Episodic television reached a new height with Criminal Minds after the police procedural show put Law and Order to shame with its brilliant and gripping characters and storylines. With a unique host of individually distinct character arcs, the series grabs the audience’s imagination and doesn’t let go, even a decade and a half later.
But even as the show delivers some of the most mind-gripping and adrenaline-raging episodes in its long run, some of the plotlines fall short of impressing the viewers in the end. One such episode in the first season of Criminal Minds featured Amber Heard as a Hollywood actress with an erotomanic stalker.
Criminal Minds Brings Out the Actress in Amber Heard
Amber Heard got a common start in Hollywood by featuring as a scene extra and later as a supporting actor in films like Pineapple Express, The Joneses, and The Rum Diary. Among her television stats, Criminal Minds featured one of her earlier roles as a guest star, where she plays Hollywood actress Lila Archer who gets on the FBI’s radar after being stalked by a fan with an erotomanic obsession over her.
Historically, there have been famous cases of erotomanic criminals, one of the most prominent examples being John Hinckley Jr. who tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in March of 1981 to impress actress Jodie Foster. The Criminal Minds episode attempted to replicate a plot with a similar intensity although with the stakes much toned down.
In 1989, obsessive fan Robert John Bardo, yet another erotomanic assassin and stalker, gunned down actress Rebecca Schaeffer at the latter’s home after approaching her as a courier delivering a movie script [via Los Angeles Times]. Both Bardo and John Hinckley Jr. served as inspirations behind the Criminal Minds episode starring Amber Heard.
Despite the interesting concept, the Season 1 episode titled Somebody’s Watching failed to secure a favorable review from fans and critics alike. Its convoluted plot and lack of originality sent the ranking of Amber Heard’s episode plummeting to #40 on IMDb’s list, with a rating of 8.2 on the website.
Criminal Minds Miscasts Amber Heard as an Actress?
In the reviews that flooded in after the airing of the 2006 episode of Criminal Minds starring Amber Heard, most claimed it was moderately likable. However, one review stood out from the rest for stating how Amber Heard was miscast in the role of Lila Archer and that Kathryn Winnick, who played the murderous stalker Maggie Lowe, should have been cast as Lila instead.
Primarily, the criticism relies on the opinion that: Winnick brought more depth and range for the 90 seconds she is on camera than Heard, as a guest star, did during the entire episode. Although that opinion might vary from one fan to another, Amber Heard has retained a personal record throughout her career in Hollywood where she has been criticized often for her bland screen presence.
Most recently, Heard’s role in the Aquaman franchise (and other DCEU films) has been brought under scrutiny. Although many commented on her ludicrous acting in some of the scenes, concerns over her chemistry with lead actor Jason Momoa were also among the primary motivators of audience criticism.
DC Films President at the time, Walter Hamada, also shared his concern over the same issue, claiming that the studio came close to recasting the actress (via Rolling Stone) although they settled for paring down her screen time to 20 minutes and 11 lines. The DCEU offshoot of the CBM industry stands dismantled, as of now.
Criminal Minds is available to stream on Paramount+ and Hulu.
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