Criminal Minds Review: All You Can Eat (Season 13 Episode 20)

Criminal Minds Season 13 Episode 20, “All You Can Eat,” is, thankfully, not about what you might think it could be about—and has an emotional kick to boot.

Remember that other cannibal-themed episode of Criminal Minds? You know, the one with the guy serving food at a search party potluck? The one where the team determines that the missing woman is actually–

Yes. Anyway, I’ve had my fill (so to speak) of people eating people on this show and am happy to report that this episode is about something else entirely.

That doesn’t mean it’s going to be a relaxing one, though.

Death by rat poison is very unpleasant, just in case you were wondering.  If the scene with one man dying in front is wife isn’t bad enough, the one with half a room full of people having blood actually burst from their eyes and mouths is something out of a slasher film.

It’s also rather unnecessary, especially right after saying rat poison takes hours to days to work. Context rarely stops the show from pushing the envelope. Still, this is a very special level of graphic.

Also, while it’s not the solid hour of tension from last week, watching our killer pull out his poison to kill an entire restaurant full of people is great way to keep us on the edge of our seats. It’s also a great way to put us off wanting to eat out for a while.

While all of this is dramatic, unpleasant, and hard to forget, it’s not necessarily the first type of case I’d expect for the penultimate episode of the season. I do expect a major personal connection, though, and we get that in spades.

As all of this is going on, Penelope Garcia is slowing breaking our hearts, and digging into a backstory we haven’t explored in some time. We’ve heard about her parents dying in a car crash, but what we know about her backstory has been minimal and at times conflicting.

We can confirm now that Garcia does indeed have brothers, one of whom we see on screen. He could certainly be there under better circumstances, but it gives us a chance to see them lean on each other when they’ve barely gotten the chance before.

Of course, that leaning comes with some conflict. This story works because we can feel so strongly for why Carlos would want his parent’s killers to stay in prison, and why Penelope would agree for so long.

Yet our Garcia sees goodness in everyone, even when they’ve caused her so much pain, and even if it takes a while to get there. I’m not surprised when she stands up for Jesse, and I hope her family can come to understand it someday, too.

I especially enjoy the flashbacks which give us a brief peek into young Garcia and why she carries so much guilt about what happened to them. It’s painful, as is the scene where she visits her parents grave. It’s been a while since Kirsten Vangsness has gotten a showcase, and she more than deserves it.

(And Garcia, I love you, but I just can’t see you managing to do a technology fast.)

What did you think of this episode of Criminal Minds? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on CBS.

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