Geez... yet another 'serial killer of the day' show, now with Mandy Patinkin and Thomas Gibson (from Dharma & Greg)... as if we don't have enough with CSI's, L&Os. 'The Inside', 'The Gate', etc.... Really getting bored now with this crap. Coming Wednesdays on CBS... (formerly called 'Quantico')

OK, let's move on shall we?, here is the plot:



insert yawn here.....

OK, so 'The Inside' got a tad bit interesting last week with a nice twist (Great casting of Peter Coyote!) but it just got cancelled (apparently).... but really, like, how many serial killers can we see on TV??? there is one or two every frickin' night.

Is anyone really waiting with baited breath for this one? (me?, I'm just waiting for the 3rd season of 'Millennium' to come on DVD)

I have the urge to watch Mandy Patinkin though I don't know why since I didn't watch Chicago Hope. Maybe I want to see if he can even come close to William Petersen's talent on CSI. And there's the added bonus of Shemar Moore. Why, yes I am a little shallow.

I'll watch a few episodes since 'The Inside' is headed out (Not that I expected Fox to keep it. I'm surprised it made it past the third ep).

Hmmm, maybe the Mandi Patinkin 'Dead Like Me' fans will follow. (Assuming of course 'Dharma & Greg' fans long ago gave up)

But really, the show summary could describe Nth number of shows. Hopefully it has something distinctive.

Damn! Mandy, Dr. Penishead, AND the hotness of Shemar?! I may have to watch the pilot.

The reason I will watch this show:
"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Damn you Patinkin! (and Goldman, and Morgenstern!)

Tarheel once said: I really dislike the heavy-handed use of pretentious quotations in this show's voice-over narration...

Man, even E-Ring has more pages than this show.

I wanted this to look good so that I could be persuaded to avoid ER, but unfortunately it didn't look good enough after the first few minutes I caught. I probably should have stuck with it anyway because ER really, really sucked tonight.

Hee, tarheel. But that was my only complaint, really. This is my kind of show. I love all the behavioral analysis genius profiling cliches and I like 'em straight up. Mandy Patinkin is the perfect person to play crazy smart guy -- and in this role, we have a very good chance that he won't sing. Plus, he can act -- which is something he has over that chick from The Inside.

Thomas Gibson is perfect for the straight man, Shemar Moore is the eye candy, and 3PhD boy is nerdy and interesting without the writers forcing him to have annoying characteristics.

And though I wasn't bothered by the lack of a woman on the team, it was good to see them add one -- and I liked how she showed her chops at certain points.

I'm not sure WTF was going on with the Lukas Haas ending, since the previews show MP's character to be fine and on a completely different case. But it was kind of a cool freeze frame, so whatever.

It's formula, but it's a formula I like and it's well-executed. I'll watch again. If it manages to stay on, that is.

Agree the quoting was too much but liked Mandy and liked that each person worked thier bit of magic i.e. the know it all geek getting the password, Greg getting the location of the boat by interogation Mandy figuring what kind of person they were looking for etc. All in all not a bad start but is anybody else disappointed that they got Lucas Haas for 5 minutes at the end and they showed the whole appearance in the promos AND it looks like they won't actually show the resolution we are to assume Mandy shot him?

Hey, it was like a little Chicago Hope reunion, what with Mandy Patinkin and Thomas Gibson, and Gibson doesn't seem to be playing a complete tool this time. I didn't find this show as engaging as I hoped it would be, but I'll probably watch a few episodes to see if they let Mandy sing. ;)

Zoned Out, they are moving the show to Wed. at 9/8 anyway, so it wouldn't help you in your quest to avoid ER. Without a Trace will be back in its regular timeslot starting next week. I think they just wanted to get maximum exposure for this by airing it after CSI. I know I was too lazy to change the channel, so it worked on me. I think this show will be good for snarking. Patinkin's character has the potential to rival HoCaine on CSI: Miami in the pompous single-minded justice-crusading blowhard category.

Great.

