JMO

FA, I think you are very generous in recognizing the research as 'Wikipedia deep', because there have certainly been plenty of times when a cursory glance at Wikipedia would have helped the plot. I don't know if they don't look or if they can't digest it. I agree with both you and Normasm that Reid could easily have absorbed quite a bit of art history in the course of his reading. And, while it's probably just fanwanking on my part, I like to think that he's made it a point to acquire some knowledge of any and everything current, recognizing its possible relevance to his cases. I'll bet he even spent ten minutes reading 'Twilight'!

Didn’t get to watch until today (and fell asleep on it in the middle of the afternoon, if that’s any measure of how engaging it was). My favorite part about this episode was the back-and-forth between Hotch and Reid in that one scene. I love their relationship and would be happy to see more of it. I also liked that Reid had a significant contribution, albeit it to a case that made no sense (not even ‘unsub sense’). One question---well, many, but I’ll pose only one: Did no one in that city notice a big “RIP Morpheus” painting on the ground? Was there no press coverage of the murders and the infant’s abduction? Couldn’t just about anyone have figured out the location? (All right, that’s three questions.) What I didn’t like was the Tara bookend, mostly because I have about as much investment in her and her already-departed fiance as I have in Rossi’s (surprise!) daughter. I expected there to be a focus on Tara in the first couple of episodes, by way of introduction. But I’m over it. Let’s move on now. And, unfortunately (for me, apparently), I don’t like the character at all. I find her flat, and I agree that she sucks the energy out of the room. I’m not familiar with the actress, so I can’t tell if it’s the writing or the acting. But I actually, physically, cringe when she comes on screen. This will make for a long----or maybe a very short----season for me, depending how things go with her. I am one of the few who does miss JJ, even if I don’t buy into her new-found prowess in nearly everything. In contrast with Tara’s, JJ’s relationships with the others were earned----developed over time, based on shared history. Nearing the end of the show’s run, I’d much rather the focus be on those we know, and not those we don’t.

She needs lessons on how to write for humans, period.

And then you remember that they were on the short-lived TV show 'Roar' together----which I watched because it starred Heath Ledger.

I totally agree. And that last point, about Reid's understanding about her, is so crucial to who he is. He is probably the most empathetic character on the show, despite how he is sometimes written----the legacy of the love between the boy and his ill mother. I've had a few schizophrenic mothers over the years. The most functional were able to raise their children, but only with the help of extended family. None of them were able to live independently. Just recently saw a teen with her first overt break. Literally from one day to the next, her entire appearance changed, along with her demeanor. Such an evil disease, devastating the whole family. I'm praying she'll be one of the lucky ones who responds extraordinarily well to therapy.

I doubt anyone at the show has thought this through at all, and I doubt they have any inclination to do so in the future. But, like you, FA, I've always been curious. So, I wonder if maybe Reid went away to school before he turned 18, and then came home to find his mother in an incompetent state. She would have been able to sign permissions for him until he was of age. Where I work,, we've had mothers who were conserved (someone else in charge of decisions and/or finances) for themselves, but were still the ones making major medical decisions for their children. They are different legal processes. The other scenario I can see for Reid would be that he got his undergraduate degrees locally, and his doctorates at CalTech. That would have allowed him to live at home until he was 18.

Welcome, ReidFan. Nice to have you aboard!

I was thinking the same thing. The show used to be unique, a stand-out that didn't really have another show to compare it with. But now the plots and characters have become pretty much interchangeable with any other procedural, and the sad news is that they are not as well accomplished. It's becoming just one among many, and not the best one, at that.

I actually agree with you on this Qwerty---well not the part about not finding Reid attractive, of course!---but the part about how they try to 'show' his genius with special effects and quirky closeups instead of actually writing his dialogue that way. Even with this episode, there wasn't anything in his conclusion that couldn't have been thought of by any of the others. To me, it was just more evidence that they don't understand him at all. Not that there was any room or call for genius in this particular plot.

It will, in my house.

I think it's Las Vegas, New Mexico, not Nevada.

