Criminal Minds executive producer Ed Bernero was a Chicago cop for 10 years. As the crime drama prepares for a supposedly explosive fourth season on September 24, 9pm on CBS, Bernero relates what he does to motivate his fellow writers and actors and make them feel, in essence, how they should feel when in pursuit of criminals. Using the example of a simple, mundane foot chase, Bernero starts by detailing how the emotion and physical exhaustion would really feel.
“A few weeks ago,” he began his lesson on a column, “I used this "war story" to explain to a member of my cast what he would be feeling when he ran out onto a subway platform and realized he had lost sight of the dangerous suspect he was chasing (if you watch the
Criminal Minds season premiere, you'll know the exact moment I'm talking about). I told him that foot chases aren't just about physical exertion. They are emotional roller coasters.”
Bernero feels it is massively important to let those who are part of
Criminal Minds to know and vicariously feel how it really is, especially since a majority of the cast play as cops.
“This is the sort of thing I try to relate to my fellow writers and cast. How it feels to be a cop.”
Criminal Minds chronicles the adventures of a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Distinguishing itself from other police dramas and procedurals,
Criminal Minds claims it focuses more on the criminal themselves rather than the crime itself or the method used in committing it.
Criminal Minds stars
Thomas Gibson as FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner,
Joe Mantegna as FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi,
Shemar Moore as FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan,
Matthew Gray Gubler as FBI BAU Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid, and
AJ Cook as FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau.
-Glenn L. Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source:
Seattle Pi
(Image Courtesy of CBS)