zannej

The discussion of the border guards reminded me that in addition to having the border guards, there are some places where they have checkpoints 60 miles from the border (I believe they are allowed to have them up to 100 miles from the border). Now, legally all they are supposed to do is ask people to confirm whether or not they are US citizens. They can't legally search a vehicle or confiscate property without permission of the owner. Unfortunately, the actual law is not being observed and there have been incidents of people having their windows smashed in, being tasered inside their own cars, and all sorts of violations-- many of which are being perpetuated against US citizens and not immigrants. But it seems that the victims of said transgressions are mostly minorities. Since Reid is a white male AND an FBI agent, they likely would just tell him to go right through. But Nadi/Rosa would probably have been stopped and harassed. So, her making the 5 hour trip each way makes even less sense.

Ugh. Keep Amaya but please get rid of Nate! I'm not looking forward to future interactions with them. They were just forced together in such an unnatural and hokey way. There is zero chemistry between them.

Well, if Hotch was written as in-character and the way he'd been established in the earlier seasons, his approach would have differed from Emily's. But, you're right in that the current writers probably wouldn't have changed much of anything.

Yeah, they could probably tell Snart he ends up dead and his sister ends up without her brother and that if he throws in with them he will be able to change things so his father does not turn out to be such a d-bag and he and his sister have better lives with happy childhoods. They can even promise to make things better for his pal Mick for him as well.

I also felt that there was something just missing in terms of emotional impact-- but maybe it was because I had to re-watch because the initial broadcast was unwatchable. I wonder if the broadcast problem for CBS for that one area affected the ratings at all. It was probably too small of a sampling to matter. Reid going down to Mexico to get some herbal remedy that he might have been able to mix up himself if he just got the right herbs didn't make sense. So, what if he encountered Scratch in Houston the first time or if he was so desperate he went to Mexico and encountered Scratch that first time-- because when he was asked about what happened the "first time" in Mexico he ended up talking about what happened when Rosa was killed. What if he trusted her because Scratch manipulated him to trust her and he didn't know he was being influenced? Did they ever say whether the more detailed tox screen came back? As for the eidetic memory, thank you for the information, but Reid has shown that if he focuses on remembering something he heard, he can remember it in detail without having to see it written down. Perhaps he creates a visual in his head to remember. So writing the name down on his arm of all places didn't seem to make sense. I suspect Scratch made him write it. I rolled my eyes at the Rosa name being an anagram. I mean, who actually does that? Wouldn't it make more sense to just pick names at random? or pick names from different friends or relatives to use? The anagram just doesn't make sense UNLESS it was somehow influenced by Scratch as part of a taunt for the BAU. It's kind of like having the team guess a password that is a date or something personal instead of something more secure alphanumeric password. Walker didn't overtly bug me this episode, but I still feel like he's not necessary. I wish they'd had JJ talking to Tara instead of Walker. I did think that AJ did a good job of showing JJ's concern for Reid. I wasn't bothered with Prentiss being so stand-offish because she had to compartmentalize and behave professionally in front of the Mexican authorities. She has to make sure to keep emotions out of it as much as possible so she can think rationally. Reid could be the first one to point out about the studies that show when a person utilizes the emotional part of their brain, the critical thinking part shuts down and vice versa. Emily needed to use that critical thinking part. Does anyone know much about the whole briefing to leave the country thing? I think it would make sense if going to a somewhat hostile country like Cuba or North Korea or something for a trip, but not Mexico. The lawyer thing I am not sure on. On one hand, it *is* the federal govt and they will refuse to pay for stuff that is supposed to be paid for by them because they are cheap. I forgot to mention that I liked Alvez in this one. He showed the right amount of concern and support for Reid. Back to the FBI lawyer thing, I really don't think the FBI would employ the absolute best lawyers out there. Rossi is filthy rich and would probably hire the best he could find in a heartbeat for Reid. So the whole thing about the FBI not providing a lawyer for Reid just kind of fell flat to me. If it meant saving Reid's life, I'm sure Rossi would not hesitate to pay for a lawyer for him. So they better not say Reid is getting some cheap public defense attorney. I'm hoping that the cognitive interview on Emily's phone doesn't get used-- but I suspect it will. But, really, Reid couldn't even answer the questions or remember clearly. He'd been drugged and possibly manipulated by a person who knows how to affect people's memories. Scratch will probably somehow hack Emily's phone and give that sound byte to the prosecution. BUT, legally it would not be admissible in court because Reid was still too confused/ high. Also, they had to name the one prison El Diablo? Really? That kind of made me roll my eyes. But, it was still more entertaining than a lot of what we've seen recently on the show. I did find myself missing Hotch and wondering how he would have handled things. I think he would have wanted to stay near Reid and make sure he was safe and he would have tried to convince the Mexican cops to delay moving Reid to a dangerous prison. I think he could have found the right things to say to him and also been all over all of his connections trying to make sure Reid got moved to the US and doing his damnedest to make sure Reid got out on bail.

