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» » Criminal Minds Neon Terror (2005– )

Short summary

The team is down Reid and Lewis on their next case, with the rest of the team joining Rossi in Miami, Florida, the latest stop in he doing publicity for his latest book. In three separate incidents in that city, three women have been shot and killed while sitting behind the wheel of their parked car. All three are in their twenties, have long brunette hair, lead low risk lifestyles, and were shot in the heart with a .44 caliber magnum, which the team believes is the unsub wanting attention in what he is doing. A fourth and fifth victims are discovered by the time the team arrives in Miami, they a pair out on a date, the male of the pair who the team believes is collateral damage in the female being the target. From police photos, they are able to find that each of the female victims had a discreetly placed hair clip behind the ear. When such is reported by Channel 3 News complete with photographs, the team knows that someone with inside knowledge had to have provided them with the ...

One of the rare times the entire BAU team hasn't helped deliver their profile to the local LEOs.

In this episode the team is consulting for the Miami-Dade Police Department, which is where Eric Delko, Adam Rodriguez's character on CSI: Miami (2002), was stationed.

CSPs refers to Crime Scene Photo(s).

Sandra the news director wants to give the unsub a sensationalist nickname in the vein of the Son of Sam. For the murders, the unsub uses a .44, the same caliber gun David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam killer, used.

User reviews


  • comment
    • Author: Kahavor
    '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
  • comment
    • Author: Milleynti
    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...
  • comment
    • Author: Xcorn
    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.
  • comment
    • Author: Onath
    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.
  • Episode cast overview, first billed only:
    Joe Mantegna Joe Mantegna - David Rossi
    Matthew Gray Gubler Matthew Gray Gubler - Dr. Spencer Reid (credit only)
    A.J. Cook A.J. Cook - Jennifer Jareau
    Kirsten Vangsness Kirsten Vangsness - Penelope Garcia
    Aisha Tyler Aisha Tyler - Dr. Tara Lewis (credit only)
    Daniel Henney Daniel Henney - Matt Simmons
    Adam Rodriguez Adam Rodriguez - Luke Alvez
    Paget Brewster Paget Brewster - Emily Prentiss
    Kim Hawthorne Kim Hawthorne - Sandra Madsen
    Rick Fox Rick Fox - Brian Stoll
    Liam Cronin Liam Cronin - Jeffery Whitfield
    Doris L. Guerrero Doris L. Guerrero - Detective Michelle Wallenberg
    Lana McKissack Lana McKissack - Natalie Corbis
    Curt Mega Curt Mega - Steven O'Malley
    Devin Kawaoka Devin Kawaoka - Kal Montgomery
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