JMO

They would be my top suspects. What I'm less clear on is whether they indicated they wanted out, or TPTB think it's time for them to move on. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Matthew in something else, so long as there were no vampires, zombies or bathroom humor involved. I know, I'm picky.

I truly do not understand why they are adding someone else to this cast. I get replacing the Morgan role (because I don't want to listen to all of the complaints about JJ kicking down doors!) but I don't at all understand having both Tara Lewis and Emily Prentiss on the team, let alone bringing in a new new guy. The only thing that makes sense in my head is if TPTB think the concept still has life in it, and are (not so) slowly replacing the original cast. But the quality of the cases over the past few years makes me beg to differ with that assumption.

Post-ep, 12X04, 'Keeper'. https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12208438/1/Interstice or https://archiveofourown.org/works/8402785

If there was a possibility that we could see Hotch again, and give him a proper, non-fatal, sendoff before the series ended, that would be my vote. But that would require some cooler heads than seem to be out there at the moment. So, if we are truly never to see Hotch again, then I would like him to go out as a hero, and not simply fade into the sunset. I feel as you do, Droogie, that I'd like the character to receive proper homage, and I'd like the members of the team to be allowed a proper time to grieve. I'd like there to be fallout from that grief and loss, as well. But this season is already plotted out, and who knows if we'll get another. It's not too late to change direction for upcoming episodes, but only if they are motivated to do so. My main reservation, however, is leaving such an important task in the hands of the current staff.

Thanks for the reminder. I forgot to mention that I, too, was surprised (and happy to be so) that the actual unsub was the brother. I just wish they hadn't gotten there in such a clunky way. Re: AJ. I don't think it's surgery. I can't think of anything she could have had surgery on. She's a beautiful woman in her late thirties, who no longer has the baby face she had when she arrived to the show twelve years ago (just like MGG). The pony tail was pulled back a little too severely, which made the thinness of her face more obvious. And I couldn't help but wonder if she'd been up all night with little Phoenix. But I think that's all it is.

Maybe it's semantics, and maybe it's only my interpretation of how people use the words. But I see pathology as something that happens to someone. I've gotten the sense--not from what Booky said, so much as from other conversations I've seen here---- that when the idea of someone being 'truly evil' is raised, it implies willfulness, apart from disordered thinking, on the part of that person, that someone is inherently filled with hate and seeks to destroy, with no root cause, identifiable or not. That's what I don't believe in. Not sure that helped at all.

While I agree that they do evil things, I think those things spring from pathology.

Yes, re: the severed limbs. They looked too healthy to me. Personally, I don't believe there is such a thing as a 'truly evil person' as set apart from those who are ill or who have been traumatized. I know it's a popular concept, and it would certainly make life less complex, because we could simply condemn those people and be done with it. But I don't think the entity exists, and I think we are stuck with the complexity.

The episode was fine, if not memorable. I liked it well enough, but there was something about it that felt clunky, the exposition too deliberate. I like it when the show makes me think, and demands my attention, neither of which things happened with this episode. I think that was a combination of the writing, the direction and the editing. I like Alvez more and more, but it was still strange to have a series of scenes featuring just Luke and Tara. They're just not quite yet 'team' to me. JJ was subdued, Emily looked troubled, or like she was hiding something. Matthew bordered on playing Reid as the lost little boy---which I think he should have outgrown, even where his mother is concerned----but he didn't quite go over that edge. I ardently hope he doesn't do so in future episodes. Rossi was good, Garcia appropriate, although the scenes she shared with Emily felt oddly forced on both sides. Love Roxy. But the main thing, the thing that was unavoidably obvious in this episode, was that THERE ARE TOO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS CAST!!!! I like an episode that features the entire team, but even with this many people (and a dog), there were too many scenes where one or another (chiefly JJ, this time) only had time to nod, or say 'yes'. I cringe to think what it will be like when the new new guy shows up. If we include Roxy--and it seems like we should----there will be nine regulars! I'm less nervous about losing Reid early now, because I realize Matthew had to be around for the shooting of episodes 5 through 7, because of his directing gig--and because he was in the promo. He hasn't always had less of a role in his directed episodes, or the ones before and after, but it's happened sometimes. Given that he'll be AWOL (absent without MY official leave), I hope we'll see enough of him to stave off withdrawal. This one scored as 'acceptable' on the Reid-meter.

Was 'Into the Woods' (you know, the one where the unsub got away) supposed to be along the Appalachian trail, too? Is this a follow up episode?

I don't know. Weren't they just filming 12x10 last week, with MGG sighted elsewhere and looking scruffy? If he's taken October off again, would that be episodes 8, 9 and 10? And now they're sending him to Vegas during episode 4. I'm just hoping it will be a quick trip, and that they'll set him up for being gone later on, but not the whole time.

Same basic plot maneuver as last year, but three episodes early. I hope it's just laying groundwork. I don't want to be Reid-less for six episodes.

