JMO

I don’t ‘hate watch’, either. I ‘hope watch’. It springs eternal.

I sure hope those who think Barnes will be back to try to inject some sense into this arc are right, because right now, I can't figure out why we were put through it. An evil entity appears from out of nowhere, 'does evil' for a while, and then slinks back...and we're done? Nothing about why? Nothing about who put her up to it, or why the director gave her free rein, or to whom she was texting? So much untold story, and hardly an arc worth investing in, without that untold story. The positives: If we were to see Reid teaching, I wanted to see swooning, and there it was. And thank you, Reidfan, for that screen capture of him with Henry's picture, just the tiniest nod to what happened last year. By itself, the case could have made for an interesting regular episode. That's pretty much it. Random thoughts: I couldn't understand how the team members managed to get time away from their new jobs so that they could still do their old ones during work hours. While the senator might have had some (unspecified) oversight standing re: the FBI, it's odd to think that would have extended to him knowing a)Emily Prentiss and b) that she'd been removed from her command. The humor was okay, but I think they could have gotten the same effect by having the characters posit what they might have been doing if they weren't in the BAU, without the whole Linda Barnes thing. I was an X-Files viewer back in the day, and have seen some of the recent episodes. They did a much better send-up of themselves earlier this year. Wrote this before I saw Norm's post. Amen to everything in it, especially the notion that there is no way the BAU didn't try to fight the reassignments, or at least vet if they were really approved by the director. If I'd been writing this, I would have begun this episode immediately after the last, where the BAU is in fighting spirit and making plans. Instead, we have the implication that they've simply acquiesced and been at their new jobs for two weeks, and sort of accidentally came together around a case. So odd. In 'reality', Emily would have gone back to Interpol, as had been her plan before Reid stopped her. He could have taught anywhere, or done virtually anything he wanted. Garcia could have started her own tech company, Tara moved to an academic or other law enforcement position. The only thing I could see as remotely plausible was Rossi, consulting on the filming of one of his books. I wasn't particularly into this Barnes arc, because the character's behavior was so cartoonish---someone on this site used the 'Snidely Whiplash' comparison, which is perfect. But I tried to get into a 'BAU-in-peril' mode, to enjoy the denouement. Nope.

Thanks, Annber. Then I guess I don’t understand the point of the arc at all.

Is Barnes appearing in any more episodes? It feels like she came out of nowhere, for unknown reasons, and is scuttling back to nowhere, her reasons still unknown. And that was it?

Post-ep for Annihilator: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12867233/1/Follow-the-Leader

From JJ at the beginning, to Barnes at the end, who kept telling them they should have done it “quicker”, it was annoying.

Grammar mistakes were irritating throughout. Yes, I was paying attention to the grammar, because everything with Barnes was too ....everything. i agree that Spencer looked nice. I don’t think any drama about the deleted recording makes any sense (because there’s no record of it and, even if there was, deleting it helped save the FBI from getting one of their own wrongfully convicted—-no way the Bureau would pursue it). So, while I enjoy the friendship between Emily and Reid, the whole basis for that scene didn’t make sense to me. The ending would have been more intriguing if this had been episode 13x22.

http://shadowwolves.tv/ Not a guarantee that it will air, but it has a website.

I'm a Hotch fan, not necessarily a TG fan. I'm happy for the actor, and I might watch once out of curiosity, but I can't imagine tuning in more than that.

So, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I actually don't mind the challenges being thrown Reid's way. To my mind, the character is a classic tragic hero, facing one dire situation after another, without being vanquished. I do think they could write (and MGG could play) him as being a little less pathetic than they do (the lost boy facies, etc), and would enjoy them all focusing on his strengths a bit more. While Reid has reacted to the losses of Gideon and Morgan (and, inexplicably, not Hotch), I don't see the moving on of any of those characters as being specific to Reid, so, apart from Gideon's murder, I don't consider them to be part of his tragic arc. I think JJ has been portrayed as an extremely private person since the beginning of the show. I like to think that stems from the small town fallout of having had a sister who committed suicide. So, while I agree with you that she tends to keep her distance, I think it's entirely in character. But I do agree that it was unnecessary for her to lose her empathy once she became a profiler, and I'm glad she's found it again. I like to think that she was intimidated by her new role, and put up a tough exterior until she could accommodate to it. As I've been writing these replies, I've come to realize that it's the back stories I've created for them in my mind that help me continue to like these characters, and not necessarily what we see on screen. Is that true for anyone else?

A quick perusal of this thread will tell you that it's hardly an unpopular opinion to think that the show peaked seasons ago. I suspect that is true of any long-running show. It takes a few seasons to hit its stride, stays there for a few, and then the creative people start moving on, the vision is lost changed, and there is an effort made to keep things fresh by being 'different'. I don't watch enough TV to know if any shows have been successful in reinvigorating the basic tenet, but I agree that CM has not been. After that, I can't really agree. Reid is grown up Reid, written (usually) with an appropriately earned wisdom and maturity, albeit with far less aftermath to last year's ordeal than that ordeal warranted. Garcia has toned down since Morgan left, although not as much, or as consistently, as I would have liked. I think Paget had some trouble finding Emily's footing when she returned as unit chief, but I see her taking the reins in her own way, now. While I do think the actress was struggling to find the right note, I like to fanwank that Emily was struggling because she held Hotch up as her role model, but is, herself, a much more emotional and emotionally-driven individual. I think she, and Paget, have been finding a way to reconcile the two in an authentic way, and I think the last few episodes are evidence of success. I've never shared in the JJ hate. I would agree if you'd said that the show missed a huge opportunity for us to watch her grow into her role as a profiler. But I also realize she'd been profiling along with the team for years before actually taking on the title. Smart people can do things like that, and she's never been portrayed as anything but smart. I do think we've seen a return to the emphasis on her empathy for a few seasons running now. With two team members gone, it was inevitable that more would be recruited. Since they'd retired the liaison position, I would have chosen to add only one more profiler. Of the three on this season, I enjoy Luke the most, but realize that Tara brings a specific, and helpful, skill set to the table. My personal favorite of all of them was Kate Callahan, both because of her personality (which would have brought some needed lightness without all the sexual innuendo, as between Garcia and Morgan) and because I think her background in human trafficking was perfect for a team built around capturing serial killers.

