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.

But it will be milked dry because the network cares about the bottom line. Like it or not, it comes down to money.

I'm kind of taken aback at the lack of empathy for the paycheck dependent human beings working behind the scenes. Sure, it's the nature of the beast in this business, but that doesn't mean we should wish it on the crew because we don't like the unsubs. I know if my husband lost his directing job, we'd take a hit. There's only so much planning you can do when you're not rich. Thomas Gibson can afford to not work for two years after losing his job....most in the crew don't have that luxury. You are all obviously entitled to your opinions, however you formed them, but I would hope that no one would ever wish unemployment on any of you....or simply shrug their shoulders if it happened to you.

Frequent casting changes do not help, I'll say that. Viewers love consistency. I personally haven't disliked any of the new team members, but really, nothing compares to the old seasons 3-5 team. Their chemistry was perfect. But, yes, @annber03, you hit the nail on the head - The writers, and even Erica, aren't the be all end all in what happens on the air in this show. TV is a notorious business for having "too many cooks in the kitchen." Lots of egos, too. But at the end of the day, the network is in charge, and the network cares about nothing but the bottom line. They'll take the wacky outside-the-box unsubs if that means the show is making money....and if the show is making money, it's not going off the air anytime soon. Plus, I'd never hope that a show just wraps it up because I'm not happy with changes because LOTS of people will lose their jobs (just notice how many people are in the credits at the end of the show - none of them make as much money as the talent and really need that job as they have mortgages and car payments like the rest of us).

Yeah, there's a certain sect of a-holes on twitter who like to harass MGG every time he dates someone. One person even posted his home address online. It's also important to keep in mind that while social media is a valuable tool, it's only a few thousand fans using it out of the millions of people watching the show. I agree that the unsubs are over the top. I don't like it either, but the network is happy with it. Otherwise, that kind of thing would have stopped long ago. Erica is running the show, but she answers to network suits who have the final say. The suits can and do step in to veto or change things. It was a network head who fired AJ and Paget back in the day, not Bernero (the showrunner at this time). Bernero was just as pissed as the rest of us, from what I recall. When a show has been on the air as long as CM has, it does tend to decline in quality, and the writers do have to change things up.

I hear what you're saying, but remember that we're not in the writer's room, and we don't work for that studio. We don't KNOW what their process is other than what they've told us publicly (for instance, they flesh out a general outline for the season ahead of time, then assign writers). We also know that the actors DO get a say in what happens with their characters. MGG has stated publicly that he has approved of storylines for Spencer (the Maeve tragedy....yup, he was the one who gave the thumbs up on that) and put the kibosh on others (the drug addiction....MGG himself said he wanted to pretend like it never happened). So, an actor would request less screentime....why? You'll have to ask MGG since we know for a fact that he requested it. It's in his contract. That's been common knowledge for a couple of years now. I'm not sure what the deal is for sure since I'm not in his social circle, but as an outsider looking in, it looks to me like he's been ready to move on since season 6, when he almost didn't re-sign (again, common knowledge). That's when Spencer's screentime started to decrease. MGG started working on more indie films and started doing more modeling work right around that same time. There were VERY frequent photoshoots, and for a short time, he was the face of Aldo shoes. He doesn't tweet about the show as much as he used to (unless it's a big Spencer episode or something he directed), he's directing fewer episodes, and he's not on set full time anymore (whereas the other actors are showing up...except Aisha, who has a dozen other commitments). With the schedule they work, it's easy to see how he might burned out after all this time. Plus, people as creative as he is tend to start feeling stagnant very quickly (I'm married to a TV director who used to change jobs every 2 years due to feeling stagnant). I'm not saying MGG is 100% the reason, but I'd bet money the things I listed are at play here. It's very popular in this fandom to blame the writers for absolutely everything, so I get why you're doing it, and it's hard to place any blame on MGG because he's so gosh darn cute and charming. When it comes to TV, there's ALWAYS more to the story than meets the eye, though. The folks BTS are not always totally to blame, but boy, do folks who love to armchair quarterback. Personally, while I love Spener, I'm an even bigger MGG fan, and I'd love to see him branch out beyond Spencer. I haven't been able to catch all of his films, but he has stolen the show in the ones I have been able to see. He's also an amazing director, and I wish he could do it more and outside the confines of network TV. If that means less time for Spencer, then so be it, if that's what MGG needs to be happy with his career.

