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Matthew Gray Gubler is not part of the 'Criminal Minds' revival, but fans can still enjoy 12 creepy episodes of the original series that were directed by him.
Updated on November 28, 2023
Published on December 9, 2022
2 min readCriminal Minds star Matthew Gray Gubler directed several fan-favorite episodes in addition to being one of the best parts of the show. He played Spencer Reid, a young, quirky, and genius agent at the Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), in all 15 seasons.
Gubler may be absent from the Criminal Minds revival this year, but fans can still enjoy an MGG marathon. Here are all the episodes he directed.
Matthew Gray Gubler directed the creepiest episodes of ‘Criminal Minds’
Most episodes of Criminal Minds dealt with seriously creepy serial killers, but the ones directed by Matthew Gray Gubler always took the creepy factor to the max. “The Lesson” is high on the list of the most disturbing installments. Gubler also knew how to evoke emotion, as “Mosley Lane” is one of the saddest episodes.
Gubler took the reigns on one or two episodes every season from seasons 5 through 14. Here’s the full list of Criminal Minds episodes Matthew Gray Gubler directed:
| Season | Episode Number | Episode Title |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 16 | “Mosley Lane” |
| 6 | 18 | “Lauren” |
| 7 | 19 | “Heathridge Manor” |
| 8 | 10 | “The Lesson” |
| 8 | 20 | “Alchemy” |
| 9 | 7 | “Gatekeeper” |
| 9 | 20 | “Blood Relations” |
| 10 | 21 | “Mr. Scratch” |
| 11 | 18 | “A Beautiful Disaster” |
| 12 | 6 | “Elliot’s Pond” |
| 13 | 7 | “The Capilanos |
| 14 | 5 | “The Tall Man” |
All episodes of Criminal Minds are available to stream on Hulu and Paramount+.
Matthew Gray Gubler once shared the secret to ‘good, spooky filmmaking’
Even Gubler has agreed that his episodes of Criminal Minds were often more unsettling than others. According to the Spencer Reid actor, that’s just his directing style. He explained his approach in an interview with TVLine ahead of the debut of “Mr. Scratch.”
“I try to approach directing from the most classic standpoint imaginable. A lot of my influences are from the old German expressionist films, and early film noir,” Gubler shared. “I think it’s a slower-paced, more subjective, less gory style of directing, and that services our episodes really well. People will always be the most scared of what they can’t see, so doing that will always make these episodes extra creepy. Showing a bit of restraint is, I think, integral to good, spooky filmmaking.”
Does Matthew Gray Gubler direct outside of ‘Criminal Minds’?
Much of Gubler’s directorial experience comes from Criminal Minds, but that wasn’t his first time directing. In 2005, he had the chance to intern for famous filmmaker Wes Anderson while appearing in Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Gubler directed a making-of documentary titled Matthew Gray Gubler’s Life Aquatic Intern Journal.
That same year, Gubler directed two shorts: The Cactus That Looked Just Like a Man and Claude: A Symphony of Horror. He later directed a mockumentary series titled Matthew Gray Gubler: The Unauthorized Documentary. Finally, Gubler directed two music videos for The Killers: “Don’t Shoot Me Santa” (2007) and “Dirt Sledding” (2015).
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