Lauren
- Episode aired Mar 16, 2011
- TV-14
- 44m
While Prentiss has gone missing to track down Ian Doyle and finish him, her team attempts to track her down and digs deeper into her past.While Prentiss has gone missing to track down Ian Doyle and finish him, her team attempts to track her down and digs deeper into her past.While Prentiss has gone missing to track down Ian Doyle and finish him, her team attempts to track her down and digs deeper into her past.
- Declan Doyle
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe exterior shot of the bar in the beginning is the same exterior shot of the bar for the show Leverage.
- GoofsThe lead Range Rover in the Northern Ireland scene is a left-hand-drive model. Both the UK and Ireland use right-hand-drive vehicles, suggesting that the scene was actually shot in the US.
- Quotes
Penelope Garcia: Hey, It's me. Hotch asked me to try all your numbers, and I have this as an old listing, and you probably don't even use it any more, but if it is you and you're out there, come home, please. God, Emily, what did you think, that we would just let you walk out of our lives? I am so furious at you right now! Then I think about how scared you must be, how you're in some dark place all alone, but you're not alone, okay? You are not alone. We are in that dark place with you. We are waving flashlights and calling your name. So if you can see us, come home. But if you can't, then, then you stay alive, because we're coming.
"Valhalla" was basically set up for what was going to happen in "Lauren", but it was still a very solidly crafted episode with some very touching team character moments and tension, poignancy and suspense. "Lauren" has more of an emotional impact and is every bit as tense and suspenseful, but frustrates more. It will floor a lot of fans but disappoint others, personally am somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.
"Lauren", starting with the good points, is stylishly and atmospherically made. The music is haunting and melancholic in equal measures when needed, never intrusive but always with a presence. Matthew Gray Gubler does a fine job with the directing, there are numerous flashbacks and constant time shifts but the storytelling still feels cohesive and rarely feels disjointed.
If anybody watches a 'Criminal Minds' episode for the team dynamic and character moments, "Lauren" does not disappoint, in fact they were what made the episode better. Garcia's voice mail message will have tears rolling down the cheeks, not just the most touching part of the episode or one of the most touching parts of the seasons, it's one of the most touching parts of the show and epitomises what the team is all about. Throughout it is very clear how the team care for each other and Prentiss, as well as the character strengths and flaws.
Further great things are a compellingly written Reid and Rossi-led interrogation scene, the truly disturbing scenes between Prentiss and Doyle and a contender for the most gut-wrenching, most suspenseful and heart-rending climax for any episode of 'Criminal Minds'. Also really liked how much was revealed about Prentiss' background which meant fewer loose ends. The acting is excellent all round, with Paget Brewster in particular knocking it out of the park.
Unfortunately, there were a few things that stopped me from rating "Lauren" higher. "Lauren" demonstrates exactly why Seaver is considered by me and many other 'Criminal Minds' fans as an insufferable dead-weight. As well as being bland, an awkward fit in the team due to vast inexperience and lack of chemistry, annoying and prone to making dumb assumptions and asking even dumber questions, Seaver is over-exposed but her presence also feels pointless. Rachel Nichols' acting does nothing to change my mind. This is particularly true with that very poorly written (cringe-inducing actually) scene between her, Rossi and Fahey, which should have been left on the editing room floor and cut to pieces.
Despite finding the climax very powerful, what happened after the equally moving subsequent hospital scene underwhelmed drastically. The funeral scene felt like such an anaemic send-off and out of place, while the scene in Paris just felt clumsy and unnecessary (also diminishing the impact of what happened in the climax and like a cheat) and the whole open-ended feel just makes the ending feel like an anti-climax.
All in all, "Lauren" is a powerful and moving episode, but at the same time it was frustrating. 7/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jan 13, 2017
Details
- Runtime44 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD