Мыслить как преступник Tabula Rasa (2005– ) Online

If a killer wakes from a coma with no memory of his crimes, is he still guilty? That's the intriguing premise at the heart of this episode. Hotch, Reid and Morgan come back to a case they had pursued 4 years before. The suspect fell off a building and was in a coma. (The suspect is played by the same actor who plays Radzinsky in LOST!) Now he's woken up, and the DA is ready to prosecute. EXCEPT the suspect has no memories at all, especially of the murders he committed. The case has to go forward, with key witnesses dead or moved away, and very little evidence.

One of the victim's fathers (whom I will always remember as Brenda and Brandon's dad on 90210) is desperately seeking justice for his daughter. He and Reid bonded 4 years before. Reid worries that the father is becoming unhinged. Their scenes together are wonderful, and shows how empathetic Reid has become as he's matured.

The highlight for me is Hotch testifying about the science of behavioral profiling, which the defense lawyer is trying to paint as pseudo-science. Hotch brutally tears away the lawyer's image. A buzzing Blackberry has never seemed so funny before.

The actor playing the killer is terrific as well. He forms a relationship with one of the guards after he wakes. Could he have done this before? Is he really a different man than the one who murdered those girls? And if so, should he be punished? All very thoughtful and interesting stuff.

While 'Criminal Minds' is a personal favourite show of mine, some seasons are better (some much better) than others.

Seasons 1-4 are mostly great and Season 5 had some high-points, before becoming hit and miss Season 6 onwards, with apart from three or four exceptions a particularly disappointing Season 11. There are many good to great episodes, as well as several outstanding ones, while others range from bad to average.

"Tabula Rasa" is one of my favourites from the early seasons, and one of Season 3's best episodes alongside the emotional and very relatable "Elephant's Memory" and the tense and non-stop suspenseful "Lo-Fi", also was really impressed by "True Night" and "Seven Seconds". Will even go so far to say that it's one of the best 'Criminal Minds' episodes.

The only minor complaint actually is the side-lining and under-use of Rossi, who was settling well at this point but he properly became interesting in "Damaged" and more so in Season 4 with "Masterpiece" and "Zoe's Reprise", but that is easily overlook-able because everything else is so masterfully done.

Particularly great here is the story and script. The story is riveting throughout, starting with an opening that is the very meaning of adrenaline-rush all the way to one of the show's most unforgettable and haunting endings. In between, there is some great profiling on Matloff. This sees the team working as a team and actually doing investigating, rather than conclusion-jumping or relying too conveniently on Garcia's computer to provide the answers, and Matloff is one of the show's most well developed and interesting criminals in my opinion, in struggling to understand who he was and what he did.

Also present are some nice little character moments within the team or with the supporting characters (the chemistry is brilliant), particularly loved the more mature and empathetic Reid's scenes with the vengeful father (one does understand his feelings here), as well as finding out more about how Reid joined the team and the first appearance of "baby girl", well before the flirtatious banter started getting too much. Other than the ending, the scenes with Matloff really resonated and the profiling-analysis scene in the courtroom with Hotch is one of the best ever scenes on 'Criminal Minds'.

Regarding the script, that was very cleverly structured, tightly paced and thought-provoking. Making one think and feel deeper than any episode before, especially with the whole questioning who Matloff is and is he guilty. The twist is one one doesn't see coming and is nail-biting. The production values are high in quality once again and the music suits the mood and tone of the episode well. Direction is solid.

Matthew Gray Gubler and Thomas Gibson especially stand out of the regular actors, due to their very strong scenes. Eric Lange is really quite brilliant as Matloff, one of those characters who one actually felt sorry for and for a while unsure about. Very different from the irredeemably evil unsubs often present on the show, and after seeing episodes that try to make one feel sympathy for the criminal but fail (mainly due to lack of development or their crimes being too awful and gratuitous) it was great to see an instance where it is done very well (one of the show's supremely successful attempts actually).

In conclusion, a 'Criminal Minds' classic and a Season 3 highlight. 10/10 Bethany Cox