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[Drama 2017] Criminal Minds 크리미널 마인드


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5 hours ago, Chellsee said:

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Criminal Minds" Episode 5

For reasons that are unclear to me, "Criminal Minds" really wants to be an action cop series. We open up with Hyeon-joon assaulting and letting go of a possible perpetrator in a parking garage. Then there's a whole setpiece that goes through a park, a tunnel, and finally an ubran alley without any pedestrian or automotive presence unless the script specifically calls for it. Gi-hyeong really seems itching for a fight most of the time, even if he's not all that good at fighting.

The purview of the criminal profiling team is poorly defined, considering how they do almost no criminal profiling that we see. At one point the military attempts to take over the investigation and to my great surprise, I found myself siding with them. Since most of the main team's efforts devolve to violence sooner or later anyway, wouldn't it make more sense to have the guys whose professional job is actually violence be in charge of the operation?

Especially since Hyeon-joon is the only character we see who actually gets action scenes. Actually, he's the only character of any real importance at all that I can tell. Observe how, even though Seon-woo is the one in position to actually defuse the final conflict, Hyeon-joon is the one who has to relay instructions to her. Min-yeong obsesses over the fate of her niece instead of doing her job.

Gi-hyeong gives orders, occasionally hesitating because of random post-traumatic stress. Na-hwang has the most useful role as the character who narrates what the computer is saying. Han's main contribution is, of all things, expressing interest in a book that appears to say "Female War", which is probably the worst possible book to use for the purpose of hiding a secret lever.

Was any of this in the original "Criminal Minds"? Because I'm reading the synopsis of the matching episode, number twenty-two of season four, and none of this goofy chasing the Übermensch serial killer stuff is in there. Mostly it just looks the story was about exploring how and why someone would want to cause an anthrax outbreak, and how this related to their mental pathology, finally culminating in a climax where the villain is undone by their true desires. How did Writer Hong Seung-hyeon take that, and turn it into something with as stupid a cliché as cutting the right wires to a bomb? I can't make any sense of it.

 

Thanks for posting this. I watched ep 5 without subs and also didnt watch the original ep with this storyline, so I was generally ok with it. I have to say I agree with most of the review, it sort of nail that odd undefine feeling that I have.

My biggest grouse is the IQ 180 guy carrying a messenger bag around with him everywhere. Investigative geeks dun carry a canvas messenger bag around, they are not delivery guys. He should probably be carrying a ipad around googling on things everywhere he goes. 

I have no issues seeing HyunJoon running around. Poor guy, being put on a treadmill all episode.:tongue:

I was most impressed with Seon Woo's decision to drive the hazardous truck away and I will remind myself to do the same if I ever encounter a similar situation (touch wood). So far the NCI team seems to be all superheroes in plain clothing and that is cool.

I just hope that whatever they havent filmed can be adjusted to attract more native Koreans to watch. I am not ambitious, as long as its within 3 - 4% I think it will be decent. Anything below 3% just doesnt justified the budget put into it. Keeping fingers crossed.

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Spoiler

I didn't have time to write an over-arc analysis of episodes 1-4..... which is a very good thing, because EP04 was both an emotional drain & a disappointment to me, and that would've tainted my whole analysis. So now, I've decided to write a short analysis of EP01-04 vs EP05... just to plot out what the whole drama has been to me.

 

Short over-arc analysis of EP01-04 vs EP05

Have you ever sat through a session of audio mixing in a song production?

I have, and I've always hated it. To me, each track of samples/recordings/vocals seems discordant, incomplete & hollow (that's my own word for the way I feel; I'm not trying to be technical here). And as an impatient & analytical person with a perfectionist streak, I find that to be unbearably frustrating. But once I listen to the final product, even I can't help but appreciate how those seemingly imperfect & discordant parts come together into something beautiful...

....... which, to me, is what EP05 of CMKR is all about. And that's also exactly how I hope all the subsequent episodes are going to be.

 

IMO, EP01-04 have been merely setting the scene, and for most of those setups, EP05 managed to follow through very neatly:

  • HJ, a newbie profiler, joins the team. He's more a detective than a profiler. His strength is more in tactical/field work. His weaknesses are his impulsiveness & getting emotionally involved. His relationship with the team is a work-in-progress.

