(Yes I know this forum hasn't been used in years, but in case anyone come looking)
I have been a JJ fan since day 1. Honestly I was shocked by the amount of hate she gets from the fandom. I have looked for a proper defense of her character but have not found one. So, let me present:
A Defense of Jennifer Jureau
(Disclaimer: I am at the end of season 9, so some things I don’t know yet)
When I first started watching, the fight for my favorite character came down to two people. JJ and…Morgan, another of the most disliked characters on the show from what I’ve seen. Although I have lost much of the love for Morgan that I had in the early days of the show, I still like JJ. When I try to remember why I started liking JJ, I have a hard time. Coincidentally, considering the fact many people rage about the “JJ show”, I think it was the fact that she was undervalued and underappreciated as a character. She didn’t get any real character development until season 2, and even then it was sparse. I liked her because she was unique in her role and I could see so many great things they could do with her. Sadly, none of those things happened. (I’m looking at you, writers) I often imagined scenes where JJ had to confront the unsub, (funny since that happens a lot now), because it was something she never did. JJ as liaison or JJ 1.0 was so full of potential, much of which was never realized. The writers went very minimalist in their approach to her development and that irked me. I will now stop talking about JJ 1.0, as most people actually like her and she doesn’t need much defense.
As a side, when JJ left in season 6, I had to push myself to watch that season, I was almost just watching for JJ (commence the insults and tomato hurls as you wish) I probably only watched it because I knew she came back the next season.
Now, on to the greatly debated, and widely hated, JJ 2.0. I agree that she never should have become a profiler. As I mentioned above, the liaison role was so full of potential. I know AJ requested this, and I can understand it, as liaison JJ was never really used, she was just there. I hold that JJ pre-season 6 was the most underdeveloped character on the show. The move to her as profiler was a terrible decision. This was made worse by the way they handled it. IMO, the utter dismissal of JJ’s transition to profiler in season 7 is one of the most heinous missed opportunities I’ve seen in the writing of a show. I mean, the writers were handed a solid, interesting storyline for JJ to follow that season, without detracting from the other characters, and they ignored it. They instead chose to focus on JJ suddenly being a top tier profiler and fighter, which I admit, is ridiculous. The writers botched JJ’s character so many times.
Some common arguments for hating JJ:
Her attitude towards Reid.
Her sudden super ninja skills.
Her large amounts of screen time and show domination.
AJ’s lack of ability to portray the character JJ is supposed to be.
1. Her attitude toward Reid
I admit there was a lot of eye rolling towards Reid for a while, and some maybe harsh comments. However think about it from a director’s perspective. (I am an aspiring filmmaker—liking the most hated character on a show probably isn’t good for that huh?) Someone asks a question. Then, cut to Reid as he spouts crazy facts and numbers that no one should know (I like Reid btw) Then, the director UNNECCESARILY cuts back to someone, usually JJ, as they react to Reid’s knowledge. This means it was a conscious directing choice for JJ to be this way, not AJ’s. I feel like maybe the overall sentiment of amazement mixed with “This guys a little nuts” about Reid was supposed to be universal, but for some reason JJ was the one who portrayed it the most.
2. Her sudden ninja skills
You know, I’ll give you this one. JJ became way too good at fighting and shooting way too fast. I mean she could probably always shoot a gun well (she did go on raids)but when she beat that guy hand to hand in the lifeguard episode, that was a lot. Also when she shot that guy in the head who was running down the street, that was literally written just so they could prove how good a shot JJ was. Again, they could have explained a lot of this by slowly transitioning JJ into her new role, but no, we can’t have actual good character storylines that last multiple episodes.
