This Popular Crime Show Made Montana Look Ridiculous

We'll never understand how some TV shows never seem to get what Montana's like in reality.

Whenever Montana is displayed on television, there is a love-hate relationship. There are shows like Yellowstone that show Montana as this beautiful landscape with cowboys everywhere you go. Then there are shows such as Big Sky, which doesn't even get the geography of Montana right.

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Then there are shows like this.

One of the most popular shows among women is the crime series Criminal Minds. Every week they deal with a serial killer in different parts of America, and the show last well over ten seasons.

So I decided to find out which episodes of this show were set in a Montana town, and I found two. After watching these two episodes, Hollywood needs a reality check on what Montana looks like.

The first episode from Criminal Minds that featured Montana was a third-season episode titled Identity. This episode is set in Great Falls and deals with a man who kidnaps and murders women.

Here's the thing, the episode is good, but they make Montana look like a desolate wasteland where everyone they run into is in a militia. Great Falls is one of the most populous places in Montana, and they make it look like a town of a hundred people.

The other episode that features Montana is titled,  If The Shoe Fits. This episode deals with the team investigating murders in Missoula, Montana. Criminal Minds at least make Missoula seem like a regular Montana town but doesn't do the town justice.

Even though many Montanans will be happy that the way our state is shown in shows like this will helpfully deter tourists. We have to wonder why is Montana constantly portrayed incorrectly by Hollywood.

Maybe one day, TV shows will get it right.