Criminal Minds Review: Flesh and Blood (Season 14 Episode 10)
If you’re wondering how many graphic scenes there are on the aptly titled Criminal Minds Season 14 Episode 10, “Flesh and Blood,” the answer is “too many.”
To be clear: I know our show has never shied away from being cringe-worthy. I’m just saying that an unsub whose attacks can transition to a cooking scene with a literal meat tenderizer are a bridge too far for me.
Even outside from all that torture, though, there’s a lot going on in this episode. So much so that Emily barely even gets to enjoy her date with that nice agent she saved a couple of episodes back.
Instead, she winds up so personally involved with an unsub that she dares him to shoot her as a way to try to stop him. That scene itself should be—and is—powerful. But the reasoning that gets to it feels thrown together.
Before we can understand why Eddie (AKA David Smith, son of a serial killer) seems to idolize Emily, we need to understand why he kills. For better or worse, it’s not what we might think.
The idea of a psychologist and grieving mother manipulating a patient to kill in horrifying fashion is disturbingly fascinating, even (perhaps especially) when those she holds accountable for her daughter’s death may be innocent.
That storyline on its own gives all we really need for a solid episode. There’s a solid twist, genuine reason to feel for the unsub, and complex psychological motivations.
The feeling that the murders were not only committed, but brutally drawn out, and all without any cause, sickening as it is, is also the kind of thing that leaves an episode with lasting emotional impact.
Considering this, the flashbacks and correlations feel like they’re either too rushed or perhaps “too much”. It’s unfortunate, because the connections to Prentiss should get time to be center stage.
David Smith is the son of a serial killer from a rather random episode in an early season of Criminal Minds. He was used as bait by his father and would up adopted into a new life with the name “Eddie.”
The bond that he formed back then with Emily, the agent who simply wound up being the one trying to help a child in an unimaginable situation, should get a full episode’s focus itself. Instead, it’s almost a second thought.
So again, the final confrontation between Emily and David is well done. Yet I wish these flashbacks could be fleshed out the way the show has done in some very strong episodes recently.
For multiple reasons (and meat tenderizers set aside), the opening and closing scenes are much more enjoyable to watch. Emily might not know that cooking wine is a sin in Rossi’s Nonna’s eyes, but she devotes herself to a date all the same.
Does this mean there’s a real future out there for her and Stephen? It’s sure feeling that way, and it may be good timing as well.
With Criminal Minds not getting picked up for more episodes this season, we may be approaching the end of this long-running show. Hopefully, multiple characters can be given some closure and some happiness in whatever episodes remain.
I’ll take that over more gratuitous torture any day.
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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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.