The previous six Season 14 episodes were somewhat mixed. While "300" and "The Tall Man" were great and both are season high points, "Starter Home" in particular disappointed. As well as planning to watch the whole season without fail, "Twenty Seven's" story and its structure sounded really interesting and if done well it had real potentil to be a good episode at least. Can understand any run out of ideas complaints for the latter seasons, but there are far worse cases of that than "Twenty Seven".
Personally liked "Twenty Seven" a lot better than the previous reviewers. By all means, it is a long way from 'Criminal Minds' at its best (also miles away from being a low-point). To me though, it was one of the better and more interesting Season 14 episodes and had more tension than most of the season. Is it perfect? Nope. Does it have a lot of good things? Oh yes from personal view. If people were mixed or indifferent to "Twenty Seven" that is fine with me.
Am going to begin with the imperfections. Much has been said about Reid's distractingly unrealistic CPR, that will distract even those with not much medical experience.
Did feel that "Twenty Seven" ran out of steam at the end. The climax just felt too pat and too neatly wrapped up and the coda somehow didn't fit within the rest of the episode tonally after so much tension beforehand.
Conversely, "Twenty Seven" does so much very well indeed. It is slickly and atmospherically shot, with the camera angles helping heightening the tension. The music adds to the atmosphere too, not overbearing it in tone or placement. It is both tautly and sympathetically directed, the earlier scenes have a real urgency and the latter scenes bring a lump to the throat. The dialogue is thought-provoking and taut, especially when the team get closer to the truth and when things are revealed.
On top of that, the story is very compelling in my view and the real time structure stops things from being predictable. Really loved the increasing tension and urgency that the case had. The identity of the responsible wasn't the biggest of shocks but even that wasn't obvious too early, and when it comes to unsubs from this season "Twenty Seven" has among the most interesting where one feels their pain and loss, with one of the season's most plausible and resonant motives, while in no way condoning their actions. The social/morality issue is a very relevant and resonant one today and important to address, something that "Twenty Seven" does very well and hard-hittingly indeed.
Loved the team, all of them serve a point and all play an active role in solving the case (even Tara) with plenty to contribute. The character interaction is on point, Prentiss and Mendoza are adorable together. All the regulars are great, as are intense yet moving Joshua Elijah Reese and Tre Hall.
Summing up, one of the best of the season if not a 'Criminal Minds' high point. 7/10