JMO

It would have been interesting had there been a Halloween episode, written by KV and EM, directed by MGG, and wrapping up the Mr. Scratch story line. Alas. If the KV/EM episode was supposed to deal with Hotch and Mr. Scratch, perhaps it had to be moved to accommodate for changes. All conjecture on my part. If MGG is leaving, I hope his character gets a fitting exit story. Don't need a three episode arc, just a well-written story that maybe has a few subtle scenes as a set up beforehand. I think that would have been a better idea for the Shemar/Morgan departure as well.

Definitely not as many as they have. It has begun to look like a slow turnover of the entire cast.

http://deadline.com/2016/09/criminal-minds-damon-gupton-new-series-regular-thomas-gibson-replacement-1201829295/

Finally had a chance to watch. I have to give credit where credit is due. For all of my concerns and complaints about the writing, I thought this one was very good. I felt compelled to pay attention, which I greatly respect, and it held my interest throughout. Just wish they’d done their homework re: continuity. I guess, technically, they had continuity with the previous continuity error, where they mentioned Diana and Reid planning to fly to Paris, but…no, that doesn't count. I did like the newbie, and I even liked Tara in this episode. She’s taken a full season to grow on me. Luke is a little too jovial for a ‘first in/last out in a war situation’ kind of guy, but I think he can be a good fit for the team. Just enough ego to do the job, not so much that he’ll be difficult to work with. Very bittersweet knowing we have so little of Hotch left to us. He was as marginalized as he’s been for many episodes over the past few years, and more so than I would have expected in an episode so infused with Mr. Scratch. As I suspect will be true of many, I will forever wonder what the denouement of Mr. Scratch was supposed to be, no matter how it plays out during the season. I agree with those who think Reid’s lines were delivered too quickly. To me, it always makes sense that he should fast-talk when he’s explaining a concept that excites him, but not when he is having a normal exchange. I kind of wish Reid’s voice inflection would grow up with the rest of him. Definitely passed the Reid-meter, and I’m thrilled that they dressed him like a grown up and found a comb for him to use. I will miss Hotch terribly this season. Terribly. But I also have to admit that there just might be a chemistry here that can sustain the show past season twelve. I hope they move forward with liberal references to their absent unit chief, and do not ‘erase’ the character, as Thomas Gibson indicated they might. There is much gold to be mined in the reactions of the characters to whatever unfolds with Hotch. Please don’t blow it, CM.

Thank you, Normasm. By definition, 'unsubstantiated rumor' is gossip. Not cool.

It's a slow-cooker recipe. Whatever amount of boneless chicken breast you like. I cut it into smaller pieces for more consistent cooking. Covered by equal parts (however much you need) of: Catalina salad dressing (or the old 'Red Russian' dressing), Any kind of yellow fruit jam/preserve/marmalade----apricot, peach, orange (although, of course, Reid will know the difference), Half an envelope of dry onion soup mix (or just chopped onion, if that's all you have). Put it going, go to work, and come home to dinner. It's a sweet/sour thing, like the meatballs with chili sauce and grape jelly (same concept).

I think the thing with fanfiction is that most of us are drawn to write because of the characters, and it's hard to write for the characters without wanting to explore more about them. So, for me at least, there's an inherent movement toward looking at what makes them tick, how they react to things, and what they do in the time not spent on cases. That pretty much always involves some type of relationship, whether friendship, family or romance. If I want cases, independent of the characters, I'll just watch another show. I've only ever written for CM, so I can't tell if it's me, or Reid. But I find him to be such an intriguing, attractive character, that it's easy for me to see someone falling for him, even a teammate. Like ReidFan, I can't see him actually in a romantic relationship with anyone on the team as they are currently portrayed, and I wouldn't want to see it on my TV screen. I think that, for each of them, it would remain a strong friendship with just that hint of flirtation or 'what might have been', and that would be plenty for me. But, for some reason, in fanfiction----or, more correctly put, in my fanfiction----it almost always seems to grow into more. Not something I ever set out to do---the characters just keep taking over, like they're in charge. Which is your warning, Senin, when you get to my stories. If Reid/JJ is not to your liking, stick with the one chapter post-eps. And I guess Before I Sleep is safe. Beware most of the others!