Hang in there, Droogie. Maybe they just had a couple of bad episodes. I do worry about the show, and it would be easy to think that they've given up trying to produce anything of quality. It certainly sounds like they have cut the budget, begging the question of whether they realize where this program ranks among their current array of offerings. But I like to think that there are still one or two of them who have enough pride and respect for their viewers (who have, after all paid their bills for the past ten years) to at least try to strive for excellence. I can't imagine that it's enjoyable for any of hem, if doing their best isn't the goal.

This was about as bad as they come. Rehashing, in mish-mosh fashion, a number of old cases, unfortunate stereotyping, the use of cliches, the inclusion of totally unrelated scenes, the usual medical mistakes and misuse of a condition that had no place being in the story, overacting by the guest cast (did anyone else think the unsub reminded them of the one in Uncanny Valley?). I actually felt sorry for the regulars. Even the soundtrack was overdone---I noticed it because the story wasn't holding my interest. And it failed the Reid-meter. Here's hoping for better with episode 4.

When I read the preview summary about the sarin attack in LA, I got excited, because I thought it would offer so many opportunities for good storytelling. But I don't think that's what we got. What I might have liked to see: Hotch caught in the dilemma of how much information to release---does telling the truth to the media risk a mass panic, or does it save lives from more potential planned attacks on mass transit? It was touched on in 'Amplification', and it should have been a factor here. This wasn't some people mysteriously dying in a few hospitals, that could be kept quiet. It was a bus accident with many witnesses. The press would have been all over it. An actual discussion of how home-grown terrorists become so. The whole idea of a pair of brothers who'd been part of a cult, and then aspired to terrorism, was thrown out there in, seemingly, thirty seconds of verbal exposition. To me, that's lazy storytelling. This could have been great material for Rossi, with his several past experiences dealing with cults (I know they were standoffs, but he had to understand cult behavior in order to negotiate), for Reid with his extensive knowledge of various cults (because you know he went there after Minimal Loss), and even for Tara, with her knowledge of forensic psychology. Instead, we got 45 minutes of a hapless red herring. The BAU's immediate focus on him was a terrible case of premature closure. They didn't do the very thing they're brought in to do, at the beginning of this case. Real tension in the final part of the episode. We could have had real danger to the agents in the building, searching for the source of their attack, trying to use a profile to predict where the sarin might have been placed. Instead, we had a car driven into a garage with open sides, and a bunch of FBI agents staring into a box of fish feeders. I appreciated Hotch's desire to have the garage evacuated and sealed, but since the entrance and sides were open, I wondered how they would accomplish it, even if they'd had more than five minutes. I did enjoy Hotch coming up behind the unsub, but would have found it more tense if we'd seen a little more of the search. So much missed opportunity, and I suspect there is plenty of blame to go around---writing, directing, editing. The only positives for me were the bookended scenes of Reid with Tara, and even those were tainted. I did like that he was on my screen quite a bit in this episode, so technically it passed the Reid-meter----but the rest of the story was so bad that I probably won't watch it again anyway. And I'm with the rest of you who don't want to see the prank war return. But I did like the homage to the friendship between Reid and Morgan, and it did feel like a more adult one than in the past. As to the bookends being tainted-----I am about to be very shallow here, but it's something that I find so off-putting that I can't ignore it. I don't like Tara---and part of the reason is that I find her appearance so very odd. I wasn't familiar with the actress, so I watched that episode of The Talk that Shemar was on. She's actually very attractive. But, on CM, the hair and makeup, the lack of facial expression, really the nearly total lack of facial movement at all-----they combine to make her feel synthetic. I can't relate to her at all. And, even if I could, I would have appreciated her having more of a learning curve before assimilating so fully into the team. And now, for the really unpopular opinion: I miss JJ. I miss a feminine touch to the team, and Tara doesn't bring it. I don't know that it's necessary to the function of the team, except, perhaps, with certain witnesses----but I miss it.

