Hotch: Buford's the one who told detectives you were with Damien.
Derek: I'm warning you, Hotch. Back off!
This is one of my favorite episodes, because of the fact it takes you through the past history of one of the team members. Special FBI Behavior Analysis Agent, Derek Morgan.
During this episode, Derek is the suspect of three local homicides in his home city of Chicago. When he first arrives in town for his mother's birthday, he is being followed around by undercover cops. He goes to an unmarked grave, of a kid he helped bury when he was fifteen, after that he goes to the youth center and throws the ball around with two kids. One of the kids needed a ride home- Damien Walters- so Derek gives him a lift on his way to his mother's house. This made Derek the last person to see Damien alive. While giving gifts to his mom, and being teased by her and his sisters about not bearing any children yet. The doorbell rings. Derek answers the door, and for the first time in years he gets arrested in front of his family. During being interrogating, by a cop that has had it out for him his whole life, he asks for his one phone call to Agent Hotch. The detective tells him that Agent Hotch had already gotten a call, and then goes right into interrogating him. Agent Hotch and the team, arrive in Chicago demanding to see Agent Morgan. Agent Gideon had apparently leaded the leading agent on the murder cases to Derek, with a profile that he did a routine consult with. As the show goes on, Criminal Minds fans learn that Derek had a criminal record that was sealed by a judge, because of a letter from Carl Buford, Derek’s mentor. Buford meets with the BAU, and also fits the profile but the lead detective dismisses the fact; stating that Buford was an upstanding member of the community, and never could commit such a heinous crime. After Agent Hotch talks with Derek, and we see him break down; he escapes. Cops swarm the city looking for him. Derek makes his way to the youth center, and talks with James; a young boy who is just like he was at that age. They talk, and people find out that he was molested as a child. He wants to get James to speak up about it. Once that is done, he finally confronts Buford about everything and the police arrest Buford for everything. Derek is seen at the end at Damien’s funeral and has pledged to keep the youth center running. The episode in itself reviles a lot of Derek’s past and tells you why he is who he is today.
Morgan: You go to hell.
Criminal Minds has been on the air since 2005, when it became a hit. The episode of this big series I choose to write on, Profiler Profiled, first aired on CBS in 2006 during Criminal Minds second season. The character of Derek Morgan is portrayed by Shemar Moore, who does a great job in the portrayal of Agent Morgan. Shemar said on an interview (I’m not sure which one I heard him say it on, or even if I am quoting him right.) “…that is was hard to play a character you have no background on, but this episode really helped shed some light on who his character was supposed to be. “ With this episode shedding some light on Shemar’s character, he took the character and became the Derek Morgan we all love and want to see every day.
There were only a few points in this whole episode that I hated to watch, even if the writing of the episode was very thought out. They only gave us glimpses of Derek’s past, and a photo that looked of what he might look like as a teen. Why not show his criminal past? Show him getting arrested before by the same cop or something, instead of diving right into the whole spill about his past. Actually show the fans something, don’t leave it up to just imagination. What happened to his family? After he got arrested, they only showed up once in the show talking to Agents Prentiss and Reid. I really believe that the writers should have added more family time into the show. Show his mother worrying about her baby boy or something. I mean this was just the first time that they are shown, and correct me if I am wrong, but as watching the rest of the seasons his family never shows up again. Then you have the whole black and white racism thing. In truth it added something to the show, but in my mind all I could think was of ways that could have been handled better. I know Derek is mixed, it shows when you see his mother, but still I think it would have been better if they would of left the whole racism thing out and just have a black cop after him, not a white one.
Now on to the parts I liked about the show. Well written, I have to give that to the writers, though the things I said above should be added in to make for a perfect show. But what show is perfect? The writers can’t do everything, we as viewers should be able to see in between the script to see how marvelous this episode was. We actually get to see why Derek is who he is. I like the fact that the writers thought to give him such a deep past. Being molested is not right at all, and I think showing the fact that he regrets not telling after all these years adds to the show. I mean the big tough black guy with a wow past that no one knew about until after this episode. That just brings a sense of what are the writers going to do next? Are we going to learn about another BAU member’s past? Who knows what the writers have in store.
The acting was spot on, if I was Shemar (Which I could never be, seeing how I am female.), I don’t know if I could have pulled off acting as well as he did. He got so much information about his character, which would eventually lead in the potential changing of the character’s overall emotions. I can report without spoiling too much, that his character does change but it is very slight, and you don’t catch it usually until you re watch the episodes past this one. Shemar did an amazing job on being Morgan before this past reviling tear jerker episode, and made an even more amazing Morgan after the episode. One who is just a bad ass, who is trying to rid the world of the worst criminals, one at a time. His focus after this became on criminals who dealt with kids, it never set right with him, and after people saw this episode they knew why he felt the way he did.
Overall I give this episode an 8/10 rating. Was it the best I’ve seen? Close, but the writers need to fix what I ask of them to fix for me to give it a full 10/10. The episode is so full of twist and turns that you never see coming, so if you haven’t already watched it I suggest you do. I have embedded some links to the full episode (Give or take a few scenes) from Youtube. If you don’t watch Criminal Minds, you should give it a try some day. It is a great show, that you will not want to miss.