JMO

I think it's been inconsistent. There are times when he is portrayed as being sensitive to what's going on around him, and times when he's portrayed as clueless, even in recent seasons. It comes across as the writers not having a good handle on the character, and falling back to a caricature. The other characters have, to one degree or another, suffered from similar lapses in consistency. My wish, realistic or not, is that, with a writing team of their size, they might have a writer who is deeply familiar with each character, who can adjust the character's actions and reactions to whatever is the given situation. I think it would make for much more interesting storytelling.

There's a lot to love about Derailed, and you've just named it. JJB (I'm lazy). The relationships among the team members were still being delineated, and this went a long way in defining Reid's relationship with Elle and Morgan, and even Hotch. I wonder how much of Reid's backstory the show had decided upon at that point, or if MGG had to keep things purposely vague. I was a late (pre-season 7) arrival to CM, so I can't speak to it, but I wonder how the 'early adopters' interpreted Reid's comments to the schizophrenic unsub and to Elle, before knowing his mother's history. Anyone? I don't know why, except that there seemed to be a contrast with JJ's relationships with Garcia and Emily, but I've always had the sense that JJ and Elle tolerated each other, but didn't necessarily like, or understand, each other. JJB, since you're on a roll, it probably makes sense to go ahead and watch in order until you hit season 12. You'll miss Hotch, as do many (or most) of us, but there is some goodness in the Reid arc. Much missed opportunity, as is often the case, but goodness, nonetheless.

Garcia was gloriously snarky at the beginning and, you're right, she had a healthy ego and didn't mind sharing it. That's the Garcia I might have wanted more of, although I was content to have her play the role she did, with the amount of screen time that she had. I don't remember if 'Exit Wounds' in season five was her first time accompanying the team in the field, but I think so. They did a reasonable job of exploring her reaction to being up close and personal with the violence and loss, and we saw how it rocked her foundation a bit. That would have been appropriate, but it didn't stop there. Ever since she replaced JJ as the presenter of the cases (in my opinion, one of the worst decisions made by TPTB, at both the FBI and CM), Garcia's revulsion for the work has become her schtick, in a broad, buffoonish way. I can't remember if I actually read this, or have just imagined it, but it's as though the show is using her to act as the audience's representative, as though they think that's how we would respond to the work the BAU does. Personally, I think we're a lot tougher than that, which is: a) why we watch the show and b) part of the reason why I find her reactions to be grating (and inexplicably tolerated by her bosses). I do remember reading that a benefit of (if not a reason for) having Garcia present is that is affords the actress the opportunity to work directly with the other cast. But they have an excess of profilers now. Surely one of them can take on the job of presenting the cases, to keep the mood serious. I'm not really in the market for comedy in a show about serial killers. Sorry for that, ReidGirl. I'm still hanging in, hopeful of more fallout for Reid, and maybe some decent storyline for the more familiar cast members. I won't watch enjoy the Reidless episodes, but I remain hopeful of the rest---including hoping that Reid and JJ don't climb down into 'The Bunker' and disappear for the rest of the episode!

So sorry about your friend, HG, and the injury and loss he's suffered. Glad he has you in his corner.

Guess this puts to rest the controversy over whether the World Series impacts viewership. CBS sure seems to think so.

Welcome, JenJen. It's so hard to compare early to late seasons of long-running shows. Of necessity, the early seasons spend time in character development, so we'll know who these people are and choose whether or not to become invested in them. And, especially on a show like CM, there's a lot of exposition about the premise of the show and the process of the task (profiling) the characters are performing. Later seasons should see more character evolution than definition, and we've gotten a little bit of that with long running characters like Reid, JJ and Morgan, but not nearly enough. New characters should get the same kind of definition as the original characters did, way back when. In my opinion, CM did that well with Rossi and Prentiss. But none of the other newer characters have stuck around long enough to become fully defined, and I do think the writers kind of forgot they were supposed to be doing that. The other thing the writers have missed out on is ongoing exposition. Viewers of the early seasons learned about the process of profiling through Gideon's teaching and his quizzing of the other team members, as well as through the giving of the profile. We see less of all of that now, making it difficult for a new viewer to follow what's going on, unless they head to Netflix, as you did. With a succession of newbie profilers, including JJ, there has been ample opportunity to expound on the process of profiling once again, as well as the various types of profiles. That would service the newer viewer, and the older viewer might not mind the refresher. Especially in the case of JJ, I think we would have enjoyed watching her go through the process, and cheer her on. Luke could serve that purpose now.

