The Episodes That Criminal Minds Fans Never Want To Watch Again
No matter how popular a show might be, some episodes are not going to be to everyone's liking or too heartbreaking to handle. From the devastatingly sad "Jurassic Bark" on "Futurama" to the divisive "Fly" episode of "Breaking Bad," there are just certain episodes that some fans will want to skip. "Criminal Minds," which ran for 15 seasons and 324 episodes, was extremely popular during its original run. Viewers ate up its violent and often atmospheric episodes, which centered on the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit catching sadistic criminals, which they dubbed "unsubs."
Given its mature and disturbing subject matter, it would be no surprise to learn that there are just some episodes that "Criminal Minds" fans simply cannot return to after more than one viewing. With so many episodes, however, it's hard to nail down just which entries are the absolute most skippable ones in fans' eyes. However, thanks to a recent posting on Reddit, we're one step closer to knowing just that.
Here are the "Criminal Minds" episodes that some fans never want to watch again.
Criminal Minds fans did not enjoy the brutality of The Lesson
On the r/criminalminds subreddit, u/yasminbayad asked "Criminal Minds" fans which episode they could never watch again, and one of the more popular answers was the Season 8 episode "The Lesson." This episode featured serial killer Adam Rain (Brad Dourif) abducting people and attempting to turn them into real-life puppets. It's a rather disturbing episode of "Criminal Minds," and viewers on the post were quick to point out that it was something they'd never like to experience again.
"The one where people are turned into puppets," wrote u/Torrincia. "Cannot stand the imagined pain." The comment received 74 upvotes at the time of this writing, implying that many fans felt the same way. Echoing this sentiment was u/sarbear0903, who named the episode because of the "victim torture." This user did enjoy the secondary plot of the show involving Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), however. "Though Reid getting ready to meet Maeve for the first time was super sweet," they noted.
It's clear, though, that a lot of fans have no love for this episode because of its brutality toward its victims, and it's one that some will never revisit again.
To Hell and Back was also too much for Criminal Minds viewers
On the post by u/yasminbayad, the other episode that some fans decried as just too much to handle was the two-part Season 4 finale, which were titled "To Hell..." and "...And Back." The episodes told of two brothers and serial killers Mason Turner (Garret Dillahunt) and Lucas Turner (Paul Rae). The two brothers abduct homeless people from Detroit, Michigan, and kill them in Canada, before feeding them to their pigs. Elaborating on exactly why they do not plan on revisiting the episode, u/yasminbayad wrote, "to hell and back was just so disgusting." u/International-Fee807 agreed, replying, "god i tried rewatching to hell and back recently and couldn't make it more than 15 minutes in."
Obviously, a show like "Criminal Minds" is going to deal with disturbed individuals committing unspeakable crimes, but even fans of this particular type of show have their limits, and this episode clearly exceeded some viewers' limits. It just goes to show that not every episode is going to work for every fan, and that even the most violent of shows can go too far for some.