JMO

To me, this picture makes him look like every other vaguely good looking guy. If this had been my first exposure, I would have clicked right on by. Put on the tie, and shave the scruff, and he's Reid. But maybe that's the point of the 'look'. I think we've seen BTS photos of later episodes, with him looking like a slightly scruffier Reid.

Ugh to that stuff under his chin. And I miss the tie.

Who knows if it was ever even in the script. But, if it was, it was edited out, which brings me back to the idea that there was too much time spent with Emily and Scratch, to the detriment of other things. By now TPTB know that fans want to see a logical progression of things, and that we will catch both obvious (like the fact that Morgan and Diana should still both have been in play for Reid) and more obscure things. So I can't help but wonder if they don't mind 'missing' a few details, because it generates discussion. Still waiting to hear how the vehicles ended up in the positions they did. Did Scratch move one of them, after hitting them with his truck? He would have had to pull Rossi or Luke out of the driver's seat first.

Yes, I believe the minimum time period of symptom duration is one month. Before that, it is an acute stress response or disorder.

Good point about the 'running around in the dark', Old Dog. It was the first time in forever that I was able to tell who they were, and what they were doing.

Post-ep 13X01, Wheels Up Absolution https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12669215/1/Absolution

I think we're probably done with Hotch. I still wish they'd been brave enough to kill the character off last year, so there could be an official memorial of sorts. But it would be anticlimactic now. The 'wheels up' thing was just too hokey for me. It reminded me of a scene from last season (which I think I am repressing from full memory---for a reason) with Emily pronouncing something 'meaningful and heavy' in the conference room. It was the kind of thing that had me giving the TV a one-browed 'Seriously?' look---and so did the 'wheels up' scene.

For me, it was a serviceable episode, meaning that it served the purposes of: · Getting rid of Scratch and saying goodbye to Walker · Giving (semi-)finality to the Hotch situation · Introducing Simmons Perhaps because it had so many tasks to accomplish, it felt like one of those jam-packed season finales with way too much crammed into one episode. But the acting was good, and I appreciated the various relationships among the team. Like others, I enjoyed Rossi’s taking charge. But I still don’t understand why no one, especially Garcia, called their actual boss, Mateo Cruz. I realize the actor probably wasn’t available, but we’re talking about a phone call. Simmons was fine, and he’ll work well with the team. Couldn’t help but picture him hanging out on some FBI street corner hoping someone would hire him after the international team disbanded. Is there no structure left to the FBI? Thought (and still hope) we might see some kind of existential crisis for JJ, after she effectively greeted her husband by asking him to ask her to leave the team. Unless they’re going somewhere with this, it would have made sense for it to happen at the end of the episode, or even next week, so they’d both had some time to think about it. Its placement here was odd, and rushed. But maybe that was purposeful? For my taste, there was too much time spent on Emily’s psychological and (fake) physical torture, to the detraction of other scenes. I did like how she kept Reid back at the end. For me, it felt like some kind of watermark for how she will manage the team differently from Hotch. I don’t know if we’re supposed to think that Scratch let go, or that Luke ‘assisted’ him. Affable Luke does have a dark side, which he showed us with Calvin Shaw last season. So who knows? But it looked like Scratch let go. And then, my reason for watching: Reid. It pushed the Reid-meter about half-way, more for quality than quantity. Points off for the weird eye-rubbing thing and for diagnosing PTSS (which, around here, is not a new term for PTSD, but simply considered to be an earlier point on the spectrum) before there’s even been a change of underwear. Kudos for the book-throwing thing and the impatience with his addled brain. And the fact that he spoke in his grown-up voice for the whole episode. Please bring this Reid back next week, and forever more.

Fair enough. We'll see how the Reid-meter™ and the Reid-O-Meter compare.

I believe I've already got the Reid-meter™ trademarked. Would you like to lease it for the season, ReidFan?

I hate illogic. Why pace in front of the elevators instead of calling for backup, if you're going to call for backup as soon as you get in the vehicle? And why call the CMBB new guy and not your own section chief, who wouldn't have the same trouble calling for back up that the tech analyst has? And why are the two SUVs back in their original post-spike chain positions, and not in the positions the truck sent them (unless that's part of the Scratch mystery)?

