"Date Night", the sixth episode of one of the weakest seasons of the show and the worst one since Season 11, was one of those 'Criminal Minds' episodes where expectations were mixed. Really loved the character of Cat Adams, her chemistry with Reid and her previous episodes (with Season 11's "Entropy" being easily one of the high points of the latter seasons). The plotline didn't sound very interesting or original though and had the potential traps of being dragged out and repetitive.
Unfortunately, "Date Night" fell into both those traps, as well as being pointless and too much of a filler episode. It had its moments, namely some of the character interactions and the odd nice line. At the same time, with it doing little with Cat and Reid and certainly doing nothing fresh and then being so uninspired in nearly all departments "Date Night" struck me as one of the worst episodes of an overall underwhelming season. Really wanted to like the episode a lot more than turned out.
Will start with the good things, which are there. The photography is particularly well done of the suitably creepy production values, especially in the quite unsettling way the case is introduced. The music also has an ominous presence without over-emphasising or being over-the-top. Matthew Gray Gubler does a great job here, as does Aubrey Plaza. Did like some of their chemistry, though it didn't have the same spark as before.
Reid and Prentiss' chemistry was nice.
However, all those good points are overshadowed by everything that is wrong about the episode. Which is pretty much the same flaws as most of the season's episodes, and some. The biggest problem is the story. The cat and mouse feel no longer has tension and feels tired. Once again it is like the show has run out of ideas and revisiting old ideas, because that is pretty much what "Date Night" did. Feeling like "Entropy" revisited, or should that be recycled. Everything was predictable with no surprises and because the plot was pretty thin it all felt dragged out and padded with repetitive banter that doesn't always lead very far.
The script was neither funny, taut or nostalgic, instead being a contender for the single cheesiest script of the season and in a while for the show. So many out of place and awkward lines. On top of being all of the things mentioned in the above paragraph much of the episode is insultingly unrealistic, complete with a bland unsub and a motive that lacks plausibility. This didn't feel like a necessary episode that advances any characters or plot-lines (neither apparent here) and it does so little fresh with Cat's return and was like one appearance too many. The rest of the team are underused and don't have much to do, which adds to the pointlessness, and again it takes them too long to solve the case.
Concluding, one of the season's worst. 3/10
Unfortunately, "Date Night" fell into both those traps, as well as being pointless and too much of a filler episode. It had its moments, namely some of the character interactions and the odd nice line. At the same time, with it doing little with Cat and Reid and certainly doing nothing fresh and then being so uninspired in nearly all departments "Date Night" struck me as one of the worst episodes of an overall underwhelming season. Really wanted to like the episode a lot more than turned out.
Will start with the good things, which are there. The photography is particularly well done of the suitably creepy production values, especially in the quite unsettling way the case is introduced. The music also has an ominous presence without over-emphasising or being over-the-top. Matthew Gray Gubler does a great job here, as does Aubrey Plaza. Did like some of their chemistry, though it didn't have the same spark as before.
Reid and Prentiss' chemistry was nice.
However, all those good points are overshadowed by everything that is wrong about the episode. Which is pretty much the same flaws as most of the season's episodes, and some. The biggest problem is the story. The cat and mouse feel no longer has tension and feels tired. Once again it is like the show has run out of ideas and revisiting old ideas, because that is pretty much what "Date Night" did. Feeling like "Entropy" revisited, or should that be recycled. Everything was predictable with no surprises and because the plot was pretty thin it all felt dragged out and padded with repetitive banter that doesn't always lead very far.
The script was neither funny, taut or nostalgic, instead being a contender for the single cheesiest script of the season and in a while for the show. So many out of place and awkward lines. On top of being all of the things mentioned in the above paragraph much of the episode is insultingly unrealistic, complete with a bland unsub and a motive that lacks plausibility. This didn't feel like a necessary episode that advances any characters or plot-lines (neither apparent here) and it does so little fresh with Cat's return and was like one appearance too many. The rest of the team are underused and don't have much to do, which adds to the pointlessness, and again it takes them too long to solve the case.
Concluding, one of the season's worst. 3/10