SSAHotchner

Rusty makes me very uncomfortable. I couldn't watch him and I really doubt he has any chance at all of winning. But Jason annoys me. His expressions are too over the top. Less is more. Not sure Corey has what it takes, but he's easier on the eye and less annoying than the others.

I agree with their picks, but not necessarily the order. Still, I think they got this one right. Sure do miss that man.

Yes, the underwater scene was amazing if a little far-fetched. It's been quite a while since I checked in here so if I'm repeating myself, forgive me. My favorite Hotch moments are: Washing the blood off Elle's wall in The Fisher King Sitting with Megan Kane as she dies Sitting with the burned woman in Ashes and Dust Anything with Jack Telling Reid, "You're starting to get some distance with these" during "physics magic." "Some people grow up to catch them." Conversation with Reid at the end of LDSK. Conversation with Reid in the van in Damaged where he confides in him about Haley wanting the divorce. I'm sure there are more but the sleeping pill is kicking in for the night.

It's so over the top that it comes across as phony. I'm sure he's a nice guy, but I wouldn't want to sit through an entire program of that. As for Suzanne, even if her dish had turned out okay, I would want her gone because I'm sick of her whining and complaining.

Whoops, sorry. You can see how much that episode held my interest outside of Reid.

Hotch is my favorite and I didn't want to watch this season without him, so I really didn't until near the end when I wanted to see what happened with Reid and his mom, because Reid is my (very close) 2nd favorite. While I have been a fan of Paget/Prentiss and have always thought that she managed to elevate the bad material with her performance, for some reason she wasn't able to do that (IMO) this season. Truly the writing has ruined what was once a fabulous show. They have missed the premise of this show for half of its run now. They can inject all the new characters they want to, but they can't salvage the show without good, believable story lines and interesting cases. I do think that Matthew gave stellar performances in his arc and I'm glad they were smart enough to give so much focus to him. However, I wish that he would get something else. He's stuck it out long enough and deserves better than they've given him in recent seasons. So while I enjoyed watching the Reid scenes, the recent cases mostly did not hold my interest, and I think bringing back Gia Mantegna's character was nothing more than nepotism. I'm glad they killed her off so they don't try it again, not that I'm likely to watch. As much as I love the character of Hotch, my wish is for Thomas Gibson (and Matthew Gray Gubler) to get a great new role or project elsewhere and let Criminal Minds fade away. I do still enjoy watching the early seasons but it also makes me sad for the loss of what once was.

I don't find anything on any news site that confirms he's leaving. That link is just a fan page. Don't get me wrong. I want him out of there. I just want to see something official confirming that he is leaving.

I am not at all happy about them bringing that character back. These writers obviously don't care whether what they do makes sense. I just think it's nepotism and indulgence. "Hey, let's bring Joe's daughter back!" I wouldn't mind if they wanted to give her another role but it's a stretch to make her previous character work in a current episode.

I just miss him dreadfully. I have watched a few of the recent episodes to see what is happening to Reid, but without Hotch it's just awful. Don't get me wrong, MGG is doing a fantastic job with what he's been given, but without Hotch the awful writing overwhelms and I can't bring myself to have any interest in the cases at all. I love Paget/Prentiss, but she's just not cutting it. In fact, I feel like she's trying to give a Hotch-like quality to her delivery instead of being herself and it just doesn't work. I'm glad Thomas is getting a rest. He looks happy and healthy. But I'm hoping to learn that he has some brilliant new project soon.

Yeah! This from the guy who never misses a chance to be photographed/filmed without a shirt on.

For me the worst part of Route 66, besides the Beth love fest, was the wasted potential. This could have been a fantastic episode getting into Hotch's psyche, but instead we were treated to comic antics by Haley and Foyet and having them force their "Beth is the one for Hotch" point of view down our throats. I was so outraged by those things that I can't even remember a thing about the case. I've always hated that. And another unpopular opinion of mine is that I dislike when Morgan calls Reid "pretty boy" as if that's all he is.

Haven't watched this one yet, but let's also remember that Elephant's Memory was written by Andrew Wilder, one of the best CM writers. The current writers often write without checking to make sure what they write is plausible, makes sense or keeps the characters' continuity. They don't seem to be capable of writing the depth of character that the early writers did.

I'd like to shut it for him. :)

I love that episode for the scenes with Reid and Hotch. That was writing that respected Reid's mind. I also loved that Hotch opened up to him about Haley and the divorce.

I know this isn't CM related, but I have to say I was really bummed they didn't win in 2015 because that would have been so cool with the prediction in Back to the Future II coming true. But as a life-long Cubs fan I was thrilled with their win last season. I'm just glad I got to see it in my lifetime because my parents, in-laws and other relatives didn't get to. And I still say it would have been better, if they had to mention it on CM, for Rossi to have been a fan and been from Chicago instead of bringing up the dead Army pal again.

I'm entitled to my opinion and in my opinion Virgil sucks. None of the episodes you mentioned, in my opinion, compares favorably with even the worst episodes in seasons 1-5. His writing is weak and his public behavior is childish.

