‘Criminal Minds’ season 10, episode 15 review: Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Kate struggles with Meg dating

If you have been aching for a little more Jennifer Love Hewitt on “Criminal Minds” then you are going to be thrilled with tonight’s episode. Since the actress joined the cast, we learned a little bit about her at the beginning of the season and then have barely seen her since then, so we feel that it’s about time that the series decided to give her the spotlight.

If you remember (and it has been a while) Kate’s sister and brother in law died in 9/11 and she and her husband Chris took in their daughter, Meg, who is the light of Kate’s life. In tonight’s episode the focus is not only back on Kate, but on Meg and it’s a very current topic that plagues the youth of today – sending selfies to strangers online and what it can really mean.

When Meg asks to go to the mall with a group of friends (that includes two boys Kate and Chris haven’t met), Chris gives her the okay, but Kate is hesitant. Normally we would say that meeting up at the mall (a public place) with a group of people is a fairly safe date… however, if your child is lying (as many teenagers do) then that’s when trouble starts. So that leads us to Meg and her friend, who have lied to their parents to meet a boy that they have been chatting with online and have never met (who is really a stalker looking to do terrible things to them).

Chris feels guilty that he gave the okay for Meg to go on this group date and shows up at the mall to see Meg and her friend getting “stood up”, but really the stalker that they were chatting with is there and just waiting for Chris to leave. When Chris calls Kate and says that he’s sticking around, the stalker leaves and texts Meg saying that he isn’t coming, because she brought a babysitter leaving Meg resentful. Will she start to rebel against Chris and Kate?

Before the internet, parents had a bit of an easier time teaching their children about stranger danger and to avoid people you don’t know – these days, with the anonymity of the internet, children and teens can be suckered in by strangers in all kinds of creepy ways from messaging, to sending pictures, and building a rapport. It’s a much easier way to gain the trust of a person as they can do it over a few days. Whether you’re young or old, be careful out there – the internet is a strange and wonderful place, but it is also dark and full of creepers. Episode grade: A-

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