Mosley Lane
- Episode aired Mar 3, 2010
- TV-14
- 42m
The BAU profiles a child abductor who may have been keeping children for more than eight years.The BAU profiles a child abductor who may have been keeping children for more than eight years.The BAU profiles a child abductor who may have been keeping children for more than eight years.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis was the first episode directed by Matthew Gray Gubler.
- GoofsThe initial scenes take place at a winter festival in Virginia, but all the trees still have foliage.
- Quotes
Sarah Hillridge: How long have you been doing this, Dr. Reid?
Dr. Spencer Reid: 5 years, 7 months, and 19 days.
Sarah Hillridge: In your experience, what normally happens?
Dr. Spencer Reid: Charlie was 8 when he was taken, which means developmentally, he was in middle childhood. He had a stronger sense of right and wrong and a growing understanding of his place in the world. Mentally, he had the ability to talk about his thoughts and feelings, while having less focus on himself and more concern for others.
Sarah Hillridge: [nodding blankly] So you think he's gonna be OK?
Dr. Spencer Reid: With a mother like you who-who did all this, I-I do. I'm a doctor. I put my faith in facts and statistical probabilities, but today, 8 parents are gonna have closure. 3 children are going home with their families, all because you believed your son was alive. That's as close to a miracle as I've ever seen.
The procedural re-enactment of the crime scene is clumsily inserted and done and doesn't really add very much. More of a problem is that the episode could have provided a reason for why the unsubs were committing their crimes, that was never made clear.
However, Matthew Gray Gubler in his 'Criminal Minds' directorial debut does fantastically well, "Mosley Lane" is one of his most talked about and acclaimed of his directed 'Criminal Minds' episodes and it is not hard at all to see why, providing a genuine tightness, creepy atmosphere, suspenseful tension and truly raw and often heart-rending emotion.
Scenes with the unsubs are chilling, enhanced by the creepy setting and particularly the quite terrifying performance of Beth Grant, the profiling and procedural aspects are very intelligently done and the ending is bittersweet, harrowing and heart-breaking, one of the most powerful endings of the show easily with the moment with the parents of the latest victim finding out that their son could have saved if found a day earlier being one of the show's most emotional.
Writing is taut and thought-provoking, visually the episode is one of the most atmospheric and striking and as ever the music is haunting and melancholic while never intrusive or distractingly over-bearing. The acting is very good from all the regulars and the unsubs particularly Anita are third only to George Foyet and Billy Flynn as Season 5's most frightening unsubs. The parents are very movingly portrayed, especially David Youse and Debra Sullivan, and Brooke Smith and Ann Cusack really add to the urgency and emotional power of the story.
Overall, a more than promising director's job from Gubler and a truly powerful episode that stays with you for a long time. 9/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Aug 15, 2016
Details
- Runtime42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
- 16:9 HD