The Criminal Minds Victims Detail That Has Fans Scratching Their Heads
After watching (and rewatching) over 300 episodes, fans of the CBS' crime procedural "Criminal Minds" can be forgiven if they fancy themselves amateur profilers. Over the course of 15 seasons, we learned some impressive jargon like "homicidal triad" and trained our eyes to spot the smallest of details. In the earlier seasons of the series, when the unknown subjects ("unsubs" in series parlance) remained unidentified until the episode's climax, we often tried to solve the case before the BAU did.
A few of the more dedicated fans, those who really honed their investigative skills, have unearthed a variety of errors and inconsistencies in the show. People have weighed in on everything from how the BAU conducts interrogations to goofs in a character's established history. Recently, Redditor u/bby_deedee took to the platform to question a frequent occurrence they noticed on the show. The eagle-eyed commenter wondered why so many of the victims' families are unwilling to work with the BAU.
The BAU had to deal with some difficult families
Admittedly, we didn't notice the unhelpful nature of the families until the Redditor pointed it out, but their discovery is accurate. In many episodes, once the BAU is called in to investigate, they encounter a wide range of familial recalcitrance, from the mildly uncooperative to the downright hostile. As "bby_deedee" questioned, why would families of victims not be willing to do anything and everything to help an investigation?
While the Reddit post didn't elicit an avalanche of responses, those who did reply offered a few reasonable explanations. One respondent posited that families may be reluctant to help because they simply want to put the matter behind them and move on. Another comment suggested that a family's aversion to helping the BAU might be guided by a sense of self-protection, that the FBI might lay the blame on the family. Neither of those possibilities sat well with user LauraLand27, who said that if the FBI knocked on their door, two things would happen: They'd soil their pants, and they'd help the FBI in any way they could.