Search - Criminal Minds: The Third Season on DVD

Very important season of a great show

barry | Boston, MA United States | 02/06/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"CRIMINAL MINDS had established itself as a huge ratings hit. Over the first 2 seasons it had developed characters to care about who worked for the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) of the FBI. It broke the mold from other nighttime crime shows and was very unique in that it not only showed how the minds of serial killers and criminals worked but also how the FBI used profiling and other skills to unearth the pattern of each killer they were investigating. Season 2 saw some slight cast changes from season 1 but no one on the show saw what was coming at the beginning of season 3.



To view the season as an entity you see a series grow even further than it had before. You see what it means for a cast to truly work together and have each member be strong. The only thing noticable is the shortage of episodes and this is due to the writers strike and this was out of the shows hands. They still managed to come up with 20 mezmerizing episodes. But anyone who loved this show for the first two seasons saw Mandy Patinkin as the star and he is now gone. The writers and producers had to make it so that the viewers saw none of the drama that was going on behind the camera and what we get is a seamless story line introducing Joe Mantegnana who manages to bring an even stronger presence without eclipsing Patinkin. And the viewer can see the cast coming together. Episodes are given to each cast member providing the audience the unique opportunity to aquire knowledge of their personal lives which is often lost with such shows. It makes sense that it works so well on CRIMINAL MINDS for the storylines are often horrific and reach the fine line of what can be shown on televison. We get to see how the job and the cases effect the agents which helps ease the intensity for us the viewers.



I enjoy much nighttime television but don't purchase much for posterity. I find the quality in writing, acting and producing to be above reproach on CRIMINAL MINDS. The plots are inventive, engrossing and violence always serves a purpose. It is used in a realistic way and nver crosses the line. It gets intense but the subject here is very intense. The show also manages to inject quips of humour but bottom line is this is a show that continues to pull the viewer in and only gets better with season 3. True crime is a subject of huge popularity and this show follows in the same vein. If you are new to this superb series now as good a time as any to introduce yourself to one of tv's best."

Still Very Good But Took a Step Down

J. Yee | New York, NY | 10/11/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"While I understood very well why Mandy Patinkin had to leave and felt the writers did a great job in writing Jason Gideon's departure, I feel the show took a step down in losing such an amazing character and actor. The Jason Gideon character gave a very important level of balance to a show that is essentially about a hard look at the coldest and darkest side of humanity. Jason Gideon was a very believable character that even with so many years of being in the field and considered to be the very top in the field, still felt pain and compassion not only for the victims he worked tirelessly to save from that dark side but also for his team and in helping them through their fears and susceptabilities. Mandy Patinkin played that role with grace and class showing the vulnerabilities of the character with a very human light. The new character - Rossi has a harder edge - much like you would expect from a veteran but there's less to like and to identify with. Joe Mantegna does a wonderful job of making that character different from the previous lead and giving the other regular characters a chance to develop their human sides. The third and fourth seasons, were very good seasons (and in fact I first got hooked by an episode in the fourth season), but its definitely lost a bit of balance without Jason Gideon/Mandy Patinkin there."