This show was so utterly awful that I don't have to watch it and I can knock it off my list. Great. My VCR needs a break every hour or so.

Ah, damn. Just double checked the schedule, and I've actually got TWO other shows to watch that hour. Why'd I think it's usually on Fridays? Dang. Oh well, I might tape it or something. And I still love Special Agent Doctor Reid.

I also liked how the girl who had been captured wasn't entirely helpless - she kicked the guy when he came for her and tried to escape.

I can see I'm alone in actually really liking this show. Unfortunately I guess that can only mean that it won't stick around.

I love Mandy in this role, and I liked the genius un-Dr. I can see the show has a few small character wrinkles to iron out, but overall I'm a fan.

I'm also impressionable enough to have found the ending a jaw dropping-sit-on-the-edge-of-my-seat moment.

I'm with spacemonkeys ---

That line from Princess Bride was one of the best ever, and for that, he deserves my loyalty.

lilya, I like it, too (see above) but I agree that it probably won't last. What's it up against on Wednesdays? Lost? It's dead.

But I'll watch until then.

Well, now it's only up against one show I watch. Head Cases just got cancelled.
And Veronica Mars.

It's up against VM??? Wait. Wait. :::checks upn.com::: Was VM on Wednesdays last season?

Well, damn. I'm a VM fan. No way am I missing that. And me without a recording device. Damn.

I liked it. Wasn't absolutely wowed by it, but liked it enough to watch again (except it's on opposite of Lost!) I love Mandy Patinkin, so that was a reason to tune in. I'd also count both Shemar Moore and Thomas Gibson as eye candy.

heh! figures. I liked that show!

Brilliant move in putting the pilot on right after CSI. I watched the Apprentice and didn't really plan on watching anything else, but .. after "Dead Like Me," I'm a sucker for Mandy Patinkin. It probably kept a lot of CSI's audience and drew from Ex-ER fans. (aside: Did anyone see the medicinal commercial with the actor who used to play George Lass's father on "Dead Like Me?" Couldn't help but chuckle at that.)

I was actually impressed with the show, as was my extremely snarky friend. She had issues with 3PhD guy as "the only one who does any exposition." I liked Gideon's dark side. I admit I was most surprised with "Greg" being such a well-cast "straight guy" to play off his over-sexed and over-smart team members. A great scene at the end with Mandy and "Greg" on the plane, as well.

Unfortunately, this show is up against both Veronica Mars and Lost. I hope it gains some traction, because I think Lost is going to lose some steam. JJ Abrams knows how to write a great season or two, but after that... well, need I mention Rambaldi, Lauren Vaughn nee Reed, and Nadia? I see the same thing happening with Lost this season.

In any case, I wish "Criminal Minds" the best of luck in a fiercely competitive time slot with an market already supersaturated with crime dramas. If it finishes the season, I will be delighted and surprised. I will continue to watch.

I'm going have to agree with everyone else that I doubt it'll finish the season, but hey...it wasn't that bad. I actually enjoyed it. MP pulls off the profiler schtick well enough. Shemar, well, he brings the pretty. The genius guy got my attention...I hope he gets more screentime.

What was the deal with the end? Am I slow and missed something? I couldn't tell if that was a flashback to what got him so emotionally screwed, or if it was a preview for next week's episode. Which, consequently, I will be missing. I have no TiVo and that's a craptastic timeslot for a new show with a generic plotline.

I gotta say, I LOVED this show. Not as much as my poor, cancelled "The Inside", which I think was the BEST show ever for this genre (which is my favorite genre, BTW, so I've seen all of them!).

I watched because I love this genre and have pretty much liked everything Mandy has ever been in (except for the Showtime show because I never saw it). He usually makes good choices and plays interesting, flawed characters. Surprised he never popped up on "The Shield" ala Glenn Close - speaking of flawed characters.

Wondering WTF with the ending - was that a flashback? I thought they caught the stutterer - he talked about doing the profile in the past. Hopefully, they won't cancel the show before we find out. Maybe it's an ongoing hunt or something and the guy gets away and he's the one who kills the six agents that took Mandy out of the field in the first place.

