On the most part, Season 2 was an improvement over the first. It did repeat a lot of the same mistakes that all the episodes in the first season did but there were aspects that did improve. That is not to say though that it was a good season, to me it wasn't particularly and even the best episodes, while certainly better than the least bad episodes of Season 1, were very flawed and the flaws sadly were quite big and very difficult to overlook.
'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders' definitely had far worse episodes than "Pankration", the whole of Season 1 is far worse and worse followed too. Season 2 though did have better episodes and after being pleasantly surprised, while still not blown away, by the previous episode "La Huesuda" it was sad to see a return to the quite weak and rarely more than mediocre at best (and terrible at worst) standard of almost all of the show's episodes. It is enough to make one think that the flash of improvement seen with that episode was a fluke.
"Pankration" by all means is not all bad. It does start off quite well and had some promise. While Garrett's subplot was on the soapy and predictable side, it was relatable and one of the few instances of any team member of 'Beyond Borders' having some form of development.
Also think that the episode doesn't fare anywhere near as badly as other episodes of 'Beyond Borders' at cultural insensitivity that has always been a big strike against the show. While not exactly authentic, other episodes are far more offensive on this front.
Unfortunately, "Pankration" has a lot wrong. The production values look sloppy and too hastily put together and very little effort seemed to have made in making the setting authentic. The music is never that memorable and is quite dreary and the direction doesn't have that much enthusiasm or life. None of the acting impresses, although Gary Sinise doesn't sleepwalk as much as he usually did in this show, and the chemistry is still disconnected. The unsub is very underdeveloped and lacks menace or anything to make one feel anything for them, also too similar to other unsubs in the franchise, another very vanilla one.
The story is pretty derivative with no real original tropes and nothing fresh, and while other episodes did far worse at not making sense and being silly (they are problems here still but other episodes did them badly). "Pankration" is just as bad at not having enough tension or suspense. It is another episode that feels incredibly rushed and hastily put together, which is reflected in a script that is very awkward in flow and delivery and also both limp and like the writers were racing against the clock to finish the script on time. Garrett is the only character the episode tries to halfway develop.
Concluding, not one of the show's worst but pretty weak still. 3/10
'Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders' definitely had far worse episodes than "Pankration", the whole of Season 1 is far worse and worse followed too. Season 2 though did have better episodes and after being pleasantly surprised, while still not blown away, by the previous episode "La Huesuda" it was sad to see a return to the quite weak and rarely more than mediocre at best (and terrible at worst) standard of almost all of the show's episodes. It is enough to make one think that the flash of improvement seen with that episode was a fluke.
"Pankration" by all means is not all bad. It does start off quite well and had some promise. While Garrett's subplot was on the soapy and predictable side, it was relatable and one of the few instances of any team member of 'Beyond Borders' having some form of development.
Also think that the episode doesn't fare anywhere near as badly as other episodes of 'Beyond Borders' at cultural insensitivity that has always been a big strike against the show. While not exactly authentic, other episodes are far more offensive on this front.
Unfortunately, "Pankration" has a lot wrong. The production values look sloppy and too hastily put together and very little effort seemed to have made in making the setting authentic. The music is never that memorable and is quite dreary and the direction doesn't have that much enthusiasm or life. None of the acting impresses, although Gary Sinise doesn't sleepwalk as much as he usually did in this show, and the chemistry is still disconnected. The unsub is very underdeveloped and lacks menace or anything to make one feel anything for them, also too similar to other unsubs in the franchise, another very vanilla one.
The story is pretty derivative with no real original tropes and nothing fresh, and while other episodes did far worse at not making sense and being silly (they are problems here still but other episodes did them badly). "Pankration" is just as bad at not having enough tension or suspense. It is another episode that feels incredibly rushed and hastily put together, which is reflected in a script that is very awkward in flow and delivery and also both limp and like the writers were racing against the clock to finish the script on time. Garrett is the only character the episode tries to halfway develop.
Concluding, not one of the show's worst but pretty weak still. 3/10