There shouldn't be any contract drama this year, as they were probably all signed for one-and-one, so renewal should be confirmable earlier----unless the numbers are on the fence. If Morgan is only off screen for a while, it might be nice if MGG directed both his departure and his return. But I'm beginning to wonder if we're getting more than one from MGG this year. He had too much on his plate during the first half of the season last year, and he doesn't seem to have made room on his plate so far this year. One wonders if there is an element of choice there.

I don't understand. Two women left, of their own accord, to have children, one temporarily and one permanently. The show introduced a new 'temporary' female character last night, while also giving us a scene of the one on maternity leave. There is also another female FBI agent prominently visible in the preview for next week. Was there something else you thought should happen?

Well, it passed the Reid-meter. Overall, it was an okay episode, that I think played better because it was the season opener. If it had come later, apart from launching the season-long arc, I’m not sure I would have found it particularly memorable. I agree with whoever said that it opened as though it was a pilot episode, with tough guy Rossi mixing it up with a resistant detective, ‘the genius’ (looking particularly delicious, I might say) nearly hidden behind his fortress of books (did he lug them all there?), the stern, determined team leader calling them together around the table. Had I been a brand new viewer, the whole opening sequence would have helped me tremendously. I'm glad they got to include JJ in the episode. What a head of hair on her little one! Tara played well except for that opening remark about her father's drinking. I liked that Reid thought of Punchinello and the idea of the unsub having lost his voice. And I noticed how attentive everyone around the table was when he first brought it up. I like the idea of Morgan having it out for the hit men, even though I don’t understand why that would be a BAU case. Maybe they’ll profile the next of ‘The Dirty Dozen’, so they can figure out who the other potential victims might be? I’m wondering if Morgan returns to his undercover past as part of this arc, and that we’ll see him seem to leave the BAU. Who knows---it might be in a season finale, so he would have the option to stay or go, should we get a season 12. The medicine in this episode was terrible. Terrible. Terrible. I think we were meant to believe that the unsub’s injury was fairly recent, hence the ridiculous stitches that could be torn out to allow him to speak. There would have been no need for a feeding tube, unless he were to use that one that is commonly called a ‘straw’. While I was glad that Reid got his moment in the garage, all I could think of was-----Don’t they have any soap and hot water? The unsub taking a text in the middle of murdering his victim, and Reid’s explanation to the tune of ‘he didn’t want to wait around for an embolism'. An air embolism, injected into the carotid, would have been instantaneous. Finally, two questions: Why was Reid the only BAU member not wearing a radio when they went into the garage? Does he always have to be accompanied by an adult? The first two victims were killed in Albany and Seattle, which is where we first saw Rossi and Morgan. Why were they being autopsied in DC? Morgan left the round table room, went to the autopsy, and then immediately returned. When he said, about the unsub, “This guy travels thousands of miles in two days, so he probably doesn’t sleep,” I thought---just like you, Derek. Overall, a decent start that didn’t excite me but didn’t bore me either. And then, there was Reid. So I'm happy.

I completely agree. I think the success of the character of Emily Prentiss is due, in largest part, to the work of Paget Brewster in portraying her. Here's what may or may not be an unpopular opinion, but it's a pet peeve: I think that Paget is the only one of the cast who actually consistently hit the right inflection in her lines. All too often, each of the others ends up emphasizing the wrong word, thereby altering the intended meaning of the words. Or they fall into the rut of having the same pattern of inflection with nearly every line. One of them tends to go up at the end of the line, while another starts low, goes up, and then comes down again, with nearly every sentence. Once you notice it, it's hard not to be distracted by it. I'll let you figure out which is which. Unless you don't want the distraction.

I agree. The role she's said to play is that of someone who studies the unsubs after they're caught (which may bode well for the unsubs in the first few episodes. At least it sounds like they won't be taken out with a kill shot.) But I thought that all of the profilers should have been actively studying their unsubs, right along How else are they ever supposed to learn whether they've built a correct profile?