I thought the case and the writing sucked. Virgil is not a good writer. He lacks imagination, creativity and the skill to effectively tie elements together. I am sick to death of the absentee parent being the cause of someone's turn to crime. If that were the case, we'd have thousands of serial killers. I'm only watching right now because of Reid, so I'll admit that his portion of the episode is what interests me. They'd have to have a really good case, you know like in seasons 1-4, to really grab and hold my attention, and the few episodes I've watched this season aren't cutting it. Here's how I think the current writers (or most of them anyway) write an episode. 1. Try to think of a bizarre and/or gruesome way to kill people 2. Try to come up with a reason for someone to want to kill people that way, that will also somewhat excuse their behavior and garner some pity for the killer rather than the innocent victims. 3. Use graphic photos and action to make up for the fact that you can't come up with clever insights and dialogue I have no idea what they're planning to do with Reid. I suspect they're figuring this is the end for the show. But at least we're getting some focus on him for a change and MGG is doing a phenomenal job with his acting. I can't comment much on the newer characters. They just don't interest me all that much, but I blame the writing. Even Paget is failing to have a strong presence this season. As for the Cubs bit, no one was happier for them when they won than I was. Wish my parents had lived long enough to see the victory. But the scene was completely cheesy. I also thought it was a poor move to have Rossi say he wasn't from Chicago. You can tell it by his speech. What would be wrong with that? Oh, yeah, because they had to dig up (no pun intended) the dead war buddy again. (rolls eyes)

I just ask my kids. They always know. :)

You have great ideas, but these writers are completely out of their depth with that kind of thinking. Not a one of them, except Clemente, grasps the original concept of the show and time and time again they take the easy way out. Then they get pissy when viewers call them on it. A scenario like the one you envisioned would make a wonderful Criminal Minds episode.

So, for the first time this season I watched the episode while it aired instead of either just deleting it from my DVR or checking it out later to see how the Reid story was going. I wish I could have gotten interested in the case, but I was more concerned with what was going on with Reid in prison. To me it feels like the writers are trying to make the newbies more interesting. They're trying to eek out details about their lives prior to joining the BAU and humanize them all more, but it's kind of falling flat for me. And because I was watching live, I couldn't fast forward through the annoying Garcia scenes. You know, Hotch would have stopped her in the middle of her ranting and carrying on about how great she is, how difficult her job is, how disgusted she is by the things she has to see on the internet while researching for the cases, etc., etc. and told her to focus on the job and give him the answer he needed. Season 1-4 she was one of my very favorite members of the team. Now I can't stand her. And did anyone else get the impression in that last scene with Prentiss that Prentiss kept glancing down at Garcia's cleavage. It was almost kind of funny, like she was being distracted by it. Anyway, it wasn't the worst case or the worst unsub they've had but it really didn't hold my interest. I don't know if these actors just aren't good enough to hold it together with the mediocre writing or if none of them really cares about the show. It often felt flat, robotic, even the "we all care about what happens to Reid" didn't ring true for all. I am still interested in what they're doing to/with Reid for the rest of this arc. Other than that, I don't really care if the show goes on past this season. Until the Reid arc, I really haven't watched anyway.

Soul Mates had both a white and a black man raping and killing girls of both races. Fear and Loathing had a black guy killing young black girls who were also singers. Lessons Learned had a Muslim unsub who recruited young black males from prison to bomb public places. Profiler Profiled had a black pedophile who killed some of his young, black male victims. Lo-Fi and Mayhem had young males of various races trained to kill for their cause. Catching Out was a hispanic guy killing families so he could stay in their homes and eat their food. Those are from seasons 1-5, just to add a few.

I think the current writers (sans Clemente who is a Hollywood sell-out in my opinion) are clueless as to the facts. Really, I think they're just used to starting out the profile with "He's a white male...." I have no argument with the fact that most serial killers are white males, it's just that they're very unoriginal in their dialogue these days. The giving of the profile, which once used to be interesting, has become so boring and robotic. Let's see now, did everyone on the team get the same amount of lines? Really! I wish they would draw more on real cases and stop trying to create the bizarre unsubs, stop trying to see who can come up with the most outlandish way to kill someone.

I agree Gbb. I quit watching this season because I don't want to watch without Hotch, but I did tune in the past couple of weeks to see what was going on with Reid who is also a favorite character. Let's face it. The writing has sucked for years. I just kept coming back for my weekly Hotch fix. MGG's performance in the past couple of episodes was worth watching but the cases sucked and the rest of the team appears to be just going through the motions. I'm not sorry I'm not watching either, but I do have a lot of online friends that I keep in touch with here and on other forums. My DVR is also set up to automatically record CM and I don't mind deleting those episodes at all. I hope Gubler gets a good role on another show or in a film because he deserves it. I am happy that in the photos I've seen of Thomas Gibson he looks happier and healthier than he has in years. I hope he will get another great role when he is ready to resume working.

Perhaps you missed the silly, childish hair ornaments.

Watched this one to see what happened to Reid. Poor baby. But I'm ready to strangle Garcia. I have had enough of her and I've only watched a couple of episodes this season. SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!! And dress like a grown up. I couldn't care less about the case. Unbelievable, as usual. But I am interested in seeing where they're going with Reid. It was a smart move to have several episodes focus on him.