Droogie

Okey-dokey. You carry on now.

OK -- this is just for clarification of what I am actually saying, and then you can have the last word on it; I'll be finished. The ability to put oneself into the proverbial shoes of another for understanding is empathy. If you lose a parent, I can empathize because I've lost a parent. Sympathy is the feeling of compassion for another's situation without necessarily feeling his or her feelings. i know I don't have to provide you with definitions, because master's degree. But this is what I mean. And I'm sorry to have derailed the discussion from Spencer Reid, who is the reason I am here in the first place. ?

Congratulations. I still don't think we agree though. I don't mind -- no desire to argue.

I don't think Reid is even remotely capable of such things. But I think he fears that he could be, or he once feared it, at any rate. "I know what it's like to be afraid of your own mind." He feared a schizophrenic break, true. But I think he saw ingredients in his upbringing that could've produced a recipe for disaster. And his childhood was pretty bleak: no real peers, a schizophrenic mother to care for when he was still a child, no dad, the object of intense bullying...

I don't know if we agree. To empathize is to be able to put oneself in another's shoes. I think Reid has an uncanny ability to do that.

I think that's where a lot of his empathy comes from. Whether he's mistaken about it, I think Reid thinks he could have easily become like them. I don't believe he's ever given himself any credit for his strength of character.

Y'know, I'm a fan of the character of Morgan and, more often than not, I enjoyed Morgan's and Reid's scenes together. And I really miss that. But I thought SM was a little wooden in this episode, and his appearance didn't do a lot to further the plot -- we could've gotten his intel another way. Plus I found his scene with Garcia to be just a bit OTT.

I would've totally reacted like Penelope, when JJ is on the phone saying they would hear weird stuff (while Spencer is dancing with Cat). "I'm sorry, full stop." (Sorry; I seem to be doing an independent play-by-play. Ignore me.)

Yeah, I got to that part as well. Could they have the same fantasy? So much to delve into here. I'm at the point where JJ pulled Spencer off Cat, his hands around her throat... he kept repeating "I'm going to kill you." Would he have, do you think, if JJ hadn't been there? I honestly don't know the answer.

Ok, I just rewatched Green Light and now I'm at the beginning of a rewatch of this episode. Cat tells Reid to open his eyes and look at her like she's the first woman he has seen after being in prison for three months. He opens his eyes to the opulent dinner table with a gorgeous Cat seated across from him. Does that mean that's Reid's fantasy? Edited to add: I am just as big a Hotch fan as most, second to Reid. This finale had nothing to do with Hotch. Sure, maybe it might have mentioned him but it did not. Can we move on and discuss what was actually on the screen? We are eight months removed from the unfortunate events that changed the show. And everyone who thought the show hinged on Hotch just knew that the S12 episode order would be cut and there was no way we would get S13. But golly-gee, here we are. So don't automatically assume S14 is impossible. Because it simply is not.

Most likely any glimpses of a stand-in are fleeting at best, so it would hardly matter that they aren't twins. And anyway, a stand-in for TG is completely unnecessary at this point (unfortunate though that may be). However, it was nice of them to give him some screen time.

The thing is, it's not a new Reid. He has always had it in him; he has always been a badass. It manifests itself differently with him -- he doesn't kick in doors, or bash in heads. He verbally annihilates, outsmarts, out-thinks. He brushes off insults about the fact that he doesn't look like a Morgan, doesn't act like a Hotch. But he is the first -- and often only -- one to go in to a dangerous situation, unarmed and unprotected, prepared to use only his mind and his words. And Reid is the only one, has always been the only one, to identify with the Unsubs, to risk his life for them. It never generated the awe that it should have. There is nothing more badass than that. He was at the end of his tether, in prison -- we saw how far he would go. Maybe he would have even gone further, but thankfully, he was released. But this Reid is merely an extension of the man he has always been. Reid has always stuck his neck out, always risked himself, always been willing to go down for the cause. Real bravery is being terrified and doing it anyway.

Well, I'm exhausted. Great finale.

I've just caught up on all this and I honestly feel sick with anticipation. At any rate, this finale really needed to be extended to 90 minutes. Nobody better be pregnant with Reid's baby by any means. They torture us with his tangible loneliness for 12 years and this is what they would do to him? Sweet, chivalrous, brilliant, gentle man? Aw, HAIL no. I'd be finished with this show. Finis. Finito. The end. Dunzo. My husband was kind enough to offer to watch the Penguins lose to the Capitals on our bedroom TV so I can watch on the big one, but maybe I should say no-- I may throw a brick through it.

Exactly! So then it sort of flies in the face of Spencer telling Calvin earlier that he was going to survive playing by the rules -- and now look. So much fodder to explore in the future. I hope the writers are up to it.