3. Her amount of screen time and show domination
I kind of disagree with this one. Maybe it gets worse in season ten, along with her ninja skills, which will make me mad, so I can understand other people’s frustration as well. However, being in the last few episodes of season 9, or “the season of JJ” I feel as if I am around the pinnacle of JJ hate, although I fear ten will be bad as well. First, may I point out to all the Reid fans, (again I like Reid, though I find many JJ haters to be Reid fans…) that Reid is the most personably developed character in the show. And personal development is what I watch for. I don’t care about how many times JJ takes her gun out as much as I do the amount of times she goes through a struggle or trauma, or opens up about her problems (which she has yet to do) Reid used to have a focus, however small, on him every couple episodes. I wish JJ was given the attention to character Reid has gotten. I have seen lists of the numbers of times JJ takes out her gun, or assists in unsub takedowns. Yes well JJ has been paired with Morgan in the field most of the time, and as Morgan performs almost all unsub takedowns she will have her gun out and be taking down unsubs. But she doesn’t even take down unsubs. Typically she just stands there, pointing her gun, and yells some cliché line. JJ has very rarely actually shot and/or handcuffed anyone. As for her solving all the cases and outsmarting everyone, it has been my experience so far that she rarely cracks a case open. Usually she just asks questions and the rest of the team tells her why she is wrong, or unravels the case from that point. (aside: when she draws the heart on the board, she isn’t out-profiling Reid. Sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes because you’re too close to something) She has done more interrogations lately, but most of them are still done by Morgan, Rossi and Hotch. I will say she seems to be on screen a lot, but not always doing things. Many times just sitting there. I don’t think, up to this point, JJ has dominated the show although they are trying hard to sell the character and I wish they would back off. If anything Morgan has dominated the show, although JJ and Garcia do take up a lot of screen time. The common factor between them though? Morgan.
A quick response to JJ talking about her PTSD in “Forever People.” I haven’t watched the episode, (again I’m in season 9) but I have learned that JJ and Reid have some discussion about JJ’s PTSD, and JJ comes off badly. Many people didn’t want to see her talk about this because it had been so long. I agree. As stupid as “200”s premise was, it was the first extremely JJ-centric episode where she endured something traumatic on-screen. And then, she goes and chills with the team at a bar. Then is totally fine for a year. If you look for signs of trauma in her body language you can sort of pretend it’s there, but there are no real indicators. Other character’s (Hotch with Haley and Reid with Maeve) had multiple episodes dedicated to the AFTERMATH of their traumas. Especially in something called “The season of JJ” the writers dropped the ball on the biggest chance to delve into JJ’s character. Not “200”, but the consequences following from that. JJ’s PTSD conversation should have happened way earlier.
4. AJ’s inability to portray her character correctly.
I admit AJ isn’t the best actress. Sometimes her ‘sympathetic’ conversations with victims’ families does come across as forced. I do think, however, that she isn’t given a whole lot to work with. The writers focus too much on JJ the profiler, the crack shot, the super agent, and not enough on JJ the human being. And from what I hear this is partially AJ’s fault as she wanted this for her character. However, I think the snobby, too-cool-for-the-room vibe people get is that she is never given real flaws, weaknesses or vulnerabilities. All she has to work with is a superior tone because she has never been made not superior at anything. I also think that JJ’s character is tired of being overlooked as liaison and feels like she needs to prove she is just as good as everyone else.
Another thing I need to mention. The reason that they harped on how important JJ’s role as liaison was and how great she was at her job in the early show was because she didn’t get anything else, never really showed her excelling in her field. So they told us she was good and hoped we would be satisfied. I wasn’t. And yes this leads to the gigantic hole of how the liaison job just disappeared and no one really does it anymore. Again I strongly disagreed with her becoming a profiler.
(Why did she become a profiler? Yeah AJ asked for it but why? I think that in the first several seasons she was just there –we were told she was good at her job but very rarely saw it—she was just included. So when AJ came back I think she wanted to be more than just included.)
So, in conclusion, I think JJ is very badly written. I think half the reason I like her is how I write her in my head. Not that I don’t like her on-screen, I can just see past the negatives to who I want her to be. JJ never should have become a profiler, and her personal development is limited and when it does happen it is isolated to one episode, with no fallout until like a whole season later. I can see people’s dislike of her treatment of Reid but don’t think it was really intended that way. Yes, she became wonder woman overnight, but that is again solely bad writing. I don’t think she dominates the show, at least not yet. And AJ isn’t the best actor but isn’t awful. The writers have botched JJ’s character, but I still like her.
(I just remembered this and didn’t want to write another whole paragraph, but I HATED the phase where all her development was that she was a mom. Every piece of JJ development we got was that she was a mom—UGH!)
I hope JJ’s domination doesn’t pick up in season ten, though I fear it will. I just wish they would focus more on her personally and less on her bad-assery.
Thank you for reading this super long, erratically written, tangent infested defense. Maybe you have a better understanding of why some people (or just me) like JJ. Can I also ask that we refrain from bashing AJ Cook so harshly as a person? That kind of criticism can be very damaging to a person. Thank you and have a blessed day.
