Unkempt

JJ roundhouse kicked someone six seasons ago, but I haven't seen any super ninja skillz since then. Other than that, I like JJ. I do miss her being the media liaison, but I don't get why so many people have such a problem with having a couple of strong women on the show. She's dealing with creeps for a living, so if she HADN'T been trained to defend herself, then her employer would certainly be dropping the ball. I will admit that I thought that the roundhouse kick was a little much at the time, but whatevs. It's a TV show. I can't get too hot under the collar over it. It wasn't even half as ridiculous as the Rick Grimes landfill brawl on the Walking Dead this week. All shows are allowed to be eyeroll worthy once in a while. NBD. I WILL agree with you, Hotchgirl, on the profiling. I wish there were more! They've been getting better about it recently, I think, but it seems like the show back in the old days was more about the profile (the building of it and how they reached those conclusions), while now it's more about how weird can the unsub be each week. But like I said - 13 year old show. You do eventually run out of ideas, and you have to keep it new and fresh or you throw in the towel. There are only so many Ted Bundys out there, and if they did Ted Bundy every....single...week, it would get tiresome very fast.

It's important to remember that this is a 13 year old show, so it is going to change and evolve, whether the original showrunner is in charge or not. Just look at It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That show has been on the air JUST as long as CM without any change in showrunners (the 3 guys who created the show), and it certainly has gone downhill the last few seasons (that said, though, it's still hilarious). It's extremely rare for a show to be on this long. And yes, network suits who have never worked in TV production do step in all...the....time. It was a network suit who thought it'd be a great idea to fire Paget and AJ 7 years ago. The reality is that this is a job for lots of people, not just a group of pals getting together and playing TV. The network is worried about the bottom line, and if they're not making the bottom line, the network will step in. Unfortunately for Erica, it's her name on the show, so she's the one who gets the public blame for the decision of an anonymous network boss who is well above her pay grade.

Hey Willowy! I've been really, really busy with work, plus I was in NYC for a few days (for fun). I'm doing some extra training at work so I can start giving chemo, so I've been going in on my day off quite a bit lately' on top of my 12-hour shifts. AND I'm studying for a certification on top of that (not chemo related). So, I've been wiped, and I'm not at all caught up on any of my shows, LOL! Getting there, though. I love spoilers, and I love the Reid-meter, so I try to pop in to the episode threads to see what everyone thought! I can't wait to actually watch, LOL (today, hopefully).

Emily isn't Hotch, so her leadership style is going to be different. But I do feel like if she were channeling Hotch to any extent, there would be complaints about it. She can't win. But let's not forget that Hotch had his life coach moments while he was at the helm, mostly with a very young Reid (private shooting lessons, encouraging Reid to attend the NA meetings). Gideon did, too (giving Reid tickets to a Redskins game and hinting that JJ is a Redskins fan). Nothing wrong with that. Leaders who do things to better their team members tend to be more respected. All that said....I haven't gotten around to watching this episode. I've been so busy, I'm behind on two shows and two podcasts right now, but I'm enjoying what y'all have to say about it. Sounds like the season is off to a good start!

LOL! I'm not huge into "shipping" on any show that I watch (with few exceptions - I'm looking at you, Richonne!), but damn MGG and AP have great chemistry together. Too bad Cat is a serial killer. :D

Well, technically, Reid and JJ DID go on a date back in season 1. ;)

MGG and Aubrey deserve all the trophies for this one.

MGG and Aubrey Plaza really do have some great chemistry. They MADE this episode. The only thing missing was a Morgan/Reid scene. That would have been a cherry on top. I can't complain, though....this episode blew me away.

Harry Bring said the other day that "as far as he knew," everyone was returning.

Well, I'd hardly classify a guy who is able to stab himself as a means to an end as weak, but that's just me. That's pretty darn badass. But speaking of that scene - yeah, it happened so fast, I couldn't figure it out either. It looked like he stabbed himself in the upper thigh, he was limping away, then later his arm was bandaged? Was the limp due to his actual real-life knee problems? No clue. I watched it twice and couldn't figure it out.

See, while some saw "Motherly JJ" holding Reid's hand as if he can't handle his own business, I saw Reid's best friend supporting him as best friends do. I remember a few seasons ago JJ was an emotional basketcase when Will was held hostage in that bank, and no one brought up any issue with the team being there for her. JJ hadn't even been through the half of what Reid just went through - weeks of unjustified imprisonment, beatings, seeing someone's throat slit in front of him, having to resort to stabbing himself just to get ONE night of sleep without worrying about someone slitting HIS throat, too. I hate how the word "infantile" is always brought up whenever any team member does anything to remotely help Reid. If anything, JJ owes Reid because none of the team members had his back the way they should have while he was in prison. All that said - I thought this was the best episode I've seen in awhile. Did it have it's issues? Sure, but I could suspend disbelief for this one. The best part of this episode was Alvez ensuring Shaw was transferred, thus dishing out some well-deserved karma.

We'd like to see the team (who are a group of people who investigate crimes for a living) work on solving the crime Reid is accused of. That's the issue most of us are having here. They have the power and professional capacity to do something, and they're just not. How working on his case would equate to babying him, I'm not sure. It would be nice to see them doing something, though, especially when they've dropped everything for other team members who were in the clink in the past (Elle...Morgan).

