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I had a specific reason I wanted to see this episode; I knew it was going to star Wil Wheaton because he's been talking about it on his blog, firstly when he nailed the audition several weeks ago, and because the episode has aired, he's publishing his production diary. It's well worth a read btw (and there's a link on that page to his audition blog which I also recommend reading). There are/will be spoilers though, so DO NOT READ if you haven't seen the episode yet!
Wil plays Floyd Hansen, who by Wil's own admission is the evillest character he's ever played. I'll say this much, he scared the crap out of me and, given that I remember him as baby faced Wesley Crusher, that takes bloody good acting. (I know he played a hobo in CSI but that was a much less intense role, and the sleazeball he played on Numb3rs, while sleazy, didn't have a particularly big impact on the episode.) This role could well open up doors for him, if he wanted to do more acting, because he was brilliant. I suppose an Emmy nomination for Best Guest Actor in Drama Series next year would be too much to ask but frankly, I think he would deserve it, it was that good.
Floyd is an angry, sadistic guy who runs a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. His kick is to rent a room to a couple, then seal them in the room and psychologically torture them before making the husband watch as he beats and rapes the wife. When they're both dead, he puts the bodies in their car, drives them to a lonely stretch of highway and leaves the car in the middle of the road to be smacked into by the next early morning truck that drives past. Cause of death is then listed as automobile accident, and he gets away with murder.
However, one truck driver reacts a bit faster than the others and the victim's car isn't quite totalled. Consequently a sharp eyed sheriff spots many inconsistencies and notifies our trusty BAU team, who find two other accidents in a six month period with exactly the same M.O.. They fly out to the scene and start piecing together the psychological profile. But wouldn't you know it, another missing couple are reported missing in the same area and now there's a race against time. Can they track down the murderer before the couple are dispatched? (Of course, they do, but believe me when I say you could not be sure they would, right up until the last second. Very nicely paced indeed.)
The intercutting between the FBI team and the imprisoned couple and what they're going through was very well done. Also well done was you didn't see Wil until nearly halfway through the episode at the same time as the couple finally saw his face. It made the reveal even more effective and terrifying. And brother, can Wil play psychological terror and evil well. Sheesh! His scenes with the couple were nothing less than horrifying. Kudos at this point must be given to William Mapother (some of you might remember him from Lost) and Robin Lively who played the trapped couple. They were equally good at portraying the couple's slow breakdown and helpless rage. Wil was good but he got terrific support from them too.
If you check out the photos that Wil's put up on the web (check out his page I linked to above), he reveals that the original plan was for Floyd to get away. I could wish they'd gone this route, because it would have given a great storyline for Hotch (he did an interview with Floyd but didn't pick up that he was a psycho and thus was beating himself up about it) and also an excuse for Wil to come back and go toe to toe with the team. The network nixed it, which was a shame, but I guess they'd already had one major recurring villain in the series (Frank in S2) and they weren't ready to start another one. On the other hand, seeing Floyd get squished by a ginormous truck while running from the FBI was kind of the perfect payback, if a little too neat and tidy. Ok, "neat" and "tidy" probably aren't the best words to describe that kind of collision but you know what I mean :D
Excellent episode even if it wasn't comfortable watching at all but then Criminal Minds rarely is. And I'm thrilled that Wil got such a great part and totally nailed it. He called filming the episode the highlight of his professional life and yeh, I can see he had a total blast with the role.
It really is going to be interesting to see if this leads onto other things.
Wil plays Floyd Hansen, who by Wil's own admission is the evillest character he's ever played. I'll say this much, he scared the crap out of me and, given that I remember him as baby faced Wesley Crusher, that takes bloody good acting. (I know he played a hobo in CSI but that was a much less intense role, and the sleazeball he played on Numb3rs, while sleazy, didn't have a particularly big impact on the episode.) This role could well open up doors for him, if he wanted to do more acting, because he was brilliant. I suppose an Emmy nomination for Best Guest Actor in Drama Series next year would be too much to ask but frankly, I think he would deserve it, it was that good.
Floyd is an angry, sadistic guy who runs a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. His kick is to rent a room to a couple, then seal them in the room and psychologically torture them before making the husband watch as he beats and rapes the wife. When they're both dead, he puts the bodies in their car, drives them to a lonely stretch of highway and leaves the car in the middle of the road to be smacked into by the next early morning truck that drives past. Cause of death is then listed as automobile accident, and he gets away with murder.
However, one truck driver reacts a bit faster than the others and the victim's car isn't quite totalled. Consequently a sharp eyed sheriff spots many inconsistencies and notifies our trusty BAU team, who find two other accidents in a six month period with exactly the same M.O.. They fly out to the scene and start piecing together the psychological profile. But wouldn't you know it, another missing couple are reported missing in the same area and now there's a race against time. Can they track down the murderer before the couple are dispatched? (Of course, they do, but believe me when I say you could not be sure they would, right up until the last second. Very nicely paced indeed.)
The intercutting between the FBI team and the imprisoned couple and what they're going through was very well done. Also well done was you didn't see Wil until nearly halfway through the episode at the same time as the couple finally saw his face. It made the reveal even more effective and terrifying. And brother, can Wil play psychological terror and evil well. Sheesh! His scenes with the couple were nothing less than horrifying. Kudos at this point must be given to William Mapother (some of you might remember him from Lost) and Robin Lively who played the trapped couple. They were equally good at portraying the couple's slow breakdown and helpless rage. Wil was good but he got terrific support from them too.
If you check out the photos that Wil's put up on the web (check out his page I linked to above), he reveals that the original plan was for Floyd to get away. I could wish they'd gone this route, because it would have given a great storyline for Hotch (he did an interview with Floyd but didn't pick up that he was a psycho and thus was beating himself up about it) and also an excuse for Wil to come back and go toe to toe with the team. The network nixed it, which was a shame, but I guess they'd already had one major recurring villain in the series (Frank in S2) and they weren't ready to start another one. On the other hand, seeing Floyd get squished by a ginormous truck while running from the FBI was kind of the perfect payback, if a little too neat and tidy. Ok, "neat" and "tidy" probably aren't the best words to describe that kind of collision but you know what I mean :D
Excellent episode even if it wasn't comfortable watching at all but then Criminal Minds rarely is. And I'm thrilled that Wil got such a great part and totally nailed it. He called filming the episode the highlight of his professional life and yeh, I can see he had a total blast with the role.
It really is going to be interesting to see if this leads onto other things.
cheerful