Criminal Minds

Viewers certainly like this sort of thing. CBS has become the No. 1 network with an incessant stream of it, and Criminal Minds is as well-made as any of them.

Solidly plotted and filmed.

It has a few points going for it: Mandy Patinkin's onscreen magnetism; some truly eerie episodes; and a smartness that it wears on its sleeve. On the downside, it draws on too many other recent hits -- "CSI," "Crossing Jordan," "Medium," "House," "Law & Order: SVU""Law & Order: SVU" -- for visual style, character tics, mind games and an ability to find the truth in confounding evidence.

Now and then, there are instances in which the profilers, and Gideon in particular, literally walk out of one scene and into another. It's a nice touch and a visually creative change of pace, but it's not enough -- not even with frequent shots of Patinkin's expressive face -- to distinguish this series in a particularly crowded genre.

The problem with "Criminal Minds" -- other than there are 48 series in a similar vein, 39 of them on CBS -- is that every person in this cast has an area of expertise, and they spend the hour telling you about it in the most unrealistic workplace conversations you'll ever hear.

Do yourself a favor and read some Nietzsche instead of watching this junk. [23 Sep 2005, p.82]

It's not a cool-science show, but its crimes blur together with what we already see on the ''CSI" series, and its supporting cast is indistinct.

"Criminal Minds" doesn't present any spin on the crime TV genre you haven't seen before, save for taking savagery against female victims to new heights.