Now that's where I agree they've dropped the ball. I'm with you in that I'm not sure if it's the writers or if it's MGG's time off not allowing it....or a combo of both. Maybe they just had bigger plans for the season and couldn't fit it in? But it's not realistic to go through something that traumatic, then just show back up to work like nothing ever happened. Still, though, I'm not privy to what happens behind the scenes, so I'm always hesitant to automatically blame the writers when it could be a case of their hands being tied. I think it's fair to judge an episode when it's illogical and full of plot holes, but not quite fair to rush to judgment when we're not getting what we want from our favorite character.

Sure, I completely get that, but how do we know he hasn't been given that much to do because that's what Gubler has requested? We already know that he's negotiated it into his contract to not even be on set at all for a good chunk of the season, so he might be totally fine with what's happening with his character. It's not Erica's fault he doesn't want to be there. It's popular among the fans to blame her for absolutely everything, but there's probably much more to the story than we are even aware. We don't know if MGG doesn't want to be there because he isn't given enough material. It could be that after 13 years, he's just ready to do other things. Everyone who works on that set isn't blind to the fact that Gubler has fans. Trust me. They see the tweets and the facebook posts and MGG's numerous marriage proposals in his twitter mentions. They know what they have in him....but it's hard to give him anything that great when his contract stipulates that he's only there part time. Also, they gave him a prison arc because it was drama, and it gave MGG a chance to act beyond spouting factoids. I'd like to see Reid happy, too, happy and stable lives don't make for exciting TV. Plus, how do we know Reid doesn't have friends outside the BAU? We know he plays chess in the park. We saw that in a much earlier season. I'm sure he meets plenty of people that way. Who's to say his friendships aren't happening off screen?

I bring this point up all the time on other forums, but it seems everyone always wants to blame Erica for "hating Reid." Granted, I don't know anything about anything, but I've been wondering for awhile now if MGG is just ready to move on. He doesn't tweet about the show as much, he doesn't seem as enthusiastic about it anymore, he's directing less, and he's on set less. I mean....I have zero first hand knowledge of anything, but I do know how to read between the lines. I remember him saying he'd be with the show to the end, but that's when he was 24 and naive. How was he to know back then the show would go on for 13 years or what his mindset would be at that point? If he wants to leave CM to do other things, then I support him. I'll watch whatever he wants to involve himself in, and I've certainly enjoyed most of his movies (that I've been able to see).

I don't recall Prentiss interrupting anything, but maybe I'm remembering wrong? I thought she gave the speech in the conference room before they even flew out of Quantico? That's an ok time for a speech, as opposed to when they're in the field with guns drawn (that would be inappropriate). It was especially ok since the team had recently been terrorized and one of the members unjustly imprisoned....I'm sure you can see how that might make a dent in team morale.

Sure, but part of leadership is motivating and inspiring your team. Hotch did it, too. Heck, MY boss does it, too, LOL! Remember Hotch's "go finish that movie" quote to Reid? Or what about when he came in on his own time to give Reid private shooting lessons? Or when he cleaned Elle's apartment after she was attacked? And remember the time he sent flowers to Garcia and signed Gideon's name, then reminded Gideon that "people need to know they're important"? JJ isn't the only one with a "normal life." The new guy has a wife and kids at home, so did Kate when she was on the team, so did Walker, and so did Morgan at the end. Besides "wife/husband and kids at home" isn't the only "normal" out there. Not everyone wants that. Maybe for Luke, going home to a dog is "normal," or for Reid, going home to his fish is "normal." Let's just say....if I ever need rescuing from the FBI, I'd hope that agent IS a superwoman/superman because I'd like to survive my unfortunate ordeal. Lord help me if they're not. ;)