But what if Earth 2 Solovar is a bad guy but he's not a bad guy on other earths? That said, I'm do think Grodd is probably lying.

I finally got to watch the episode mostly undistorted- the last few seconds had some glitching. I wonder how the hell Reid was able to even participate in a high speed chase at 85mph while so high on drugs. That kinda didn't make sense. I also wonder why the cops didn't go after the lead truck (which was going 95mph). And I had to chuckle at how good the grammar was in the "translation" of the police report from Mexico. There are some striking differences in sentence structure, so I doubt it would have translated to English so nicely. (Edit: When I clicked to see new replies I see someone else mentioned the bit about the drugs and high speed chase). I loved the look of shock on Emily's face when she heard that Reid was in a high speed chase. LOL. Mind you, high speed driving and dealing with oil slicks, etc on the road are things that are taught to law enforcement agents. I think FLETC had courses on it. I think the hair samples taken from him could prove he hasn't been using drugs long term. I was relieved to see that the Mexican police were not portrayed as stupid, inept, or uncooperative. The lead guy came off as intelligent and competent. He didn't have a big ego and wasn't really lording it over the team that he had jurisdiction at first. He did remind them gently, but he still let them talk to Reid. There was an appropriate amount of respect for other law enforcement agents. He wasn't going to let them walk all over him, but he also wasn't going to cockblock them at every step. I also liked how gentle and helpful the medic was. There was none of the stereotypical bs of the foreigners being jerks to the Americans. The medic was professional and kind-- moreso than some of the medical "professionals" I've had the misfortune of dealing with. I wonder if the briefing the US govt before going to Mexico is a legit thing- and if it is, it must be new. Or maybe something that did not extend to INS/Border Patrol. IIRC, INS and Border Patrol agents used to go to Tijuana and other places just for day trips for shopping and fun (back when Tijuana was safe for tourists) without having to ask permission or file any special paperwork. I actually didn't mind Simmons and Claire stopping by because I like them. They didn't really contribute much, but they didn't really detract either. It was interesting to see that at least Tara was unaware of Reid being kidnapped and drugged years ago. Which reminds me, Reid seemed remarkably calm considering he used to be addicted to narcotics and he was suddenly given some again (enough to really mess up his cognition) and he didn't seem to be in any sort of withdrawal when he came down from them-- but maybe that would come later. I wish that someone on the team had told the lead Mexican cop about Peter Lewis and how he had a habit of kidnapping, drugging, and manipulating people and how he had already targeted members of the team in the past. I do think the guy wanted to give the BAU the benefit of the doubt, but I actually found it plausible that he felt that justice was not being served. It could just seem like a cover-up to him. I wonder if it is really true that the bureau lawyers would not defend Reid in those circumstances. Makes me miss Hotch even more because he could be Reid's lawyer if he wasn't in witness protection. I do wonder if they will forget that William Reid is not a criminal attorney and have him come in to defend his son. At least we know that Rossi has the funds to get Reid a top notch lawyer-- maybe even someone better than anyone the FBI has. I'm still confused about why Reid had to meet the doctor in Mexico instead of the US and whether or not he ever knew exactly what was in the vials. I would think he would want to know and that he would have run tests on the stuff to make sure it was safe. Also, it seemed like there was some confusion about the first time he met "Rosa" and then he went to talking about when she was killed. Granted, some of that can be explained by his confused state due to the drugs. And honestly, what Prentiss said about him still being in an altered state does hold water. Any statements he made while still under the influence would be inadmissible in court. I just wish the sequence of events had been a little more clear to the audience. I wonder if Mr. Scratch made Reid write the name on his arm because with his eidetic memory he wouldn't need to write it down. Also, did they ever establish who owned the car he was driving? I really hope they don't ruin things for Reid and make it so he can't be in the BAU.

