'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 at all, pretty good even actually. 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, the only one to be a low-point was "Annihilator" and "All You Can Eat" also disappointed. There aren't any classics though, but most of the episodes have ranged from decent to very good.
"Believer" is the season finale and is one of its best. The case is one of the season's most different and interesting, it is very compelling and eerie with a a genuinely unnerving creepiness and at times a suitable strangeness (without things being too weird). There are also enough nice and surprising turns to balance it all out. There is a good deal of suspense but also sympathetic emotion.
The team work, the procedural aspects and how it's all solved evokes prime 'Criminal Minds', there is lots of each and it's all thought-provoking and delightful. It doesn't make the mistakes that many latter season episodes made (i.e. too much unsub, unsub revealed too early, problematically executed cases, too much reliance on convenience, lack of balance, too many soapy personal life subplots, team underuse and not enough procedural/delving into the criminal's mind). In fact, there is a sense that "Believer" didn't forget what made 'Criminal Minds' work so well in the first place. There are some nice twists.
Liked that Tara served as an important part to solving the case, a rare occurrence, but it is Reid that has the best moments. Namely his relationship with Owen and his sweet friendship with JJ.
Everybody does a great job with the acting, all the regulars are strong as ever, especially Matthew Gray Gubler, and the support is more than acceptable. Michael Hogan is chillingly Machiavellian and the unsub is a creepy one.
Visually, "Believer" is stylish and atmospheric, while the music is haunting without being over-bearing while having presence still, the script is taut with a touch of poignancy. The direction has breathing space and momentum.
Despite being one of the season's best episodes and a very good season finale, "Believer" does take a bit too long to get going.
The character of Owen too for my liking was as bizarre as the character's accounts, the viewer are as lost as the team in regard to him. He didn't hook me in to begin with, but gets a little better in his scenes with Reid (thanks to Reid being such a great character).
In summary, very believable and very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox
