It Takes a Village (21 Sep. 2011)

It's been seven months since Prentiss' death, and three months since JJ returned to the unit to fill Prentiss' empty position. Ever since Prentiss' death, Morgan had been working to find ... See full summary »

Director:

Glenn Kershaw

Writers:

Jeff Davis (creator), Erica Messer

Stars:

Joe Mantegna, Paget Brewster, Shemar Moore

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Joe Mantegna	...	David Rossi
Paget Brewster	...	Emily Prentiss
Shemar Moore	...	Derek Morgan
Matthew Gray Gubler	...	Dr. Spencer Reid
A.J. Cook	...	Jennifer Jareau
Kirsten Vangsness	...	Penelope Garcia
Thomas Gibson	...	Aaron Hotchner
Timothy V. Murphy	...	Ian Doyle
Mark Moses	...	Senator Cramer
Jayne Atkinson	...	Erin Strauss
Ursula Brooks	...	Chloe Donaghy
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Lachlan McDermott
Conrad Bluth	...	Declan

Storyline

It's been seven months since Prentiss' death, and three months since JJ returned to the unit to fill Prentiss' empty position. Ever since Prentiss' death, Morgan had been working to find and capture Prentiss' murderer, Ian Doyle, first unsanctioned but then within the scope of the team but still without any government authority. It is because of that unsanctioned nature that the team members individually are appearing at a senate committee hearing into the case, which led to the death of two agents. Morgan felt the best way to locate Doyle was to locate his son, Declan, who Prentiss spent the better part of her post-Interpol life protecting. Morgan did find Declan. But Declan went missing shortly thereafter. The team didn't believe Doyle kidnapped Declan, but rather enemies of Doyle's did. Hotch decided that one person could have special insight into the case, and made a unilateral decision to bring her in much like the unilateral decision he made without the team's knowledge seven ...

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 September 2011 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mark Gordon Company, The, CBS Television Studios, ABC Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

42 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Episode shares title with #2.2 of Dharma & Greg which also starred Thomas Gibson.

---

Quotes

Dr. Spencer Reid: If you want to punish me for taking a risk, then I encourage you to do that, but do not put the rest of my team on trial for something that I suggested.
Senator Cramer: Calm down, agent.
Dr. Spencer Reid: This *is* calm, and it's 'doctor'.

User Reviews

Minefield

After Prentiss' "death" in #6.18, "Lauren", the six remaining episodes managed 6/10 at best. They were lacking, in more ways than one. It was also troubling that Seaver (Rachel Nichols) was not even given a proper exit scene in the season finale. As of this episode, she's just gone. Prentiss (Brewster) and JJ (Cook, already present in Season 6 finale) are back, so all the writers need is to come up with a satisfying conclusion to the Doyle arc.

They fail. First of all, they reuse the hearing structure from #5.9, "100", the conclusion of the Reaper arc that did irreparable damage to the credibility of the series. It barely worked then, now it just doesn't. At start, we are told in the hearing that "two members of the team" are dead, yet we are shown JJ and Morgan alive, limiting the possible dead core members to Prentiss, Rossi, Reid and Hotch. Knowing that this is also Prentiss' return to fold, the stakes are effectively halved immediately.

It gets worse. Sooner than you can say "Redshirt", two nameless agents are revealed to be the dead ones. Way to keep up the suspension! The writers do, however, introduce a mystery to the flashbacks: someone had Declan, but it was not Doyle. A new player to mix up the game?

Then comes the heart of the episode: Hotch and JJ revealing to others that Prentiss' death was staged and the funeral merely a hoax. Conveniently, there is no time for Morgan to blow his fuse or Reid to point out to Hotch that the team leader betrayed his partners. Everyone must rush to find Declan.

Cue more retconning. Contrary to original status, Declan's mother isn't dead either! Doyle was only lying in Season 6. It's hard to believe the writers would have planned this when most of the stuff on this show is made up as they go along and retconning has become more common.

From thereon, it's all downhill. Sure, the climax stirs some adrenaline, but what the writers still haven't grasped is that for the audience, it is *really* hard to care about the fates of characters introduced in the same episode. Also, just like with Hotch totally losing it with the Reaper, the team breaking the strict rules and going all Jack Bauer, everyone is only chastised with a stern speak. They will be "closely" watched. Really? Seriously?

Ultimately, it's a combination of elements that are faulty already on their own - together they just make the whole episode collapse. Over-complicated plotting. Limited character moments. Lack of suspension of disbelief. Worst, once again the writers have forgotten that important rule of drama: "Without a sacrifice there is no heroism." It's also practically a safe bet that this show will *never* pull an "Amber Benson" on us like Joss Whedon infamously did in Buffy... This is a barely tolerable 4/10 and understandably I was ready give up hope, but surprisingly, the next episode, "Proof", is actually great!