Good episode, little bit predicted, but I love the ending. This is kind of "not happy ending" that is needed sometimes... probably much more often, I would say. Love it when the show is not just entertainment but also provides food for thought. The open question is - what that "new changed her" would do now to get the story?.. Yes, I do buy that ending - it is absolutely possible to me. All the people from the series could be absolutely real, living next to us...
8 Reviews
Homicidal publicity
TheLittleSongbird10 May 2018
'Criminal Minds' has always been one of my most-watched shows and was a personal favourite for a while. Seasons 1-5 was its best period, Season 4 was especially great. It did get hit and miss from Season 6 onwards, with a mix of good and more episodes and disappointing and less episodes. Season 11 was, apart from about 5 episodes, pretty weak. Season 12 was inconsistent but generally an improvement, its weakest episodes nowhere near as bad as the low-points of Seasons 6, 9 and especially 11.
Season 13 so far has not been too bad, in fact it's been quite good. It is already so much better than Season 11, which started off well actually but quickly went downhill, and has generally settled quicker than Season 12. As far as the previous Season 13 episodes go, "Wheels Up" and "Killer App" were particularly good. Up to this point, only "To a Better Place" was a little disappointing, with a lot of admirable qualities but also an over-familiar and not much special case.
"Neon Terror" was one of the weaker episodes at this point of the season. Not that it's bad, it certainly isn't. Just falls short of being great and is only decent.
The team work, the procedural aspects and how it's all solved evokes prime 'Criminal Minds', there is lots of each and it's all thought-provoking and delightful. It doesn't make the mistakes that many latter season episodes made (i.e. too much unsub, unsub revealed too early, problematically executed cases, too much reliance on convenience, lack of balance, too many soapy personal life subplots, team underuse and not enough procedural/delving into the criminal's mind). In fact, there is a sense that "Neon Terror" didn't forget what made 'Criminal Minds' work so well in the first place. The twists keep coming and the unsub reveal was not an obvious one at all, credit is due for taking precaution in not making it obvious at the start or too early in general.
There are little character moments within the team, one of my favourite things about 'Criminal Minds' and something that lifts even the lesser episodes. Really love the closeness and how the team has and how they seem to care for each other. Matt has settled well, is a likeable character and gels very well with the team, much more so than most new team members who either took a while to settle or never did anything for me.
Everybody does a great job with the acting, all the regulars are strong as ever and Sandra is a quite well done character. The ending was a surprise on immediate impact.
Visually, "Neon Terror" is stylish and atmospheric, while the music is haunting without being over-bearing while having presence still, the script is taut with a touch of sweetness and poignancy here and there and the direction is alert and accommodating.
The case however was a bit too familiar and could have had more tension and suspense. Would have liked more development to the unsub, who doesn't make as much of a presence as they should have done.
While there are some nice character moments, part of me wishes that a few, like with Rossi, were explored more, both in development and screen time. While surprising to begin with, the ending also becomes a bit too rushed and the predictability dampens the initial impact somewhat.
Overall, pretty decent but could have been much better. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Season 13 so far has not been too bad, in fact it's been quite good. It is already so much better than Season 11, which started off well actually but quickly went downhill, and has generally settled quicker than Season 12. As far as the previous Season 13 episodes go, "Wheels Up" and "Killer App" were particularly good. Up to this point, only "To a Better Place" was a little disappointing, with a lot of admirable qualities but also an over-familiar and not much special case.
"Neon Terror" was one of the weaker episodes at this point of the season. Not that it's bad, it certainly isn't. Just falls short of being great and is only decent.
The team work, the procedural aspects and how it's all solved evokes prime 'Criminal Minds', there is lots of each and it's all thought-provoking and delightful. It doesn't make the mistakes that many latter season episodes made (i.e. too much unsub, unsub revealed too early, problematically executed cases, too much reliance on convenience, lack of balance, too many soapy personal life subplots, team underuse and not enough procedural/delving into the criminal's mind). In fact, there is a sense that "Neon Terror" didn't forget what made 'Criminal Minds' work so well in the first place. The twists keep coming and the unsub reveal was not an obvious one at all, credit is due for taking precaution in not making it obvious at the start or too early in general.
