Esprits criminels : Unité parallèle

I was very disappointed with the first episode of this show and it seems this will be what show is about, a lesser version of true Criminal Minds.

Not a single character of this show is convincing, Forrest Whitaker has seen far better roles then this one, as a team leader he is weak, not all too likable. Basically, this show is a copy of the real Criminal Minds, only far, far worse, actually it can't stand in the same sentence with the original show. Matt Ryan character, for example, you basically couldn't understand what the guy is saying.

In all honesty, I would be very surprised if this show survives the first season, it just isn't worth it.

Nothing gets under my skin more than when a network cancels a show after one season. It takes so much time to build up characters, and to establish a following. The original Criminal Minds didn't even come into my radar until the second or third season. I only hope that in the future, networks will learn that it might take a little while. I can't believe after all the success of Law and Order and CSI spin-offs, CBS won't even give this show a chance. I imagine they will at least give a conclusion to the impressive season finale in the original series to satisfy people like me, but if they don't, it might just end my love for CM all together.

I like it. Not the best show ever made, but certainly isn't the worst. You have to separate it from the original. I appreciate that they tried to tie them together by bringing Garcia in to it, but there's no way the FBI would have only one tech master so they could have had a completely different character for that roll, but all in all I like it. I like the cast together and don't feel like I'm "missing" the cast from the original because I can watch them too. Too bad people couldn't give this show a shot as a stand alone from the same family. If you can see it as a completely different show I think you'll find its just as good as anything else out there right now. The more episodes I watch, the more I like it, which is unfortunate since its over.

I was pretty excited to see that they had made a spin off of Criminal Minds, as that is one of my favorite shows on TV. I'm three episodes in now, and just cannot get into it. I even stopped watching one of them, I was that uninterested. In fact, I'm in the middle of "watching" the show I DVR'd last week, and stopped to type this review.

They either need to get creative with the casting, maybe bring in some cameos from the original version to spice it up for an episode or two or flat out replace some of these people.

The cast is blah, the content is blah....whole thing is blah.

Overall, very disappointing.

In season 5 of 'Criminal Minds', the BAU team up with another Cooper and his team to solve the murders of homeless men. The Red Cell team is led by Sam Cooper (Forest Whitaker). The rest of the team is Beth Griffith (Janeane Garofalo), Prophet Simms (Michael Kelly), Gina LaSalle (Beau Garrett) and Mick Rawson (Matt Ryan).

It's a bit darker and more grim than the original Criminal Minds. Whitaker feels like he's slumming it on network TV. The addition of Garofalo does nothing. Garrett provides little more than her model looks. Kelly is always a great character actor. Ryan is somewhat forgettable. The chemistry isn't the best and there is no real need for a second Criminal Minds show anyways. Nothing really clicked on the show.