Danielg342

First of all, there are a lot of men who creep out women simply because they're misguided. Doesn't excuse the actions, obviously, but not every man who creeps out a woman is a complete monster. So I see no problem with the show saying that Edward Nygma has good intentions, just poor execution, because at the very least it's realistic. Second of all, it's a perfectly valid explanation for why someone becomes a criminal. Lots of men- and women- turn to crime because of an unrequited love, and I don't see why it's wrong for the show to use that storyline. Third of all, the interactions with Kris Kringle are merely a part of the Nygma narrative- overall, this is a story where Nygma is being disrespected by everyone not just Kringle. Bullock is also very mean to him, as is the overbearing M.E., and we see far more of Nygma and Bullock than we do of Nygma and Kringle. If anything Bullock is going to be more likely to drive him over the edge, not Kringle. Fourth of all- and more importantly- I don't believe the show is in any way trying to make Nygma sympathetic. We knew right from the start- in stark contrast to the other characters- that he's going to be The Riddler, so right away we know he's an evil dude. In that light, there's no reason to feel sorry for him, because we know he's not someone we're ever going to be sorry for. Sure, he's a well-intentioned “Nice Guy” who doesn't understand what he does is wrong, but since right from the start we're supposed to know that he's evil, there's no way for the show to at least intend to frame his actions as “right”. I understand it's off-putting that there's the suggestion that “if only people were nice to Nygma, he wouldn't be evil”, but I think that because Nygma is so clearly oriented as a bad guy, I see nothing wrong with using the story. It's merely an explanation- perfectly valid too- for how a villain became a villain, nothing more. If Nygma was supposed to be framed as a “good” character right from the start only to turn evil later then I might agree the storyline is off-putting, because then it's asking the audience to turn on the characters who were mean to the guy we were once rooting for. However, since Nygma has been framed as a bad guy right from the start, we're not supposed to root for him at all and thus the show is not saying at all that his thought process or course of action could in any way be “right”.

For an episode with a lot of spark...there sure wasn't a lot of sizzle. I thought Ben McKenzie was a bit off in this episode...he didn't feel at all natural, feeling more like "Snarlbot 3000". Someone needs to tell McKenzie to tone it down, just like he was at the beginning of the season- he's not tough just because he talks tough, he's tough because he just *is* tough. I will give him credit, though- at least he wins his fights. Far too often TV Badasses get used as punching bags, so when Jim Gordon inevitably loses a fight, at least this time I'll believe the character's menace. The kiss...glad the show went for it so early, and it felt nice and real. I got the sense that Gordon saw Lee and realized she's his "escape" from all of the problems he has to deal with. I'm not like others and see an awful lot of chemistry between McKenzie and Morena Baccharin, but I thought at least we got some sparks, with something definitely to build on. Did enjoy him talking trash to the Commissioner, and Bullock calling Gordon out on being "not being risky". Gordon wears his heart on his sleeve and I love it. I was also disappointed with Penguin in this episode...perhaps I'm late with it, but now I'm starting to see what others have said- how can he last this long manipulating people without them realizing it? I'm hoping there's some payback by Maroni planned because I'll be mightily disappointed if the Penguin gets out of his "excited utterance" jam just by sounding surprised. As much as I think Maroni is aloof, I'd like to think he isn't stupid. If I was him, I'd be investigating at the slightest hint of a betrayal, and the Penguin basically left it for him on a platter. Fish...she really dragged things in this episode. I think it was mostly Jada Pinkett-Smith trying too hard to be "tough" because none of it was natural, just like McKenzie's performance, though I think Jada's performance was much worse. It was almost laughable her attempt to show how scared she was of Falcone at the end...come on Jada, you're supposed to be cowering at the feet of maybe the scariest man in Gotham...you're not supposed to act like you "might" be scared, you should be scared. While we're talking about disappointments, there's Falcone, who I thought knew all along what Fish was doing. Granted, at least Falcone bemoaned his stupidity, and I suppose I had the benefit of seeing what the character likely doesn't. I'm kind of hoping that Falcone and Penguin develop some kind of an uneasy friendship, because it'd be a nice contrast to all the backstabbing that goes on in the criminal world. Either that, or Falcone realizes that Penguin's playing him too because, as even he notices, how can he be right all the time? Poor Liza...I will miss Mackenzie Leigh. Perfectly appropriate she bites the dust via choking...it's a very personal means of death, and what she did- or represented- to Falcone was very personal. I also think Fish's survival makes no sense to me- I mean, I know *why* she's surviving but if she didn't have Plot Armour then she'd likely be dead right there too. If I was Falcone I'd lose it on everybody, and make everyone die a horrible death...Fish disrespected his mother. Doesn't get any worse than that. The case itself was a bit simplistic...really didn't feel like there were that many clues. I did enjoy Gordon profiling Jack, because Jack fell for it, and I did enjoy Gordon throwing the cup of water at Jack's electrical equipment. Sure, it was "easy", but I think it's a nice contrast to how difficult Jack made Gordon's life and how difficult Gordon's life had become...I mean if I was Gordon, I think I'd want a cup of water handy to beat the bad guy that stands between me and my rightful career. So all is fair. I just wished Bullock was in that scene somehow. Speaking of Bullock...he was underused, but I did appreciate that he's become the "observant" one of the pair. He comes across as a doofus, but he's much smarter than he looks. Enjoyed seeing Chelsea Spack (Kris Kringle) again...she played the "dainty but strong" role really well. Thought that cupcake with the bullet in it was a great statement about her character- she may appear nice and sweet on the outside, but on the inside, she'll mess you up if she has to. ...and then Nygma...well, you definitely are a troubled geek, someone who can't seem to get any respect from anyone. I liked seeing his looks of disappointment when dealing with Kringle...I think the show is really selling well his slow plunge into despair. Then there's Barbara, but her story bored me so I refuse to even acknowledge she was it this episode. Overall...C. Too clunky to be a good standalone episode but there are enough nuggets in there to make this the buildup for something better, I hope.

