User Reviews

I named it as an ''okay episode" because it was one of those "average" ones. the plot wasn't that intriguing or exceptional and the unsub wasn't remarkable. and frankly i didn't really buy the "intentions" or the reasoning behind the crimes

the setting, was fitting and somehow convinent. it has all the elements without playing on clichés. also the dynamic between the team (in the hotel) was warm and intimate. we had the chance to discover a different part of Garcia in a diiferent enivronment, which i apperciat that the show haven't overdone it

"Exit Wounds" is not one of the best Season 5 episodes, like "100", "...A Thousand Words", "The Uncanny Valley" and "Mosley Lane", but it fares much better than "Parasite" and from memory "The Performer" and "Haunted".

Rather than being a great/top-tier 'Criminal Minds' episode, "Exit Wounds" is one of the solid/very good ones, nowhere near down there with the low-points of the show like "Machismo", "The Thirteenth Step", "I Love You Tommy Brown" and the worst of Season 9 ("200", "The Black Queen") and Season 11 (too many to list). It will be, and has been, picked apart for geographical errors, but to be honest this is not the first time and last time that this has applied to 'Criminal Minds'.

There is actually not very much that's wrong with "Exit Wounds", other than some supporting characters fare better than others, for example the unsub is one of not many on the show that's easy to feel for somewhat despite their crimes but others like the sheriff characters are dull clichés with not much personality or development. While tense undeniably, the climax is rather predictable and not that much different to other stand-offs on 'Criminal Minds' and other crime/mystery/procedural shows in general.

However, as always, "Exit Wounds" is very well made and has a lot of atmosphere. The music is a good haunting fit. The script is structurally taut with a good mix of humour, pathos, thought-provoking moments and mystery. The story begins effectively with a very suspenseful opening sequence and ends just as much with a sweet and amusing ending, these kinds of endings can feel tacky but it was a very nice way to end. Morgan and Garcia's chemistry is light-hearted, with the flirtatiousness not as over-used or as annoying as it could be, and heart-warming, and while the case could have had more profiling the profiling and pathology are still intriguing.

The case itself has intensity and suspense, even if conceptually somewhat standard which doesn't quite make it stand out as much as other episodes. The BAU have a great dynamic together, and they are all interesting. Although it's a Garcia-oriented episode, "Exit Wounds" doesn't make the mistake of over-using her at the expense of the rest of the team. She is likable and interesting, not the caricature that she became in much of the latter seasons. Nothing bothered me about the acting either, even less well-developed characters did a good deal with little. The show does belong to Kirsten Vangsness who is simply delightful here.

In summary, solid to very good episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This is a fairly average episode of Criminal Minds. It's nice to see Penelope out of the office for a bit & she gets something a bit extra to do as well.

However, watching it years later, my main reaction is disappointment. Disappointment in the writers for not having the nerve to follow through on the absolutely screaming chemistry between Penelope and Morgan and write them a proper relationship.

I don't know if it was fear of the reaction to an interracial couple, or whether the fact that Penelope had quite clearly been written early on to be "quirky" rather than a beauty, (when she IS beautiful!) and therefore was not deemed good enough to be Derek's girlfriend or even spouse, but it's the biggest mis-step of the whole series.

Instead they shoehorn in a geeky character (although Nicholas Brendon is gorgeous and, as we all saw some episodes back, very buff!) to be her love interest & IIRC a rather dull character will be dragged in later for Derek, and let this very obvious and beautiful pairing go by the wayside. Idiots.

Good, BUT, How those ppl can fly sometimes gets me every time... I understand the moral, but you can't tell me they were on time.. too bad but otherwise good