Or things could be integrated---some recipes get a photo, some a piece of CM trivia, some a vignette. Photos would be most challenging because of copyrights. Unless someone wants to take one for the team and travel to LA to take their own? ReidFan? Glad you all enjoyed it. Just an example. Would need one for Reid's Apricot Chicken and Henry's Chocolate Chip Pancakes.

This is just a 'quick and dirty', but a few of the recipes could be accompanied by something like this: “Henry!” The little blonde looked up at his godfather. “What?” From the tone of his voice, and the twinkle in his eye, Reid could tell that Henry knew, very well, ‘what’. “You can’t lick your finger and stick in in the sugar! We’re rolling the sugar mint cookies in that. You’ll get germs all over it.” JJ laughed as she deposited another spoonful of squash into Michael’s mouth. “Spence, I hate to break it to you, but this place is pretty much germ central.” “Ugh! Please don’t tell me that!” He’d been fastidious in making Henry wash his hands before they’d started the baking project, and washed his own equally well. She shrugged an apology at him. “Sorry. Goes with the territory. Kids, germs. Two kids….” “Exponentially more germs. Well, we’re going to bake them anyway. I guess that will pretty much kill most of the germs.” Doing his best to rationalize, mostly for his own benefit. JJ spooned another helping into Michael as she watched her son and his godfather rolling dough balls through the less-than-pristine sugar. “You know, I’m surprised you like to bake,” she said. “Especially cookies.” Reid squinted his lack of understanding at her. “Why ‘especially cookies’?” “Because of the every-ten-minute thing. You like to bury yourself in a project. I can’t imagine you enjoy interrupting it every ten minutes.” “Ah,” he said, as he rolled another cookie between his palms, “there, you would be wrong. Didn’t I ever tell you that my mom used to bake?” “She did?” “When I was little. Maybe three or four. She wasn’t that sick yet, and she used to cook. And…well, I didn’t have that many friends who liked the things I liked, so I used to help her. It was all chemistry, after all.” JJ chuckled. “Were you going for a PhD in cooking?” “Ha. No. But…remember, I’d learned to read before I was three, and I couldn’t get enough of it. But, as you pointed out, baking cookies was a little disruptive…” “So you gave up on the cookies?” “Uh-uh. I learned to read faster. Pretty soon, I could get through a whole child’s book between batches, and then a whole chapter of a chapter book, and then several, and then….” Her eyes widened. “Are you saying that baking cookies taught you to read at 20,000 words per minute?” He shrugged. “Maybe.” JJ looked from Reid, to Henry, to Michael, and back to Henry again. “Hey, Buddy. After you put those cookies in the oven, why don’t you read your brother a story?”

Here you go, Senin. https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2085174/TheKnittingLady

Thanks, Ladies. Sorry about that malfunction, ReidFan. Maybe I can try to remember to send you a PM, or to put up something here. As it is, I only remember about once a year. Want to point out that we also have TKL, whose stories about Spencer Reid are among the most imaginative on the site.

In the brief snippets I've seen, Luke comes across as a tough guy who might not know what to make of Spencer Reid. I can see him keeping his own distance while he tries to size up the reputed genius who is, apparently, known as 'the guy who doesn't shake hands.' (Except by all the people whose hands we've seen him shake.) I think it would be interesting to watch Luke come around on Reid, rather than the converse, and I think it would be interesting to see some conflict in the process. But I really don't want them to intimate that the two could ever have anything like the Morgan/Reid relationship. I don't even think Morgan and Reid could have it again, if they were just meeting now. I think it was a thing of its time, based on the relative ages and experiences of the two characters. So, who in the FBI is spreading the word about "the guy who doesn't shake hands"?

Ah, I see. Happy reading!

Yep, that's how it starts. Are you writing yet?