When they announced the show, they referenced The Blacklist specifically, noting it is a show where the FBI goes abroad. So it's not unprecedented in TV land. Personally, I hope for a show like what could have been with the JTF-12 team, since I think a show about profiling terrorists would have been cool. Doubt that's what will happen though.

For what it's worth, the "BAU profiler turns into a serial killer" storyline isn't something I'd want this writing team to try. They're very poor at planning things and even worse with understanding little details. However I think on a better show with better writers, it's something that could be tried.

I probably would agree that less JJ is more, actually, considering she's basically dominated this season. If she's in the background until April, I'll be satisfied...though I doubt that will happen.

I didn't say it was the *only* logical conclusion, just that it's one logical conclusion. I would agree that not all of them would descend into serial-killer-ness, but I would totally buy it if it did happen.

Jealous. I've only seen pictures. :( Apparently if you're in Russia and cross over they'll shoot on sight.

Oh man...I can understand not knowing (to an extent) is that Guam is American territory but New Mexico? You'd think at least the 50 states would be basic knowledge...I guess that person never turned left at Albuquerque. :p Well, I guess Charlie Daniels was right about Georgia. :p Now, it *is* true that there were territories that were once American that became independent- see the Marshall Islands and the Philippines- but Guam is not one of them. Tell me, zannej, that at least you were aware of the Norwegian border with Russia...that's one of my favourite geographical quirks. I wonder if we should start a drinking game in preparation for the CM Spinoff's wonky geography...we could probably already do it for CM. :p

If you really think about it, "turning into a serial killer" would be a logical conclusion to a BAU member's career. It seems improbable that after ten years of seeing literally the worst humanity can throw at them that no one has lost their minds so much that they didn't start thinking that "humanity itself needed to be exterminated" or something. Am I supposed to believe that the BAU guys are so superhuman that they can just brush off all of these brutal crimes? The sad part is, no matter how logical it might be- and no matter how, at this stage, it's the only logical conclusion for JJ- I doubt they'll ever go to that well. There's the obvious worry about fan backlash, plus these writers are so oblivious to the "larger narrative" (and thus the larger implications of their actions) that they think they can put characters through anything and they can come out unscathed. Problem is, there's only so much I can believe. ^ This. A thousand times. I'm pretty understanding that, perhaps, there's a reason why they didn't deal with Season 6 or Hotch's stab wounds until Season 9, or that they "forgot" about JJ's PTSD until Season 10, but it only goes so far. They had known all season they were going to go this route with JJ and it's terrible that they didn't plan this better- or that we got this horrible display to begin with.

I wonder how many people even realize the US actually *has* overseas territories, aside from (technically) Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and maybe American Samoa. Anyone up for a trip to Baker Island or Guam?I also shudder at the geography on this show. The "mothership" does it pretty bad sometimes, so I shudder to think what the spinoff will be like. Just to help out, yes, Norway DOES share a border with Russia.

