Criminal Minds Review: Full-Tilt Boogie (Season 13 Episode 11)
Criminal Minds Season 13 Episode 11, “Full-Tilt Boogie,” essentially gives us two episodes in one. Unfortunately, neither has anything to do with disco dancing.
For the first half or so of this episode, the plot feels pretty standard for a serialized crime drama. A woman is attacked, there are lots of red herrings, and a suspect turns up as a victim.
It’s the kind of plot we’re used to, but it’s done well enough to keep us guessing and make things interesting.
Then, about halfway through, we take an abrupt left turn into “A Very Special Episode of Criminal Minds.” Our suspects get more zany as hidden addiction is involved, and we realize that not only is the victim, Trish, an addict, but much of the town she lives in struggles with drug problems.
I actually think the episodes of this show that deal with social issues are generally well done. Setting aside how disconnected both halves of the episode feel, they’re both well-told stories. At least they are until the end, where things spiral out of control.
True, Shelley is mentioned throughout the episode as a mysterious lurking figure we slowly realize is probably the true unsub. The way her story is revealed, though, is a lot like how the final plot of Criminal Minds Season 13 Episode 10, “Submerged,” comes together. It’s sudden, intense, and not entirely sensical.
If you don’t feel like watching– or if you’re still not entire sure what happened– Shelley, the wife of the doctor prescribing Trish’s drugs, shames her addict sister despite being a drug dealer herself.
She attacks Trish because she’s been yearning to lash out at an addict for quite some time, and she involves and later tries to frame Kat because, apparently, she’s just a terrible human being. She proves that enthusiastically by goading her own sister into overdosing while she and her husband flee with their young and innocent niece.
It’s a wild and crazy ride for the last couple of minutes, and that’s probably the thing most people will remember. Which, if you’re trying to tell an important message about addiction, might seem like a somewhat inappropriate and distracting way to end things.
That said, there are several things to like about this episode. Aside from, er, all of that, addiction is framed in a caring, sympathetic way; one it often isn’t in real life. The time to reflect on how many people are affected is important and well-handled. Yet taking more time to really focus on that would be better than sandwiching it between half an episode of twisty, standard plot and that ending.
Still, I do like this episode more than the last, not least because of the return of Reid, finally coming back to the BAU from his assigned teaching gig after being gone for nearly two months.
I’d like it even more without it taking more than half the episode for him to show up, but the scene with him and Trish’s daughter, as well as with the rest of the team at the end, are nice breaks from the rest of the drama.
By the way, “full-tilt boogie,” or so we’re told, is police talk for someone going out of control in a post-murder rush. No, I don’t know what in the world that has to do with absolutely anything that takes place in this episode, either.
What did you think of this episode of Criminal Minds? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on CBS.
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Caitlin Wyneken
Caitlin is an elder millennial with an only slightly unhealthy dedication to a random selection of TV shows, from PBS Masterpiece dramas to some of the less popular series on popular networks. Outside of screen time, she's dedicated to the public sector and worthy nonprofits, working to make a difference in the world outside of media.