JMO

Understood, MrWhyt, but a phone call would have told them the bomb squad was minutes away. I was just looking for a little something more, so it would have made sense. Like the bomb squad was across town, there was some traffic obstruction. Just like I would have liked an additional reason for Reid to stay.

Last night, I had absolutely no idea what to make of this episode, because it left me with too many questions. A rewatch answered some of them. Overall, I thought it was pretty good, but not great. The good: Adequate Reid, of course, showing more of his personality than his intellect, for a change. In context, I didn't find the Rossi scenes as annoying as I did in the preview, but there was something just a little bit off, to me. I like to think that the throwaway remark about the subway was not genuine on Reid's part (because otherwise it represents a caricature on the writer's part), but, rather, Reid's use of what he believes the team thinks of him to make his excuse. My favorite scene with Reid was actually with the patient who wanted information on his father. It showed a mature compassion and ended with the reminder that Reid is grieving his own father figure. That resonated with me more than any of the other Reid scenes. I thought the husband/wife were well-acted, especially the wife. The scene where you can tell she's just realized what her husband did was very well done. I loved the balance among the team, and liked the use of JJ's liaison skills and Morgan's skills with explosives. My remaining questions are logic ones. Why did Morgan try to defuse the bomb under the (first) unsub's truck? It didn't have a timer. They could have waited for the bomb squad. Why did Reid refuse to leave? I know it was supposed to show solidarity and bravery, but it wasn't like he was needed to hold the flashlight, or anything. All it did was to put the two of them in manufactured peril which, to me, defused any drama the scene might have held. Same at the end. Why did Reid and JJ both have to stay in the room with the bomb? Was it necessary for two people to talk the (second) unsub down? Maybe that's a reasonable argument to make. But all I kept thinking was that JJ should get out of there, just in case. (Because I worry about Henry with the scuzzy Will.) And why did Einstein have to go to medical school for the kind of forensics she was doing? Finally, two observations: What it is with Rick Dunkle and bombs/explosions? It's almost become niche writing. And--the nod to the areas of expertise of the team members, the demonstration of the 'bravery' of Reid, the restoration of balance among the team within the episode----all of it seems to point to the idea that someone is paying attention to feedback. So keep it coming!

????

Moving, for risk of being 'spoilerish'. I saw the clips as well. I think they're more of a continuation of the conversation Reid and Rossi were having last week. I think he just said 'give yourself a break', not necessarily meaning taking time off. It made sense to me. What annoyed me more was the scene on the plane. It just felt so immature, especially after last week, when they managed to write Reid as a grieving adult. The man is in his thirties, he's already suffered a tremendous personal loss and he's a well read genius with a degree in philosophy. And the best they can come up with is him playing a neverending game of chess to keep Gideon around? It's just so lacking in insight. I'm also hoping we haven't already seen the full 'Reid arc' in those two clips.

I cannot tell a lie. I was so annoyed with that hair that I crept up on him when he was asleep, and......

Are we sure? His Jan. 30 premiere photos still have the messy mop.

Re: whether or not it was Reid-centric: I'm not a big fan of centric-stories for any of the characters, including, surprisingly (for me), Reid. But that's because I like to see the interactions among all of them, and I like those interactions to contain both historical and character-driven (i.e., personality) consistency. I like to see the reactions of the members of the team to the cases, and I think it makes sense that pretty much every case would affect one or more of them in a personal way. For that reason, I think it would make sense if we were to see more of one or two of the characters in an episode, without it having to be considered 'centric'. That's what I liked about this episode. It sounded like none of them had been in contact with Gideon since he'd left, so it made sense for them not to react in an overly emotional way. Just as it made sense for Reid to grieve more readily, and deeply, because of who Gideon had been to him. I'm not sure I bought the 'I think about him every day' thing, since we'd seen none of it for eight years...but it's Reid, so....maybe. He certainly has the capacity to think about many things every day.

I'm guessing the title has a dual meaning, since they've said we'll see more of Reid's grieving process.

One of the things I love about this site is that we get to have this caliber of discussion. And one of the things that's troubling is that, sometimes, there are real people involved. So sorry about how your mother died, Normasm. I started to type a long explanation for how things work,but it just didn't feel right. Suffice it to say that the usual cause of death with any kind of bleeding in the brain is different from other parts of the body, mostly because it's an enclosed space. Of course, with a gunshot wound, it's no longer enclosed, so there is a possibility to hit a major blood vessel and bleed out. But you would be far more likely to stop breathing (and have that be the cause of death) before you were to go into shock.

Two additional observations: Reid pocketed Gideon's book of victims. Wonder if we'll see that again some day. And, a snark at the medicine: Gideon "died of hypovolemic shock"---after he got shot in the head? No, I think not.

So sorry for your loss, MCatry. There's never a right time.

Agreed, Candall. But there are, unfortunately, plenty of people who never let the facts get in the way of a strongly held opinion. So I doubt that a realistic portrayal of organ donation by CM would have any kind of impact on those in question.

I agree. I thought it was so much more effective than the sobbing at the end of Lauren. To me, that scene has always felt strange. When it comes to crying on screen, less is definitely more.

That's why I loved what came after. The makeup crew can fake a tear with a variety of irritants. But the tissue, and the shaking hands---that was all MGG.

And delete the other one.

I like to picture the writer/producer staff at CM performing a collective face-palm over that bar scene, accusing one another---"Who wrote that?" "Who was editing that day?" "Who let it stay in there?" I'm usually in favor of keeping marriages together (duh), but if her keeping the miscarriage from Will were to become a source of strife, and ended up showing his character the door, I would applaud it. Don't know what it is about him---maybe the fact that he has no facial expressions, or vocal inflection, or pretty much anything else. I haven't seen Josh Stewart in anything else, but I gather he's popular. So I'm guessing it's the character, and not the actor.