Understandable. It's subjective, so I'm guessing we'll just agree to disagree on "200". I personally think CM can actually do "action" pretty well ("Mayhem"), but when it happens too much it draws away from the original, cerebral premise. I'd add Henry to the mix- it'd be realistic. Plus "The Boogeyman" did have kids getting killed (and had a picture of a dead boy shown) so it's not without precedent on the show, though I think for it to work, you'd have to do any violence off-screen.

There is one way they can do JJ's situation realistically without it weighing down the series- they could limit her to only one scene per episode (after the credits) where she sees a psychiatrist or gets support from her husband (mysteriously absent this season) and nothing else. That way, at least she can appear while allowing others to get their well-deserved screentime.

I know I'm alone on this one, but I at least thought “200” was watchable. There was enough “dumb action” to at least get me through the mistakes, and at least the story and its progression made sense, even if in the larger narrative it has elements that are severely out of place. “200” was about action, and on that front it delivered. This one, on the other hand, set out to make objectives and failed to even come close to hitting any of them. We were supposed to have an “emotional” episode yet what we got was writing and acting choices that fell incredibly off that mark. “200” may have been based on a faulty premise, but at least the elements within the story made sense. There was nothing about “The Forever People” that made sense. It was supposed to be about JJ dealing with the effects of PTSD only for the PTSD not to actually matter- it was a lot of posturing to make the PTSD appear to matter but it no real effect on the outcome of the story. JJ was never made to pay for ignoring the effects of the condition and that is most jarring about this episode, and why I must rank it as the worst ever. I like the idea, especially since you'd think of all the people who'd be able to “beat” the BAU it'd be someone within the BAU, but there are two reasons why I'm not sure it can happen: 1) Erica Messer seems to believe JJ is “the star” so I'm not sure she'd ever approve of a storyline where JJ would so obviously have to leave the series 2) I'm not convinced this current batch of writers would be capable of pulling off the subtlety and nuances needed for the storyline to work. Considering they can't even have regular UnSubs commit crimes without the regular police being stupid, I'm not sure they can believably have a BAU UnSub be able to pull off the same thing.

Perhaps I was unduly harsh on him- he has written some of my favourites, like “The Uncanny Valley” and “52 Pickup”, so it's likely more Erica Messer's fault than Breen Frazier's. Still, this was CM's worst written episode by a mile- someone has to shoulder the blame for that, and I guess it should be Messer. There might be one small chance I find this episode “appreciable” and that's if it's part of an arc where JJ spirals into a deep depression that causes her to lose her job or at least takes her off the next few cases. Any attempt to handwave it or dismiss it would be deeply troubling and frankly offensive, especially since the show treated PTSD so well before.

That's what the problem really boils down to- that this show has strayed so far from what once made it great it's infuriating. To me, it's not a matter of things simply changing- it's the fact that none of the changes seem at all "natural". I'm pretty sure if a viewer saw an episode from S1 and another from S10 and wasn't told both were episodes of CM, they'd think they're two completely different shows. Even the change from S1-S6 to S7-S10 is huge: even though Edward Allen Bernero made plots more formulaic, he at least kept the "cerebral" element to the show and every story within his watch would have five million different parts, like real life. Erica Messer? She just seems to want episodes where the UnSub gets to show how depraved he is before the Action Mom deduces the case and beats up the UnSub. Things happen but deeper layers are never explored, with the show losing all the subtlety it used to have in spades. I don't think it was better evident than this episode. JJ deduced all the clues, kicked the UnSub's butt and did generally everything herself while fighting off her PTSD demons. We'd call that "badass" if it wasn't unrealistic and wasn't a continuation- or an exaggeration- of what we saw before. We- and the show- were promised a JJ that would be conflicted and would need to dig deep to win the battle, yet she hardly broke a sweat in this episode while the others were useless, and that's the real shame.

Word. Those are my thoughts exactly, and I fear it can only get worse.