I enjoyed that, RF! Left you a comment.

I'm adding my multi-chapters over to AO3 at a glacial pace, haven't gotten to The Clone yet. Here is a link to my main page at FFN, followed by one specific to The Clone, and then to Consequences. https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3814008/aMUSEment345 https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8139900/1/The-Clone https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8650130/1/Consequences These might not be the ones you were looking for, Senin. As I see now, there is no mention of 'Proof' in the summaries. But that's what they're about.

Could be one of mine, 'Consequences'. If so, best to read 'The Clone' (much shorter) first, for background.

Considering upcoming events, I think that story is about to outlive its 'sell by' date.

I don't know how to link them, but if you just search 'Matthew Gray Gubler storyboard', you'll get a bunch of images.

I don't have the stamina to scroll back, but I think he posted more during his fall sojourn last year, perhaps because the circumstances were different. Initially, he was promoting a film and film fest. Then, he posted from his various Halloween activities, but mostly after the cat was already out of the proverbial bag, because of so many fan sightings, and because Colonial Williamsburg had photos up on their site. This year, it seems, he's just having fun as privately as he can. I suspect he will promote his episode when the date gets closer, and after he's done playing. I was a little surprised that he didn't promote the showing of 'Hot Air' in Austin. Or did I just miss it?

A couple of years ago, I was at an event held at a local hotel. The orientation for the WNBA draft was being held in the next room. Talk about feeling short! Those young ladies would have towered over Aisha.

As hokey as those shows would look on screen now, they were golden. They were, in a very real way, art, because they had a point of view and they illuminated a theme. Honestly, CM is a lightweight compared with them. But a very visually pleasing lightweight, when certain unnamed genius profilers are featured.

I think the biggest difference between a show like MASH and a show like CM is that, for MASH, the political agenda was built into the foundation of the show. You knew that going in, so you made a choice to either watch or not watch, the entire series. In contrast, a show like CM draws viewers from across the political spectrum. In that context, a 'message episode' risks alienating some portion of the audience, because it's not the reason they watch, is unexpected, and goes against the grain for them. I'll watch the debate, but possibly not until tomorrow. Had trouble sleeping after the last one. What craziness. Saw a post on Facebook today, and I honestly still don't know if it was meant to be a joke or was an actual news report. Even if I don't watch the game, I will root for the Cubs. Since the Mets can't be in it, the Cubbies would make a great story.

I don't like it either. I suspect it is a younger group, and that it serves as some kind of fantasy fulfillment for them. Those kinds of stories are actually prohibited on FFN, but you'd never know it, because it seems like many people either don't read or adhere to the guidelines, and the site isn't moderated very well, if at all. Haven't seen the same prohibition at AO3. Just not interesting.

I work with a population that sees quite a number of teen pregnancies. The younger the teen mother, the more likely this is to happen. Which makes for some interesting discussions later in life. But, so far, we've not had to deal with anyone encased in concrete.

I could only stay awake through the opening credits last night, so I’ve just watched it through. Waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much unsub. Waaaayyyyyyy too much. Which is what happened in Karen Maser’s other episodes as well (Drive and Til Death Do Us Part). This one wasn't as bad as the others, but she is definitely not my favorite writer. The opening scene with the team was as stilted and trite as everyone has mentioned, and I’m thinking that might have been the scene most affected by the unexpected absence of TG. After that, things mostly improved, and I thought PB settled back into her role for the most part. I do like Luke Alvez. I think he’s been the most successfully introduced new character of all of them, with just enough energy and personality to be engaging without being overbearing. I like the dog, but don’t know why he has one, with all of the travel he does. Someone, somewhere (? here) posited that the dog may have come back from Iraq with him, which seems appropriate. I actually appreciated that we got some exposition on him during the stakeout, rather than as a separate episode or prolonged backstory. It’s the kind of interweaving of personal and professional that I think worked in the early years of the show. Reid was lovely in lilac, but I actually prefer him in blue and gray. And, especially, that checked shirt. He was on screen enough, and contributed enough to the unraveling of the case, that the Reid-meter moved. A little. Not enough. Early in the episode, when Garcia had too many names to handle, I was hopeful that a little realism had been injected into her role. And then her computer did the impossible, again. I did not enjoy her behaviors during the case introduction, nor at the end. I got excited last week, when they got 'croup' right. And then we got this trans-nasal chlorine lobotomy thing this week. Sigh. Overall, for me, the team aspects were good, but the huge amount of time devoted to the unsub seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the episode. I did not miss Tara at all. I didn’t miss Hotch in this episode, but I think that’s because there was too little team time for it to be noticeable.

I think intra-team conflict would be fascinating, and would make a great arc for the season. But this? Garcia determined not to like him because of Morgan, and Emily stepping on toes the same way she did with Rossi, and Garcia did with Blake? CM, the land of missed opportunity.