Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds is an American crime drama series that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. The show follows the adventures of a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) at Quantico, Virginia.

Similarities between Criminal Minds and Shadow Unit
There are a number of similarities between the characters, settings, plots, and general atmosphere between the two shows.


 * Both teams fly to the scene in Gulfstream jets.
 * Criminal Minds episodes usually have opening and closing quotes and a number of Shadow Unit episodes begin with quotes.
 * They both have a cast of characters who are unusually attractive for FBI agents (sorry, this is like saying they're both TV shows)

There's a loose lineup between some pairs of characters:
 * Chaz Villette and Spencer Reid
 * both are relatively young
 * both have multiple PhDs
 * both are less comfortable with firearms than the rest of the team
 * both spent a portion of their childhood in Las Vegas


 * Nicolette Lau and Jennifer Jareau (JJ)
 * have the same role as media liason
 * are both the "pretty one" of the group
 * both are very good liars/bluffers


 * Hafidha Gates and Penelope Garcia
 * mostly they're both computer wizards
 * both have a unique sense of personal style
 * both are irreverent to the point of annoyance to their superiors
 * both had parents who were hippies


 * Daphne Worth and Elle Greenaway
 * mostly they were each the new kid on the team at the beginning of each show


 * Daphne Worth and Emily Prentiss
 * both are the newest members of the team
 * felt unsure of themselves at first
 * both were determined to be a part of the team


 * Esther Falkner and Aaron Hotchner
 * both are reputed to have no sense of humor
 * both have very good poker faces
 * both are team-players
 * both are the "mom" of the team


 * Solomon Todd and David Rossi
 * both are published authors
 * both were founding members of their respective units

Differences between Criminal Minds and Shadow Unit

 * The Criminal Minds BAU is based in Quantico, while the Shadow Unit BAU is based in Washington, DC.
 * The Criminal Minds jet, while always a Gulfstream, changes model from show to show. Sometimes, the jet is a Gulfstream IV, sometimes a Gulfstream V, sometimes a Gulfstream 450. Shadow Unit, on the other hand, consistently flies in a Gulfstream 450, as described in the very first episode, "Breathe". (This is likely due to budgetary limitations at Criminal Minds, as the aerial shots of their Gulfstream are stock promotional film.)
 * To date, none of the Shadow Unit cast members have abandoned the show. The original star of Criminal Minds, Mandy Patinkin (who played Jason Gideon), failed to show up on the first day of shooting of Season 3, causing no end of headaches for the production staff.
 * Criminal Minds agents have Facebook pages, while Shadow Unit agents have LiveJournals.

Criminal Minds Influences on Shadow Unit
Many of The Powers That Be have acknowledged Criminal Minds as an influence on Shadow Unit; in fact, Emma Bull's Shadow Unit origin story specifically calls out Criminal Minds. Also see the Internet Review of Science Fiction story and the quote from Elizabeth Bear here.

Elizabeth Bear critiques new Criminal Minds episodes on her LiveJournal under the geeks with guns tag. She also reviews new episodes at Tor.com.

Hafhida Gates watches Criminal Minds and has commented on some of Bear's reviews. 

Shadow Unit Influences on Criminal Minds
While there is no categorical proof, several things have happened in Seasons 4 and later of Criminal Minds that may be referring to Shadow Unit:
 * The name of Criminal Minds agent Jordan Todd may be a reference to Shadow Unit agent Solomon Todd.
 * The UNSUB in Criminal Minds episode 4x09 "Pickup" had heterochromia, as does Chaz Villette.
 * In Criminal Minds episode 4x10 "Brothers in Arms", the UNSUB is targeting police officers and the BAU holds a press conference to lure the UNSUB into attacking them instead. This is eerily similar to Shadow Unit episode 1x07 "Overkill", where the team holds a press conference to bait their UNSUB into going after them.
 * In Criminal Minds episode 4x15 "Zoe's Reprise", Detective Dan Brady may be a reference to Shadow Unit agent Daniel Brady.
 * In Criminal Minds episode 5x12 "The Uncanny Valley", the actress playing the medical examiner looks as if she could play Dr. Frost.
 * The opening quotation for Criminal Minds episode 6x18 "Lauren" was from Elizabeth Bear's novella "Seven for a Secret":
 * "The secret to lying is to believe with all your heart. That goes for lying to yourself even more than lying to another."


 * In Criminal Minds episode 8x9 "Magnificent Life", the Cop of the Week was played by Matthew Yang King, who plays Arthur Tan on Shadow Unit.

There has been some discussion about this on the SU message boards, as well as on Elizabeth Bear's LiveJournal.  

Links
Criminal Minds IMDB page

Criminal Minds official page at CBS.com