So, yeah...Criminal Minds 2.0. I wasn't a fan of the spin-off idea, because it didn't seem like there could be anything different about a new set of people investigating serial killers and the like. In general, the new team was different, but for the wrong reasons. There was a minimal of profiling and it seemed like something wholly different show. I have no idea where the "minds" will play in. Clearly, if the backdoor pilot is any indication, there will be less delving into the minds of the criminals and more running around and shooting.
The new team consists of Sam Cooper (Forest Whitaker), the strong team leader who follows his gut and bends rules, Prophet (Michael Kelly), an ex-con who has prison connections, Gina LaSalle (Beau Garrett), the personality-less JJ of the group, and Mick Rawson (Matt Ryan, who?), the obligatory sniper and British guy of the team. They bring almost nothing to the table individually and as a team.
A problem with introducing the new characters is that the regular team carried most of the profiling weight which still wasn't much. The case was fairly straightforward and required brief cross-checking to find the crazy guy, so there was much to do. In balancing both the characters and the story, "The Fight" didn't really work. A two-part episode could have given a more thorough introduction to the characters, so we would get to know them and possibly like them better, and expand the crime from a simply case of crazy guy who lost his daughter and is recreating his circumstances.
I'm not sure how CBS will decide to pick of the new series or not, but I'm guessing they probably will. Based on the success of the other spin-offs in recent years, CM2 will probably be a hit. Forest Whitaker carries the acting heft while Matt Ryan and Beau Garrett can be the pretty faces. Now that I've seen the new team, I'm even less enthusiastic about the idea.
Score: 8.2/10
