It took me a while to start watching Criminal Minds because I’m embarrassed to admit I listened to Matt Roush of TV Guide, who has this inexplicable hatred of the show. Now that I’ve seen every episode – most of them more than once, thanks to ion and A&E syndication – I honestly don’t understand his rather harsh criticism.
I can’t remember why I decided to watch a random Season 2 episode. Probably because it started off with a trio of high school soccer players, and I love soccer. It paid my bills for five or six years.
Anyway, I’m so glad I kept watching. Not only is it, in my opinion, one of the best episodes of the entire series, but it remains my favorite. It’s haunting and chilling and tragic and stomach-turning, but it is excellent.
This is one of the very, very few cases where I would argue against any type of prosecution of the two girls because they were clearly driven out of their minds by the days of sensory deprivation and psychological torture to which they were subjected. They cannot be blamed for choosing self-preservation.
I found this video on YouTube not long after I saw “North Mammon,” and it is an excellent tribute to the episode. Breaking Benjamin’s “Breath” is the perfect backdrop, matching the haunting tragedy of the story.
