Risky Business
- Episode aired Jan 20, 2010
- TV-14
- 42m
A rash of startling teen suicides in a small Wyoming town is the focus of a BAU investigation.A rash of startling teen suicides in a small Wyoming town is the focus of a BAU investigation.A rash of startling teen suicides in a small Wyoming town is the focus of a BAU investigation.
- Christopher
- (as Michael Christopher Bolten)
- Mrs. Krouse
- (as René Hamilton)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe real Evanston high school is merely Evanston High School, but James Evans was the founder of Evanston, Wyoming.
- GoofsAfter reviewing the medical records of Christopher's deceased mother, Hotchner states that it is a textbook case of Munchausen by Proxy [newly named Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA)]. Although FDIA does more often present itself in a parent/child relationship, it happens between any caregiver and dependent person (whether made dependent by the caregiver or a natural illness originally). It did not translate to Christopher. Even though Wilson Summers does strangle/choke then resuscitates his own son, it still wouldn't be a case of FDIA. In FDIA, the desired result is the attention and compassion given to the caregiver because of their dependent's health issues. Summers does his best to hide what he is doing to his son (e.g. moving the two from town to town frequently). He is denying himself the attention that someone suffering from FDIA would obsessively crave and seek.
- Quotes
Dr. Spencer Reid: [Watching Prentiss play with a wooden toy puzzle] What is that?
Emily Prentiss: It's called a 'star puzzle'. It's basically impossible to figure out.You have to put all of the pieces back together to form a perfect star. But the origin of it is, um, kind of a romantic tale.
[She abandons the puzzle to explain as the rest of the team stops what they're doing to listen]
Emily Prentiss: There was this young prince who wanted to win the heart of the fairest maiden in the land, so he climbed to the top of the tallest tower in the kingdom and he caught a falling star for her. Unfortunately, he was so excited that he dropped it and it smashed into all of these pieces. So he frantically put it back together again to prove his undying love to her and he succeeded and they lived happily ever after.
Dr. Spencer Reid: That doesn't make any sense.
Emily Prentiss: What do you mean?
Dr. Spencer Reid: You can't catch a falling star. It would burn up in the atmosphere.
Emily Prentiss: Yeah, but it's not literal, Reid, it's a fable.
Dr. Spencer Reid: But there's no moral. Uh, fables have morals.
Emily Prentiss: Okay, so it's just a romantic little story.
[Reid picks up the pieces and begins assembling it]
Emily Prentiss: And the point is, it's basically impossible to do because you have to take all of those pieces and fit them together exactly -
[Reid sets the completed star on the table]
Emily Prentiss: There's a lot to hate about you, Dr. Reid.
- ConnectionsReferences Risky Business (1983)
"Risky Business" to me is one of the best of Season 5, and as well as being one of the first (maybe even the first) instances of 'Criminal Minds' exploring the horrors of the internet it is one of the best instances too. One where one is not shouting at the screen at any lack of research in technology or issues in plausibility (like in "The Internet is Forever") and is actually illuminated by the content shown rather than feeling that what we already do know is being preached at or being frustrated at the victims (like in "Hashtag" or the human trafficking episodes of Season 10 where the internet also played a big part).
As always, it is a very stylishly and atmospherically made episode, being shot with stylish grit and class and evoking a sinister but melancholic atmosphere. The music is suitably moody, with the right amount of haunting intensity and melancholy as well as not being intrusive but still having presence, and the direction is solid, alert but also sympathetic.
The script is tightly structured and thought-provoking and delivers effortlessly on the emotional aspects. The story is disturbingly unsettling, with a subject matter like the internet and the dangers of it that allows for fun with friends and such and a good way something of making them but is so full of danger that it is covered so many times in media today and not everybody is listening. The dangers of the internet, peer pressure and competitiveness are explored wonderfully here, with a lot of thought and emotional impact. This said, it is also a very poignant one and in terms of character interaction with the team and how the team is written "Risky Business" is sublime.
Loved that there was more focus on JJ (a character with not a whole lot of development to her before) and Garcia (more a ray of sunshine comic relief sort of character, though "Lucky" and "Penelope" did wonderful jobs with her character previously), and that they were centred on in a way that didn't feel too forced or shove everybody else into the background.
Story and character-wise, there are a number of things worth of note, a truly harrowing opening sequence, Reid's very to-the-point and fun scene in the classroom, the touching chemistry between Garcia and the boy, JJ opening up which was really touching and makes one feel bad for JJ, the sinister unsub and Hotch showing a humanely sympathetic side towards JJ. It was a bit too obvious from the start that the case was very personal to JJ, long before the opening up, and that it was family-related, all the clues were there and a couple not as subtle as others were.
All the acting is great with no weak links.
In conclusion, a truly impressive episode that takes on difficult subjects and explores them with respect and success in making a disturbing and poignant episode out of it. 9/10 Bethany Cox
- TheLittleSongbird
- Feb 3, 2017
Details
- Runtime42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
- 16:9 HD