Wondering what the network was thinking when it put this show up against both "Lost" and "Veronica Mars"?????? The Buffy fans will watch Veronica and the suspense fans will be watching "Lost" and not this suspense show because Lost already has had one super successful season and won an Emmy for godssakes! I, for one, will be taping all three which means I need to buy another VCR because my third one broke just this week.

I'm thinkin' that the network should counter-program against "Lost" with a comedy block. My friends who watch say "King of Queens", HATE shows like "Lost" and can't believe I watch such suspenseful stuff. With all of their research, you'd think that the networks would have figured that out by now????

I liked it, but I really didn't get the ending. I was prepared to see Lucas H as a character because of the ads, but the ads gave more exposition than that final segment did. Didn't tape it, so can't rewatch. I suspect I was paying attention to something else (work, heh). For those with schedule problems I recommend living on the left coast & subscribing to a cable service that gives you east coast feeds as well. Bliss! I don't know what I'd do without them...

At the start of the show Mandy was addressing a group of uniformed cops to be on the lookout for a serial who "most definitely will have a stutter".

I liked it. Like the cast a lot, but won't be watching until summer reruns. I cannot miss my beloved "Lost". No tivo. Hoping they get wise and move it to Monday or Friday.

mrsdalgleish, my thoughts almost mirror yours. I loved the show too for the same reasons. I do like this genre a lot.

Over the past few days, I've given a lot of new shows a try with my friends. We tried Threshold (wow, what a stinker! We couldn't get past the first hour. Just horrible, horrible writing, what a waste of some great actors). We tried Supernatural (i just don't get the appeal of this kind of show, where apparently ghosts and such things are common? Say what? And the acting, writing, etc., very cliched). We tried E-ring (We thought it was going to be okay at first until all the melodrama and overracting became a little over the top). We tried Invasion (Good presentation, good acting, decent dialogue, but the story premise just doesn't seem to have legs. Why should I be interested in a show about aliens? Invasion of the body snatchers? Yuch). And now, I've tried Criminal Minds, and I gotta say, that after all that disappointment, this was a pleasant surprise. Decent writing, good plot, good acting, well presented show, in a genre I like.

The only real problem is the time slot.

I like Lost, a lot. The show has its problems sometimes, but its always entertaining to watch because their presentation is so good. Reminds me of the middle season X-files so much in that regard.

I like Veronica Mars even more. Even though I didn't care for Buffy, or Angel, or any other "teen" show in the world, me and my roommate got hopelessly hooked on VM, and I've now successfully hooked about 4 other people I know. It's just hands down one of the best written shows on TV. I know a lot of people at TWoP compare the show to Buffy but I think of it as the "teen show" that appeals to the people who don't like teen shows. Just like The Amazing Race is the reality show for people who don't like reality shows.



Kansippian, I could be wrong, but I believe that was a class he was teaching. He was off active duty at the beginning of the episode and was teaching a class. And he was talking about a past case, and how he identified someone in a particular case, I think.

You may be right, my mother was chattering through that scene. I just remembered the stuttering part, so when Witness Boy spoke I flashed back to that. I agree, though, this show has much potential. Too bad I gots no tivo.

LOL! "Who did the bypass? Not Dr. Penishead!" (or something to that effect) Oh, how I miss Chicago Hope.

The voiceover quote thingies were getting to me too.

Anybody else think they solved it too fast? Like they suddenly realized, "Oh, hey, it's quarter to ten, it must have been the prison guard!"

Oh, well, I'll watch until Lost crushes it.

I liked it. But I missed the first ten minutes or so. What happened in the beginning?

What I want to know is, what's the mysterious thing that happened in Boston to make everyone think Mandy is unstable? Did he have some sort of nervous breakdown? Or was it his friend dying in front of him?

And is it really a good idea to taunt a man about his penis size when he has a gun?

