As has been said a few times, Season 10 was very much mixed in quality, very like much of the period from Season 6 onward, but although there were less than good episodes there were also good and more ones. "A Place at the Table" to me was a good episode, that just fell short of being "classic" 'Criminal Minds', though it did become closer to that than most episodes of the season.
It is not quite as good as the terrifying "Mr Scratch", the poignant and harrowing "Nelson's Sparrow", the creepy and powerful "The Forever People", the tense "Rock Creek Park" and the unconventional but extremely well done "A Thousand Suns". "X" and "Lockdown" are also among the better episodes if not perfect. On the other hand, it's significantly better than the likes of the strange and not in a good way "If the Shoe Fits", the poor "Breath Play", the very unbalanced in writing "Protection", the wastes of good ideas "Hashtag", "The Boys of Sudworth Place", the disappointing "Beyond Borders" and the similarly unbalanced in writing "Scream" ("Fate" was also unfocused, disjointed and lacking in balance).
There are so many great merits with "A Place at the Table". As always, the production values are without complaint. It's very well shot and lit and is overall stylish, gritty, classy and atmospheric. The music is moody in the haunting and melancholic sense and fits well, without either enhancing or distracting from it. The direction has momentum but also has instances where it allows things to breathe.
With the acting that is very good all round. All the performances of the main characters are top-notch, top honours going to a marvellous Thomas Gibson who easily gives one of his better performances of Season 10, "A Place at the Table" being one of the episodes to actually utilise him well when so much of the season side-lined him to invisibility. The supporting cast are more than up to their level, Ed Asner is superb as Hotch's curmudgeonly father-in-law and the same goes to Molly Baker.
Case is pretty good too, being both disturbing and sad with some intricate twists and turns. Luckily "A Place at the Table" is not unsub-heavy and while Hotch oriented his subplot is done intelligently and movingly. The team screen time is sizeable and so much better balanced than episodes like "Scream", "Protection", "Beyond Borders" and "Fate". They also are closer to their former personalities and roles than in recent years, when there were times when JJ and Garcia were out of character.
Not without faults by all means. The episode is rather too rushed and has a little too much going on in places, which leads to occasional confusion. It may have been somewhat better to have introduced Hotch's father-in-law in an earlier episode or two because it was somewhat too out of the blue.
Lastly, there are a couple of annoying continuity errors with Jack, it's hardly the first time that 'Criminal Minds' has had continuity errors and it is a long way from the worst case, in this case it was mainly the discrepancy about which grade in school Jack was which seemed like a sloppy mistake on the writers' part. A shame because the writing is tightly structured and thought-provoking here.
In conclusion, a good episode and one of the season's better ones. 7/10 Bethany Cox
