The Worst Examples Of Profile Logic In Criminal Minds According To Fans

In its 15 seasons on the air, CBS's endlessly creepy serial killer procedural "Criminal Minds" shocked and generally unsettled viewers in ways few network dramas ever have. And while the FBI's crack BAU team manages to track, capture, and/or kill most of the murderous sociopaths who come into their orbit over the years, some of the vile human beings they encounter continue to haunt the minds of the series' intensely devoted fanbase.

Of course, with so many baddies to take down, the BAU crew quite often have to utilize all manner of methodologies in bringing them to justice. However, the team primarily relies on profiling techniques, and thus their own understanding of the titular minds to crack most of their cases. That technique is, of course, based in legit science of the human mind, and has been developed for decades by psychologists and FBI analysts alike. Still, some of the leaps in logic the BAU team take on "Criminal Minds" seems less science- and evidence-based than they should be. And yes, "Criminal Minds" fans take notice, with some scoffing at the series' more questionable profiling leaps in a recent Reddit thread. These are the issues that bothered them the most.

The Reddit thread gets about as saucy as you might expect, with original poster GormenghastCastle initially positing that the BAU team frequently lacks the evidence needed to unmask an unsub, stating, "Sometimes to me it felt like the team did not have enough evidence to conclude what they did about the unsub." Strawberryluvr123 agreed, specifically noting the team is never wrong about unsub age predictions in spite of rarely having any real insight to go on, as "They always say age is the hardest to predict but they always get it right in their profiles because obviously it's a TV show but you would think they would get it wrong sometimes because the parameters are often vague."

Redditor GlitchingGecko pointed to a specific case as indicative of the series' overall logic problem, commenting that "The leap JJ seems to make in 'Neon Terror' between seeing a young female victim carried out of the station by her parents to who the unsub is was totally ridiculous ... that one was just so out of left field, it felt like sloppy writing rather than 'gut instinct' or logic." Meanwhile, user JNBond took specific issue with the series' frequent use of ludicrous interrogative breakthroughs to crack the case, saying, "What I can't stand is whenever the team uses that whole fake hypnosis, to get a witness to remember a small detail that helps the BAU create an unbelievable leap in logic to solve the case."

Ridiculous leaps in logic aside, even the Redditors who posted their issues with "Criminal Minds" still clearly adore the show, and are certain to keep it alive via syndication for years to come.