Better than last week's episode, but the show is still hobbling to the finish line. The narration wasn't really needed and while the unsub wasn't bad, there wasn't much original about him.
8 Reviews
Good, but lacking location details
weatherag6 September 2020
Just 2 things.
captainj-8441415 February 2020
Clearly the best season since the first 3
nicofreezer5 February 2022
Season 15 has been on a rool, with a lot more great episode than an average Season, this one I give a solid 8.5/10 thanks to the murderer, and the tension/suspence in the end. Great way to set up the final of an incredibly long show.
I didn't like it!
Just-A-Girl-1417 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This episode was all over the place.
JJ might be moving all of a sudden and Emily is being considered for the job of the director of the FBI? Where's coming from? I thought she might leave her job for her new boyfriend and suddenly they're talking about a high profile political nomination?
As for the unsub, it's nothing we haven't seen before. Crazy guy, unresolved parents issues, disgusting body parts all over the place...
As for Everett Lynch, they are dragging it too much. I'm not really sure why Dave is so shaken by him. Are we really supposed to believe that this is the first time in his entire career that his life was in danger? Maybe it's got to do with getting older. I also don't understand why it's so hard to catch him. The master of disguise is not even trying to hide his face. Seriously, he is not hiding so why can't they catch him?
I guess that for a last season, I expected more... ):
Once again...
ariarest1 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
They used two storylines about the perpetrator being delusional in a row, which I wasn't fond of. But the episode wasn't bad. Definitely not great, but some parts were good. This is also after JJ talks about taking a job in New Orleans and shows Pen trying to sort her feelings about it. Overall, 5/10.
"They talk about my drinking but never my thirst"
TheLittleSongbird23 February 2021
Was not sure what to expect from "Family Tree". While having issues with his arc overall and feeling like it was dragged out, Everett Lynch still made a big impression as a character when he was first introduced and had no issues with him overall. But after watching three weak episodes in a row from this season, part of me was losing hope and decided to not expect a massive amount to avoid being repeatedly disappointed like it has been for most of Season 15.
"Family Tree" managed to not be one of Season 15's worst episodes and is an improvement over the previous three episodes, that were so weak that one does have a dilemma of considering whether to stick with the rest of the season. Did that myself to be fair and as someone who has watched 'Criminal Minds' on and off over-time. It is still not particularly good though and doesn't rectify most of the things that made most of the previous episodes so disappointing.
Can't fault the visuals, which are slick and have a creepiness. Likewise with the music.
The acting is fine, the regulars all do well with what they're given and Michael Mosley is suitably unsettling as Lynch. That final line sticks in the mind for a long time after.
Once again, the case was nothing to write home about. There is very little new here, and the case on top of lacking urgency or suspense is rushed and over-complicated. The motive for the unsub, who had some potential but ended up very cliched and not that threatening, especially was pretty absurd and all over the shop. The team work lacks closeness and cohesion generally and the investigative elements have been more plentiful and illuminating in other episodes. The personal lives element of the story doesn't really add anything and there seemed to be a rather distracting timeline jump.
Lynch is still creepy but by this episode the show was at the risk at dragging his story arc out, and that's what happened by the show's ending. Even here there is a sense of the writers fishing for some way to continue the story but running out of options. The script has moments such as the final line but could have delved into its ideas more and had more momentum. The direction is competent but with not much distinctive.
Summing up, better than the previous three episodes but lacklustre. 4/10
"Family Tree" managed to not be one of Season 15's worst episodes and is an improvement over the previous three episodes, that were so weak that one does have a dilemma of considering whether to stick with the rest of the season. Did that myself to be fair and as someone who has watched 'Criminal Minds' on and off over-time. It is still not particularly good though and doesn't rectify most of the things that made most of the previous episodes so disappointing.
Can't fault the visuals, which are slick and have a creepiness. Likewise with the music.
The acting is fine, the regulars all do well with what they're given and Michael Mosley is suitably unsettling as Lynch. That final line sticks in the mind for a long time after.
Once again, the case was nothing to write home about. There is very little new here, and the case on top of lacking urgency or suspense is rushed and over-complicated. The motive for the unsub, who had some potential but ended up very cliched and not that threatening, especially was pretty absurd and all over the shop. The team work lacks closeness and cohesion generally and the investigative elements have been more plentiful and illuminating in other episodes. The personal lives element of the story doesn't really add anything and there seemed to be a rather distracting timeline jump.
Lynch is still creepy but by this episode the show was at the risk at dragging his story arc out, and that's what happened by the show's ending. Even here there is a sense of the writers fishing for some way to continue the story but running out of options. The script has moments such as the final line but could have delved into its ideas more and had more momentum. The direction is competent but with not much distinctive.
Summing up, better than the previous three episodes but lacklustre. 4/10
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