‘Criminal Minds’ season 10, episode 13: Was the Mandy Patinkin move the right one?
Based on the internet reaction that is out there right now when it comes to Wednesday night’s “Criminal Minds,” we thought that it may be good to have one extra article trying to deal with the aftermath of the Gideon shocker.
Did the show do a very bold move in killing off this character? Both yes and no. You always want to have hope that you can see someone again as a fan, and there was always some of that when it comes to this character. However, as we pointed out in our full review of this episode when it originally aired, Mandy Patinkin had no plays of ever returning to the show. He said in some ways that he even regrets being a part of the show, since it was not what he originally hoped that it would be.
In getting rid of the Gideon character now, and with an episode that brought us a guest appearance from “Boy Meets World” star Ben Savage, the show has finally cut a cord, and can move forward without questions about if we will see this person discussed or featured on the show again.
In the big picture, and as shocking as the end of this episode was, we don’t really envision it impacting the future of the series that much at all. The show has spent eight years moving on from Gideon, so the best way to look at this story as a nice isolated one, and a love note to people who have been watching the show since the early days.
Do you think that “Criminal Minds” handled the death of this character the right way? Share with a comment, and head over here to get some further TV updates sent right to you via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)
Jessica
February 4, 2015 @ 6:54 pm
Mandy was not interested in CM, he didn’t respect the production, actors and especially the fans who we admired his work. Still, Nelson’s Sparrow was a tribute to the character Jason Gideon. It was an exceptional job and in my opinion is one of the best episodes of CM. Furthermore, it can give rise to new stories, I am very interested in how writers will exploit the death of Gideon, especially the impact on Reid and Rossi. I hope they take advantage it of better than Reid headaches.
Holly Jackson
January 31, 2015 @ 3:06 pm
I loved this episode! Personally I think Criminal Minds just keeps getting better and better! I was a little worried when they cast Jennifer Love Hewitt but she’s ok (her knockers are a little distracting but tbh I’m just impressed they managed to get an FBI vest to fit her!)
As for this ep specifically I thought it was great! The flashback element was a great way to link the newer cast members like Rossi with the original, and the actors portraying young Rossi and Gideon were great and really believable. Gideon’s death was handled sensitively and I think was a great way to connect to loyal long time fans of the show (like me) and I was in tears right alongside Reid and Garcia! Lets face it, in the real world people die! And the only thing about Criminal minds which has bugged me in the past was that no-one ever did! We’ve had a group of people doing an extremely difficult and dangerous job, they get shot, stabbed and tortured, all sorts, but none of them have ever been killed in the line of duty even cast members who’ve left like Elle. This simply wouldn’t happen in the real world, and now Criminal minds for me is just that little bit more realistic!
Tami Menzed
January 30, 2015 @ 6:27 am
I miss the original characters, gideon and elle, is my imagination or lately there’s no much bout spencer reid?
Paula
January 30, 2015 @ 4:37 am
No, they didn’t. They didn’t need to kill the character, and certainly they didn’t need to do it in a way that would be so insulting to him. I feel like they just wanted to bring some shock to the viewers, and they didn’t the worst way possible. Criminal Minds was a good show. And the shock was a common element. That art is long gone.
dlope
January 29, 2015 @ 10:46 pm
I think they did. Mandy has no interest coming back to the show so why not cut him out. Now if it was Emily my answer would’ve been different.