Criminal Minds Fans Agree: It Falls Into The Procedural Trap Of Overused Lines
Though it went the way of a pseudo-rebranding via the title addendum "Evolution," the first streaming season of "Criminal Minds" was actually the series' 16th on the air. And if the latest season of the beloved procedural drama is any indication, there's still plenty of story to tell in the blood-addled realm of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Some might even argue the move to streaming has opened a whole new world of narrative possibilities for the series.
Even as thrilling as the action often was on "Criminal Minds: Evolution," the streamer still fell prey to certain trappings that have dogged the series pretty much since its inception. That includes falling back on lines of dialogue that even diehard fans can admit have become almost comically overused at this point. One longtime "Criminal Minds" watcher even dedicated an entire Reddit thread to calling out such lines.
In the eyes of u/mercedesbenz98, one of the series' most overused bits of dialogue actually comes from the families of victims, with the Redditor posting, "For me it is 'This is the type of thing that happens to other people... not us.' The family members of the victims always say that. I swear I've heard that line in at least five episodes."
Criminal Minds fans clearly think the writers need to come up with some new material
That initial post was met with a barrage of others covering countless overused "Criminal Minds" lines. The very first comment from u/cleanlinens_ touched on one phrase used about every other episode by Kirsten Vangsness' tech whiz Penelope Garcia, with the Redditor posting, "Garcia saying 'We're family' and every other permutation of that phrase." User u/ratchelbillz added to the list, noting a pair of lines used on the regular by virtually every member of the "Criminal Minds" cast over the years: "'there's something you should see' and 'you're gonna wanna see this.'"
Things naturally got a little saucy as the comments piled up, with u/Suspicious_Purple786 chiming in with the post, "👋I just wanna talk👋." As one commenter noted, the hand emojis are particularly hilarious as the hand-waiving action almost always accompanies the line. And yes, the very next comment from u/UncleBoomie doubled down on the jab: "slowly puts gun away."
In case there was any doubt, the term "Wheels Up" was also noted by several contributors to the Reddit thread. Even unrivaled "Criminal Minds" fan favorite Matthew Gray Gubler – who portrayed profiling savant Dr. Spencer Reid in the first 15 seasons of the show — didn't escape the fans' wrath, with u/NetMiddle1873 adding, "Probably gonna get beat up by the MGG fan club but, 'let me ask you this.'" (Just for the record, a few of those MGG fan club members dropped by to admit he probably did lean on that particular phrase a little too often.) Here's hoping the "Criminal Minds" writers are paying attention.