There are little character moments within the team, one of my favourite things about 'Criminal Minds' and something that lifts even the lesser episodes. Really love the closeness and how the team has and how they seem to care for each other. Matt has settled well, is a likeable character and gels very well with the team, much more so than most new team members who either took a while to settle or never did anything for me.
Everybody does a great job with the acting, all the regulars are strong as ever and Sandra is a quite well done character. The ending was a surprise on immediate impact.
Visually, "Neon Terror" is stylish and atmospheric, while the music is haunting without being over-bearing while having presence still, the script is taut with a touch of sweetness and poignancy here and there and the direction is alert and accommodating.
The case however was a bit too familiar and could have had more tension and suspense. Would have liked more development to the unsub, who doesn't make as much of a presence as they should have done.
While there are some nice character moments, part of me wishes that a few, like with Rossi, were explored more, both in development and screen time. While surprising to begin with, the ending also becomes a bit too rushed and the predictability dampens the initial impact somewhat.
Overall, pretty decent but could have been much better. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Neon Terror
bobcobb30121 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
The show has been having some good episodes as of late, but this was not one of them. We had your typical crazy person who was wronged in their past and now leaps to killing people. What made it even weirder was the newswoman embracing her newly found freedom. Even those who obsess over popularity would be rattled by a gun to the head so I wasn't quite buying that.
Just a subpar CM tonight.
Just a subpar CM tonight.
Not bad episode has a good title and plot but very bad acting...
coti-0955327 November 2017
Not bad episode has a good title and plot but very bad acting...
This episode was good but the acting was just terrible the worst.
Neon terror:
When Dave Rossi is on a talk show he opens up about Tommy Yates a criminal he put away then later died when the BAU gets a call on Murders and killings in a town.
They arrive to find out later that the Media and news(outlets)have updates on the killer and why he is doing it.
They find out where and who he is and captured him.
This episode really could have been better this episode had the worst acing in the series and it just could have been better.
The ending also could have been better to.
Other then that this was a not bad episode.
This episode was good but the acting was just terrible the worst.
Neon terror:
When Dave Rossi is on a talk show he opens up about Tommy Yates a criminal he put away then later died when the BAU gets a call on Murders and killings in a town.
They arrive to find out later that the Media and news(outlets)have updates on the killer and why he is doing it.
They find out where and who he is and captured him.
This episode really could have been better this episode had the worst acing in the series and it just could have been better.
The ending also could have been better to.
Other then that this was a not bad episode.
Amazing plot.. not so great execution
Gustavo_Valadares30 July 2020
Neon Terror it's a story that shares a perfect balance between following the killer steps and following BAU investigation. The plot itself it's much more clever than the other usual episodes where you just discover who is the killer behind the murders, there is commentary behind it.
While in the very earliest seasons of Criminal Minds the BAU investigators always commented that they share a lot of simmilarities with the serial killers they hunt, in this episode it is shown very subtly to you how they are simmilar. It's very interesting how the killer's motivations, while based on psychosis, are not that different from anyone's motivation in this episode: Rossi starts the episode seeking success while profiting from the death of a lunatic that he hunted and made a celebrity by attending his demands; the journalist director, seeking success while profitting in the murders of a lunatic that she was hunting and making him a celebrity by feeding his demands, there is also a photo journalist and Prentiss (at the end) doing just the same (using death of other people for personal gain while feeding lunatics).
