Season 11 of the American police procedural drama TV series “Criminal Minds” has been keeping the excitement in practically all episodes including episode 7 that aired on November 11 featuring the return of Supervisory Special Agent JJ, played by A.J. Cook, to the Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU).
More than the return of A.J. Cook, it is actually the suspenseful and riveting storylines every episode that make viewers stick to “Criminal Minds” on CBS.
It’s one of the few TV series today that has enough star power, but it’s the plotlines that have been carrying the show through. In fact, even in the absence of A.J. Cook and Jennifer Love Hewitt, who plays the role of Supervisory Special Agent Kate Callahan, to start Season 11, the show managed to hold its own in terms of viewership because it just keeps the suspense and the excitement coming.
During episode 8, titled “Awake,” which aired on November 18, the BAU team went after a serial killer in Phoenix, Arizona who tortures his victim through sleep deprivation, notes Cartermatt.
A bit of focus was also given to JJ one episode after her return, showing her struggling to balance her job and that of being a new mother for her baby.
Focus on ‘The Dirty Dozen’
More than the main plotline for the movie, there was also a hint about the group of hitmen known as ‘The Dirty Dozen’ after they threatened to kill Senior Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotch, played by Thomas Gibson, and Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, played by Kirsten Vangsness.
In the past episode, it can be recalled that Garcia has been working on trying to find out the identities of ‘The Dirty Dozen’ who discovered that she already knows about them.
As a result, four hitmen went after her and she had no other recourse but to enter the government’s Witness Protection Program.
It can be recalled that at the start of Season 11 of “Criminal Minds” the producers and showrunner revealed that the next season will give a pretty significant focus on ‘The Dirty Dozen.’
Given how “Criminal Minds” completes its every episode, there is always a closure at the end. So when fans learned about ‘The Dirty Dozen’ plot, they thought that it will just be a few appearances for the group of hitmen in a couple of episodes, notes Heavy.
Regular presence in the show
However, it turns out that ‘The Dirty Dozen’ have had an extremely regular presence in Season 11 of “Criminal Minds” and the TV series has become somewhat serialized for the first time during its 11-year run, though in a very good and impressive way.
Accordingly, ‘The Dirty Dozen’ will be at the center again in the next few episodes leading all the way to the show’s winter finale to air on December 16.
Based on the synopsis of the upcoming episode 9, Hotch will team up with NSA to bring them closer to locating ‘The Dirty Dozen’ hitmen ring.
What’s good about the winter finale to air on December 16 and titled “Survivor” is the fact that it is going to be a three-hour episode and accordingly, much of it would be about ‘The Dirty Dozen’ story.
Meanwhile, the episode when JJ returned to BAU was titled “Target Rich” and it saw the team travelling to San Francisco to liaise with Joy, a journalist who is probing the disappearance of a female college student.
Joy, played by Amber Stevens West, initially asked questions from a young man who claimed that he has witnessed what happened. The witness recounted the events with the BAU team around so they knew that the case was quite serious.