User Reviews

This episode is loosely based on the popular theory that Garth Brooks is a serial killer.

First brought to light by Tom "Tommy Bunz" Segura and his mail order bride, Christina P- on the popular podcast, "Your Mom's House".

The grassroots campaign, for Brooks to come forward, and admit where the bodies are, is a necessity for the families to have closure.

Brooks has been known to jet around the country leaving unconfirmed DNA in the bathrooms of his plane, however, there has been no official link between the missing, (presumably dead), bodies, that align with his tour dates.

Experts say to allude Brooks, try coming up in May, and one should keep zim/zer jeans high and tight and if all else fails, feather it.

For me, "The Performer" is one of Season 5's weaker episodes along with the very bland and just scraping average "Parasite". Not awful but not great, a brave attempt to do something different but it doesn't quite come off.

Starting with good things about "The Performer", as always with 'Criminal Minds' it looks great, psychedelic in colour and darkly atmospheric. There are a few moments of haunting music, and of the writing the standout was that terrific scene at the end between the team, that was very funny and very sweet and shows very well how strong a bond they have. Some of the in-jokes were a lot of fun and didn't feel too out of place.

Gavin Rossdale is excellent as the prime suspect, and the episode in the early stages does well in making the viewer believe it was him responsible. His relationship with his manager is touchingly depicted too. The acting is very good across the board.

However, the case does lack atmosphere, is quite slight and over-stretched-feeling and while one always welcomes a big revelation twist this one was not that surprising, in fact it's pretty easy to figure out too soon. Profiling is also always welcome, and is a large part as what makes 'Criminal Minds' so great, but there isn't quite enough here and didn't serve as much point or interest as it should have done.

Also did not buy the whole thing with JJ going to the house alone, which was not plausible in a situation that desperately required back-up straight-away and practically was a suicide move. It also takes her a long time to get there, whereas it took the rest of the team nowhere near as much time, that was contrived and the lack of explanation didn't help matters either.

'Criminal Minds' has had many times where it tries to do things differently with varying success. "The Performer" is an example of one that doesn't quite work, with the atmosphere feeling over-the-top and the methodology of the killings very strange even for the concept. The music has its moments but has a tendency to be too intrusive.

In conclusion, not one of Season 5's better episodes. For great episodes of the seasons, stick with "100", "...A Thousand Words", "The Uncanny Valley" and "Mosley Lane". 5/10 Bethany Cox

What was JJ thinking going in alone? It was a very stupid move for an FBI who is supposed to beart.