-> This episode, we got to see the full push&pull between (TL & SW & LH) and HJ. It is obvious how hard it is for him to leave behind the "Let's get SWAT in!" and "Let's do it NOW!" approach. It shows how much respect he now has for the team & profiling as a technique..... but it also shows how much he believes in the traditional methods of crime-solving. The most interesting part for me: When he brought up the death of his colleague to plead with TL to reconsider whether or not to leave LH inside the contaminated room. It was quite a low blow; he must know how that would affect TL. But he decides to use it anyway... to save a member of the team he now considers family. What a complex relationship he has with NCI! It's quite beautiful, really.
 

  • TL is the most brilliant profiler. But he can't help, but doubt himself at times because of the bomb-blast incident. Now, it is even worse for him because he's grieving & suffering from PTSD. His weaknesses are his own doubts/guilt & his son.

-> This episode shows TL's frequent hesitations over the decisions he has to make. He managed to push through... for now. I think we're going to see him getting derailed more & more, especially when the Reaper resurfaces. That's why EP01, 02 & 04 are so TL-centric. It is to make a proper handover of reigns from TL to various members of the team (HJ, SW & LH), when the job starts to take an emotional toll on him and when he starts losing his grip on professionalism & doing what is necessary.
 

  • SW seems cold & unfeeling. But it's obvious that she has a soft spot for the team; she cares about them, a lot. Her cold nature & caring core are both her strength & her weakness. And those two sides are gonna be hard for her to balance whenever the team is in crisis.

-> We've already seen her cold & caring sides at war before. In EP03, when HJ bulldozed his way into danger with his impulsiveness. In this episode, we got more of that. 1) When TL seems to be not performing at his best due to PTSD. 2) When YMY is panicking because of the niece. Her cold & analytical side knows that having TL in charge can mean trouble; it also knows that saving YMY's niece would compromise secrecy that goes hand-in-hand with national security. But her caring side made her break protocol. It all went fine this time. But this shows a glimpse of how complex SW is, and how difficult things can get for her in future episodes.
 

  • YMY is a master media manipulator. With her beautiful & ever put-together facade, it was hard for us to connect with her at a deeper level or view her as an emotional being.

-> This episode, she got a taste of her own medicine. By manipulating the media & keeping the public calm, she is putting her niece at risk. The episode shows a very human & vulnerable side of her.
 

  • LH is a genius with extremely high IQ & almost no EQ. His pronouncement of his own genius brushed the people around him (& the audience) all wrong in EP01.

-> This episode, he did that again. "I am a genius with IQ of 187." But we now realize what that pronouncement really means to him. It's his defense mechanism. When things go wrong or when he feels insecure, that's what he does. He convinces himself & others that he is a genius and that his wealth of knowledge & analytical power will always save him & others around him.
 

  • NNH is an "Informations" agent. In the team, she basically is a super-power search engine, nothing much more than that. The overly emotional & flamboyant personality of hers is good for the team in a sense that she brightens up their days. But in times of acute stress & especially when someone she cares about is in danger, she loses cool & makes quite idiotic mistakes.

-> This episode, we get to see her utilized the right way. Given straightforward instructions within confined framework, she works well. The team probably won't be able to count on her to be proactive in the investigation. That's not her strength, nor is it her job. She is supposed to be a supply of information, nothing more.
 

_____________________________________________________

 

Now, let me go back to my analogy. I talked about how seemingly imperfect & discordant parts can come together into something beautiful. But of course, the final product is not perfect by any definition. Well, no form of art is! (Much to the frustration of people like me.) If we are looking for a flawless piece of work, doing so in a work of art will ever be a fruitless search.

In critiquing a work of art, such as a drama, it is okay to be analytical & to nitpick. Identifying the logical/technical flaws is very much an essential part of critiquing. But in doing so, one should not lose sight of the artist's intention/motivation behind the artwork. By understanding said intention/motivation, you can make an opinion on whether the artist managed to deliver according to that motivation.

Of course, it's almost impossible for a critic to stay totally objective & neutral; it is normal for a critic's own taste/personal preference to taint the review/analysis. And it's okay to voice your opinions over the creative choices the artists have made. But when doing so, it is important to at least allow the readers know what framework/construct you are basing your opinions on. Making sweeping statements of how an art sucks just because of creative differences between the artist & yourself as a critic..... That's irresponsible & intellectually dishonest.

Which is where I feel that HanCinema review (above) failed its readers. I can summarize that whole review into a few lines.

"I feel that NCI likes to resort to violence, and I conclude that based on HJ's action scenes and how big a role the violent-guy HJ is getting. The episode abandons the original US version's case-resolution; instead of 'culminating in a climax where the villain is undone by their true desires', the korean version chose to turn it into something 'as stupid a cliché as cutting the right wires to a bomb'. So, this episode doesn't look enough like the original. Hence, I conclude that there was no criminal profiling involved. Therefore, it is totally inferior to the original. The end."