Hey, I liked this show, too! I mean it had its flaws, but I thought it was very well acted, especially by Inigo Montoya and the hot Shemar. My husband was working late and I was going to tell him I found a new show for us to watch, but then I saw they are moving it to Wednesdays opposite Lost and Veronica Mars.

I guess old Mandy doesn't have much pull with the network - I give this show 6 weeks. I mean, I will tape it and watch Lost, but I am guessing it won't have enough viewers to make it. Oh, well... more time to spend with my kids!

That was the idea. Mandy was counting on the perp's taking the gun off the victim and pointing it his way, so the female partner could then shoot him. And since watching Mandy Patinkin taunt people is great entertainment, it was all good.

Still, sorry CBS! You screwed up with the time slot, and I am DVR/VCR-less. I'm off to VM starting next week.

Thomas Gibson and his wife are trying to figure out what to call their baby. How about Leroy? etc. And she says she wants to name him Gideon. Which happens to be the last name of the character played by Mandy Patinkin, but you'd have to be really invested in the characters to figure this out, and at this point I'm still wondering if I shouldn't be watching the last bit of American Masters on PBS.

I watched it... it was no more than a straight 'Paint-by-numbers' serial-killer show made slightly better by Mandy Patinkin and Greg (From Dharma & Greg) playing the straight guy... the hyper-intelligent nerd they had in their team bugged me and smells a lot like Wesley from ST:TNG... so that can't be good.

To tell the truth, I liked Peter Coyote's character on 'The Inside' as a controlling asshole than Mandy's character in 'Criminal Minds' looking for redemption after what appears to have been a breakdown at some point in the past.

Too much exposition, as well. Not enough moving or doing. Too many shots of Mandy thinking and moving his eyebrows.

The episode itself got stupid once they moved away from DJ Qualls.. what a coincidence that the Guard who lets them out from the county jail is the killer... geez. So fucking contrived. (Killer is a teenager, blah,blah,blah, fishcakes)

Against 'Lost' there is no hope for this show... but if it was on Friday it could work out somehow... Maybe once 'Ghost Whisperer' is dead??

The preview makes no sense against the ending of the store clerk pointing a gun at him... was this a flashback or WTF?

I thought this was ok. I don’t know if it will continue to draw me in, however, no matter how hot Shemar Moore is.

Maybe I missed something, but one thing I wondered about is why they didn’t start looking for people in the area who were selling a Datsun, once they knew what kind of car she was looking at. But I guess that may have taken away from the deduce the killer by profiling premise.

Love the low growly taunty voice, Mandy! Taunt me, please!



And wouldn't the emails/IMs Heather was getting from the killer be in the history of her computer? They could have started with the person who owned that screen identity. That may have been really obvious, but don't investigators often start with the obvious?

I think there was some virus in one of those messages that wiped out everything on her computer. But she still had all those car magazines in her apartment.

I guess I'll be more careful car-shopping from now on.

Yes. It was entertaining enough but the agents were just way too over-confident or something. You could tell that DJ Qualls couldn't have been the only killer because he's a stick and the kidnapping scene showed a big guy.
If he was listening to "Enter Sandman" on a CD, wouldn't he likely have the black album in his computer as opposed to the "Some Kind of Monster" DVD? That was some sloppy sh*t considering that they're supposed to be all about detail.

I was pleased to see Lola Glaudini post-Sopranos and Shemar Moore was looking great.

"Some Kind of Monster" was in the laptop, from which they gleamed that he was a Metallica fan. They then guessed that "Enter Sandman" was related to his password since he was an insomniac Metallica fan, not because he happened to be listening to that particular track.

Ah, I see. Now I'm cringing at the anvil.

The stupidest part that was they did not explain who left the 'Stop Me I cannot control myself' message in the computer... Was it the guard or DJ Qualls? who cares?

Plus, it looks like a good kick on the nads was all the victims had to do to run our of hell like that, (along with X-ray vision that will explain how the lady got out of the killers apartment into the roof while being blinfolded with Duct tape)

Tonight is 'Killer Instinct' on Fox... we'll see if Chi McBride and the who-dats can make a better show.