So that sucked. A lot. I never thought I could watch television worse than that, let alone a Criminal Minds episode. That has to be the worst episode in the history of television, bar none. (Well, I hear Heil Honey I'm Home! was awful...but I haven't seen it so I can't have an opinion of it, although, from what I do know about it, tasteless as it may have been and a horrible choice for a comedic series, at least HHIM didn't try to pass itself off as something serious..."The Forever People" did) Seriously, show? How dare you do an episode where you talk about JJ's demons finally coming to the fore only for those demons to have no effect at all on her, with her able to brush them aside with the simplest of exhortations? Seriously? Dare I say it, but if I was a PTSD sufferer, I'd be offended...greatly. This episode trivialized and seemed to underscore the idea that "it really is all in your head", a stigma the mental health community is working so hard to eradicate and then we get this dumb dreck that sets things back decades if not centuries. Horrible, horrible, horrible...and quite frankly inexcusable. Is it any surprise that the person who wrote this absolute piece of trash is Breen Frazier, the one who failed so miserably with the "emotional punch" of "Zugzwang"? Rip up this guy's writing contract, he has absolutely no idea how to write. Period. Because it is quite clear he is incapable of presenting any kind of skills required to display the many different layers of emotions that anyone can go through, let alone a sufferer of PTSD, and if you can't write emotions...I'm sorry, you can't write. Period. Oh, and while we're writing about horrible writing choices, how can you have an episode about PTSD and not have Reid talk about his actual experiences? I don't think anyone on this team knows PTSD better than Reid, not just because he's "the expert on everything" but because he's been through it more times than anyone really should. Shouldn't JJ want to know how Reid got past Alexa Lisbon, Philip Dowd, Tobias Hankel, anthrax and Harriet the Spy? There's a wealth of information there, yet Frazier somehow forgot about all this. Then there's that scene where Reid and JJ "talk about the PTSD"...and talk about the worst piece of writing I've ever seen. What was that? Something a rejected Disney sitcom wouldn't take? That was so awfully childish, awkward and cheesy that there's just no way any of that could be redeemed by quality acting, even though our dear warrior (who should really look for something else) tried his hardest. "I see a friend and all I want to do is help them out!" Aww...what do you want, Reid? A cookie? Because I think you sounded no better than a five-year-old kid. I could almost fit that bonnet around Reid's head after hearing that...couple it with those giant lollipops and a schoolboy outfit and you'd actually have a five-year-old kid. Blech. Excuse me while I expectorate all that filth the show tried to jam down my throat. I suppose I could give Frazier the tiniest bit of credit that he didn't want to go with a "normal" PTSD episode, but he was so far out of the box that when you put it all together, there was no box to fit any of that stuff in. Aside from it being patently offensive to PTSD sufferers, the episode had no punch, because JJ didn't experience any actual difficulties. I get it, having JJ rush to the crime scene only to get kidnapped herself is a cliche, but it's an effective one, and Frazier could have thrown another wrench in there to show how reckless she was (like, perhaps, the liquid nitrogen igniting and engulfing the house in flames, forcing the fire department to rescue her). Having JJ come out unscathed is no way to do an "alternate" storyline- conflict is central to the story, and it was conspicuously absent in this episode. One thing about this whole storyline that I actually did enjoy until JJ snapped her fingers was when we saw JJ having that hallucinatory conversation with Tivon Askari...Faran Tarhir really knocked it out of the park here. He was the picture of menacing and exactly the kind of demon that should have haunted JJ in this episode. The dialogue was predictable, but for once it worked, and would have packed quite the punch if JJ didn't suddenly end things by screaming "no!" as if she's talking to a dog. That really sealed it that this episode was terrible, because you can't have that menacing a voice and that menacing an experience and have it whisked away at the metaphorical snap of the fingers. If Frazier had decided to let the episode end with JJ still scared and Askari looking at her with that smug look, it might have made the episode redeemable because we'd get the sense that JJ's troubles might actually pop up again (as they should, even though we'd know better). Instead, the trivialized ending, which ruined a great scene. None of this is helped by the fact that A.J. Cook was out-acted by the doorknobs used in the cult's building...and I don't mean the weirdos, I mean the actual doorknobs. This was supposed to be Cook's shining moment where she displayed her range of emotions and how all of this was affecting her...and she looked more like Crybot2000 than an actual human being. Goodness...can an actor get any worse? OK, I'm laying on thick with the hyperboles, and I have seen worse acting performances...but Cook's tonight squarely ranks among them, and what makes it worse was that this was supposed to be her defining moment. Hey A.J., next time you decide to fight for your contract, remember that these are the guys who decided you are fit for employment as an actress, because I will guarantee you that no one in their right minds would ever hire you as an actress. You're the star of the episode and you're flatter than the horizon? Seriously? Thank your lucky stars CM is on the air because if it wasn't, you wouldn't be either. Oh, and perhaps I should mention a few other things that occurred in this episode...not that any of it matters because this was "the episode of JJ" and it was absolute trash: -The cult: I like the idea that there was a serial killer inside the cult- a neat twist to the old cult storylines where the leader is the obvious baddie- but this was horribly executed (pun or not is up to you). How did the cult leader have no idea any of this stuff was going on? He's supposed to have complete control is he not? So how does a serial killer get to do all of this behind the cult leader's back? You'd think there should be at least a wink-and-a-nudge acknowledgement from the cult leader but we didn't even get that. -Thought the team made a lot of leaps and had too many infodumps, leading to a case that had no actual pace. It's like in five seconds we went from drowning victims to a cult...seriously, Frazier? -Hotch had barely anything to do, but it was good to see him detect something was bothering Reid and show genuine care for him...it was a glimpse of what Hotch used to be and a symbol of how the show became a shadow of what it once was. -The rest of the team, not so lucky. Sure, Joe Mantegna, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shemar Moore and even Kirsten Vangsness were all there...but did they need to be? No one provided any real insight, and aside from Morgan using his "muscle" role to save JJ and Garcia's occasional searches, would you have noticed if they weren't there? I wouldn't. -Does lead me to one minor positive- no big role for Garcia's supercomputer, which apparently has access to some otherwise unknown network of ATM security cameras. -"So how many boats does Lake Meade have?" This would have been funny and addressed one of my many complaints (spoken by Callahan- that the writers stick factoids in Reid's mouth out of the mistaken belief that we won't believe whatever they pull out of their posteriors otherwise) but it rang so hollow and made Reid feel like he's nothing more than a carnival toy. I get it, Reid knows things...enough already. We've had this joke nonstop for five years now...have you forgotten he was once a character? Did enjoy the fist bump with Hotch though...that was nice. -The local police couldn't find any leads? They were ciphers...and the BAU didn't make any leaps a local police officer couldn't. Yet another case where the BAU was unnecessary. Overall...wow. Well, it's an obvious F, but it's distressing. For the first time, I actually thought about leaving this show, because it's past the tipping point of ridiculousness for me, and it seems to me that, unfailingly, that no matter how many times I think it can't get any worse ("Painless", "The Pact", "Zugzwang", "Broken", "To Bear Witness", "Angels & Demons", "The Itch", "If The Shoe Fits...", "The Boys of Sudworth Place", "Amelia Porter") it does, and I'm not sure how badly I want to stick around for that. I still probably will, because I'm a trooper...but gosh, show, can you not give me something to grasp on to for a change?

