SSAHotchner

I'll admit that my disgust at Mandy over his comments about CM and his departure have colored my opinion of Gideon, but there are still some things I love about Gideon. He did have a gift. For instance, in Compulsion when the student security/campus watch guy came up to question what he was doing and Gideon takes one look at him and says, "Your girlfriend thinks you want to break up with her." I can't see anyone else on the team, even Hotch, picking up on that with just one look at the guy. It was very Sherlock Holmes. I loved his tenderness toward Reid in his mentoring role, but he was also tough when he needed to be. What I didn't like about him and grew to really notice was his constant second-guessing of himself ("I did the right thing") and what I felt was over acting with the victims. I felt that Hotch's compassion, the times he teared up, etc. were much more natural and believable. Mandy's came across as mugging, but again, this opinion is colored by my irritation at Mandy's departure and how he has handled it ever since. For somebody whose soul was so tortured by the material on Criminal Minds, he certainly didn't seem to have a problem with Homeland, which I found much more disgusting.

No, because I'm first a Hotch fan. Reid's story in Elephant's Memory broke my heart, but to me Damaged is a better episode. But I'll survive its elimination. :)

My opinion of Gideon has deteriorated every time I read another comment by him on how Criminal Minds was damaging to his soul, he only did it for the money, etc. But I agree that the excellent writing in the first two seasons made him a really intricate and interesting character. And I agree about early Rossi being better than current Rossi. I'm not sure if Rossi gets so little to do because Joe is so busy or if the writers just don't care about giving him good stuff. Actually, I just think most of the current writers suck. I could never understand why they'd pay these guys so much and not use them. But I loved the snarky Rossi in season 3. I remember watching Penelope with my youngest son, and we both looked at each other when Rossi referred to the unsub as a jag off. I don't think I had heard that term on prime time network TV before. I no longer get a sense of his experience in the episodes. He should be a valuable resource. In many episodes he's barely present. Since I found CM late (my first episode was Penelope which I saw on ION TV in a hotel room when I was out of town, but it was actually early season 6 that was airing on CBS that year), I had to catch up with all of the episodes and didn't actually see them all in order until I decided to buy the DVDs. So I saw the stern Hotch first, and I remember watching with my son and saying, "Hotch is the only one I don't really like." I didn't dislike him, but it took awhile for me to see the layers in his character and TG's acting. All of a sudden one day it was like a light bulb went on and I've been crazy about him ever since. But I really like Hotch in the earlier seasons. I did love 100 the first time I saw it and wanted to watch it again, but now that I have seen it several times, it no longer is my favorite episode. I find myself loving the earlier seasons much more. Agree with those who find Morgan-centric episodes less entertaining. I don't dislike Morgan, but he's nowhere near the top of my list of favorite characters. The only things I really liked about Profiler Profiled was "physics magic" with Reid and the ladies and the scenes with Morgan's family. But when I watch the early seasons, Morgan does seem to be more valuable in terms of what he contributes. On this board I'd be unpopular because I can't stand Seaver or Beth. Seaver, as a rookie, just had no business being in the BAU. And, well, you all know my feelings about Beth. I liked Will at first, but not much now. Once they got around to marrying Will and JJ, they actually seemed to have less, in fact no chemistry together. But, again, I blame the writers. They really don't seem to know what to do with these characters. I like old JJ, but not new JJ, and I can barely tolerate Garcia anymore, and she once was my favorite female character. Is it unpopular to dislike what they did to Strauss' character? You know it's been said that Erica sees herself in the new JJ, but sometimes I think she's on a level with Garcia, all kittens, rainbows and warm fuzzies. The way they tried to change Strauss into one who championed the team rather than one who constantly conflicted with them never sat right with me. I never bought everyone being all weepy when she died and the clichéd scene with the team trying to tell nice stories about her after she died just annoyed me. Yet, I'm glad that when they brought in a new section chief it wasn't someone confrontational.

Elephant's Memory Sorry, but I love Damaged for the scenes with Hotch & Reid, and the cute bit at the end where Reid doesn't get the "sittin' in a tree" song. But I can see that Damaged is on its way out. :)

Elephant's Memory Also according to IMDB and my CM DVDs there is only one title to the episode In Name and Blood. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1111159/?ref_=ttep_ep2

True Night MsTaken, can you please update the list so that the first title reads "In Name and Blood?" Thanks. :)

Agree, Aquarian. But then Hotch is my favorite, so I love episodes that feature him. I saw season 8 was on ION today, and it's my least favorite season. But then what an eye opener when they moved from the end of season 8 to starting all over again with season 1. The writing in season one is superb and the characters are so much more interesting and complex.

