JenJenBosco

Ahh, sorry I didn't realize that you quit after Hotch left, but also, I understand what you're saying about the outside friendships causing issues, that I have noticed, and it sucks. Personal relationships of the Actors and Creators should not affect the show. That does bother me. That was something I think I mentioned in the Unpopular Opinions thread. I wish that it was straight about the writing and that none of the actors were allowed to make changes to their characters.

Absolutely. I couldn't continue without him, but it's hard having a few episodes where he's not there. It just feels weird.

Ahh, I see. I just always wonder what would be different if it was a written story, where you could do whatever you wanted and didn't have to worry. As to the bolded, what does that mean? and I didn't realize that TG asked for less working days and that's why Hotch was around less, also, I wish that MGG didn't ask for a whole month off every year because the story for Reid could be better if they didn't have to write it in. I guess it's things like that, that I wonder about. Although, I understand that they are human, but yeah, outside factors tend to make the writing suck more.

Ah, so it was more about the things happening outside of the show rather than in story reasons for doing what they did. -> Do you ever hate when the outside effects the actual story? Like do you wonder what would have happened if the outside was already set in stone? I do. Also, I loved 11x01 because of the fewer members, so I really, really, wanted less team members.

The Boogeyman: The Hotch and Elle portion of the episode: I find it funny that Hotch knows something is wrong, and she tries to point out that Morgan and Reid act the same, apparently? Hotch defends them, but she just deflects. Gideon reflects that she's innocent until proven guilty, but they're concerned that she went against everything they stand for. I find Hotch following Elle interesting because if he was a civilian, it'd be stalking. I do wonder what her plan was when she threw away her phone? At least she knew she was being followed. I liked the confrontation at the graveyard. I found it interesting that Hotch told her if he had evidence he'd arrest her. Hotch clearly planned to fire her, so seeing her resigning was a preemptive strike and not an admission of guilt. I loved her speech about getting a phone call for a case, and her admission that she wouldn't change a thing. Even though she killed someone. I wonder if Hotch thought about this when he killed Foyett with his bare hands. If he could go back, do it all over again, would he still kill him? Did he wonder if he was like Elle? Or did he feel like his killing was different? Curious, isn't? Goodbye Elle. The team portion: I liked the team interactions. I liked the conversation about Elle. "She hit was she was aiming for." "Not what I meant." "I know." Their fears are interesting. JJ is afraid of the woods and her small town was surrounded by them. Reid and Morgan were afraid of the dark. I liked the case, which was creepy and interesting. Especially since the unsub was a child. Side note, how many cases have the unsub be a child? Even knowing about the case the night before, the team doesn't leave until the next day, interesting. The buddy system ended up making things easier for this kid. Poor kids. Loved the 'haunted house' thing, and the conversation between Garcia and Reid. "...She may still be in the house." "Garcia, I'm siting in the house, in the dark, alone." "While you're waiting for a potential murderer to come home...kind of dangerous, kind of sexy." "Gotta go." "You're having creepy fun." He hangs up. Morgan's behind him, he freaks, and Morgan says, "You really are afraid of the dark." "I'm working on that." "You should work a little harder." "When this is all said and done, I'd like to hang his head on my wall." -Morgan Totally love the interactions after they find Finnigan. "What are reading over there?" "So, we're looking for a guy who really hates spinach." "She almost died, I'd be drinking, too." Loved JJ's woods story. "Psh, I don't know. Why is he still afraid of the dark?" "Yeah Reid, why are you afraid of the dark?" "Because of the inherent absence of light." "JJ, that was pretty good. Just remember that payback's a bitch." "OOhh, I'm so afraid." "Now the poor kid has to go into Child custody." "It's the law" "Yeah, so is Jaywalking, doesnt mean i have to like it." I like that they were wrong about the unsub. I liked the interrogation. Morgan attacks his sense of manhood, and it's funny, at least to me. I did like the father trying to protect his son, but he let a killer walk free. It's interesting how many parents are willing to protect their killer children. He was willing to sign a confession, willing to go to prison for his son. ->totally feel for him at the end. That look with Morgan when his son was arrested. I liked that the last little girl was a fighter. Also, the kid, "Why did you hurt those kids?" "Because I wanted to." I liked that Reid acknowledged that he felt guilty and told Morgan, and Morgan told him it wasn't his fault. Overall, I liked the episode. I thought it was well-done.

Aftermath: The opening was funny. "Don't anybody go home?" "You're still here." "Yeah, you don't want to model your life after me." "If it makes you feel any better Hotch and Morgan went home." "Hotch is married and Morgan is Morgan." Hmm-mmm, there was a mention of the mindset being different if the victims are alive. I liked this case, in that they had to figure out the changes in victimology. I also loved the detective on the case. Her fighting and determination to stay with the team to the point that she stayed in the hotel. I liked the focus on how rape is treated differently because the victims aren't killed. Every one of the victims are still struggling with what happened, and I liked the focus on it. I loved the focus on the victims, and I liked the unraveling of Elle, even though I'll miss her. I feel like the entire case had a different feel to everything. Just like Hotch mentioned on the plane. It's interesting to evaluate. Also, loved seeing the different things each of the agents did in their rooms. It was brief, but I liked it. "Elle, he's dead. You're right here. You won." "Then here's to winning." This conversation is interesting in that, his victims are also 'winning' since they aren't killed and after have to deal with things that someone killed doesn't have to deal with. I loved Callahan (local detective) saying "I don't care about your practice, three women have been raped after coming here, that's a pattern." I love the reactions to Morgan's phone call with Garcia at the clinic. I loved Gideon's reaction the phone call guy. "So, I fill out my personal information, and you just let anyone you have working for you for minimum wage." I forgot that they came so close to saving a woman, but they left because they thought no one was home. -> poor woman. I kind of feel for the local when Elle attacked her verbally. Also loved Hotch telling the medical guy not to tell the woman that 'she's lucky that her injuries were minor'. Elle says she's good to do this, but Morgan, Gideon, and Hotch should have seen that she wasn't. Also, where was Reid? It's said that Morgan is by himself outside of the house with Gideon and Hotch around the corner, and Reid isn't seen anywhere...for that matter, neither is JJ. I'm still a little surprised that she killed the unsub, but at least he can't rape anyone else. -> They know it's him, but they can't do anything about it. They couldn't get him to confess and It sucks. If you listen to Gideon when he tells Elle to get some air, I have to wonder if he was hoping that she'd be capable of killing him. "Think about this job, think about what you're capable of." She shot him three times, how could it be ruled in her favor? Funny that she does technically get arrested though. It's interesting that the team leaves if they can pinpoint the unsub, even if they don't get to arrest him. -> like in this episode. The team was leaving at noon the next day, even though William walked. Overall, I liked this episode certainly different.

I can see what you're saying. Yeah, I thought I'd read it somewhere that the actors thought they wouldn't be able to top that scene -and I agree, it was a fantastic scene, however, as you pointed out, Morgan and Garcia had a nice scene, too, and yet, they still interact, and it's jarring that Morgan and Reid haven't had a scene, even when they are both in an episode. Also, It'd be nice if we saw everyone's outside lives every once in awhile, the team as family stuff is a little old though, and a bit strange. I would enjoy seeing Reid at the park with that kid he plays chess with, like we saw in the Uncanny Valley, and it's nice to see snippets like the beginning of the Fisher King, just in every episode, it feels a little forced. Especially when they repeat things.

I was under the impression that they loved the goodbye so much that they didn't think they could do a better one, and requested that they didn't interact on screen anymore. Though I could be wrong. I understand what you're saying here, at first, I really liked them, and it does help to invest in the characters more if we learn about their lives, but now, the stories never the touch the cases like they did before. They're just bookends that are random to me. I feel like if the stories were distributed to everyone more evenly it might help, but also, there seems to be this uh, repeat situation that bothers me to no end. -> although if the story is related to something in the case, I like it. It's just when it feels random, like Hotch and Rossi at that Jazz club after he broke up with Beth. Or Morgan and Savannah having another issue with their jobs, which didn't contribute to the case. Versus say, learning about Morgan's past to get him out of prison (in season 2) or his and Reid's bullying which expanded on Reid's connection with Owen in season 3. You know what I'm saying? If it connects, I like it, but lately, it feels like the personal stories are completely separated from the case.