The plot is nicely done, the strutcture works well giving every single actor a chance to shine, the cinematic image it's perfect with a nice vibrant Miami during night and beautiful during day, however, once again, the lack of logic and mischaracterization of the team puts the show down. Just to name a few illogical parts: 1. at the beginning of the episode a new murder is announced by the media at first hand (the killer directly contacted the media) leaving everyone at BAU surprised (including Prentiss) and yet at the same time Prentiss starts to sharing the all details about the murder they just heard in the news at the same moment, like she already knew. 2. The team simply jumps into very specific conclusions in every scene without any hard evidence and even overlooking evidences, like when they conclude that the killer was from the media because apparently you can camouflage in a quiet neighborhood if you are from the media while commiting crime (?), they don't even think about considering that the guy could be someone pretending to provide a service, and totally ignore that the guy was able to invade a house without being noticed, it's imediatly someone from the media or paramedics somehow. 3. They stablish several times that the killer was able go in and out of crime scenes without being noticed because he was from the media but at the end it's revealed that the guy was not working with the media for a long time. 4. They "figured" (wrongly) that some cop was leaking investigation information to the media and yet they deliver the serial killer profile to the cops... a profile that should never go to the media. 5. The killer leave the video recording of the murder with a clear reflection of his face in the mirror of the car... the team totally ignore it, don't bother trying to identify the victim and rather focus on the ground elevation at the background (?). 6. After they identify the killer they don't even bother going to or mentioning about arresting him, they rather sit and talks about his motivations. 7. Penelope couldn't hack the computer of a former news employee, which is an absurd, but yet at the end she was able to turn down his own camera (?)
There is a lot more of more of bizarre logic in this episode but the main plot it's still solid. Overall, even with the bad script given to BAU team, it's a great episode with a very interesting story and good pacing, very memorable!
While in the very earliest seasons of Criminal Minds the BAU investigators always commented that they share a lot of simmilarities with the serial killers they hunt, in this episode it is shown very subtly to you how they are simmilar. It's very interesting how the killer's motivations, while based on psychosis, are not that different from anyone's motivation in this episode: Rossi starts the episode seeking success while profiting from the death of a lunatic that he hunted and made a celebrity by attending his demands; the journalist director, seeking success while profitting in the murders of a lunatic that she was hunting and making him a celebrity by feeding his demands, there is also a photo journalist and Prentiss (at the end) doing just the same (using death of other people for personal gain while feeding lunatics).
The plot is nicely done, the strutcture works well giving every single actor a chance to shine, the cinematic image it's perfect with a nice vibrant Miami during night and beautiful during day, however, once again, the lack of logic and mischaracterization of the team puts the show down. Just to name a few illogical parts: 1. at the beginning of the episode a new murder is announced by the media at first hand (the killer directly contacted the media) leaving everyone at BAU surprised (including Prentiss) and yet at the same time Prentiss starts to sharing the all details about the murder they just heard in the news at the same moment, like she already knew. 2. The team simply jumps into very specific conclusions in every scene without any hard evidence and even overlooking evidences, like when they conclude that the killer was from the media because apparently you can camouflage in a quiet neighborhood if you are from the media while commiting crime (?), they don't even think about considering that the guy could be someone pretending to provide a service, and totally ignore that the guy was able to invade a house without being noticed, it's imediatly someone from the media or paramedics somehow. 3. They stablish several times that the killer was able go in and out of crime scenes without being noticed because he was from the media but at the end it's revealed that the guy was not working with the media for a long time. 4. They "figured" (wrongly) that some cop was leaking investigation information to the media and yet they deliver the serial killer profile to the cops... a profile that should never go to the media. 5. The killer leave the video recording of the murder with a clear reflection of his face in the mirror of the car... the team totally ignore it, don't bother trying to identify the victim and rather focus on the ground elevation at the background (?). 6. After they identify the killer they don't even bother going to or mentioning about arresting him, they rather sit and talks about his motivations. 7. Penelope couldn't hack the computer of a former news employee, which is an absurd, but yet at the end she was able to turn down his own camera (?)
There is a lot more of more of bizarre logic in this episode but the main plot it's still solid. Overall, even with the bad script given to BAU team, it's a great episode with a very interesting story and good pacing, very memorable!
Awful
melzuluaga-258-5981156 September 2021
Horrible acting and writing
dodsonvictorial8 March 2021
The acting in this episode was so terrible, it was embarrassing. Not only that, but it seems like the writers may have never seen the show before and all of the characters forgot how to do their jobs. There were so many ways they could have caught the bad guy earlier just by using their basic FBI skills that they've used a million times previously, like seeing what all of the victims had in common or even CHECKING THE REFLECTION OF THE KILLER IN THE CAR WINDOW IN THE VIDEO. It was just bad and difficult to get through. 13 seasons and it was the worst episode I'd seen.
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