A not bad episode could have been better but not bad.

Aisha Tyler and Daniel Henney in Criminal Minds (2005)

A Lakota proverb warns "Do not speak of evil, for it creates curiosity in the heart of the young."

Joe Mantegna

Matthew Gray Gubler

A.J. Cook

Bruce Zimmerman

Erik Stiller

Erica Meredith

When a series of backyard pool homicides are reported in California, the BAU team searches for an UnSub with a puzzling past.

Rob Bailey

Submerged

Puzzling submerging

&apos;Criminal Minds&apos; 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&apos;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, &quot;Wheels Up, &quot;Killer App&quot;, &quot;Dust and Bones&quot; and &quot;False Flag&quot; were particularly good. Up to this point, only &quot;To a Better Place&quot; and &quot;Neon Terror&quot; were a little disappointing, with a lot of admirable qualities but also an over-familiar and not much special case.

While they were disappointing however, they were still above average. &quot;Submerged&quot; for me was the first episode of the season to be merely average. By all means, &quot;Submerged&quot; is not a bad episode and a long way from a &apos;Criminal Minds&apos; low point. It&apos;s just not a great episode either and far from a classic.

There are obvious good points. As always with &apos;Criminal Minds&apos;, the visuals are stylish and atmospheric. The music is not too over-bearing or low-key. There are intriguing moments in the writing and some of the direction is alert and accommodating. The rain at the end was a nice if clichéd touch and the start struck interest.

All the acting from the leads and support is without complaint, and Matt has settled well. Far more so than most new team members that either took a while to gel or never did. The procedural aspects and team work are balanced well with the case and intrigue. The unsub is an interesting one, one that one feels oddly sorry for despite the uncondonable actions. The back-story and how the crimes came to be were where the case fared strongest and actually had a lot of heart. 

For all those good things, there are some debits too. The case for me was underwhelming, definitely the weakest up to this point in the season. It did from personal opinion lack tension and suspense, sometimes going the unintentionally goofy route. Outside of the backstory and previous circumstances the story was fairly routine and the unsub&apos;s methods were perplexing and awkward. Some of it was on the vague and under-explored side too, more questions than there were answers, and the victimology aspect was pretty strange for &apos;Criminal Minds&apos; could have been clearer.

Pacing at times could have been tighter, as could have other parts of the writing. The climax was somewhat too pat and could have done with more tension. The team work and procedural aspects within the team worked well, would though have liked more character moments and little things. There were for my liking not enough and it was only the stuff with Rossi that was particularly memorable and even that could have gone into more depth.

In conclusion, not bad but disappointing. 5/10 Bethany Cox

'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, "Killer App", "Dust and Bones" and "False Flag" were particularly good. Up to this point, only "To a Better Place" and "Neon Terror" were a little disappointing, with a lot of admirable qualities but also an over-familiar and not much special case.

While they were disappointing however, they were still above average. "Submerged" for me was the first episode of the season to be merely average. By all means, "Submerged" is not a bad episode and a long way from a 'Criminal Minds' low point. It's just not a great episode either and far from a classic.

There are obvious good points. As always with 'Criminal Minds', the visuals are stylish and atmospheric. The music is not too over-bearing or low-key. There are intriguing moments in the writing and some of the direction is alert and accommodating. The rain at the end was a nice if clichéd touch and the start struck interest.

All the acting from the leads and support is without complaint, and Matt has settled well. Far more so than most new team members that either took a while to gel or never did. The procedural aspects and team work are balanced well with the case and intrigue. The unsub is an interesting one, one that one feels oddly sorry for despite the uncondonable actions. The back-story and how the crimes came to be were where the case fared strongest and actually had a lot of heart. 

For all those good things, there are some debits too. The case for me was underwhelming, definitely the weakest up to this point in the season. It did from personal opinion lack tension and suspense, sometimes going the unintentionally goofy route. Outside of the backstory and previous circumstances the story was fairly routine and the unsub's methods were perplexing and awkward. Some of it was on the vague and under-explored side too, more questions than there were answers, and the victimology aspect was pretty strange for 'Criminal Minds' could have been clearer.

Pacing at times could have been tighter, as could have other parts of the writing. The climax was somewhat too pat and could have done with more tension. The team work and procedural aspects within the team worked well, would though have liked more character moments and little things. There were for my liking not enough and it was only the stuff with Rossi that was particularly memorable and even that could have gone into more depth.

In conclusion, not bad but disappointing. 5/10 Bethany Cox

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