim than the original Criminal Minds. Whitaker feels like he's slumming it on network TV. The addition of Garofalo does nothing. Garrett provides little more than her model looks. Kelly is always a great character actor. Ryan is somewhat forgettable. The chemistry isn't the best and there is no real need for a second Criminal Minds show anyways. Nothing really clicked on the show.

I was very disappointed with the first episode of this show and it seems this will be what show is about, a lesser version of true Criminal Minds.

Not a single character of this show is convincing, Forrest Whitaker has seen far better roles then this one, as a team leader he is weak, not all too likable. Basically, this show is a copy of the real Criminal Minds, only far, far worse, actually it can't stand in the same sentence with the original show. Matt Ryan character, for example, you basically couldn't understand what the guy is saying.

In all honesty, I would be very surprised if this show survives the first season, it just isn't worth it.

Nothing gets under my skin more than when a network cancels a show after one season. It takes so much time to build up characters, and to establish a following. The original Criminal Minds didn't even come into my radar until the second or third season. I only hope that in the future, networks will learn that it might take a little while. I can't believe after all the success of Law and Order and CSI spin-offs, CBS won't even give this show a chance. I imagine they will at least give a conclusion to the impressive season finale in the original series to satisfy people like me, but if they don't, it might just end my love for CM all together.