Criminal Minds season 12 episode 18 review: Did Spencer kill his cellmates?

Tonight on Criminal Minds season 12 episode 18 we are hoping for some relief when it comes to Spencer’s story. This has been one of the worst journey’s we have been on with this show since we love this character so much and seeing him in this much turmoil every week is starting to get to us. This has never been a show that’s filled with unicorns and puppies, but this is pretty hard to swallow even for Criminal Minds standards.

We have been very worried that prison is going to change Spencer as he’s been facing some incredibly difficult choices and has watched some horrific things go down including watching his friend get killed in front of him. Seeing him tonight, our worries seem to be coming to fruition as he writes furiously in his journal about how this experience is affecting him. How could it not? Jail is a completely different world and as Spencer has said, it makes people do things they never would in life away from prison.

Rossi has been having a really hard time going to the prison to visit Spencer. As much as he wants to, it’s been difficult for him to go through with it since he doesn’t think he’s actually going to help him. After Prentiss tells Rossi that Spencer hasn’t been sleeping and has been asking for him, Rossi decides to go down to the prison and see him. We haven’t seen Spencer smile since this all started, but we saw an almost smile when he saw Rossi. He asks Spencer if he’s getting any help in there and he tells him that he’s been going to group therapy and journal writing, but because everyone’s so closed off (and often lying) that it hasn’t been helping.

The men that killed Spencer’s friend still expect him to move drugs through the prison. Is he going to go through with it? Seems like he’s not going to, but we will see what happens when he’s up against the wall. When Spencer feels that Calvin is really running the game, it seems that he decides to add a little something to the drugs he was being forced to smuggle into the prison. Unfortunately, his newest friend, Malcolm, ends up taking the drug and gets sick, and so does Calvin (sick or dead, it’s hard to know). Whatever is happening, Spencer seems to be becoming fully immersed in this life style now – and that scares the heck out of us.

Many viewers have not been a fan of this Spencer story arc and while we like that Matthew Gray Gubler is getting some meaty material to challenge him, this storyline has been really difficult to watch. We’ve often been apologists for this storyline because of how great Gubler’s performance has been, but it’s starting to get a little overwhelming and we feel that it’s time to wrapping this up soon. Episode grade: B-

What did you think of Criminal Minds season 12 episode 18? Do you think it’s time to end Spencer’s jail story? Leave us a comment in the box below. If you want to know what’s coming up on Criminal Minds the head on over to the link here. We were also recently discussing why we think Emily Prentiss needs more of a personal story this season and you can check that out at the link here. (Photo: CBS)