I'm glad for you, Willowy--guessing you can cross one off your bucket list!

I sincerely hope it's not only the premiere dealing with it. Please play it out for a while, CM and MGG. So, all that speculation about MGG not being in photos of filming the premiere---gone?

9 PM was already late for me. My viewing habits won't change--fall asleep on the couch, wake up long enough to fast forward to the Reid scenes, and watch (or not) the next day. I've read some people interpreting the 10 PM slot as part of a down sliding of the show. Makes me chuckle, when I think of how 'ER' managed at 10 PM, for all fifteen seasons.

I don't really 'like' this--I just agree with it! There's nothing I've read about the upcoming season that has me excited, but some does have me cringing. Hoping to be pleasantly surprised by whatever it is that hasn't been talked about.

I keep forgetting about the mole. Hoping the writers don't do the same, or somehow wrap it into the Stephen Walker story. Searching out the mole would make for an interesting B story arc, if they are so inclined. While I don't think they were successful with serializing the Reid story, I do think they, and MGG, could pull off an ongoing search into what put Reid at such great risk in the first place. Serializing wasn't a terrible idea, but it wasn't well-executed, because the Reid story line, as well as the character, was kept so separate from the rest. Had they added a little backstory of an ongoing investigation into his case running alongside, or intermingled with, the case of the week, it would have felt much more integrated and logical, and much less like we were watching two separate shows each week. And, yes, you're right, Norm, 'festering' risks a repeat of season 7, and I really don't want to go there. I just don't know that they're brave enough to have him really blow up, even if he did a bit of it, when Emily and Fiona doubted him. I fear that they won't know how to write it without totally isolating him from the rest of the team, so I don't think it will happen.

I agree with all of this. But TPTB left themselves an out regarding the FBI's behavior, and competence (or lack thereof), by faulting Reid for not clearing his travel to Mexico. They'll make it all his fault, and deign to 'let' him back into the FBI. I do hope we'll see fallout, both for, and from, Reid. For him, in a shaking of his self-image as one of the good guys, and maybe the acquisition of a sense of danger lurking around every corner. I would also expect some guilt about whatever his mother might have experienced at the hands of Lyndsey Vaughn, and the obvious fact that he will have to break his final episode promise never to leave her again. And from Reid, in that I hope he finds out that the team was carrying on business as usual, and not investigating his case, even on their own time. For me, there is no amount of retrofitting of the story that can possibly make up for not showing the team trying to help him, at the time that it should have been shown. I doubt he'll blow up, but I hope he festers.

Finally finished the Reid/Rossi story, Of Genius and Gentility. Poor thing got derailed by the Reid-in-prison arc. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11993266/1/Of-Genius-and-Gentility

Loved it. You have new parenthood, and Reid, down. I'd love to see him with a baby girl, just like this. Thanks!

Nice to see you here, Annber! We know each other from FFN, where I am 'amusement345'. Welcome!

And I love the scene as they're driving back, because Hotch shares something intimate and personal with Reid, who is obviously surprised, a little bit flattered, and concerned. To me, it's always seemed like a turning point in their relationship, a coming-of-age for Reid, who is being related to as a mature equal, and not as a mentored subordinate. He has the respect of his superior, and it engenders an even deeper respect for his superior.

Sorry to hear that, HG---hope it doesn't slow you down too much!

I think the only agenda is putting on a good show, even if we don't always agree on their success with that. Can't think what other agenda might be being 'pushed'. Prentiss was made to feel welcome because she was an old friend, coming into the position at a trying time, at the suggestion of her predecessor. I think they were happy that it was someone they knew, and respected, and not a complete stranger.

Last season, I thought killing Hotch off could have been a good way to properly pay tribute to the character, through the grief and memories of the team. He could have died a hero, and especially if it had already been determined that the actor could never come back. Why not give him a proper send off? But now that Scratch has been running around for another full year, I think they just need to put both characters to rest---Hotch, happily, and Scratch, not so much. I agree that it should take more than a line or two. And I don't think they should be afraid to have a character mention him now and again, throughout. It would make for good character development for Emily, Reid and Rossi in particular.

Maybe Hotch has found 'a better place', and it's not with the BAU.