What Evolution Should Strive For: Analyzing Top 5 Criminal Minds Episodes

After the delay caused by the Hollywood strikes in 2023, Criminal Mind fans are hoping that the new episodes starring the beloved BAU team will be released in mid-2024. After all, production is well underway and the schedule looks promising.

The first season of the Paramount+ renewal, Criminal Minds: Evolution, made some changes to the original format, making the show more mature and somewhat deeper. However, there are some things that fans feel the reboot could learn from its parent show.

Let's take a look at the top 5 Criminal Minds episodes according to IMDb users and see what made them so iconic and what Evolution could learn from them.

5. S10E21 Mr. Scratch

IMDb rating: 8.7/10

In this intense episode, the BAU encounters Mr. Scratch, perhaps the most notorious unsub on the show. Using drugs and hypnosis, he forces his victims to commit heinous acts (killing their loved ones) while plagued by visions of a menacing shadow creature.

Before his capture, Mr. Scratch psychologically tortures BAU's fearless leader, Aaron Hotchner, exposing him to his darkest nightmares.

4. S2E15 Revelations

IMDb rating: 8.8/10

In this gripping Spencer Reid-centric episode, fans delve into his shocking kidnapping and gain insight into the beloved BAU member's past. A religious extremist holding Reid captive is drugging and broadcasting him.

As he drifts in and out of consciousness, Reid grapples with memories of his troubled childhood and complicated relationship with his unstable mother. In an even more shocking twist, Reid ends up pocketing the perpetrator's drugs with the apparent intention of using them in the future.

3. S5E16 Mosley Lane

IMDb rating: 8.9/10

This episode is a fan favorite for many reasons. First, it marks Matthew Gray Gubler's directorial debut. Second, it stars Evan Peters as a teenager who was abducted as a child and spent many years with his captors. And finally, it is a case of multiple missing children with stunning twists, powerful emotional scenes and an ending that haunts viewers to this day.

2. S11E11 Entropy

IMDb rating: 9.1/10

In this episode, we meet one of the BAU's most intriguing unsubs: Aubrey Plaza's Cat Adams, also known as Miss .45 or The Black Widow Killer. Cat's complex love-hate relationship with Spenser Reid has many fans paying close attention to her storyline. No one ever hurt our beloved boy genius like this crazy lady. In this first encounter, what begins as a blind date soon escalates into a riveting psychological showdown between Cat and Reid.

1. S5E9 100

IMDb rating: 9.1/10

According to IMDb users, the top-rated Criminal Minds episode is the 100th episode (hence the title), known for its intense emotional impact. The episode sees the return of George Foyet, aka the Boston Reaper, who seeks revenge against Aaron Hotchner. When Foyet arrives at Hotch's home, targeting his ex-wife and son, viewers hold their breath in suspense.

The finale is so jaw-dropping that 100 has been hailed as one of the most memorable moments in the history of crime drama television.

Things to Inherit

A quick analysis of the top original episode reveals one simple thing. In addition to delving into the darkest corners of the unsub's psyche and shocking finales, all five stories have a personal connection to the BAU members. When the beloved leads are involved, viewers tend to be much more invested in the story.

In fact, new showrunner Erica Messer and her team seem to have made a similar analysis. After all, the change in format (from 'case of the week' to 'season-long unsub') does exactly what the Top 5 demands: it allows the focus to shift to the personal lives and occasional tragedies of the BAU members.

Fingers crossed, the happy events will outnumber the tragedies in the long run.