Critical reception
How was the premiere reviewed?
Criminal Minds
Critical reception. The premiere episode was met with mixed reviews, receiving a score of 42 out of 100 on aggregate review site Metacritic, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Dorothy Rabinowitz said, in her review for the "Wall Street Journal", that "From the evidence of the first few episodes, "Criminal Minds" may be a hit, and deservedly" and gave particular praise to both Matthew Gray Gubler and Mandy Patinkin's performance. "The New York Times" was less than positive, saying "The problem with "Criminal Minds" is its many confusing maladies, applied to too many characters" and felt that "as a result, the cast seems like a spilled trunk of broken toys, with which the audience - and perhaps the creators - may quickly become bored. ""The Chicago Tribune" reviewer, Sid Smith, felt that the show "May well be worth a look" though he too criticized the "confusing plots and characters. ""PopMatters" panned the show, saying the show "confuses critical thinking with supernatural abilities" and criticized the "stereotypical characters". The "Los Angeles Times" gave a similar review. However, both reviewers praised Patinkin and Gubler's performances.