Potential story idea, need some input. Hypothetical situation, and some questions: If you were tasked with fostering a social media campaign aimed at damage control, how would you go about it? Would you use Twitter? Facebook? Snapchat? Forums like this one? Online newspapers/journals? Blogs? Other means? Would you control the information by limiting responses, or would you allow free exchange? Would you try to influence that exchange? If so, how would you accomplish it? Would you reach out to individuals sympathetic to your cause? Would you seek out individuals who seem easy to influence? If so, how would you identify them? Would it be standard practice to have a cadre of individuals already poised, for whatever cause needs to be promoted? Once recruited, how would you reward/retain them? With money? Goods? Privileges? Would you do it directly, or use a middleman? A PR firm, or an individual? Not that I have any business thinking about a new story!

Congrats, ReidFan! I tend to be too wordy, so for the story I've got going now, I decided to give myself a personal challenge to get my point across in fewer words. Lasted a whole two chapters. Turns out that, for me, it's less work to write more. But I'm determined to get back to the challenge.....when I have more time!

I guess the point I would make is that the 'smoke' wasn't 'smoke'. So why think about fire?

MaliceMisel, you keep alluding to 'rumors'. I truly don't understand the reasoning behind founding a strong opinion on a rumor that you can't know to be true. Is there one? I don't know what kind of person Thomas Gibson is any more than anyone else who's posted here. But I do know that his 'DUI', wasn't charged as such. And I know, because I watched the video, and listened to the audio, that there was no wrestling to the ground. And I heard him say, several times, "I'm not resisting," with speech that was neither slurred nor shouted, followed by, "That's my garage, right there." Again, source material.

These are the things I've read about what happened, as stated by the actual entities involved: There was a disagreement between Thomas and Virgil over possibly conflicting dialogue. A contact (foot to leg) occurred between Thomas and Virgil, of unclear (to me) intent, followed by ‘choice words’ between the two men. An apology was issued from Thomas to Virgil, whether for the contact or the words, I don’t know, as he wasn’t specific. Actually, all he said was that he apologized. I don’t know if it was to Virgil or to the cast and crew who were present and/or affected. A suspension was imposed by CBS. Two weeks later, Thomas was fired by CBS and ABC acting jointly, and for which they gave no explanation. I've read a lot of supposition here, and elsewhere, and engaged in some of my own, none of it more worthy than others. The only thing I know about what people claim to 'know', apart from the above, is that they couldn't possibly. Are there any other original source materials out there? By which I mean from Thomas, Virgil, a verifiable, identified-by-name witness or any of the legal entities involved (Thomas' law firm, CBS, ABC). I'd be interested to read them.

So, Spencer would be one of the roughly 27% of the US population who doesn't go home to a family. But that doesn't mean he's home, alone (besides the fish), doing nothing. We already know he enjoys film, we know he's taught at university, we've seen him in the park with the chess kids, we've seen him lugging that keyboard along a city street. While I wouldn't object to a well-done romance, I'd be happy enough to see him teaching an evening seminar, maybe discussing foreign film with his students, or even rooting his protege on at a chess tournament. I would love a glimpse of him at home when he isn't moping about a lost love---maybe painting, or creating music, finding a new side of himself. Maybe that's why I'm not as excited about the prospect of Jane Lynch returning. I know I'll enjoy the episodes, because there will be such nice visuals on my TV screen. And, who knows, maybe it will prove to be a fantastic storyline. But I feel like I already know that side of Spencer. I want to learn something new.

Crab apple and chili sounds delish!

This is the guy: http://www.reviewjournal.com/neon/arts-culture/making-people-cry-sign-success-artist-martin-kreloff On another note, does Matthew need a calendar? First day of fall?

Welcome, CrimeFAn12!

I'm all for a focus on Reid, but I would prefer they come up with a story that doesn't have to do with Diana. I would have enjoyed that a few years ago, if they'd made a serious effort to get Jane Lynch. But that time has come and gone, and now I'd prefer to see something that points Reid in a direction for his future. Worrying about premature dementia isn't going to cut it for me.

I liked JJ as the liaison, and think there was much missed potential in the team losing that particular position, just as I think there was much missed potential in failing to show JJ accommodating to her new role on the team. There was gold to be mined there, and they didn't go for it. For me, that's pretty much the main theme of CM over the past few years----'missed potential'. But the characteristics you describe have been toned down since they were introduced, and I appreciate that response to feedback. So I'm not going to hold it against them, nor the character, in perpetuity.