I think the fact that the agents themselves don't have knowledge of the medical journals could be factored in. They might have just assumed that it talked about "experimental medicine". Maybe it talks about new techniques, medicines, and studies? I have no idea. LOL.

secnarf, what is JAMA? I'm not familiar with it. Journal of the American Medical Association or something?

I'm saying AAAAAUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH because the damn local broadcast was all kinds of fucked up and rendered the episode unwatchable. Even at nearly max volume I couldn't hear the dialog, the sound kept cutting out, stuff kept skipping, screen was pixellating, going black, changing colors, and generally being shitty and trying to watch actually made me nauseous. When the sound was audible, it was distorted. Seriously, WTF? Of ALL the nights for the CBS broadcast to be fucked up, it had to be tonight. My inner unsub is seething right now. I'll have to try to find a way to watch it later. From what I heard, it sounds like Reid just started giving his mother the black stuff with no clue of what was in it. I call total BS on that if that's the case. No way would he give her something without knowing what it was and testing it first to make sure it didn't contain pesticides or whatever no matter how much he trusted "Rosa". Hopefully after I take some painkillers and chocolate and watch the episode again I'll have a better review.

I'll tell you what's bullshit-- my local CBS broadcast. I have it almost on max volume and its barely audible. The sound is all distorted. Words and parts of sentences are not coming out-- so like they will say part of a sentence and some words or phrases in the sentences are just missing. And the image keeps going all pixellated or getting lines over it or just going yellow or black. Like, of all the nights for CBS to fuck up, it has to be on this episode. WTF? So, I'm trying to watch the episode but the bad broadcast is just ruining it for me. It's barely watchable. They are fucking up Morgan Freeman's voice on a commercial right now. UGH. I'm tempted to go unsub on whoever is in charge of the broadcast. Also, if I think I know what is going on: there is no way in hell that Reid would have given something to his mother without finding out what was in it first. GAH. Why the hell didn't they just tell the Mexican police about Mr. Scratch and how he's gone after team members in the past.

I really hope that Nate doesn't turn out to be the father of any children Amaya has. I really don't care for Nate at all. I hope that they don't have Nate pining over Amaya or have her suddenly realizing she has feelings for him and have her want to be with him. The couple was just so out-of-the-blue and forced. I could actually have seen Sara and Amaya getting together before Nate and Amaya. I see Snart and Rory as brothers more than anything else. I also didn't see any UST between Rip and Hex. I didn't see any UST between Rip and anyone really. Which reminds me, now that the Time Masters are pretty much dead, why can't Rip go back and save his family? Vandal Savage was killed in multiple different times, so shouldn't it have undone some of the damage? Having his family be rescued wouldn't mean that Rip couldn't stay on the ship. He could still stop by to visit his wife and son. I think I'd rather have Rip's wife on the show instead of Nate. She seemed like she was fairly capable before she stepped down to save Rip from being expelled. And maybe some villain can kidnap their son and the mission is to try to find him before the villains can manipulate the son to turn him against his parents and the Legends.

One thing I thought of on the Nick and Amaya thing-- they waited for their clothes to dry so they could continue. but it can take hours or sometimes days (depending on temperature and humidity) for clothes to dry properly. (My frickin' dryer is broken right now and I live in a humid area so it took two days for my clothes to dry). It would have been more prudent for Nate and Amaya to have hightailed it back to the ship to change clothes. Or they could have called to see if someone could bring the ship closer to them. Instead they wasted a lot of time and decided to just randomly have sex at one of the most inappropriate times. It was just way too forced and unnatural. If they spend the rest of the season having Nate pining after Amaya, I might puke.

