On this week’s episode of Criminal Minds, the team heads to Kansas during tornado season and JJ (A.J. Cook) handles a stormy situation at home.

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Maelstrom on the Home Front

As a new case comes in, JJ is dealing with her own problems, thanks to her job. Will (guest star Josh Stewart) is upset that JJ is heading off to work again instead of staying home with their sick son, Henry.

The two argue about JJ’s job and it does not feel like the first time they have had such a conversation. Will points out that JJ’s previous job at the Pentagon allowed her to be home more often, but JJ says that she was not helping anyone in that job. JJ offers to stay home with her family, but Will tells her to go and seems sincere about it.

Keeps Raining All the Time

There is nothing like a little stormy weather to cover up your crimes. The UnSub in this episode kills during tornados and leaves his victims out in the storm, so it is hard for the authorities to tell if the damage to the bodies is the UnSub’s work or if it is the result of the storm. With help from the medical examiner, the team realizes that the UnSub is taking limbs from his victims post-mortem.

Weather-Related Problems

During the case, JJ gets a call from Will saying that Henry had a seizure and is in the hospital. Though Will says that Henry is fine, JJ wants to head home and Hotch (Thomas Gibson) gives her the okay. Unfortunately, all flights out of the area are canceled due to the weather and JJ is forced to stay where she is.

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In an interestingly icky twist, the team figures out that the UnSub is trying to build a new body for his dead brother, like something out of Frankenstein. The UnSub lost his brother in a tornado several years earlier and believes that if the storm can take life, it can also give it back.

When the team tracks down the UnSub, a tornado is fast approaching and the UnSub abandons his latest victim to proceed into the storm with his “brother,” aka the half-built headless body. The team and the victim get to safety but the UnSub is swept away by the storm.

A Happy Ending

Though the storms keep JJ from returning home, Will puts her on the phone with Henry so she can read him a bedtime story. Once again, the little boy playing JJ’s son is AJ Cook’s real-life son, Mekhai, whom Cook tweeted about prior to the episode’s airing, saying that she is a “proud mama.” Cook and her son have excellent on-screen chemistry, proving that the casting choice was a good move.

Were you happy to see Will and Henry return in tonight’s episode? Do you think JJ can keep her family together and continue on in the job she loves? And, most importantly, when are we going to see a playdate between Henry and Hotch’s son, Jack?

On the next episode of Criminal Minds, Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness) asks for the team’s help when a member of her survivor’s support goes disappears.

Megan Cole
Contributing Writer

(Image courtesy of CBS)

Megan Cole

Contributing Writer, BuddyTV