Criminal Minds “Restoration” (2013, US)

Criminal Minds is known for its recurring guest star characters, although in Restoration the gap between appearances is six years meaning a couple of clips are needed for new viewers who hadn’t seen the older “Profiler, Profiled” in season two that developed the character of Morgan.

As such it moves on as always with Criminal Minds with a new murderer to catch and at least one convict’s input required to help hunt down the perpetrator. The writers are different as one of the show’s creators wrote the older episode but the tone remains the same with credited input from Jim Clemente as well as Janine Sherman Barrois and it further explores Morgan’s past whilst concentrating on the current case and the overall story arc all within the stringent 40-42 minute time limit for the episode. The clichés are minimised and it’s really only the running time that forces a quick wrapping-up of the case.

The ending has a message with minimal preaching and shows that CSA as treated by American network telvision is beginning to get more positive treatment with or without the input from RAINN, even though on this occasion it had six years of other story history behind it. In fact this episode’s ending means it’s unlikely to be revisited but it was handled well enough to remain a high point.

In the UK the series 8 box set is on DVD with series 9 arriving at the end of the year, for US viewers it’s a rerun, but definitely one of the standout episodes in a season dominated by a main arc that could have detracted from the main weekly events.

Credit reference sources: TV.com and IMDB.com

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