Introduction: Summary of the Episode
The 9th episode of season one of the television crime drama, “Criminal Minds” is about the conflict that arises between a delusional psychotic, Teddy Bryar and other train passengers, including FBI agent, Elle Greenaway. A former physicist, Dr. Teddy Bryar, now delusional psychotic, takes a train, which was moving from El Paso to Dallas, hostage. In the initial stages of his demand for the removal of the microchip that was implanted under his skin, gunfire ensues, where “Ted” attacks the train security guard, takes away his gun, and shoots out, consequently killing the security guard. He realizes that one of the passengers on-board, Elle, is an FBI agent, and therefore, he hits her in the face and takes away her gun too. He then handcuffs her to take control of the situation. “Leo” convinces him that it is only the “Highest Authority” that would save his situation; and relieve him of the microchip planted under his skin. He therefore demands to talk to the “Highest Authority”, by threatening the entire train passengers using a gun.
The BAU team moves in to salvage the state of affairs, by playing a trick on the psychiatric patient. Gideon assures Bryar that he was talking to the “Highest Authority” through a call, thereby ameliorating Byar’s anger and aggression. Dr. Reid Spencer takes initiative togo into the train to help remove the microchip from Byar’s body; a thing that helps in saving the hostages. In the process of negotiation, “Ted” becomes distracted, and he loses concentration. Elle grabs the gun from Ted’s hand, and as this scuffle goes on, one of the passengers takes his own gun and shoots Ted.
Body
This episode of “Criminal Minds” is one of the melodramas, where evil minds present the necessity to devise means of restoring order. There is a conflict between good and evil; where good triumphs over evil, through well-devised skills and courage. Restoration of order does not just come by easily, but rather, the champions of good tussle with evil-minded persons through series of events, which may even involve violent actions to resolve the conflict. In the drama, “Criminal Minds”, many characters have been created, whose roles suit the crime drama. The conflict between those who are evil-minded and the champions of good has been brought about by the differences that arise between characters such as Ted, a former physicist who has now turned into a delusional psychotic, Elaine Curtis, Josh Patel, Harold Anderson, Dr. Spencer Reid and FBI agent, Elle Greenaway. The title of this crime drama is very befitting, in light of the storyline there in; this is in terms of the events and motives of the characters, who among them, even though, having been taken hostage, are victims of criminal minds. A higher percentage of the passengers in the train that has been taken hostage had sinister motives on their travels.
The playwright has managed to give this drama a title that does not only match the events as they unfold, but also gives a depiction of deep rooted evil motives that come out as a result of the antagonisms that ensue among the characters, the passengers. From a superficial view, one would imagine that the only person who has evil intentions is the schizophrenic, Ted. But as the drama unfolds, most of the other passengers, who have been taken hostage by Ted, in one way or another, have deep hidden ill motives; which are the main reasons they are on-board in the hijacked train.
This television crime show is a melodrama narrative. This is in the sense that there is a conflict between good and evil. In melodramas, evil always precedes good, but through the course of justice, the conflict is always resolved. Thus, order is normally restored when good triumphs over evil (Lang, 1989). The process that restores order involves the move by BAU team; among them is Dr. Reid Spencer, who rescues the hostages by playing with the psychology of the train hijacker, who is a psychiatric patient. The mood of the audience of this drama would entail a shift from sadness to joy, because the end of this episode is marked by rescue actions by the BAU team. The audience would therefore feel relieved when the hostages are brought out of the train safely, while the ill-motive persons fail to execute their plans. In today’s society, the realism and melodrama is seen when there is a struggle between good and evil, normally presented in films and television crime dramas (Fuery & Mansfield, 2000). The audiences would develop a feeling of relief when good triumphs over evil, an indication that the societal norms do not approve of the evil actions within the society.
The production of this drama has incorporated some element of violent actions in this crime drama: When Ted attacks the train security guard, subsequently snatching a gun from him; he viciously shoots out, thus killing the security guard. Another incident where violent action is witnessed is when Anderson, one of the passengers shoots Ted using his own gun, which he had carried on-board with a motive to go shoot his estranged wife. The illustration of consequences of violent actions such as body injuries and death of an individual would contribute in forewarning the audience about the dangers associated with violent actions. By incorporating violent actions, which threaten or damage the body of other characters, the playwright helps the audience to develop a feeling of desire for restoration of order; and they find it justifiable even if the restoration process involves use of violent actions.
The genre of this television crime drama is ‘Police Procedural’ because it entails the actions of a police unit, BAU team, which moves to the crime scene, and consequently restores order. The ‘police procedurals’ normally involve combating criminal activities by police units, with a bid to restore order (Cohan, 2008). In the case of ‘Criminal Minds’, the BAU team has taken the responsibility of saving the train hostages, among whom was one of their own, agent Elle Greenaway. From the dialogue between Hotchner and JJ, which is all about Elle’s mission to conduct an interview with a child murderer, named William Devries, it is indicative that there had been a crime that Elle has been assigned to investigate. In the real world situation, police units play the vital role of ensuring that those who perpetrate evil are dealt with, in accordance with the law (Cavender & Deutsch, 2007). This is normally done on the basis of restoration of order or justice.
