| CBS Criminal Minds - Hair Raising Tales! |
| Karen Marie Shelton |
| Date: 06/06/2006 |
Introduction
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Lola Glaudini
Elle Greenaway
CBS - Criminal Minds |
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DailyCeleb.com
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CBS has many of my favorite shows including CSI, CSI Miami and CSI
New York, Without A Trace, The Unit, Cold Case, Numb3rs and Criminal
Minds. In TV Land CBS is becoming known for excelling in the
crime drama genre and deservedly so.
If I had to pick a favorite from these top ranked dramas, I would be
hard pressed to do so, since all of the shows evolve from solid
plots that are well-written and acted.
Last Fall I instantly fell in love with the hair raising Criminal
Minds (Wednesdays at 9:00 PM) which left me biting my nails, sitting
on the edge of my seat while completely satisfying my love of
true crime mysteries.
The cast is truly spectacular with incredible actors including the
always magnetic Mandy Patinkin as top behavioral analyst Special
Agent Jason Gideon, seasoned actor Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner,
Lola Glaudini as Elle Greenaway (Dolores Mayo - NYPD Blue), Shemar
Moore as playboy Derek Morgan (Birds Of Prey - Jesse Reese), AJ Cook
as Jennifer Jareau and one of my favorites, the striking
Matthew Gray Gubler as boy genius Dr. Spencer Reid.
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Kristen
Vangsness
Penelope Garcia
CBS - Criminal Minds |
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DailyCeleb.com
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Kristen Vangsnes (LAX - Stephanie) is the resident computer guru,
Garcia, who performs magical Internet and database tricks to unearth
all sorts of helpful date to track the latest perpetrators (perps).
She also operates on the fringes and has a love/fear/adoration
relationship with boss Gideon.
Interwoven into each episode along with the current mystery is an
undercurrent of personal tidbits about the key players.
Throughout the first season viewers have learned that Special Agent
Jason Gideon is a man who is fiercely protective of his privacy and
freaks out when it is breeched.
Meanwhile Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson - Dharma Loves Greg)
struggles with loyalty to the FBI and his family, which includes a
wife and newborn at home. Elle Greenaway has a reason for
specializing in sexual crimes but slowly showed bits and pieces of
her softer, playful side.
Special Agent Morgan loves women and they return the affection.
He works hard and plays to win. The blonde and beautiful Jennifer "JJ"
Jareau (Lindsay Walker - Tru Calling) holds the team together as the
official unit liaison and super nerdy Dr. Spence Reid reveals a
mentally disturbed mother and his frustration with his low social IQ
status.
Mandy Patinkin
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Mandy Patinkin
Special Agent Gideon
CBS - Criminal Minds |
|
DailyCeleb.com
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Truth be told, I originally tuned into Criminal Minds because of the
award winning acting (Tony & Emmy Awards) Mandy Patinkin. I
have been a huge fan of his and adored his role in Dead Like Me, a
quirky series about a team of grim reapers, managed by Patinkin.
I loved Mandy as the perpetual crabby doctor Jeffrey Geiger in
Chicago Hope but really enjoyed his work with the grim reaping crew.
Of course I have been a fan of true crime since my days at the
University of Missouri when I took my first Deviant Behavior classes
in Sociology. From textbook studies of serial killers I
graduated to Ann Rule,
Carlton Stowers
and Jack Olsen - to name just a few of my current
favorite authors.
I was somewhat skeptical that a show based on FBI profiling could be
as good as the books I read, but I was out in the weeds. Mandy
is an incredible actor and leads the cast with his hard hitting
performance as a very intense man on a life and death mission.
How ironic that in Dead Like Me he was also dealing with death on a
daily basis, but from a completely different perspective, although
equally thought provoking. Even though he is on the other side
of the the death fence, so to speak, the television, film and
renowned stage actor makes the role completely real. And yes,
he is my favorite in the current ensemble.
Thomas Gibson
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Thomas Gibson
Aaron Hotchner
CBS - Criminal Minds |
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DailyCeleb.com
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As Special Agent Aaron Hotchner actor Thomas Gibson takes a
completely different turn in his acting career. Beloved by
many for his role as Greg Montgomery for five years in the top rated
Dharma Loves Greg, Thomas plays a completely different character.
