Ode to TV Shows: Breaking Down One of my Favorite TV Pilots

We’re all watching a lot of television right now, and I have to say it: I really love TV. As a kid, I watched way too much of it. Sort of out of laziness, but also because I simply loved it. My opinions weren’t fabulous for a long time, but my tastes have refined with time.

When I studied abroad in college, I took a screenwriting class. I’m a prose writer through and through, but screenwriting is awesome. Truly a great skill in the craft of writing! We watched various short films, beginnings of movies, and pilots. It really made me appreciate both the writing and the filmmaking, and I began noticing little things more and more in the shows I watched.

Right now, as I write this, I’m re-watching one of my favorite pilots: Criminal Minds. Let me tell you, it’s not perfect, but it’s pretty damn good. This is all the opinion of someone who doesn’t make shows or movies, it’s of someone who makes novels and short stories, so I’m not the most reliable source. But I’m a fan, and I think that’s enough.

One thing I always remember from this class is that the most important part of a TV show pilot (for an hour-long show) is the first fifteen minutes. It’s the part I love to pay the most attention to.

So Criminal Minds. We open on an abduction; we see a fancy car, the girl who’s about to go missing, and we establish the kind of show we’re going to watch (as if we didn’t know already with this one, but that’s beside the point). It’s quick and leaves plenty of questions. Then we meet Hotch, and we find out his wife is expecting. We don’t know much about him, but we see he’s got a soft spot in his otherwise tough persona. Haley, his wife, mentions Gideon. It’s someone important, and we’re going to know him. But not yet.

Then we meet playboy Derek Morgan. He’s at a bar talking to some women, quizzing them on serial killers and famous psychopaths. Here, we see what kind of crime show we’re dealing with. Morgan gets a call from the BAU, and the women ask him about Gideon. We’re more curious about this guy and the allusions to what’s come before this case. We get more insight into the characters, and we’re moving the plot forward.

Next we switch to the legendary Gideon, who is teaching a seminar on profiling. We get to see what exactly it is he does, and how smart and perceptive you have to be to be a part of the BAU. And you can tell he’s a bit guarded—about something that everyone’s been alluding to, perhaps?

Dr. Spencer Reid (my favorite person) comes into the room and points at a case file—is this the case we’re off to solve with the woman and the car? We begin see the father-son bond between Gideon and Reid here, though subtly. They talk about the case, who the kidnapper might be, and in walks Hotch and Morgan. They give a rundown of the woman we first saw in the beginning of the episode and say they’re off to Seattle. They say it’s time for Gideon to get back in the saddle. Cool, so we know he’s been out of the field, but now he’s going to make his big return.

Our team is established. They talk about the particulars on a jet plane en route to Washington, they meet the local detectives, and they begin their work. This will become the routine of the show. Then they visit the crime scenes and meet the woman’s brother, and we learn about her, meaning we’re picking up victimology. Derek is skeptical of Gideon’s mental state, Hotch is analyzing Gideon to report back to the FBI Director. We can tell that Derek isn’t completely on his side and that he questions his authority, but Hotch? He’s harder to read. Both of these things tell us about these characters. We learn that Reid is a genius but highly underestimated because of his age. We see that Gideon introduces him as “Dr. Reid” because of his youth to ensure he is respected. We can also see that Gideon respects his team, but he is a bit detached from them. All the nuances that are key to insuring that we become invested in these dynamics, right? And we have questions about these people. The kind that makes us want to know more about them, not the kind that leaves us so wildly confused.

My main issue with the first fifteen minutes is that it is very clearly portraying “the boys club.” We definitely have some diversity among the people we see so far, but there are very few women seen onscreen. This show, throughout its run, has had some incredible, badass women. Seriously. There are two we get to meet in this episode, even. But guess what minute mark we first see Elle Greenway. Fifteen. Not long after, we get our queen Penelope Garcia. I do love the way Elle is introduced, because you don’t know that she’s vying for a coveted BAU spot and this is her trial run. You think she might be another victim, maybe even an accomplice to the killer. Then BAM, she arrests the suspect. You get her quick rundown immediately following, as you did for the rest of the team. Penelope is still a bit of a mystery, but she’s sassy and you know you love her already.

If we could’ve gotten Elle’s introduction just a minute or two earlier, it would’ve been *chef’s kiss*. But we didn’t, and therefore I’m less inclined to call this one perfect.

But again, it’s pretty damn good. We get very different characters, we see the dynamics among them. We get hints to the past that we know will come into play. All while pushing forward the episodic arc. And for this kind of show specifically, laying out the formula you’re going to get with the series.

These are the things I love to see in the first fifteen minutes of a pilot. Obviously, much more is set up in the remainder of the episode—and the second ep is arguably just as important—but the first fifteen minutes are the make-or-break.

There are plenty of excellent TV pilots I can go on and on about (and maybe I will), but I’ll stop rambling. I just love film and television and storytelling in general. While laziness is definitely a factor in my too-much-TV-watching, it’s also great love, like I said. And I’m a storyteller. It’s called research, y’all. I mean, I just binged all three seasons of Stranger Things in two and a half days for WIP research, and it was incredible help.

Actually, now that I think about it, I was watching Criminal Minds for a bit of research when I first started my WIP…I guess I gotta watch it all now. Spencer Reid, here I come!