25 to Life
- Episode aired Dec 15, 2010
- TV-14
- 43m
IMDb RATING
7.7/10
1.9K
YOUR RATING
Morgan regrets his decision that a prisoner is ready for parole when the man murders someone days after being released.Morgan regrets his decision that a prisoner is ready for parole when the man murders someone days after being released.Morgan regrets his decision that a prisoner is ready for parole when the man murders someone days after being released.
Thomas Gibson
- Aaron Hotchner
- (credit only)
Chrystopher Ryan Johnson
- Young Tom
- (as Chrys Ryan Johnson)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe teaser is 10:23 long, more than twice the usual 4:30.
- GoofsAn assessment of whether a convict is worthy of parole is not done the day before the parole board meets to consider their parole. The assessment would happen weeks before.
- Quotes
Derek Morgan: [voiceover] "There is no such thing as 'part' freedom." ~~ Nelson Mandela
- SoundtracksCriminal Minds Theme
Composed by Mark Mancina
Featured review
Found it rather ho-hum
As far as Season 6 episodes of 'Criminal Minds' goes, "25 to Life" is better than "Today I Do" and especially "The Thirteenth Step", and there are worse episodes of 'Criminal Minds' overall.
This said, while a long way from a low-point episode it is a rather ho-hum one that started off well but lost its way after the third crime and got more and more ridiculous. While there are worse episodes in Season 6, and of the show, "25 to Life" is to me a lesser episode of a show that is a personal favourite, especially in the first five seasons (from Season 6 onwards 'Criminal Minds' did become hit and miss, with an especially underwhelming Season 11, the little seen of Season 12 has not made me jump out of my chair with excitement).
"25 to Life" started promisingly. Morgan's compassion for Sanderson, his belief in his innocence and his going to great lengths to securing him parole sees a lovely and more sympathetic side to Morgan. Sure he is empathetic with victims and like at times a big brother figure to Reid, but he's tough as nails with the criminals, whether talked about, apprehended or convicted so this compassionate side to a convicted soon to be paroled criminal understandably strikes some fans as odd. That side to him was incredibly effective and beautifully played by Shemar Moore. Kyle Secor also does a great job as Sanderson, so much so that you are convinced that it isn't him and want the real person to be found. The rapport being Moore and Secor comes across really well.
In fact, all the acting is very good, with exception of Rachel Nichols who plays Seaver with her usual blandness. "25 to Life" is a very well-made episode, shot with style and love and an atmospheric but audacious look. The music is haunting and melancholic, never being intrusive or inappropriately melodramatic. Some of the writing in the first half is thought-provoking, intelligent and with enough to keep one gripped, while the concluding reunion was very moving.
However, "25 to Life" does lose its way significantly after the third crime and unfortunately never recovers. The episode by all means wasn't perfect up to then anyway, Seaver again is useless, out-of-place, annoying and with a personality and range of a broomstick and there's too much of her and not enough of much more interesting and likable characters like Reid. Strauss is as cold and dictatorial in leadership as ever, and while Hotch's absence doesn't bring the episode down single-handedly he is missed. The episode did drag at times, and was pretty formulaic where you do become too convinced too early on that it was the doing of somebody else, the one time in the episode where that is questioned is when the second crime is committed where one does temporarily does question whether he is innocent or not.
It is once the real unsub's identity is revealed where the episode falls apart. The way they found out did feel random and tacked on, and there just wasn't much to the unsub himself, nothing to make one feel anything for him, not even hate, in fact the character and his position came over as far-fetched. The reason for the family murder is not made properly clear, even if it was explained it wasn't clear enough and it needed to be elaborated upon much more.
Particularly bad however was regarding the team confrontation and arrest, the scene has to be down there in the top 5 of the most badly written, unrealistic and intelligence-insultingly ridiculous scenes of Season 6, with the self-righteous writing, the team acting out of character when accusing without proper proof in front of people and that painful slow clapping. Am amazed that anybody, especially Morgan, kept their jobs after that. The script showed good potential in the first half, but Garcia's flippant remarks in the profiling and the whole writing for the confrontation stuck out as sloppy.
Overall, rather ho-hum, started off well but lost its way after the third crime and crashed and burned after the revelation of the real unsub. 5/10 Bethany Cox
This said, while a long way from a low-point episode it is a rather ho-hum one that started off well but lost its way after the third crime and got more and more ridiculous. While there are worse episodes in Season 6, and of the show, "25 to Life" is to me a lesser episode of a show that is a personal favourite, especially in the first five seasons (from Season 6 onwards 'Criminal Minds' did become hit and miss, with an especially underwhelming Season 11, the little seen of Season 12 has not made me jump out of my chair with excitement).
"25 to Life" started promisingly. Morgan's compassion for Sanderson, his belief in his innocence and his going to great lengths to securing him parole sees a lovely and more sympathetic side to Morgan. Sure he is empathetic with victims and like at times a big brother figure to Reid, but he's tough as nails with the criminals, whether talked about, apprehended or convicted so this compassionate side to a convicted soon to be paroled criminal understandably strikes some fans as odd. That side to him was incredibly effective and beautifully played by Shemar Moore. Kyle Secor also does a great job as Sanderson, so much so that you are convinced that it isn't him and want the real person to be found. The rapport being Moore and Secor comes across really well.
In fact, all the acting is very good, with exception of Rachel Nichols who plays Seaver with her usual blandness. "25 to Life" is a very well-made episode, shot with style and love and an atmospheric but audacious look. The music is haunting and melancholic, never being intrusive or inappropriately melodramatic. Some of the writing in the first half is thought-provoking, intelligent and with enough to keep one gripped, while the concluding reunion was very moving.
However, "25 to Life" does lose its way significantly after the third crime and unfortunately never recovers. The episode by all means wasn't perfect up to then anyway, Seaver again is useless, out-of-place, annoying and with a personality and range of a broomstick and there's too much of her and not enough of much more interesting and likable characters like Reid. Strauss is as cold and dictatorial in leadership as ever, and while Hotch's absence doesn't bring the episode down single-handedly he is missed. The episode did drag at times, and was pretty formulaic where you do become too convinced too early on that it was the doing of somebody else, the one time in the episode where that is questioned is when the second crime is committed where one does temporarily does question whether he is innocent or not.
It is once the real unsub's identity is revealed where the episode falls apart. The way they found out did feel random and tacked on, and there just wasn't much to the unsub himself, nothing to make one feel anything for him, not even hate, in fact the character and his position came over as far-fetched. The reason for the family murder is not made properly clear, even if it was explained it wasn't clear enough and it needed to be elaborated upon much more.
Particularly bad however was regarding the team confrontation and arrest, the scene has to be down there in the top 5 of the most badly written, unrealistic and intelligence-insultingly ridiculous scenes of Season 6, with the self-righteous writing, the team acting out of character when accusing without proper proof in front of people and that painful slow clapping. Am amazed that anybody, especially Morgan, kept their jobs after that. The script showed good potential in the first half, but Garcia's flippant remarks in the profiling and the whole writing for the confrontation stuck out as sloppy.
Overall, rather ho-hum, started off well but lost its way after the third crime and crashed and burned after the revelation of the real unsub. 5/10 Bethany Cox
helpful•177
- TheLittleSongbird
- Oct 27, 2016
Details
- Runtime43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
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