The ideological representation in this crime drama about the law, justice, and criminality, indicates that crime investigation is a role of the police units. Restoration of order, and the reward of justice, heavily relies on the efforts of a police force. The evidence is drawn from the case of Elle’s mission to carry out an interview with a child murderer, William Devries, and the concerted efforts by BAU team to rescue the train hostages. There is a general feeling that criminal actions should be thwarted at all costs; both Elle and Dr. Reid have shown a great level of personal sacrifice, by getting on-board to go investigate crime, and daring the villainous schizophrenic respectively. Evil motives possessed by characters like Curtis and Anderson are commonplace in current society (Corner, 1999). The wicked minds possessed by these characters are similar to the ones, which are sometimes witnessed in the real modern world; where the crime victims are often so secretive, and would even get away with it if no proper investigations were conducted to ascertain the truth. By interweaving the secrets of the would be ‘good passengers’, whose motives of travelling are known only at the end of the events, with the evil intentions of the schizophrenic, he helps the audience to learn that the course of restoration of justice requires an indiscernible investigation, and testing(Turnbull, 2010).
This crime drama presents various key ideas: the female gender has been given a major independent role like investigating crime. The ideological representation of gender integration, therefore, becomes very evident. Other key ideas presented in this crime drama are secrets of criminal minds, mental illness, societal norms, and shrewdness in resolving conflicts. The drama aims to infuse the sense of wit in the audience. This, it does, by presenting a conflict between a schizophrenic person, the passengers, and the BAU team. The characters, such as Dr. Reid, who despite Ted being a schizophrenic devises a way of convincing him to let go of the train passengers, have demonstrated the sense of wit. The drama also incorporates characters like Patel, whose behavior represents absurdity in the society. He has been ostracized by his family members because of his bad character of drinking and driving. This character has immense value in the development of this drama; he helps the audience to understand and appreciate the need to uphold the accepted societal norms. He is an example of bad moral behavior that society does not approve of.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the episode9 of season 1 of the television crime drama, “Criminal Minds”, is about the conflict between a schizophrenic, named Ted, train passengers, and BAU team. In the drama, Ted, a schizophrenic, takes a train hostage, which was moving from El Paso to Dallas. He attacks the train security guard, snatches away his gun, and eventually shoots him to death. FBI agent, Elle, who is also on-board, is handcuffed, after the psychiatric patient has grabbed her gun, thus the situation becomes helpless. Other passengers on-board include Josh Patel, Elaine Curtis, Dr. Linda Deaton, and Harold Anderson. These other characters have hidden ill motives and bad behaviors, which are only revealed at the end of the drama. Anderson and Curtis are on-board to go shoot his estranged wife and procure an abortion respective, while Patel is a young man who drives under the influence of alcohol.
This television crime show is melodramatic because it involves conflict resolution, where good triumphs over evil. The police unit, BAU team, plays an important role in bring situation to normalcy when they take initiative to move to the crime scene to rescue the train hostages. In the end, Ted’s ill intention is subdued, and eventually, he is shot dead by Anderson when a tussle ensues between him and agent Elle, having been tricked by Dr.Reid. The involvement of police unit to avert perpetration of evil categorizes this crime drama under ‘Police procedural’. The key ideas that are presented by this crime drama include gender integration, secrets of criminal minds, and restoration of order through conflict resolution. There is demonstration of shrewdness by characters such as Dr. Reid. He is used to illustrate the power of a brilliant mind, where complex situation is solved through wit and brilliance.
The drama also demonstrate the theme of gender integration; from the beginning of this episode, it is indicated by the dialogue between Hotchner and JJ, that Elle had been assigned a duty to go carry out an interview with a child murderer, named William Devries. This is indicative of a society that seeks to incorporate female gender in the role that is highly perceived to be male’s. The shooting of Ted, a delusional psychotic, influences the success of the rescue process, thus order is restored and the train hostages are freed.
This crime drama highlights realism in the modern society by capturing conflict resolution process by the police unit. In the ‘real world’ situation, the process of restoration of order is normally tasked on the police units. It has also depicted moral concerns, where the members of the society abhor evil: Patel has been ostracized my his family members for his bad behavior of driving under the influence of alcohol, a thing that is similar with the modern society. The law and the society at large do not approve of such acts which would be detrimental to both heal and life.
Bibliography
ALCALÁ, E. F. (Director). (2005). Criminal Minds [Motion Picture].
CAVENDER, G. & DEUTSCH, S. K. (2007). CSI and moral authority: The police and science. Crime, Media, Culture, 3(1), 67-81.
COHAN, S. (2008) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: Palgrave, Houndmills.
CORNER, J. (1999). Critical Ideas in Television Studies: Clarendon Press: Oxford.
FUERY, P. & MANSFIELD, N. (2000). Cultural studies and critical theory: Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp.172-185
LANG, R. (1989) Melodrama and the Ways of the World', in his American FilmMelodrama: Griffith, Vidor, Minelli, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 3-13.
TURNBULL, S. (2010). Crime as entertainment: The case of the TV crime drama. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 24(6), 819-827.
