Unkempt

I love the kid who played Chelsea. She was so good when she was on The Walking Dead, and she was part of one of the most iconic moments of that show (Look at the flowers, Lizzie!).

Well, as director of that episode, MGG cast that kid himself, sooooo.....

My UO - I actually didn't mind Beth, LOL. I guess it'd be more accurate to say that I really didn't care about Beth, but she didn't bother me. I'd love to see Nicholas Brendan return, but he's been having some personal issues. I really hope he's doing well, because I did like him on the show. I think it's a given that Diana is mentally declining because that's really the only outcome with dementia. Medications slow it down, but there really is no improvement, per se. I'd really love to know about Reid's PTSD, too, but that doesn't seem to be an unpopular opinion, LOL.

From what I understand, Jeanne left because her contract wasn't renewed. I've never seen anything revealed whose choice that was...but she has spoken very highly about CM since she left, so I'm guessing it was mutual. That article is about Mandy leaving, and Jeanne was commenting on it, saying his past comments about the show being "the biggest mistake of his career" deserve zero attention. She's also calling him a hypocrite since he went on to join Homeland, which is just as, if not more, violent than CM.

He took a Flintstone vitamin on Maeve's recommendation, and they went away. This will always be a source of irritation to me.

I think this fandom has been unnecessarily rough on anyone new to the show ever since Ashley Seaver. The Seaver stuff was deserved (although it should NEVER have been aimed at the actress...she is just someone who accepted a job that was offered to her). I admittedly was skeptical of JLH initially, but I ended up really liking her, and I wish she hadn't left. I love Aisha Tyler and Adam Rodriguez. I was warming up to Damon before they killed him off, and I honestly have no problem with Henney. I always feel bad for anyone who comes in new to the show nowadays because they always face harsh criticism and fans begrudging them any screen time (if they're featured in a couple of scenes, suddenly they're hogging the entire episode). I've also seen new characters auto-hated because many fans feel the newbies are being featured over their favorite character. I mostly see complaints about "fill in name here" (Lewis, Simmons, Alvez) getting tons of screen time while Reid has nothing to do....nevermind that Reid got an entire half a season last year and MGG has reduced his time on set. This is a tough fandom that never quite moved on from the terrible, unfair cast shakeup in season 6. The show is never going to be what it was, we'll never have our golden cast and their amazing chemistry back (especially now that Gibson isn't welcome back) so I'm trying to be happy with what we have. My only wish is that they'd leave the cast the hell alone for JUST ONE SEASON. We don't need so many cast changes.

I'd say it's actually popular opinion to say the show peaked several seasons ago. My opinion is that the events of season 6 kind of ruined the show, or at least damaged it for good. It's definitely never been the same.

He has such great chemistry with Aubrey Plaza. Too bad her character is a horrible, horrible person. :D

It's because people are streaming their shows now more than they're watching them live. Ratings are down across the board for everyone, and then factor in in that his is a 13-year-old show. Personally, I tend to binge shows more than I watch week to week because I like the instant gratification. I don't think it helped AT ALL that Hotch left unexpectedly the same time Morgan did because cast changes (especially frequent ones) are never a good thing. I know there are groups on social media to think the ratings being down are due 100% to TG being fired, but they're only partially right. It's multi-factorial, and TG is ONE factor out of many.

I'd be ok with that, too, RF. I also fear that a love interest really would make him act out of character. I remember initially HATING the Glenn and Maggie pairing in The Walking Dead (even though I love both characters individually) because it changed Glenn SO MUCH from being fearless and quick thinking to cowering in a corner during a shootout....'cause Maggie. I don't want to see that happen to Reid. I like that Reid thrives under pressure.

You can't expect every episode to be a grand slam, and I didn't say the writers are 100% blameless, but there are factors involved that aren't taken into account when complaining about how giving Reid a storyline (which they gave him half the season last year) "isn't that hard." I think the problem is that this show has too many characters, and Matthew takes lots of time off. I like Simmons, but was he really a necessary add? Did we really need another team member? I actually wanted the addiction storyline explored more than it was, which I realize is a less popular opinion than my not caring about his love life. Opioid addiction is a massively timely topic (just check out how many ODs happen per DAY), and this is where I feel like a boat was missed, several times. Do I want Reid passed out in a drug den? Absolutely not....but it would have been nice to see him struggling more (not to mention, a heart to hear with a mentor doesn't curb drug cravings). That's just something different from your run-of-the-mill romance. Love interests happen in EVERY show ever, and they're generally irritating to me (I'm not a bitter person, I promise, LOL).

I think it's very easy for us to talk about how much effort something does or doesn't take when we're not actually doing the jobs ourselves. When you write fanfiction, you're operating under zero constraints, and you can have all the creative freedom you want. Writers in the writers' room don't have that luxury. They're operating under numerous constraints (network, time constraints of each episode, the overall plan for the season, MGG's time off, just to name a few). So, while something may not be hard to flesh out over on Wattpad, it's a different story in the real world. About the girlfriend thing - I really don't care about love interests on this show (I know I'm probably the ONLY person with this opinion, LOL). I watch for the profiling, and the characters can sleep with whomever they want off screen. It really doesn't concern me. I didn't care about Lila or Maeve (sorry, guys...please don't throw things at me). I do want Spencer to have an enriching life, but I'm not watching to see his personal downtime. I don't mind hearing about it with throwaway lines here and there, but that's really it. (That said...I did like the bartender he hit on, simply because she had the quick wits to recognize a girl in danger and help get her out of it...I will also say I teared up when Spencer held AJ's baby for the first time said he could get him into Cal Tech with one phone call....'cause a hot man holding a baby turns me into a drooling mess). But I agree with Bakerstreet (love your screen name!), from what I've heard, they are giving Gubler what he wants. He WANTED that storyline with Maeve (from what I've read, some of it was his idea), he wanted the time off, he wanted the drug addiction storyline to go away, just to name a few things. I don't understand why people think he's so put upon. They're actually catering to him.

Interesting. My husband works for a major cable network, and he's never heard of this "other" ratings measurement, and neither have I.

What's the source on the "millions of viewers lost because of JLH"? I'm just confused because the Neilsen ratings say otherwise. There really wasn't a big difference between season 9 and season 10 ratings-wise. I'm also in agreement with everyone else in that I liked her. As far as I know, she did nothing. I guess I missed Harry's tweets. But....as far as Hotch. A mention, at the very least, would be nice for 300. It's too bad he can't put in an appearance the same way Morgan pops up every now and then.

Not necessarily, Norm. Like I said, I know lots of TV people who have lost their jobs, and it doesn't quite work the way you think it does. Their unions aren't employment services. They weren't snatched right up to the next job. If only it were that easy.