Although it's a Garcia-oriented episode, "Exit Wounds" doesn't make the mistake of over-using her at the expense of the rest of the team. The BAU have a great dynamic together, and they are all interesting. The case itself has intensity and suspense, even if conceptually somewhat standard which doesn't quite make it stand out as much as other episodes. Morgan and Garcia's chemistry is light-hearted, with the flirtatiousness not as over-used or as annoying as it could be, and heart-warming, and while the case could have had more profiling the profiling and pathology are still intriguing. The story begins effectively with a very suspenseful opening sequence and ends just as much with a sweet and amusing ending, these kinds of endings can feel tacky but it was a very nice way to end.
The script is structurally taut with a good mix of humour, pathos, thought-provoking moments and mystery. However, as always, "Exit Wounds" is very well made and has a lot of atmosphere. While tense undeniably, the climax is rather predictable and not that much different to other stand-offs on 'Criminal Minds' and other crime/mystery/procedural shows in general. There is actually not very much that's wrong with "Exit Wounds", other than some supporting characters fare better than others, for example the unsub is one of not many on the show that's easy to feel for somewhat despite their crimes but others like the sheriff characters are dull clichés with not much personality or development. It will be, and has been, picked apart for geographical errors, but to be honest this is not the first time and last time that this has applied to 'Criminal Minds'.
Rather than being a great/top-tier 'Criminal Minds' episode, "Exit Wounds" is one of the solid/very good ones, nowhere near down there with the low-points of the show like "Machismo", "The Thirteenth Step", "I Love You Tommy Brown" and the worst of Season 9 ("200", "The Black Queen") and Season 11 (too many to list). "Exit Wounds" is not one of the best Season 5 episodes, like "100", ".A Thousand Words", "The Uncanny Valley" and "Mosley Lane", but it fares much better than "Parasite" and from memory "The Performer" and "Haunted".