Here's my rebuttal.

  • As much as this reviewer wants brainiacs to solve the cases by using brains alone, in reality, the nitty-gritty legwork does matter. And in this episode, there was no action-for-action-sake scenes. Every single HJ scene has a purpose. Even the close hand-to-hand combat has a purpose; it allows him to understand the unsub. From those scenes, HJ realized 2 things: 1) how highly-trained the unsub is; 2) his general appearance even with the mask on. So the use of action-scenes in furthering the profiling is the creative style of CMKR. The reviewer might disagree with the choice, but it doesn't make it an inferior choice.
     
  • Now let me talk about that 'culminating in a climax where the villain is undone by their true desires' part. I'm going to be critiquing the US series, so I'm putting it inside spoiler tag.
Spoiler

I am not sure whether the reviewer really watched the US version episode or read the synopsis provided by the creators of the original..... which will, of course, make the episode sounds brilliant. IMO (and many other critics of the US version agree) that the original Criminal Minds has a tendency to overly simplify the psychology part of the narrative. And in the episode "Amplification", we got to see how problematic that could be.

The case-resolution was hinged upon an Army General trying to play on the unsub's ego into handing over the bag of anthrax. All because the profiling has concluded that the unsub has an overblown sense of his abilities, and that feels wronged by people's disregard of said abilities. So the general (portrayed by a less-than-competent acting) talked the unsub into believing that the US President has finally recognized the value of his work, and the unsub should hand over the anthrax bag so that they could go meet the President. Sounds stupid? Yes, I thought so too.

The episode totally ignored the nuance in the psychology that motivates the unsub. His over-blown sense of superiority is actually based on high intelligence as well. And he's no paranoid schizophrenic like in the 'train' case. Believing that such an individual can be manipulated with child-play by talking to him for a minute or two is non-nonsensical pop-psychology. Worse still, the whole thing happened in a subway station. A highly populated environment with endless amount of distractions and external factors. Such places are not preferred by negotiators..... because it is harder to play on a person's mind when there are so many external factors distracting that mind. The fact that 1) BAU went with that route of securing the unsub, 2) the army which was never happy with their involvement decided to allow it, 3) the unsub was easily fooled......... All of those point to logical flaws that make me question the quality of the case-resolution.

So if the reviewer feels a pop-psychology tactic is a brilliant plot-device, it is his/her own preference. But ignoring what the bomb-dismantling scene means to this drama & why the writer might have chosen it, and calling it a 'cliche'..... that's just nasty.

  • The bomb-dismantling shows SW's personality & sense of dutyAnd the level of trust between HJ & SW. And the personality of all members of the team... how they react to a situation out of their control. If this is the statement the writer wants to make in the final showdown of the episode, we should respect that.
  • The fact that this bomb exists at all (as a backup plan) shows the unsub's detail-oriented nature & his need for control. His choice of location for final showdown shows his tendency for grandiosity. In the US series, the unsub adopted the doctor/professor's mission as his own & he has his own beef against an organization; therefore, his crimes remain personal. In this series, the unsub has an entirely different motivation and is just using the professor/doctor. The choice of unsub is the writer's creative choice, and the case-resolution is fitting to that choice. And we should respect that!
     
  • And the most nonsensical criticism. No profiling?!!! I am not sure what the reviewer's definition of criminal profiling is. Because this episode featured a heck lot of profiling. They just didn't go exactly the same way as the US version. If the reviewer feels "US-version-dialogue==profiling. Everything else is not", then this assessment is correct. Otherwise, I am pretty sure he/she didn't watch a whole chunk of the episode.

I'm going to stop my rant now. Because I also want to post a critical review of EP05 alone. But it will have to be tomorrow.

But all in all, I feel that it is a thrilling episode and more importantly, an episode that showcases/summarizes & develops upon all the character-settings & plot-devices featured in EP01-04. And for that, I applaud it being able to achieve that.

 

 

As per usual, rightly or wrongly, this is the framework I'm using to critique the drama:

On 8/3/2017 at 3:19 PM, zi4r said:

This is NOT a remake. This is NOT an episodic crime thriller. This does NOT follow the american concept of solving a crime in a predictable 40-min episode (or two). The focus is NOT on the crimes. It is not on the victims. It is not on the tragedies.

This is a Korean Drama. There will be K-Drama-esque dramatic elements.
Some cases may be a lot longer than 1 episode. Others may be shorter than even half an episode.
The focus is on each member of the NCI team --- their lives, their abilities, their fears, their adventures... and profiling is only ONE part of that.