I have a few unpopular opinions: I don't like when the actors make things happen with their characters, unless it goes against the character's normal behavior. (Like Shemar and MGG not wanting to have Morgan and Reid interact after their goodbye on screen). It doesn't make sense that Morgan wouldn't interact with Reid given their bond as best friends. I really wish that character's who have been written off, stay written off. This means that I wouldn't want Elle, Gideon, JJ, Prentiss, Blake, Callahan, Morgan or Hotch back. -> I wish they had moved on from all of these characters instead of bringing them back. JJ hasn't been the same since she originally left. Prentiss has changed far too much, and I still get angry about her expecting everyone to forgive her right away to the point that she guilt tripped Reid, when he expressed his feelings. I haven't found that it makes any sense for Morgan to come back, and it's awkward when he does. I like all of these characters, but I definitely wish they had let things go when they wrote them off. That said, given Hotch's ending, I wish that they would've written him to want to be a stay-at-home dad in season 5 (when Haley died) or season 9 (when he could have taken Strauss' job). It would have made more sense than him suddenly giving up the job now. Also, along with that, I really don't like the idea that Prentiss would give up Interpol to work for the BAU, I don't like her as Unit Chief, and I wish that they had at least ASKED Reid if he wanted the job. In the first few seasons, I honestly didn't even notice Garcia or JJ, and I really would have preferred that it stayed that way. The focus should be on the profilers, so now that JJ is one, I can understand her focus, although there is a bit too much, but I don't understand having any type of focus on Garcia. We know far too much about her love life with Lynch, and we've seen far more in recent seasons, which brings me to another point. I HATE the personal stories. This show was never meant to be about the Profilers personal lives, it's supposed to be about the case. I feel like if they wrote the stories better, I might enjoy it, but since they repeat stories (how many times did Derek and Savannah struggle with balance?) and they don't seem to make things even for every team member, I'd rather we just didn't have them at all. That said, I also dislike Centric stories. Why do we need a Hotch centric or JJ centric or Morgan centric, and as much as I love and miss Reid when he's gone, we don't need a Centric for him either. The team screen time should be divided up equally, when they make it a centric, it's automatically tilted in that person's favor. I feel like if they are dead set on centrics, then they should make it clear who gets what episode and it's split evenly (I.e. every character gets the same amount of episodes). I also wish they'd get rid of the team being targeted, it's totally unreal, and makes zero sense. -> note on this, if they are going to do it, it should also be even as to who gets targeted, (ie, Reid needs a break from being the target). I never understood how anyone could support the Morgan/Garcia flirting where anyone else can hear them. In private, it's okay, but when Morgan is around others on the phone, it makes me uncomfortable, so I can only imagine how it feels for everyone else. I never really liked JJ or Garcia, they were just kind of there for me. So, I disliked any focus on either of them, I also dislike Garcia calling herself a 'genius', as she isn't one. I also don't like that the team (until recently) always called each other by last names, like even in 'the apprenticeship' Morgan is out at the baseball field with Reid, and calls him 'Reid' when it would make more sense to call him 'Spencer', like are you not friends? Kind of doesn't seem like it. I'm sure I have more, but at the moment, I can't think of them.

I was just thinking about the first episode of season 7 "It takes a Village" and there are a few things that bothered me. -Why would they hire a NEW profiler if they needed a smaller team for budget cuts? Wouldn't it have made more sense for JJ to be training, while Reid stays with the team? -Why would Reid have taken a sabbatical, when ROSSI is the one who has a second job with writing his books and would benefit far more from a sabbatical? Also, why was Reid still around (going to the gun range) if he was on sabbatical? -Why would the FBI have sent HOTCH overseas when he was the leader and a single dad to his kid, when they could have sent MORGAN overseas since he was only second in command and is single with no kids? -Also, after all of the budget issues, does it make sense that they would then continue on with SIX profilers instead of FIVE? -Also, REID didn't ask for his badge back, so why would they give it back? Was that ever answered? I don't know, but for some reason, I was thinking about these questions today. Any thoughts?

I'm glad they got renewed because it'll give them a chance to write a proper ending. I don't like when shows end on cliff-hangers, which can happen a lot given that any show can be canceled after the season finishes airing with no chance to write an ending...

I definitely agree that he is the woobie-character in the series. Every time I see his sadness, I think 'poor Spencer' and want to give him a hug. --> Which I'm fairly certain is common among his fans.

I understand what you're saying, DanielG, and this is exactly my issue with what keeps happening with Reid. I'm tired of them beating him up just because he uses his brain more than his brawn. It was different in early seasons, a lot better, because there were moments of happiness...like with Lila or Austen or when he visited his mom right before being named Henry's godfather. It's later seasons that he loses things, but doesn't have fleeting happiness, and it's just sad.

@Danielg342 I understand what you're saying with him being 'that character' that they can get away with beating up on because he has female traits, but is a male. Which is definitely not fair to him or any other character. He shouldn't be victimized just because they can get away with it. I completely agree and love your analysis of the writers, and the differences between the Reids in those episodes. I think that's part of the issue with his character always getting beaten up. We need to see him come out on top against the unsubs or bad guys that are causing his pain, but lately he doesn't seem to come out on top like he did against Hankel. I wonder when that change was made. I'd love to see the pain if there was follow through, but generally there isn't much follow through. I definitely think there should be fleeting happiness along the way to make it seem more even in the writing, and do feel he's been failed by the writers, as well. Poor Spencer.

Lately, I always seem to be feeling like I want to give him a hug...I keep thinking, "Oh Reid, why do these things keep happening to you?"