I admit, I don't have anything against Nick Zano, but I really don't care for his character. I actively disliked him in his first couple of episodes and now he borders between being annoying or just there. He does not sound like he knows what he's talking about to me. I'd rather they bring in someone we already know and like-- maybe Thea from Arrow. If Malcolm continues as a villain, he would be conflicted because he would want to make sure she doesn't get killed.

Thanks. After seeing that, I think Jason Momoa would not have been good as Vandal Savage-- unless all Vandal Savage did was growl and glare at people. Anyway, I wonder how they will work in Captain Cold and if incorporating him will come around to bite them in the end.

Thanks for the extended promo! I love how enthusiastic Julian was about it being like Planet of the Apes and wanting to go to another earth. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. When does this one air? Is there a week break?

Thanks to the person who mentioned this to me. Can't remember who it was so my apologies. Sneak Peek of "Spencer"

There have been some good points made. As for non-hetero people. I don't know if I'm counted as one since I'm attracted to both men and women (although I tend to find women more physically attractive than men). I'm not big on putting people in boxes and labeling them. I agree that the non-hetero characters in the episode didn't act flamboyant or stereotypically "gay". They did just come off as people. But I also agree that having the team repeatedly say "gay" this and "gay" that is what stood out as a reminder that same-sex marriage is still not considered "normal". It would be akin to someone saying "black marriage" and "black divorce" to make it sound like the coupling or uncoupling was somehow different-- which can sometimes have negative connotations. I am glad that there have been some advancements at least. I still remember in comic books (Green Lantern) when they made a huge deal out of one of Kyle Raynor's friends being gay and how he went to a special community club and it was really hamfisted. I didn't think the woman at the beginning was a stereotypical dumb blonde. Sure, she touched the cap when it was too hot, but at least she knew what was wrong and what she needed to do to try to fix the problem. IMO, a stereotypical dumb blonde wouldn't have been able to figure out what to do about the car being broken down. She just seemed to me like a regular woman who just had a night out who had her car break down in a bad spot. Thank you for reminding me about that! At the time it was said I was saying "BULLSHIT!" but I completely forgot about it later on. Yeah, the whole spousal privilege thing only means that they can't force someone to testify against their spouse if they don't want to. They can't arrest them for interfering with the case or withholding evidence information the way they could if it was just a witness. So, the spouse could absolutely testify to everything the guy said to him because it isn't like doctor/patient, attorney/client, or clergy/parishioner conversations where there is an expectation of privacy because one party has taken an oath not to divulge what they were told.

Well, if he's just beating him up and not trying to kill him, he might not be so scary. Also, Savitar has some intelligence and can be reasoned/negotiated with. I think that would make him a little less frightening. Black Flash has the whole almost mindless Zombie speedster thing going on. There is nothing Eobard could say to talk him out of killing him. With Savitar he could at least have a conversation.

I actually think the two friends were not unrealistic in terms of the writing. I'm one of those friends that would be there to protect and help another friend. It could be 2 or 3am and if one of my friends called me and asked me to come pick them up, I would do it. But I do agree they were trying to push the whole "gay" thing too far. It's 2017 people! Stop making such a big deal out of someone being attracted to a person of the same gender! It's not the 90s anymore. The unsub's husband just stopping and pulling out his phone instead of running the hell out of the apartment was absolutely asinine. And then, as I mentioned before, the appropriate level of fear was not there. Maybe I'm spoiled because I recently saw Matt Letcher's acting chops on a couple of different shows where his characters were terrified just about out of their minds. On Scandal, his character was kidnapped, stripped, bound with duct tape, and about to be cut up while alive and the panic and pleading were very believable. And on Legends of Tomorrow, it looked like he was so frightened that you'd think he pissed himself while being pursued by a monster. So, the acting in this one fell especially flat. I've noticed that the acting quality in general has declined in the past couple of seasons. I agree that the unsub switching from straight victims to gay didn't really make sense.

How would an EMP device lock up mechanical things like machine guns and pistols though? I could buy that Eobard would know enough about Gideon and the Waverider to know how to disable the ship, but making non-electric weapons fail to work doesn't make sense.