I have always liked JJ, but think there was too abrupt a change in her when she came back as a profiler. I don't have any issues with her role in the field, only with the fact that we didn't see it evolve. I didn't find anything in her fabricated back story that explained it, either. I do like that the character has been trying to meld her softer side (she was never all that soft, to my eye) and her tougher side in recent seasons. I think it suits her. Garcia, on the other hand, has worn out her welcome with me. The character we saw in the first few seasons was delightfully snarky, and bright, and smugly capable. The character we get now is precious and wimpy and cartoonishly childish. Just as happened for far too long with Reid ('the awkward, rambling genius'), it was as though the writers themselves dismissed her as 'the one who uses unprofessional language and is squeamish', end of character development. Portrayed well, characters evolve. In my opinion, Garcia has devolved. It is unfathomable to me why the actress seems to be content with that.

What Norm said. I could pick at some things, but I liked most of it, except for the Morgan/Garcia bits (and the SWAT commercials). Shemar really doesn't come across as Morgan in these quickie guest spots, so unless he's coming back for a full episode, I think we need to be done with having the character visit in person. I would have wanted a Morgan/Reid scene last spring, but, after two guest stints without one, I'm over it. Rossi looked and acted distinguished. Emily is finding her stride as unit chief. It moved the Reid-meter about three quarters of the way. Luke is still likable, especially with Reid. Simmons was on screen a lot, but doesn't ooze personality for me. Tara seemed very much in the background. JJ was the JJ of old. Good profiling, creepy unsub-by-proxy. Ridiculous having Garcia, and not Reid (and the entire rest of the team, the ME and all of the LEOs, and the kindergarten class) pick up on the missing five fingers. Nice to see a nod to examining the after effects, on the community, of having had a serial killer in their midst. I would watch this one again.

Haven't actually watched it yet, but I was fairly certain they wouldn't touch on this: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12702238/1/The-Things-That-We-Love Post-ep for Lucky Strikes with no real spoilers for the episode.

Exactly. The idea that the prison arc was an expensive shoot-around to accommodate MGG's desire to be off raises more questions than it answers. He was still missing from the expected episodes, shot during October. If the prison arc was designed to accommodate him again, does that mean he would have otherwise been missing from the end of last season? I'd understood that the prison scenes were filmed as a package because of the extensive and longitudinal use of that one set, and set of actors, but it was really because of MGG? Or am I misreading that? Does it mean that they were willing to blow the budget because they thought they were at the end of their run? Can't imagine the studio execs would have been happy about it. How expensive would it be to accomplish a one day shoot of a few classroom scenes, or a few phone-ins (no extras at all) to appear in the otherwise Reid-less episodes? Even less expensive: film him writing in a journal, with a voiceover of his thoughts, as he goes through the healing process, bring him back a little healthier. And it would give us the added bonus of one or two minutes' worth less of unsub time or running around in the dark.

Does it make you wonder what they are thinking about, since they never seem to be thinking about what we're thinking about?

That's about when Reid disappeared. No worries.

I thought the case was interesting enough, and it was a decent episode, marred by that clown car feel to the size of the team these days. Random thoughts: I wondered what Simmons and Reid were doing in the conference room, while everyone else was in the bullpen, in the opening BAU scene. Hopefully, they were looking for that mole. They used their new timeline software twice in the episode. Guessing we'll be seeing more of that. I liked the individual victim/witness pairings with BAU members for interviews. But I kept thinking, 'Are there so many that they don't have enough chairs?' because it seemed bizarre to make traumatized people stand in the middle of the crime scene to tell their story. DHS sent only one agent to the case? Reid did, indeed, look good, and he made a crucial (and obvious) contribution, causing the Reid-meter to move upward with cautious optimism. And then it crashed and burned, after the (patently stilted) delivery of the profile.

