JJ (A.J. Cook) fills out her exit interview survey.

The central case of this episode revolves around a situation anybody who followed the Natalee Holloway case will recognize. Kate Joyce (guest star Anna Lunberry) leaves for vacation with a few friends, but goes missing after a night of partying at a bar with Jimmy Barrett and Syd Pearson (guest stars Christopher Marquette and Michael Welch, respectively). Marquette and Welch are perfectly creepy, portraying Barrett and Pearson as equally arrogant and conniving. The two men are soon suspected of Kate’s kidnapping, and it’s a race against the clock to try to find her alive.

Despite the well-executed case, the standout plotline within the episode is obviously the departure of JJ (A.J. Cook).

The way she leaves the BAU nearly mirrors the way the actress left the show in real life, and the dialogue is brilliant – a clear slap in the face to the CBS executives who forced Cook out. The words are wrought with emotion, seemingly conveying the actors’ feelings about the situation. Simply put, it feels like the writers transplanted the real-life circumstances surrounding Cook’s departure onto our television screens, which makes the episode feel that much more real.

I love how this episode feels like it could have come straight out of a vault of forgotten season one scripts. In recent years, I’ve felt like Criminal Minds has slowly started to devolve into just another crime drama. In season one, they focused more on the behavioral analysis, using subtle hints and deceptive tactics to get the unsubs to reveal information – which re-emerges with this case. Additionally, the greenscreen technique they used to use when the characters were analyzing past behavior is back. It might seem cheesy to others, but I love how the greenscreen inserts the characters into the crime as it happens – it has a certain sense of intimacy.

Left to Right: JJ (Cook) says goodbye to Morgan (Shemar Moore), Prentiss (Paget Brewster), Rossi (Joe Mantegna), and Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler).

By episode’s end, I cried when the characters said their goodbyes to JJ, I laughed at the subtle in-jokes that were scattered throughout, and I developed a gaping hole in my heart where JJ used to be – which was dug even deeper by the montage of JJ moments that played over her ending monologue. A message to all television writers: this is how you write a farewell episode. A farewell episode should be fulfilling, have some tidbits for long-time fans to appreciate, and showcase all of the great qualities of the departing character. If A.J. Cook, or Erica Messer (the episode’s writer), do not get some sort of formal recognition for “JJ,” there is definitely something wrong with awards shows.

I’m thankful for my years spent with this family. […] This isn’t what I want, but I will take the high road. […] There are things we don’t want to happen, but have to accept. Things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without, but have to let go. – Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer “JJ” Jareau