I don't have the links right now, but apparently there was a short video and some photos of Savitar vs Jesse Quick. They actually used a suit that lights up with blue in some spots. It looked pretty neat. The totally CG stuff can be kind of meh. I'm looking forward to seeing more of Earth 2. And I do wonder why Jesse isn't going along to save her own father.

Count me in on the not liking the BS about Caitlin's powers making her evil. Now, if using her powers only affected her physically in a bad way (like Griffin Gray last season), I could see her wanting to get rid of them and/or not use them. The hair turning white, etc. I thought that Jesse L. Martin did a good job with what they gave him in terms of Joe's emotions-- but considering some of the things he kept from Iris, it really seems completely hypocritical of him to be angry that they didn't tell him. And you would think that as upset as he was, he would have the urge to give her a hug or hold her close to him because there's a chance he could lose her. I was sad that they decided to kill off Julio Mendez. But there's always the multi-verse so maybe he can show up again. Perhaps he could be a friend of Jay Garrick's. Sending Joe to retrieve the PI was pretty dumb, I agree. It just gave the bad guy two targets in close proximity. I found it funny when Joe was put on the spot and asked which speedster he liked better: Flash or Kid Flash and he was trying to find a way to not offend either of them. LOL. But telling Cecile's daughter that Joe knew Kid Flash was not a bright move. I mean, didn't some of the cops notice that Wally got put in a cocoon and at least some cops are aware that people put in the cocoons got powers-- and Kid Flash has the same hairstyle as Wally... I did like that Barry appreciates that he had a good teacher in the form of Eobard (although he *still* calls him "Wells" which kinda bugs me). Maybe he has fond memories and thoughts he wants to compartmentalize and not associate that person with the one who killed his mother. The phasing the entire train thing was pretty awesome. I think Eobard would have been pretty proud of that. There were a few editing things that bugged me in regards to Iris's arm. One moment it had the black stuff all the way up to her shoulder and then the next there was no black stuff. And one moment it was iced over and the next it wasn't. I adore Tom Cavanagh, but I am still not crazy about HR. I'll be happy to see Harry again. I hope they don't try to have Julian and Caitlin date. I hope it just stays as friends. It would be nice for them to have stories for female characters that don't involve them trying to pair them up with someone.

I like that he holds the gun properly with his finger away from the trigger. I sometimes see actors who don't know how to safely hold firearms and it bugs me.

I must be in the minority because I found this one disappointing. I enjoyed the Legion of Doom one so much that I missed Damien and Malcolm this time around. I found Mick's intro to be entertaining. Rip was good as a villain. It looks like Eobard is still using his speed. Either they forgot about him not using his speed, or that was only for that bank part where he was trying not to be found and he's back to his schedule of trying to avoid Black Flash. He did seem highly amused with Rip as a bad guy. His glee over Rip killing George Washington was funny. Speaking of which, why did people NOT kill him on the spot for shooting their general? I might have enjoyed this more if not for the garbage with Nate and Amaya. It seemed too forced. Just telling a person that things are different in the future is not enough to change their mind about something that was ingrained in their upbringing and culture as they knew it. If someone was raised in a time where casual sex is taboo, it can be hard for them to just let it go even if intellectually they accept it as ok. Amaya seems to have a certain code of ethics and it was completely out-of-character for her to have casual sex with Nate-- especially because of the timing for it. It was like a very bad fanfiction. I think part of the problem is there is something about Nate I just don't like. Maybe it's his hair or his face, but I just don't really like him. He's not really convincing to me as being very intelligent and he lacks charisma. I also don't like that they can't seem to have a female on the show without pairing her with one of the males at some point and then making her in to an object of desire and angst for one of the male characters. It's like a female character can't exist on the show without being some sort of prize for a male. Last season we had the guys competing over Kendra. It's a disservice to all of the characters involved. As for the George Washington aspect, some of it I found entertaining, but I'm not really comfortable when shows fictionalize real people. I don't like fanfics about actors/actresses because I feel it crosses a line. And for some reason, when a show or movie takes a real historical person and has them act in ways that I think they probably would not act (or just don't know if they would act that way) it bugs me a little. Not sure why. So that inability to have suspension of disbelief hindered my enjoyment. It's still better than last season though. Did anyone else wonder how the hell there was a rat on the Waverider? How did it get on the ship?