We knew Reid would still have the scruff because this week's episode was filmed before last week's. Staying up just long enough to make sure the DVR starts I hope

Overall, there's a lot less of them calling one another by their last names, so they have to call him something. I'm just not used to Garcia using anyone's real name when addressing them. I used to think they called everyone (except JJ) by their last names because it was less likely they'd have confusion in the field, should they get an agent or LEO with the same first name. Then I realized that Gideon, Morgan, Reid, and even Prentiss had last names that were also first names.

Actually, it probably would have helped if they'd defragged the team. I had the impression that it was an okay case, but there were too many moving parts, and too much of it delivered by exposition (including pretty much all of Reid's contribution---we hardly got to see him at work, because there wasn't time to show it) to make it intriguing.

Timed to promote his new series, which starts so late into the season. I, too, hope we get a decent Reid/Morgan scene, referencing Reid's experience in prison.

I actually don't think they should have brought in Matt, since they'd already brought in Alvez. Of all of the various newbies, I've only enjoyed the personalities of Kate and Luke. But, with all of the comings and goings, I've learned not to become too invested in anyone. Except Reid, of course.

Didn't want to go too far off the topic of the episode, so I put my comment on the padding of the team in the 'Criminal Minds Analysis' thread.

I see 'scheduling purposes' as a throwaway line to dismiss bad decision-making by the network execs. This is a show that prides itself on character development (whether or not we agree with the extent to which it happens). The whittling down of the team was actually an opportunity for more in-depth development of each of the remaining characters, because it would have translated into putting each of them into more situations, perhaps taking them out of their comfort zones (a la Reid in prison), would have allowed each of them to demonstrate more insight,...and would have given each of them more screen time, and more time to interact with each of the others. Having extra players as 'insurance' implies that the network sees them as interchangeable. I don't. It might have been interesting to see them function without a traditional muscleman, but I can see them feeling a need to fill that role. I just think they should have filled it with either Alvez or Simmons, but not both. I get that they need a leader, and I don't think any of the current members were ready to step up, so I think it was appropriate to bring in a new person for that role. That the new person was a familiar face was a bonus. Tara technically replaced Kate, who replaced Alex, who replaced Emily. But that has never been a 'function role', like muscleman and leader are. And they'd already padded the profiler group by turning JJ into one of them. I think we could have done without all three Emily replacements. I don't even know what to say about Stephen, except RIP.

It didn’t record, so I had to go out of my way to watch it on demand. I think this happened once last year, when they were bumped by the debates one week, and the titles were thrown off. I hope it catches up next week---can’t stay up til 10 to make sure the DVR starts. Hate watching on demand, because of the ads, and no fast-forwarding. Thought Reid was too back to himself already, but without knowing what happens in the episode that was postponed, I can’t make too much of that yet. (I'll make more of it next week.) Was put off to hear Garcia call Reid ‘Spence’, not just because it’s no longer special, but because she never calls him by his real name. Just waaayyyy too many people on this team. Lines get cut, and I can’t imagine it’s fun as an actor to not be able to say more than a few words at a time. I know MGG can speak volumes with his eyes, but the camera would need to be on his face for that. Norm’s right. They can’t even all fit around the table any more. It’s no fun trying to figure out who the unsub is when the answer requires 30 seconds of convoluted exposition regarding previously unmentioned characters. Okay, now we know who Simmons is. Check. More Reid, please. There are waaaayyyy too many people on this team.

We know we have at least one more episode with this look, as they've switched the airing dates for eps 3 and 4. At least the tie came back. Not sure what to say about the disheveled cardigan of old. I think it's time Garcia and JJ gave him a makeover.

Happy Thanksgiving, Riff, and to all the Canadian CM fans on here!

Welcome, AsYouWish. You'll find those threads up top. I think you'll have company there, as it can be fun to discuss some of the old episodes again.

The team Emily leads is more experienced, and more mature, than the one Hotch led. Even the newbies come with years of experience. Hotch had two twenty-somethings and a spiraling Gideon. It was necessary for him to be more directive, in the beginning. But he began to relax that style as time passed, the team eventually solidified, and his twenty-somethings became thirty-somethings. To me, it makes sense for Emily to lead them more collegially and facilitatively. Being a leader, and being authoritative, are two very different things.