I miss Webb from 'The Inside' dammit!

She was actually belowdecks on a boat; and it appeared that she clawed a corner of the duct tape off, but it happened fast, I might not have seen that right. Then she ran outside onto the dock I believe.

Did anyone else think it was weird that Dr. Reed (the genius) knew enough about Metallica lyrics to know exactly what password to try? I don't mean to offend any Metallica fans out there, but it just didn't seem to be the kind of music he'd be into. Of course, being a genius with photographic memory, he might have been exposed to Metallica in 7th grade and just never forgot it.

They didn't directly explain it, but I think we were supposed to know it was DJQ. The quote was from one of Mandy's earlier cases (picture on his office wall) and DJQ stated he was a fan of Mandy's work. So I think he'd done it specifically to draw him to the case. (Which fits the profile of "his type" as they explained it to the Seattle FBI people)

Ms Dalgleish wrote


I like seeing Thomas Gibson playing characters with more depth, loved him as Danny Nyland the snarky doctor on Chicago Hope. I am praying that they develop Thomas's character more and make him more than just a "straight man," to Mandy Patinkin. If he continues to be simply Mandy's lapdog, I don't know how long I can hold out. As much as am a fan of Thomas, things don't look good with this show being against Lost and Veronica Mars.

The ratings for last night were pretty good:


It's too bad it's losing this timeslot. It seems perfect right after CSI. I wonder why it's moving to Wednesdays? I like the whole "profiler" genre so I enjoyed this show - especially with Mandy, Thomas and Shemar at the helm. Even though it's formualic, I still found it much more interesting than, say, Threshold, Invasion, Prison Break, Supernatural, Bones, or E-ring. Eh, will definitely TiVo for at least another few weeks.

But the server she downloaded her email from would have a record of the message. Odd that they didn't think of that. Then again, she got the car offer by instant message, not e-mail, so the writers blew it there.


But was the password "sandman" or "entersandman" or "EnterSandman" or "sandMan" or "$andman" or ... Six guesses isn't enough to cover the possibilities if the perp was really concerned about security. And why was he listening to the music on his computer and not on his portable CD player?

Need help here. Worked last night so TiVo'd this and ER but big storm blew through and I lost signal on satellite for last 8 minutes or so. Last I saw was Mandy holding gun on guy with girl, didn't hear any conversation. Can someone please fill out the ending for me? Thanks.

javalake, I didn't have a problem with the idea of the guy listening to music on his computer as opposed to some other player. Mainly because the sound system for my computer has the best subwoofer of all my equipment.

But over all, this show was ... wooden. Way to "on the nose". The profiling stuff was written as if copied straight from basic books on profiling. It wasn't even as engaging as any of John Douglas' books on it are. And the quotations the gave Gideon? What did someone do? Sit down with Bartlett's Quotations and look up things? They were presented so very awkwardly. Nobody who really knows that sort of thing by memory speaks them as if citing things in a scholarly paper. (William Petersen on CSI handles quotations much more organically for the character's moment.)

The cast is good, but the writing and directing were not so good. Very disappointing. Actually, not engaging enough to distract me from the bill paying I was doing at the same time.

mzpro5, Gideon taunted the perp until the perp turned the gun to shoot Gideon and then the female cop shot the perp. Got it? ;-)

Then there was some conversation on the plane about what Thomas Gibson would report to the higher ups as far as Gideon getting approved to work in the field again.

And then Gideon was driving and stopped at a remote convenience store and Lukas Haas was behind the counter with all these serial killer trophy photos behind him and he was stuttering -- so we weren't sure if this was the guy Gideon had been talking about during the lecture at the start of the show. In any case, after pausing long enough to let PsychoLukasHaas know he was disturbed by the psycho vibe, Gideon walked out to his car and in the reflection off the gas pump he saw PLH pointing a shotgun at his back.

And...scene.

Thanks mrs dalqleish!