I think the 'no secrets' conversation at the end of (the awful) '200' could be construed to mean that she's told him about the miscarriage. Or not.

Amen! But I loved what followed it even more.

Danielg, I'm glad you were able to enjoy some aspects of the episode, and sorry you didn't enjoy the rest. I can agree with you that this particular unsub seemed a bit too pedestrian to have been able to take out the founder of the BAU. But I also think it made the whole thing more poignant. That the great Jason Gideon didn't go out in a blaze of glory, but simply died, alone, at the hands of someone who shouldn't have been able to kill him. It certainly created a powerful message for the rest of the team. Sudden, unexpected deaths are often like that. But for a happenstance in one direction or the other, they wouldn't have occurred. It's what makes them so difficult to absorb, and what tempts the survivor to go through the 'shoulda, woulda, coulda' process. If we'd had a long term or powerful nemesis killing Gideon, this would have been a very different episode. But I'm not sure it would have had the same emotional impact.

Not sure where this belongs, but I'll put it here. Last night, when he was finally given some material to work with, I was reminded at how good MGG is at giving a touching, understated, nuanced performance. I know he enjoys comedy, and he's good at that as well. But---is it wrong of me to wish he'd get over his fascination with the horror/comedy genre and get to work on something of real substance?

Aethera,I thought it was pretty clearly the PTSD that kept JJ back. She started to walk out with the rest, but then Hotch stopped her. His words didn't sound to me like a new order (eg, keep Garcia company or protect the scene), but like a reminder of something they'd already discussed. And she reacted in kind.

Getting the negative out of the way, because it was minimal: Too much unsub, with too much graphic gruesomeness. All I needed to know was that he'd held and tortured the same woman for over three decades, and let her suffer through cancer. Didn't need to see the torture of the second victim, nor what happened to the poor bird. Gratuitous----and it displaced the other characters (Reid) from my screen. All the rest---classic CM, welcomed back with open arms. Some specific observations: Loved the glimpse into the origins of Gideon's interest in birds, as well as the origins of some of the terms we've all learned over the years. Loved the characterizations by the 'young Rossi and Gideon' actors, and the interactions between them. Loved the idea that they were both about to become fathers at the same time. The only thing that detracted, for me, was that the actors looked way too young (and the timeline would indicate they were) to have gained enough experience to have been given free rein to start a whole new section within the FBI. It made me wonder if they were being marginalized ( a la X-files) and then ended up proving all the others wrong. I wondered why they let Reid make what they all knew would be an emotional drive, in the dark, all alone, especially since Morgan and Garcia obviously traveled together. Not safe, guys. But then we wouldn't have had that great throwback scene of Reid's car arriving to the clearing, nor the closeup look of devastation. Just that, and you had to know that Gideon was dead. Loved that the Reid interactions were with Morgan and Rossi. Would have loved it with Hotch as well. As much as I like the idea of the Reid/JJ friendship, it wasn't really what I wanted to see here. Loved the exchanges between Hotch and Rossi, and that Hotch actually laughed! Loved the nod to JJ's PTSD. Obviously she didn't 'just say no' after reading that file. I will admit to a momentary fear that the unsub would somehow come back to the cabin occupied only by JJ and Garcia, and that all the action would take place there. So glad that didn't happen. Loved the ice cream scene, and the return of the JJ and Garcia we used to know. Liked Kate's observations and what seemed to be her respect that the others were, to one degree or another, grieving. BTW, FA, you wondered how Garcia tracked down employee info from the grocery store from 1978. She actually commented that it was still family-owned. I took that to mean she was going to contact the family that owned it, who might still have records. I don't always notice the music, apart from an occasional song overlying a montage (which I usually don't recognize at all!). But I noticed the music last night, because I thought it was inserted so expertly, and did such a great job of enhancing each scene where it was used. I even liked the editing. And, finally---Reid. I loved pretty much everything about how the show, and MGG, treated his character last night. He was written and portrayed with emotion, but restraint. The director ( I liked the quality of the directing last night as well) kept Reid visually in scenes where he wasn't part of the conversation, keeping his anguish present. (That's what would have worked for JJ last week.) His scene with Stephen made me wonder if the two had ever met. The hesitation over the chess set brought back a whole stream of memories of him with Gideon. His 'reading' of Gideon's letter from memory was just perfectly delivered--- so quiet, and so pain-filled. And here's the most amazing thing. Apart from the reading of that letter, nearly all of the emotional response MGG elicited from us (from me, anyway--just assuming!), he did in virtual silence. His arrival at the cabin, the scene in the morgue, his embrace of Stephen, the scene with the chess set---all without him speaking a word. That's a gift. One that I want to see on my screen again next week, and the week after, and the week after that...... CM gave itself a challenge last night. It demonstrated that it does remember what good storytelling looks, and sounds and feels like. Now it just has to do it again.

What was that show that was on tonight? It reminded me a lot of Criminal Minds!

It was such a lost opportunity, and would have required absolutely no contrived backstory. They could have had a season-long background arc of JJ as a beginner profiler (albeit with some experience through her liaison work), learning to apply her knowledge. If they'd shown her colleagues helping her learn the process, we could have been learning right along with her. And then people would have cheered her on, and celebrated her progress. Somehow I doubt there would be the same distaste for the character if we'd seen her transformation in relatively real time.

The bad news: two feet headed our way. The good news: it's not Wednesday, so they won't have to preempt CM to talk about it incessantly. The best news: no work tomorrow!