About Last Night…TRANSPLANT, CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION, and LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME

Let’s talk about Thursday night’s TV!

TRANSPLANT: I know this is the final season, but I’m still impressed by how ambitious the show was in the first two episodes. And in very different ways! I’m a sucker for episodes with shifting POVs, so I loved the premiere giving us that; letting us into these characters’ lives in ways that occasionally felt unsettling, but also intimate. And then the sinkhole was just wild. Of course Bash was going to jump in to try and save the day. A really solid start to the season.

CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION: Well, even knowing what was going to happen didn’t stop me from crying a lot during this episode.

A.J. Cook was phenomenal, first of all. JJ had the weight of the world on her shoulders, trying to be strong for everyone, while pushing down the trauma of watching her freaking husband collapse in front of her. When she finally snapped at her mother-in-law, who had been minimizing JJ’s pain (and was also distraught herself after learning Will had cancer previously and hadn’t told her), to “grow the f— up or get the f— out” I gasped. It was raw, real, and just so sad.

And when JJ finally cracked, wow, it broke me. (As did the really effective use of flashbacks.) Grief is messy, grief is not linear, I can’t imagine how bad this pain is going to be to watch this season, but what an extraordinary showcase for Cook. And how fantastic of the writers not to shoehorn a whole new case into the episode.

The rest of the BAU was fantastic at showing their support in big and small ways, too. Rossi trying to talk with the moms was a great scene. I love how Prentiss and Garcia were there for JJ, literally and figuratively. And, of course, Spencer showed up. It’s really, really, really not easy to incorporate an important character back into this world without having it overwhelm and overshadow the central focus, but I thought the writers did a great job of having Spencer be there, reunite with the team, but still not be the focus of the episode. There wasn’t a lot of dialogue in his scenes, but even seeing how many of the characters took big deep breaths of relief when they saw him said so much. (And Rossi’s kisses! My heart.)

As tragic as the search for the missing gift was, I do love the bittersweet notion that it was a “How-To Guide”…and the painful reality that Henry’s grief will be very different than his brother’s; he had already learned so many of the things mentioned from their dad. This family is going to be going through a lot and I ache for them.

Zach Gilford is very good at playing Voit. It alarms me if I can’t tell if Voit is this good of an actor or if he actually has (at least temporarily) changed. (My TV-loving brain says this is a scam. But.)

On a real-life note, everything about Linda Lavin’s guest appearance felt extra tragic in the aftermath of her recent death. I’m glad JJ got a resolution/reconciliation here, of sorts. But my goodness Lavin was incredible here. What a stellar final performance.

[For more on the episode, here’s what Kirsten Vangsness shared about Matthew Gray Gubler‘s return]

LAW & ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME: I know we’re not literally in some kind of purgatory, but so much of this season feels like it was calculated specifically to torment Elliot, exploiting his most vulnerable spots.

The Eli of it all still feels like it’s a tenuous situation, very capable of being a strong storyline or a total disaster. But his mocking and minimizing Elliot’s therapy broke my heart. We know Elliot’s father beat him when he expressed emotions as a kid and he was taught to bottle them up. Elliot has been trying to unlearn that harmful mindset (with varying degrees of success!) for decades; this season has arguably shown the most growth we’ve ever seen from him. And yet there’s his son, belittling the work he’s done, undercutting the lived experience he’s gone through as a cop.

Meloni was just fantastic as Elliot absorbed the snarky blow from his son; it actually hurt to watch Elliot fight to try and keep the encouraging smile on his face and not show how much the dismissal hurt him.

And Eli’s figurative temper tantrum isn’t just impacting him, it’s breaking Becky. It’s not a one-to-one comparison, but this has to be the first time Elliot really has a concrete idea of what Kathy went through in their marriage. Yes, Elliot didn’t spiral like this immediately post-Maureen (as far as we know), but he certainly shut Kathy out at various points in their relationship; it was part of why she left him for years. And while Elliot logically knew that, and has obviously struggled with the guilt over their marital issues, his perception of it all was biased: He knew why he had to commit to the job the way he did, how he was saving countless lives, etc. Right now, with Eli and Becky, he’s seeing the agony Becky’s in. The commitments Eli is missing. Heck, even seeing how Eli is changing so fast. (And how painful it must be for Elliot to watch his son not handle his first fatal shooting well given Elliot’s own painful history with that.)

But I’m glad Becky has Elliot, that she can be honest with him about her fears. Kiaya Scott absolutely held her own with Meloni, portraying Becky’s exhausted grief so well. (Also, the fact that Eli missed a meal with Becky’s parents?! NOT GOOD. Becky is basically parenting two kids right now.)

Right now, Eli feels like a slow-motion train wreck and I just don’t know if Elliot will be able to change the course he’s on. Eli has to want to actually accept the help, and if Becky and (maybe) Owen aren’t enough to pull him out of this, I’m afraid of what his rock bottom might be. And the fact everyone has told Elliot that Eli is only doing this career because of him has to be eating him alive as he watches his son suffer.

There was also a parallel with the case: Skye could see the troubled path her boyfriend was on, but he refused to acknowledge his grief/stress and instead focused on the mission they were on. She couldn’t take it, but her attempt to leave ended up being a fatal decision. Eli obviously would never do that, but Becky is still in the crosshair as he refuses to deal with reality versus trying to escape.

Also, Elliot discovering Vargas has been teaming up with Randall was so funny. It’s a terrible situation, but I appreciated that moment of lightness. And, man, do I hate the agony we saw in that final scene with Joe Jr. and Bernie. Bernie is so sad and worried about Joe Jr. who refuses to get help. WTF, Stabler men. How is Elliot Stabler the Stabler man most aware of and conscientious of his feelings? (Yes, I’d argue even more than Randall.)

Going to state the obvious: Of course I missed Bell and Reyes. In a perfect world, I’d love for every regular to be in every episode. It stinks that’s not the reality of television in 2025. But I am grateful a) they actually paired their absences together. I would rather have a few episodes missing them, with the team largely intact for the majority of the season, versus them rarely being together this year and b) I am very grateful the writers didn’t take the need to write out Elliot’s team for a few episodes as an excuse to send him undercover.

And, hey, Tanner was fun. Her dynamic with Elliot and Vargas, so far, has been interesting to watch. (Poor Vargas. He’s going to be scarred from his arrest for a while.) But, man, Jet would have loved this case.

(Am I deeply concerned about Elliot’s tremors? YEP. Am I going to stick my head in the sand about that right now? Also yep!)

Which shows did you watch last night?

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