My guess is that the reality is found in the middle ground. By that, I mean that, if you've lost control of your emotions and been harsh with a family member or friend, because you love them, you will want to apologize. And, because they love you, they won't care if you do. They'll just be glad you're feeling better. In the end, I don't think it would matter at all to a real relationship. I don't know if JJ apologized. We weren't shown it, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. But I also don't think Reid was looking for an apology, because he recognized that the 'Stop being you' was a plea, and not an insult. I don't actually think his feelings were hurt. I think he was worried about her, and even more so after she came so close to losing control.

Just read through the rest of this thread, and it looks like we're back on the same carousel we were before, just another go-round. There are, it seems, two very different ways to view some of these scenes and, thereby, the characters. Just as there are two ways to react to human flaws. You can chose to be angry with the person, real or fictional, who suffers them, or you can choose to be empathetic. I see the flaws, and I choose empathy. I've never known anger to be an effective tool in changing behavior.

A chance to vote for Reid: https://www.yahoo.com/tv/yahooies-best-character-in-a-procedural-128781360740.html

Yes, and no, to this, especially re: The Forever People. In part, I think JJ presumed on their friendship, and assumed he would understand, or hoped that he would. But, in part, I don't think she was emotionally healthy enough (then, or now) to get to the point where she could apologize. And I like to think that Reid is astute enough to see that. Some people get there, some don't. Some continue to lash out. Others apologize. Some have a not-quite-heart-to-heart with a young friend, and then go out and shoot a suspect. Some apologize for that. And some don't. To me, they are different behaviors with a similarly tragic root, each performed in character with the personalities we've come to know on the show.

I think EM and, to a lesser extent, AJC, did the character of JJ a disservice by celebrating her external toughness when she first emerged from her banishment to the State Department. Or the Pentagon. Or Afghanistan. Wherever she was. This past year, AJ regrouped and presented the change in her character as a 'shell' JJ had developed because of a trauma she’d experienced. If I focus on the idea of it, and not how well they pulled it off, I can actually buy that. That’s why the current iteration of JJ bothers me so much less than she bothers so many others. Pretend, for a moment, that they’d actually pulled off a backstory for JJ that was plausible, instead of (the awful) 200. Pretend you could actually buy that the character had been traumatized, in one way or another, and was reacting to the trauma. It might make sense for her to put up a shield, and develop a tough exterior, and especially so to the one person who has tugged at her heartstrings, the one to whom her new ‘shield’ is most vulnerable. People under stress behave badly all the time. I can see JJ doing that. I can see her putting distance between herself and the friends with whom she was closest. I can see her being afraid to revisit the source of her trauma (remember, we’re pretending it’s a plausible source). I can see her being in denial about what it’s all doing to her. I actually think her behaviors are entirely consistent with the intensely private person we met in the early seasons. I think the character has been hurting, for a long time. I’m not all that surprised that she lashed out in Proof. She felt guilty, but she’d become hardened. Softening to Reid would have put her emotional armor at risk. So, instead, she lashed out. Does that make her mean? No. It makes her flawed, and human. Similarly with The Forever People. JJ is too proud and stubborn to have a breakdown in public. It was actually pretty huge that she admitted any of her grief and stress to Reid. She wasn’t being disrespectful or mean to him. It was entirely self-preservation. And I think Reid understood it that way as well. As with all characters, in all forms of media, how we react is individual to us, the beholders, and not inherent to the character. JJ is whoever she is, and we each interpret her according to our own particular lenses. Through my lens, she is a tragic figure who has not yet fully acknowledged her own tragedy. I just wish EM and the writers saw her that way, too.

I actually think it's both more and less than that. If he was really worried about his screen time, he would find a way to deliver his lines as slowly as possible. But, as a practical matter, he is given the most difficult expository dialogue. Just wrapping his mouth around those words is a challenge, and getting them out may very well be easier when done in one large, rapid-fire dump. Plus, I think, at some point along the way, either he or TPTB, or some combination thereof, decided that it was part of Reid's characterization to deliver volumes of information as quickly as possible. I don't think the 'presence' was developed to compensate for anything. It was there from as early as season two. I think he just knows the power of the unspoken word, and also knows how good he is at delivering it.