Ranking it with the other episodes of Season 6, "Compromising Positions" for me is somewhere around high middle and neither among the best episodes of the season or the worst.
"Compromising Positions" was a good episode, which, considering how wildly variable Season 6 was quality-wise with a wider divide between good and bad episodes than seen with the previous five seasons, is a good position to be in. It's just that it feels like something is, or things are, missing that stops it from being great. It's not as good as the likes of "Hanley Waters", "Into the Woods", "The Longest Night" and "Remembrance of Things Past" but still much better than "Today I Do", "25 to Life" and especially "The Thirteenth Step".
There are many strong qualities in "Compromising Positions". 'Criminal Minds' always scores highly when it comes to the production values and it's the same here, everything is atmospherically lit and the photography has gritty style and class. The music is suitably haunting and melancholic and the direction is alert but gives enough room for the story to properly breathe.
Scripting is intelligent and thought-provoking, while there could have been a little more case and a little less Garcia subplot both parts are done well on their own and register so the balance isn't too problematic. Profiling is a nice amount, it makes sense and there isn't too much conclusion jumping or relying too much on convenience, something that eluded other Season 6 episodes. Garcia's subplot about filling in JJ's role and feeling herself less than comfortable with replacing her and the job itself is done in a very relatable and moving way, also love the interaction with her and Hotch and her and Morgan. Could have done without that mirror image of JJ part, which would be more at home in a spoof.
As for the case, it's pretty good with some nice tension, even when one knows what's going to happen the timing is clever so one is still unnerved. It's also fairly interesting and has some nice suspense, though is let down a bit by being a touch convoluted in spots and the unsub, despite being scary in intensity in the early parts, being rather blandly developed. The climax was a bit too hastily paced and felt a touch awkward in terms of writing, like the team had forgotten about what they'd deduced from the profile.
Kirsten Vangsness and Thomas Gibson are particularly marvellous when it comes to the uniformly strong acting, with Shemar Moore also giving good work.
In summary, good if not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
