

They now call upon their Tech Analyst Penelope Garcia (who mostly stays in Quantico surrounded by a bank of computers) to Â∿ind someone matching these Extremely Specific Characteristics, Penelope!  Time is running out!  And, of course, as fast as she can type, Penelope (Âhacking databases that would be patently illegal IRL) finds the UNSUBÂs name, age, address, psych history, tattoos, meds, high school class rank, favourite Rolling Stones tune, the names and manufacturers of all his stuffed animals–oh, and sheÂll triangulate his cell phone and find him, too. Now, suddenly, they KNOW that the UNSUB (perpetrator) has Extremely Specific Characteristics.  Some team member, usually the one who had the personal problem, realises ÂSomethingÂs missing from the Profile!  Something happens–usually a new crime scene, sometimes a suspect.  Then Agent Hotchner, the tight-assed Special Agent in Charge, intones, ÂItÂs time to deliver the Profile.  They then deliver a Âprofile notable for its vagueness.  Some agents visit the crime scene, others the cops, others the coroner.  Every other episode (at least), Agent Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) says, ÂHeÂs a sexual sadist.  Somebody on ÂThe Team has a personal problem that will somehow lead to an epiphany about the crime.

 No time to waste, they board the jet and talk about the ÂUNSUB–Unknown Subject, or the criminal.  After ten seasons the formula is well established: They get a Âcase, usually out of the fifth dimension and bearing no resemblance to any crime that has happened anywhere, at any time, in recorded history.  The show purports to be about the FBIÂs Behavioural Analysis UnitÂs (BAU) Most Elite Team of Criminal Profilers, who jet (literally–the Feebs provide them with a private jet) from one bizarre Âcrime to the next. Ten seasons of complete idiocy have gone by it looks like thereÂll be more.  (IÂll add Âone of the stupidest because, after all, itÂs up against some very stiff competition, like ÂThe Following–another show that features Âprofiling.Â)  ItÂs also, in a sneaky way, a very sick, dangerous show. If thereÂs one phrase that gets on my nerves like nails on a blackboard, itÂs: ÂThatÂs not funny, itÂs sick.  I mean, for fuckÂs sake, how little imagination can one have to not realize both can be true, and indeed, often the Âsickest things are the funniest?  Which brings us to Criminal Minds, the sickest, and funniest, show on network TV. ÂYes, well not everyone believes in what you do, either. –A psychic, to one of the CM profilers

“Everything which is not forbidden is compulsory.” –Attributed to T.H. Criminal Minds Review: The Best Comedy on Television, And HereÂs My Card