Well, TG didn't say they were "determined" to erase him, he said it felt like they were trying to erase him...which is understandable, but there is a difference. When this prison arc is over, and Scratch is (hopefully) out of the picture, I'd like to see some mention of Hotch....like maybe he transferred to a less demanding unit so he can spend more time with his son. They did that much for Seaver, so I'd love some sort of explanation for what happens to Hotch once he doesn't need to be in witness protection anymore. And HG - I don't think anyone's trying to take Hotch away from his fans as much as they're trying to just move forward in spite of a sucky situation. "The show must go on," as the old saying goes.

I think Reid maybe identifies with him a little. He's young, skinny, he's not at all a "tough guy," and he says he's innocent (but then again, everyone's innocent at Shawshank, amirite?).

But again, it's not really about anyone hating anyone. They're not doing anything about Hotch because the actor who played Hotch isn't allowed to come back to the set, so what CAN they do? It's sucks big time, but that's just how it is. And with Reid, they're not doing anything (as frustrating as it is) because they're trying to stretch this out. My only issue is that they can stretch this out while at least appearing like they're doing SOMETHING week after week. Maybe have their case of the week, but maybe keep JJ (or whoever) at the BAU to devote time and attention to Reid's case. As it is right now, all I see is the team shrugging their shoulders and looking clueless. I don't get the sense that they hate Reid - if they did, Alvez wouldn't have gone to the prison to threaten Shaw into protecting Reid this week, and Garcia and JJ wouldn't have visited at all.

I don't think this is about anyone injecting opinions into the show as it is about things beyond Erica's control. Thomas isn't allowed back on the show, and I know in the past Gubler has apparently asked for more time off, hence the reduced screen time. For the prison arc - they're just trying to stretch it out. Combine that with the fact that a serial is something new they're experimenting with. I think they're kind of dropping the ball. I'd be more ok with a case of the week if they had one or two team members staying behind to work on Reid's case. As of now, I don't see them doing anything to help, and Rossi's baseball speech last week was just a big, fat WTF that made me wonder whether there was possibly a carbon monoxide leak at the BAU. As for this week, I just wasn't at all into the case. A sleep walking anything storyline is almost always silly, IMO. The positive - I did appreciate Alvez stepping up to do SOMETHING for Reid. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I actually really like Alvez. He's not Morgan, but I don't want him to be. There's only one Morgan. I can appreciate a 12-year-old show with the same ole formula week after week trying to shake things up a bit by experimenting with something new, like a serialized arc, but I don't think this is something they should try again. It's not working out, and they clearly aren't sure how to make it work. I don't mind the prison drama, but it's pissing me off that the team seems to be so ambivalent about Reid's situation.

I didn't love Route 66 either, but mostly because I loathe dream sequences. Also, I'm of the unpopular opinion of not hating Beth. I didn't really care about her either, but I didn't hate her.

What Willowy said.

Well, I have been reading lots of fans saying they want to see Morgan show his support for Reid while he's in prison, so I think this is more fan service than it is desperation. Other TV shows do this kind of thing all the time. It's not really anything new.

It was a great win, wasn't it? The Cubs aren't my team, but I couldn't help but root for them anyway. It was exciting! :) I didn't really mind Rossi not being from Chicago (I'm a Red Sox fan, but I'm not from Boston, and I don't live there). My problem with that scene was that Rossi seemed to have forgotten that Reid was in prison for something he didn't do. He had no clue as to why JJ was sad. Why aren't they ALL sad? They're not even doing anything to help, and based on that scene, it would seem that only JJ is even worried about him. Then Rossi compared Cubs fans waiting for a championship to Reid "hoping" to be exonerated. That was just not an appropriate comparison to make. The loss of maybe losing a game doesn't even come close to the unfair loss of your freedom. I think it's because they're serializing this arc over several episodes, and so they need to stretch it out. As much as I'd love "all Reid all the time," one person in an ensemble cast can't dominate an entire second half of a season. That's why the episodes are half Reid/half case. I think if this arc were only going to last an episode or two, there would be more focus on Reid.

Aw, why not? I thought you liked aggressive alpha males, LOL!

My unpopular opinion - I actually had no problem with Reid referring to himself as a graduate of MIT. The dude has multiple, multiple degrees, and I doubt they all came from Cal Tech.

Yay! I miss Morgan.

The Cubs won the World Series back in November, and it was significant because they haven't won the World Series in over a century. They broke a huge dry spell, and that's what makes it a big deal. Lots of diehard Cubs fans have lived entire lives without seeing their team win the championship. It may seem silly to someone who isn't a sports fan, but for those who love baseball, it's HUGE (I say this as a Red Sox fan that's married to a Royals fan, LOL!). PLUS - and this is silly, but this was also SORT OF predicted in Back to the Future II. They were off by a year, though. :D

Count me in among those who like Alvez. I miss the heck out of Morgan, but I've enjoyed Alvez so far in the episodes I've watched. Plus he's a dog lover. I can't hate that. :D