Meaning, if you don't agree with my framework, you'll obviously disagree with most of my assessment.

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[V Report Plus] Lee Joon-gi shoots grueling action scenes in ‘Criminal Minds

Link to ep 5 BTS vlive video here:  http://www.vlive.tv/video/38316

image
(Naver V app)

Behind-the scenes footage of Lee Joon-gi shooting the drama “Criminal Minds” was unveiled via the Naver V app Thursday.

The clip opened with a chase scene in which Lee was running after a criminal.

Following the grueling chase, a staff member asked Lee what he does to build up his physical strength.

Lee described how he saves energy, saying, “When I have free time, I put myself into a deep sleep, as if going into hibernation.”

Lee was later seen filming an intense fight scene in which he almost got hit by another actor. 

“In my previous roles (in action films), I usually played the role of the attacker so I have never been hit like this before,” he said jokingly.

Lee plays the detective agent Hyun-joon in “Criminal Minds,” a remake of the eponymous American TV series.

Read here: http://www.kpopherald.com/view.php?ud=201708101422311365572_2

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@zi4r wow. I’m always amazed by your analysis. Thank you. As always you gave me a new perspective of the drama. I must say that by now all characters are growing on me except NH. With episode 5 I decided not to expect anything from her (as you said she’s just an info provider), maybe she’ll surprise me later and I’ll be happy to eat my words.

@Uniform Victory , after the first hancinema review I decided not to read anymore… I fact I won´t visit it´s page to check CM reviews… in case they’re counting!

@violina  I love LJG’s acting the most, I know he can delivers whatever the character needs… but as a lover of action scenes, I enjoy and love every action scene of him (and I enjoy the BTS even more!). It’s refreshing to see him taking some hits and loosing (it’s ok as long as he wins in the end) but he must have forgotten that he was almost beat to a pulp in Hero (where his character didn´t know how to fight, lol)


About episode 5:
Watching it raw and with subs makes a lot of difference sometimes. I truly enjoyed understanding the first moments, where we can see they´re investigating KH. And not only for the investigation perse or KH sake, it lets us understand better MY, LH, NH and SW. what kind of people are they (that’s when I decided not to expect much from NH btw). And it shows us how HJ always chose action. He decided not to cooperate in the investigation (even if it might cause him trouble) and rather pursue the reaper himself (I think he’s trying to fulfill his promise to the boy and KH’s wife).

Along the episode we can see what we’ve seen before. HJ is all about people. He cares about people first. The victims and LH. Maybe he’s not seeing the bigger picture (but he chose to follow KH’s decisions anyway). This conflict: to defend one’s person rights or safety over the mass is what intrigued me the most in this episode. Why? Because I can relate to it. Of course I’m not in a position where I can or need to safe someone (luckily). But I think in RL we always have to face some situations where we have to choose between right or wrong. And sometimes the line between them is very thin. And our decisions always affect others, because no one is an island. This conflict was imposed in this episode both to SW and MY, in the end SW chose her feelings and MY procedures and that was great.

The case was a good one, as I didn´t watch the original I can´t compare. To say the truth I don´t care about the original cases anymore as long as I enjoyed the Korean ones. It was a thrilling episode, fast paced and it allows every character to contribute in the final resolution. Of course LH and his hyung scene was one of my faves from the episode. The fact that they’re family now is so sweet. Correct me if I’m wrong but when HJ left, he didn’t know that LH was hurt. Nothing like a growing bromance to make things better. And i´m not saying it from a shallow POV. I usually find so heartwarming the way Korean dramas handle friendship… sometimes better than romances. LH and HJ care for each other. HJ was incapable to left LH in this situation, but LH knows he can be useful to the team. His “Hyung” is a pleading to HJ to trust him. And we can see it’s still hard for HJ to let others resolve matters because as I said before he’s an action man. And it’s hard for him not to take the matters in his hands.

My other favorite scene was the ending of the case. First it’s good to see that this is not a super hero team. They need the help of others. And they need to count on one another. How SW first decided to take all the risk herself (while driving the bomb away) only to end of asking for HJ help says a lot about how much she trusts him. I was sweating just like HJ. It must have been a hard time for both HJ and KH, their first bomb experience after the incident.

Ok this is getting longer than I expected. But I like to mention one thing: the possibility of SW becoming the chief of the team. I guess it will happen in a few episodes. KH will collapse sometime soon…  I hope they won´t drag it for so long.

