Criminal Minds Review: Sick and Evil (Season 14 Episode 14)
On Criminal Minds Season 14 Episode 14, “Sick and Evil,” we meet some ghostbusters that you’re really not going to want to call.
Do you ever wish Criminal Minds could be the kind of show where at least one character actually considers the possibility that a supernatural force (in this case, vengeful ghost) could be a killer?
…Yeah, that one’s probably just me. Moving on.
There is a definite creepy air running through the whole episode, but it’s one the unsub is putting it on purposefully. A ghost can’t really be a killer, but a ghost hunter can be.
While I miss the touch of comedy many other shows would add to such a storyline, I like the tone of the episode. The identity of the unsub is clear soon after she’s introduced, but she makes the “creep factor” work. Her mask doesn’t hurt, either.
Unfortunately, her motive is about as clear as that mask. We know she has some kind of mental condition and we know she thinks she is saving the people she kills from an “infection”. Beyond that, it’s hard to discern.
Especially because we are supposed to sympathize with a person whose actions may beyond their own sane control, I wish we’d see more of this background. Most of that time is instead dedicated to Courtney, a ghost hunter herself, and too dedicated for her own good.
I won’t complain too much about Courtney’s screen time, though, because it does give us more time focusing on Rossi, which in turn leads to some of the few signs that Everett Lewis is indeed going to pop back into everyone’s lives.
Rossi’s rush to judgement when Courtney shows up before them at a murder (followed by the quick drop of that judgement) is just one of several changes we see in our characters from the get-go. Not all of them are for the better.
The impact on Dave stands out the most, but I also noticed just how quick Prentiss was to endorse putting Grace, Lewis’s daughter, in solitary confinement to force her hand. It’s not the Emily we usually see, and that says a lot
It is weird that these behaviors are the only real hints that everything we saw in the previous episode might linger into what remains of the series. I’d been fully expecting Lewis to appear on our screens here, but he remains absent for now.
There is also Courtney pointing out just how haunted Rossi still is. If anything should tell us that Lewis is going to be the “Big Bad” of the final season of Criminal Minds, it’s that.
All the same, this episode feels a bit disjointed from the one that came before and its place in the season overall. That doesn’t make it a bad episode, it just feels odd. And that could extend into the season finale as well.
From the promo, it looks like we still won’t see the Chameleon. Instead, we get yet another dose of life-threatening drama involving JJ, and—yet again—Reid. Will these characters ever be through enough to make the writers happy?
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.