As a great fan of 'Criminal Minds' especially Seasons 2-5 (Season 1 also had some great episodes like "Riding the Lightning", "The Fox" and "The Fisher King"), "I Love You Tommy Brown" personally was a big disappointment.
For me, although a divisive episode with a good deal of people who enjoyed it thoroughly and others who consider it one of the show's worst episodes, it is a lesser episode of the show and a contender for Season 7's low-point but there are definitely episodes that are much worse.
"I Love You Tommy Brown" isn't completely dishonourable. It's very skilfully made, with lots of style, class and atmosphere, and the music score has a haunting and melancholic vibe as ever and the theme tune hypnotic. While this is one of very few episodes of 'Criminal Minds' that disappoints in the acting, this reviewer always does find Matthew Gray Gubler a joy to watch.
Unfortunately, there could have been more of the BAU and more of a bond between them, and apart from Gubler the acting weirdly feels detached and disinterested, Paget Brewster and Joe Mantegna have performed much better before and have very little to do. This is particularly true of Thomas Gibson, acting with such stoic seriousness he looks like he wants to be elsewhere. There is also definitely an imbalance, with too much of Garcia and Morgan (with the subplot between them and with Kevin almost farcical) and not enough of characters more interesting.
What's more, neither Morgan or Garcia are likable in this episode. Garcia is pretty shallow and annoying here (one really does feel sorry for Kevin), not saying her decision was wrong but it was a waste of a much more realistic, less overly-flirtatious and sometimes veering on creepy one between her and Morgan. Even worse is Morgan, who is a jerk and very out of character, far too cold, very rude and his reaction just unnecessary (again sympathy for Kevin is very much in order).
The story just didn't engage me either. The unsub is revealed too early, which takes away from the tension and suspense, and it takes too long for the team to solve the case in a case where links are easy to spot and obvious but overlooked. What's more, the unsub's story plays too much of a parody and makes one feel really uncomfortable, and the unsub herself is not one you either hate or sympathise with, further disadvantaged by a vastly overacted performance from Teri Polo, with dreadfully over-the-top line delivery and it was almost like she thought she was in a comedy or something.
Writing throughout is sloppy and out of sync, and the directing is pedestrian.
On the whole, very disappointing. 4/10 Bethany Cox