The ending was sweet. I love to see them as a family. And HJ wishing for LH to be with them… Awww. But I wish that they won´t forget that HJ has another family: the mother and sister of the death EOD. I don´t need them in every episode but I´d love to see HJ and the rest of the team eating and drinking in the restaurant.
 

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17 hours ago, antoniaclamens said:

 

Along the episode we can see what we’ve seen before. HJ is all about people. He cares about people first. The victims and LH. Maybe he’s not seeing the bigger picture (but he chose to follow KH’s decisions anyway). This conflict: to defend one’s person rights or safety over the mass is what intrigued me the most in this episode. Why? Because I can relate to it. Of course I’m not in a position where I can or need to safe someone (luckily). But I think in RL we always have to face some situations where we have to choose between right or wrong. And sometimes the line between them is very thin. And our decisions always affect others, because no one is an island. This conflict was imposed in this episode both to SW and MY, in the end SW chose her feelings and MY procedures and that was great.

 

 

I love you observation.

I cut out one paragraph from your post which practically explains the quote in this episode.

Episode 5 quote: Convictions are more dangerous foes of truth than lies. – Nietzsche 

 

 

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to a certain extent i agree with everyone here that ep 5 is a more cohesive episode where each member had been given some narrative room to develop into more well rounded characters. However, what really piqued my interests are the many subtle intents and symbolically mirrored motifs that occur throughout this episode. 

a) SW tells HJ to stop challenging TL when he makes the decision to not notify the victims the cause of their illness <--> HJ telling SW to stop questioning the anthrax patient when she starts to struggle

b ) HJ showing compassion to the patients <--> SW eventually showing compassion to MY's niece 

c) HJ is tackled down by the unsub by a floor spinning move in the alleyway <--> unsub executes the same move in the building and HJ, instead of falling down, drags him closer to the area where the snipers would be able to get a better shot at the unsub. 

d) HJ losing his richard simmons when LH is in danger while TL keeps calm <--> TL panicking when HJ calmly tells SW how to dismantle the bomb

I think there are more instances but these are the few i managed to catch. I like the theme of how the characters are starting to mirror each other's behaviour, especially our 3 main leads. I think it will be a recurring motif for the rest of the series; i noticed a line that SW says to MY when she urges MY to keep calm and professional despite her niece being in grave danger: 

"It is our job and we have to beat this."

I believe this is the exact line HJ delivers in one of the first CM trailer and it will hold much more significance later on in the drama.

 

what i did like about this episode :

- it didn't dive directly into a new case and instead further explored the aftermath of reaper's actions in the previous episode. I think this was a nice touch given that it would have made the show frivolous if it didn't do so. I liked that it gave some room for NH and HJ to bond (they were probably doing it secretly given that HJ did  not arrest the criminal in the end) and i think they are really doing a good job with their original character (HJ), given that audiences might have been more familiar with the other characters due to their proxies in the US series. The opening sequence helped us understand more about HJ; how loyal and relentless he is in protecting others and how much he truly empathises with TL. The opening sequence was probably the strongest in the episode.

- the symbolic mirroring of the characters as i have pointed out above.

As TL mentioned :
"we can catch them, if we can think like them". 
Mirroring is a symbolic action that is true for profilers in particular and i appreciate that the writer gave us many significant instances of this. 

what i did not like:

- the scene where LH showed off his abs.... it was sooooo hammmmyyyy.. omg i thought this drama was free from koreandrama ham but boy i was wrong. 

- i felt like they tried to plant too many narrative lines in this episode. I felt it would be more rewarding for the viewer if they had either just focused on a) LH and HJ's bromance, or b )SW and MY's dilemma

- the cliffhanger of HB missing was also too hammy for me. we know the reaper is not going to reappear so soon....

 

Anyway these are just some of my thoughts about the episode. i know how hard it is to put all these into words and i really appreciate everyone generously sharing their opinions for further discussion! That is also one of the reasons why i really like this show so far/ 

(P.S. i think the ratings are low given the current state of tension between north south korea and the US, nobody in SK really wants to watch something about bioterrorism. I think its just really bad timing....)

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Calling all PROFILERS

Spoiler

 

- EPISODE 06 -

 

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Spoiler

 

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Spoiler

 

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15 minutes ago, violina said:

omg @glassnokamen hahahaha so sorry dear:D.I know you are our resident information source.If it were facebook, i could poke you and give you heads up before posting.

No need to sorry @violina :* :* :*

I like to be Call "resident information source" :D:D:D ... make me feels like I'm the YMY of this topic ahahahaha :D :D:D

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