Criminal Minds season 12 episode 16 review: Could Reid die in prison?

Poor sweet Spencer Reid.  Criminal Minds season 12 episode 16 is going to put our boy Reid in some serious trouble – just when you thought things might be getting better for him in the last episode. He met a cell mate named Calvin Shaw (played by Lost alum Harold Perrineau) who help to get Spencer out of Gen Pop and into a single cell like he was supposed to be the whole time. While it looked like things could be cooling out for Spencer as he reads books and plays chess with Calvin, we might be looking at some trouble for him tonight as he’s going to get attacked by a group of inmates.

Tonight didn’t feature Spencer in all that better a situation. Basically, he had to get used to the structure of prison life, in between its schedule and its threats.

Also, he wanted to help a fellow inmate in need, mostly because this is the sort of guy that he is. Unfortunately, in the process he ran the risk of losing himself. As you saw JJ visit her, you got a further sense that everything that was happening with him was making a huge impact on others.

Strangely, it took a speech from Rossi, relating Reid’s situation to the Chicago Cubs of all things, before she started to come around and realize that she needed to hold strong to hope. They needed to figure out a way to get him out of there, but they weren’t giving up. We certainly hope that Reid doesn’t give up, either, given that he needs all the hope that he can get with two prisoners in his cell, beating him up and nearly killing him in the middle of a brawl.

Is he dead? Just like Rossi said, you have to continue to have hope.

The bone breaker

The UnSub this week was a guy who was given drugs at one point, and then used them to fuel a dangerous bender. He killed in a most-brutal fashion, and then he did everything in his power to try to replicate that great high all over again. He wasn’t successful, and that only frustrated him all over again as the drugs ended up causing him more and more trouble.

This case was specifically one that Luke Alvez took personally, and he did everything that he could in order to bring the mother’s son to justice for everything that he did. Regrettably, we saw the UnSub take their own life before there was anything that he could do in order to actually stop it. He had invested so much in the mother that having it end in this way was especially devastating.

Overall take

Reid’s not dead yet. There’s your hope. Unfortunately, we could’ve used more of Reid in the episode rather than the super-brief challenger that showed that there are consequences when he doesn’t follow those aforementioned rules. He could die in jail, to reference this Criminal Minds season 12 episode 16 review’s title. We just want to keep holding out that someone will help him. Episode grade: B.

What did you think of Criminal Minds season 12 episode 16? Leave us a comment in the box below with your thoughts on the season so far. If you want more scoop on Criminal Minds then head on over to the link here and check out our preview for the next new episode. (Photo: CBS)