About Face True Night

3rd Life Lo-Fi I'm sad to see Lucky go. Floyd Feylinn is one of my favorite unsubs and "God is in all of us, my son." "So is Tracy Lambert." is one of my all-time favorite CM moments.

I know Cade Owens isn't much of an actor, but I still adore Jack. Maybe because he's Hotch's kid, but he melts my heart. Now that he is so much older, it's a little harder to love him. He's been doing this for so many years. I wish the mom would consider an acting coach. My apologies if he's already had one and still is a lousy actor. :) The girls in North Mammon were good and believable, but that's a hard episode for me to watch. I couldn't take a friend's life. Although they certainly made that girl bitchy enough that you were able to accept her fate. Also loved the kid in The Big Wheel, which is airing on my local NBC station right now. He is precious. For unsubs, I also like Adam/Amanda in Conflicted, Jonny in True Night and Owen in Elephant's memory. But I don't want the unsubs to be sympathetic most of the time. One here and there is okay, but I prefer the killers to deserve their fate.

3rd Life Scared to Death

Birthright 3rd Life Scared to Death

Birthright Scared to Death 3rd Life

Favorite post season 5 episodes: Hanley Waters Unknown Subject Profiling 101 Gabby The Edge of Winter Self Fulfilling Prophecy Epilogue Painless Foundation True Genius Persuasion The Caller

Empty Planet The Aftermath

It would be nice to see Anderson get a little more to do. Was watching old episodes on A&E over the weekend. I'd like to see a strong woman like Katie Cole. She could be strong without having to perform martial arts moves. And she had that caring core. That is what is missing from JJ these days. She's just too hard, and even when they give her a sympathetic line, it's no longer believable. I'm willing to concede that some of that is my own perception based on my current feelings toward the character. But some of it is AJ's fault, too Her facial expression and tone no longer convey that inside compassion.

Empty Planet Legacy

I was watching Jones on A&E last night and I was struck by the realization of how much I really liked JJ in the old days. With all the hubbub this past season I actually forgot about how much I liked her and why I liked her. I know a lot of folks don't like Jones but I have always enjoyed it because it showed the personal side of JJ. I liked JJ so much in her role as media liaison. She was actively involved in the cases, but she was just so much more...human. I get a coldness and an arrogance from her now. It makes me sad. I want to like her, but I find it hard to do now, and that just makes me mad. I'm sure AJ feels better about her role now, but I just think neither she nor CBS recognized the value of the media liaison role. No one is really filling that role now. Garcia may be presenting the cases and emoting all over the place, but I miss that quiet presence that would listen to the grief of the families of victims and empathize with them.

Not sure what their food favorites are, but in listening to the comments on my Leverage DVDs I learned that you will frequently see characters in TV shows eating Chinese food because it's easy to film. With those cartons, you can't see how much they've consumed, so when they have to do several takes they don't have to worry about the continuity. It made me think of that scene at the end of The Instincts where everyone but Reid is having dinner in the Chinese restaurant.

Empty Planet North Mammon

I love them all, but I have to confess that Eliot is my favorite. My favorite Eliot moment is in Season 1 The Bank Job when he rescues the kidnapped mom. When she says, "who ARE you?" and he replies, "Well, Ma'am, we be the cavalry." my heart just melts. But I also love how exasperated he gets with Hardison and Parker and how he's not afraid to call Nate out when he's being reckless.

I enjoy the commentaries. There is so much information given on casting, the locations, writers, etc. And they tell about funny stuff that happened while filming. I haven't listened to all of the commentaries yet, but I'm glad they did one on each episode.

When you're watching other programs and keep telling your husband, "that guy was on Criminal Minds!" And when you spend 2 hours going through one episode to get a gazillion screen shots of your favorite characters.

The only other show in recent years that I have been as attached to as much as I am to CM and have bought all the DVDs is Leverage. Love, love, love everyone of those guys, but especially Christian Kane and Timothy Hutton.

Season Rankings: 1 4 2 3 5 7 9 6 8