They did? I missed that. Probably when I was fast-forwarding to Reid scenes.

Even if we never see TG again, I think it would be nice to have some closure on Hotch before the series ends, something that doesn't leave the poor guy in witness protection forever. The team did, after all, do away with Scratch, who was the reason for the witness protection thing in the first place. Maybe a mention from Rossi that he spent some of his vacation time with his old friend, who sends his regards.

While I think Tara brings a necessary specialized talent to the table, and she's slowly growing on me, my favorite of all of the transient female team members is Kate. And JLH did nothing. There just seems to be a small, multi-aliased cadre of people who like to say so.

Unemployment is a given when you hire yourself out as a temporary worker. When that's the nature of the beast, you plan ahead, or get into a field where you have a chance at permanency. Or you read the thirteen-season writing on the wall, and start looking elsewhere now.

I never really understand the concern about people losing their jobs. We're all told how talented they are. Wouldn't they just move on to another show? It's not like we're left with empty air time after a show is cancelled. For the people behind the camera and in front, it's their craft that is meant as a career, not one particular show.

Even if no one had ever left, the show still wouldn't be what it was. Then, it was a brand new show, with a new concept, and characters who were completely unknown to us. We learned profiling along with the team, we learned who the characters were, we acquired experiences alongside them. Now, it's a show with a history, and characters who are known enough by the audience that we complain vigorously when, in our opinions, they are written out of character. So many stories have been told that it has become difficult to come up with fresh material without going for the sensational and hardly-believable. People complain whenever there's a focus on an individual character when, in my own opinion, those are the only interesting stories left to tell. Depending on how the show goes out, I would welcome a reappearance by Hotch, but only in a final scene, as he reunites with his friends. Apart from that, I would prefer not to see any departed characters return, because: a) the team is already diluted enough and b) when you bring back those who've left, you need to write something for them that then detracts from the main storyline.

Maybe we should have a grammar and punctuation thread.

Ha! You made me laugh, because it's the emdash that I actually abuse. FFN turns it into a single, nearly invisible dash, so I've fallen back to ellipses as a means of separation. I agree with you about the overuse of ellipses---- just haven't yet found a way around using them. (Except here, where I can dash away to my heart's content.) Glad the content is ringing true, since it's not my area of expertise.

I can't imagine anyone at the FBI (other than Barnes) would go looking for evidence of obstruction after one of their own had been exonerated. It's not like they don't have other things to do. I hope they've got more than that recording behind this. Someone else suggested it might be about the false amber alert, and the fact that it led to the death of the man at the gas station. But how would anyone know he'd been looking at it? His cell phone must have been incinerated. This is why I can't get excited about the team being in peril. It isn't. If, on the other hand, someone wanted to inquire why the team prematurely pinned Reid's framing on Scratch, thereby consigning their genius to an unnecessarily long stint in prison, I'd be right on board.

Thanks, Norm. Since we're not getting to see any aftermath on the show, it's been cathartic for me to write it. If any of you decide to read the story, please let me know what you think.

My discontent stems from the fact that I am primarily a Reid fan, far more than an MGG fan. I have enjoyed very little of the other things the actor has done outside the show, and unless he moves to something palatable (to me), I will probably not see him on screen again after CM comes to an end. So I want some substance for the character of Reid, in an ongoing way. Drama is fine, angst is fine. Spouting facts in a robot-like fashion, not so much.

I'm not sure whose fault it is that Reid doesn't have more to do on the show, especially now, in the later seasons when, as has been pointed out, he has a huge fan base. I'm not one to look for the happy storyline for him, because I understand that drama springs from conflict, and MGG is more than capable of handling it. But I don't know that it requires a full time commitment of the actor to achieve drama. The writers have certainly had enough antecedent material from last year to build a thematic back story for him this year. Technically, they have done that, with the nonsensical 100/30 day deal. But in actuality, no. Where's the PTSD? Where's the alienation? Or are we to believe that taking a month off every now and then can undo months of unrelenting stress and abuse? The writers have taken him from a highly dramatic situation, and dropped him into something benign and, yes, boring. So,.,,is it the writers' fault? The showrunner? The actor, and his contractual arrangement? MGG is certainly entitled to utilize his time as he sees fit, but I am a firm believer in remembering your roots. There are things I give my time to that no longer interest me, but that were once vital stepping stones to the things I now feel privileged to do, so I will continue with them for as long as I am asked, out of gratitude and respect. MGG may not have ever actually needed CM to pay the bills, and he may always have had more interest in his other projects than in CM. But, if not for CM, he would be doing those other projects without much of an audience. I guess I can't begrudge him his time off (wait, yes I can!), but I wish he wasn't so determined to have it.

For me, it was cringe-worthy, from top to bottom. Nothing about the 'review' makes sense, so there's no sense of peril, because there's no authentic threat to the team. The case should have been intriguing, but wasn't. The only true mystery was what in the world JJ and Rossi were thinking, to have handled the unsub that way.

That may be true. Because it's ridiculous to think that the FBI would do a one-year review of an episode, and Rossi would know to call them out on it.