‘Criminal Minds’ season 12, episode 6 video: A longer look at ‘Elliott’s Pond’

Is Wednesday night’s “Criminal Minds” meant to stand out from the norm? We’ve hyped “Elliott’s Pond” up tremendously, but mostly because of the prestige involved behind the scenes. Showrunner Erica Messer penned this episode and she only does this for a few on a given season, and even then they tend to be either premieres / finales or really big episodes in between. Meanwhile, this was also directed by Matthew Gray Gubler, who previously worked on “A Beautiful Disaster” with Messer, the final episode for Shemar Moore as Morgan.

Now that we’ve set up the creative significance of the hour, let’s get to the sneak peek: Reid, Prentiss, and several other team members trying to determine precisely what happened to cause the disappearance of three children in a small town. This is the same town where a relatively similar event happened three decades beforehand, so of course there are inevitably going to be questions about a connection between these two cases.

Here’s the problem: Per the police officer in the town, most of the original suspects are now dead and gone. It doesn’t appear on the surface like there’s any possibility of a copycat, but this is the sort of thing that BAU is pretty good at determining.

Even if there is nothing else special about “Elliott’s Pond” beyond the case, we do have a good degree of confidence that we’re in for a good episode tonight. After all, this is an opportunity to see a really solid investigation, some twists and turns, and hopefully by the end of it answers both to the past and the present. Sometimes, there’s nothing quite like a good cold case! That can be tremendously exciting.

For some other news related to “Criminal Minds” and the Thomas Gibson saga — which is still playing out, but seems to be on its last legs — head over to the link here. Also leave us a comment in the box below and tell us what you want to see happen in tonight’s episode and if you are hoping for some sort of resolution on Hotch. (Photo: CBS.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7oVPvEcFjQ