While being a regular viewer of the original 'Criminal Minds', loved it in its early seasons and although the quality has been very hit and miss for a long time there has been enough to keep me watching, neither of its spin offs did anything for me. 'Suspect Behaviour' started off very ropey but did gradually get marginally better. 'Beyond Borders' was offensively bad in its first season and while Season 2 was an improvement it still repeated most of the mistakes made before.
"The Devil's Breath" is the third episode of 'Beyond Borders' Season 2. It is one of the better episodes of the second season and it is also one of the better, or should that be more least bad, episodes of the whole of 'Beyond Borders'. It at least had some emotional investment, one of the show's more interesting unsubs and had more intricacy to usual. Yet "The Devil's Breath" still managed to not be a particularly good episode, most of the same flaws as before are here.
Shall start with what "The Devil's Breath" did quite well. Did appreciate that there was more emotional power compared to before, especially towards the end. The episode starts off intriguingly and makes one think "could this possibly be a decent episode?".
As said, the unsub is one of the show's more interesting ones. They aren't too ordinary, there is menace and also an emotional edge, they aren't overacted or underplayed and the motivation is actually intriguing and not as vague as most unsub motivations. "The Devil's Breath" is one of the more intricate cases, where there is a good deal going on and much of it is not predictable.
Unfortunately, as said, "The Devil's Breath" still wasn't particularly good overall. The story did intrigue but some of it did for me got rather over-complicated from trying to cram in too much and leaving too much not followed through enough, meaning that too much of plotting felt over-complicated and didn't make enough sense. Some intriguing ideas but that is one bizarre modus operandi that the unsub has on paper and the execution of it is even more so. More tension and suspense were needed and the way the episode resolves is too convenient and pat.
None of the regulars' acting has improved. Annie Funke is still especially irritating as the contender for the most uninteresting and annoying character of the 'Criminal Minds' franchise, and the normally dependable Gary Sinise never really seemed interested in this show (seeming to give the impression that he knew that the material was bad). The team are severely underdeveloped as individuals and their lack of cohesion and disconnect as a team makes the too ordinary crime solving rather tedious at times. The supporting characters are basically stereotypes (though ones that are not as offensive as ones in other 'Beyond Borders' episodes), with the only interesting character in the entire episode being the unsub.
Further non-improvements are the production values. It still looks choppy and there is nothing authentic about the setting. The music could have been less in tone and placement and the direction lacks momentum and personality. Merely "getting the job done and going through the motions doing so" like. The dialogue is stilted and difficult to take seriously, was cringing a good deal of the time (Mae has some of the worst of it).
In conclusion, semi-watchable but still rather lacklustre. 4/10
"The Devil's Breath" is the third episode of 'Beyond Borders' Season 2. It is one of the better episodes of the second season and it is also one of the better, or should that be more least bad, episodes of the whole of 'Beyond Borders'. It at least had some emotional investment, one of the show's more interesting unsubs and had more intricacy to usual. Yet "The Devil's Breath" still managed to not be a particularly good episode, most of the same flaws as before are here.
Shall start with what "The Devil's Breath" did quite well. Did appreciate that there was more emotional power compared to before, especially towards the end. The episode starts off intriguingly and makes one think "could this possibly be a decent episode?".
As said, the unsub is one of the show's more interesting ones. They aren't too ordinary, there is menace and also an emotional edge, they aren't overacted or underplayed and the motivation is actually intriguing and not as vague as most unsub motivations. "The Devil's Breath" is one of the more intricate cases, where there is a good deal going on and much of it is not predictable.
Unfortunately, as said, "The Devil's Breath" still wasn't particularly good overall. The story did intrigue but some of it did for me got rather over-complicated from trying to cram in too much and leaving too much not followed through enough, meaning that too much of plotting felt over-complicated and didn't make enough sense. Some intriguing ideas but that is one bizarre modus operandi that the unsub has on paper and the execution of it is even more so. More tension and suspense were needed and the way the episode resolves is too convenient and pat.
None of the regulars' acting has improved. Annie Funke is still especially irritating as the contender for the most uninteresting and annoying character of the 'Criminal Minds' franchise, and the normally dependable Gary Sinise never really seemed interested in this show (seeming to give the impression that he knew that the material was bad). The team are severely underdeveloped as individuals and their lack of cohesion and disconnect as a team makes the too ordinary crime solving rather tedious at times. The supporting characters are basically stereotypes (though ones that are not as offensive as ones in other 'Beyond Borders' episodes), with the only interesting character in the entire episode being the unsub.
Further non-improvements are the production values. It still looks choppy and there is nothing authentic about the setting. The music could have been less in tone and placement and the direction lacks momentum and personality. Merely "getting the job done and going through the motions doing so" like. The dialogue is stilted and difficult to take seriously, was cringing a good deal of the time (Mae has some of the worst of it).
In conclusion, semi-watchable but still rather lacklustre. 4/10
