The Worst Criminal Minds Season 3 Episode According To IMDb
Over its 15-season run, "Criminal Minds" has been a favorite among fans of the criminal procedural format. What sets the CBS series apart from the many modern television procedurals is its fascinating approach to solving crimes. While fellow long-running series like "Law & Order" and "CSI" focus on crime scene evidence and suspect interviews, the crew in "Criminal Minds" take the more psychological route. Audiences stick with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (aka the BAU), who use criminal profiling techniques to dive deep into the psyches of their suspects in the hopes of uncovering if they are an "unsub" and preventing future crimes from happening.
Additionally, fans love the members of the iconic BAU team on "Criminal Minds." The dynamic between Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), and many additional key players who've come and gone had fans tuning in week after week. The investment in these characters has grown to such a degree that dedicated viewers have been keen to see the "Criminal Minds" journey continue. Lucky for them, the CBS show has been revived for a Season 16 and will likely see the return of a few favorite faces.
But, according to user ratings on IMDb, not every episode that aired in the decade and a half of the original "Criminal Minds" run has been equally well-regarded by fans. When it comes to Season 3, in particular, there is one episode that noticeably missed the mark.
'Damaged' is the worst Season 3 episode of Criminal Minds
Judging by its ratings on IMDb, "Criminal Minds" is a well-liked show. Its 323 episodes have earned a combined average rating of 8.2 stars out of 10, and the series has even earned a spot on the database's list of top 100 most popular TV shows. But it seems fans did not enjoy Season 3's "Damaged" quite as much as the rest of the season's 20 episodes. This episode received the lowest rating of the season, pulling in 7.4 stars, while the other Season 3 episodes were rated anywhere from 7.5 to 8.5 stars out of 10.
"Damaged" sees Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and his team investigate a case of unsolved murders on the 20th anniversary of when the crimes occurred. Over the years, Rossi has been haunted by the case gets personally involved when he buys the house the murders took place in. Meanwhile, Hotch (Thomas Gibson) and Spencer (Matthew Gray Gubler) head to a Connecticut prison to interview a death-row inmate, and Garcia deals with a new relationship behind the scenes.
The episode's multiple storylines seem to be where it went wrong, according to some reviews. On the reviews section of IMDb, user ttapola felt the episode was rushed, writing, "The episode is a sorry mess: Three storylines, which immediately makes one suspect that the writers did not have enough main story to fill an entire episode." Elsewhere on the episode's IMDb reviews page, user intotheminds agreed and added, "I have to admit that there were too many distinct ideas in the episode. [...] It would have been better if they mainly focused on Rossi's case since it clearly is the most important."