Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior is perhaps the most pointless spin-off in the history of spin-offs. Aside from cast (and there is even one overlap) and the team headquarters which is only shown once, the show is exactly the same as the original: In this twisted version of America, the craziest bad guys lurk around corners to commit crimes and only an elite team of FBI agents can profile them and eventually stop them. The location of each episode is no different than the original since the teams travel around the country. The methods of investigating are no different either, with a bit of profiling and computer magic. CBS wants to rake in the dough, so the show is here to stay, assuming it gets good ratings, which it probably will.
But that's not to say Suspect Behavior is a bad show. To be sure, it's passable as a crime procedural and would be fine to watch (if you don't have FX to watch Justified). Forest Whitaker is obviously in a role below his usual billing, so it's a treat to see a procedural with someone if his caliber, and he doesn't disappoint.
The main problem with "Two of a Kind" is the plot. The investigating takes wild leaps of logic towards the ending, and doesn't have the more methodical breakdown we'd expect on the original. It's interesting that for a pilot, the writers didn't make it an ultra-violent, sexual deviancy crime, but rather a melancholy crime that doesn't have the kick to the gut. We'll see what the writers do in the future to make the show different, but for now, I'm not seeing it.
Score: 8.0/10
Thursday, February 17, 2011
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