He convincingly and brilliantly portrays Hotchner as a very
intelligent and serious man struggling with balancing his
all-consuming career in the Bureau with his love of his wife and
newborn child.
As a talented profiler, Gibson also offers insight into Hotchner's
conflicts as the second in command under the very demanding and
somewhat mercurial Gideon.
Matthew Gray Gubler
One of the many exceptional aspects of Criminal Minds is the way
that the cast producers have done a fabulous job of styling and
coiffing each of the main characters to symbolize their roles on the
FBI team and in the show. Matthew Gray Gubler is a perfect
example of dressing the part.
According to media reports, Matthew was specifically dressed and
coiffed to give the appearance of a brilliant but definitely nerdy
scientist and profiler. .
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Matthew Gray
Gubler
Dr. Spencer Reed
CBS - Criminal Minds |
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DailyCeleb.com
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To create the right look, Gubler wore his hair long to give the
impression of ultimate nerdiness. He also wore drab sweater
vests and slacks and carried a satchel over his shoulder.
As the clueless but super brainy nerd, In the current
environment where women adore nerds, Matthew is sizzling hot.
It's hard to believe that Matthew was originally a sought after
model who strolled the Marc Jacobs, Burberry and Louis Vuitton
fashion runways. His onscreen nerdiness didn't prevent him
from recently being featured in Paper Magazine's 8th annual
Beautiful People issue.
Matthew appeared in the quirky feature film "The Life Aquatic" with
Steve Zissou and Bill Murray, as Murray's long lost illegitimate
son. He also is a successful film maker with several short
films under his belt and appeared in the film, R.V.
The Cast Plays Well Together
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AJ Cook
CBS - Criminal Minds |
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DailyCeleb.com
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One of the things that can kill a new television show is when there
is a lack of chemistry between the characters. This is often a
major complaint of fans and critics. I am not trained as a
bona fide TV show critic - I am trained more to study and analyze
hair trends. But I just know what I like and what feels right.
Criminal Minds has a perfect blending of different personalities
that seem to work in appropriate harmony or disharmony, depending on
the criminal case being investigated. In other words, the cast
has a very real relationship that is a wonderful subplot.
The team is made up of opposites that attract and repell.
Jason Gideon is tightly wound while his second in command, Aaron
Hotchner is cool as a cucumber and always level headed. Derek
Morgan is a hot ladies man while Dr. Spencer Reid definitely has
limited experience in wooing the ladies.
The ladies of Criminal Minds are also an unusual mix. Elle Greenaway
is fierce and determined to put sexual predators away while Jennifer
Jareau is the peacemaker, keeping tempers from flaring and
re-directing misguided focus. Garcia, who swoons when Derek
calls her sweet names is visibly nervous around Gideon although
obviously concerned with winning his praise and admiration for her
work.
Ironically, Gideon finds Garcia's borderline neediness somewhat
annoying while understanding his need for her contribution to the
team. It is a truly fascinating character mix.
Summary
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Shemar Moore
Derek Morgan
CBS - Criminal Minds |
|
DailyCeleb.com
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Criminal Minds is a fast paced, well-written and produced show that
blends enlightenment with sometimes witty repartee wrapped around
suspense, drama and very believable events. It also blends
true scary moments intermingled with mystery.
Many of the episodes had undertones of current news events that made
the characters very real and the events so true-to-life that it
seemed taken out of the latest FBI files.
Be sure and catch this incredible new show on Summer reruns (or plan
to buy the first season DVD) so that you are completely caught up
for the Fall series which will start with a major cliffhanger that
picks up the from the breathtaking final show of Season One that had
a serial killer stalking the team.
My personal cliffhanger was worrying whether this fantastic new show
would survive its first season. In TV Land it is often hard
for brand new shows to capture an instant audience to allow it to
survive long enough to put down rating roots. I am so grateful
to CBS for bringing this great show back for round two that I am
talking the show up to all my friends.
Kudos to CBS and the cast of crew of Criminal Minds for a fabulous
first season.
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