Like I said, if there is one takeaway from Cook's interview is that she's expressed dissatisfaction with the writers. To me, whether or not Cook should feel dissatisfied is immaterial- Cook clearly isn't happy with how her character is being portrayed, and I think that's big. It seems to me that by saying “JJ is not a superhero” that Cook acknowledges what's wrong with the character and seems frustrated that the writers have led the character in this direction. Dare I say it...but maybe Cook wants to leave. If I think about it, if I was her, being portrayed as an unbelievable “super woman” and having to get the most screen time yet make the lowest salary, I'd be peeved by now. I wonder if this interview is proof that Cook might start to think the writers didn't give her what she wanted...and saying so in such a blunt manner (which isn't common) might be the clue that her anger has reached the tipping point.

Good for her...because neither can we.

Lots of "toeing the party line" there, but I did find one quote interesting: She's pretty blunt there...Cook could have easily just have stated that JJ suppressed it for so long and now it pops back out, but she just had to add that she thought JJ suppressing things was "ridiculous", which seems to be a pretty serious jab at the writers. I know Erica Messer admitted the mistake, but it's refreshing to see that the actress won't mince her words calling her out on it- it seems not even Cook is happy with what they did with the character.So maybe there is some hope after all.

That was probably the biggest problem with the spinoff- it wrecked the chemistry of the original show. That, and I believe it was poorly thought out and planned, and I believe if CBS hadn't screwed with the original and more properly developed the spinoff, it might still be on the air, and who knows, the original show could still be good. I know there's people who think S5 started the show's downfall, but I think S5 had the potential to grow the show, since it had just explored its first- and so far only real- natural character arc (Hotch vs. Foyet), and if the spinoff was better planned, the original might not have fired its good writers.

Consider this too: with Tripplehorn, you've got a cast that's dominated by the 49+ crowd (Tripplehorn, Thomas Gibson and Joe Mantegna). With Hewitt, you've got a cast dominated by characters who are Messer's age and younger (Shemar Moore is 43, Matthew Gray Gubler is almost 35, Hewitt is 35 and AJ Cook is 37). Somehow I think that may have been a factor as to why Messer didn't like Tripplehorn and is doing more with Hewitt, which might make sense. Messer just might have been more comfortable writing characters that could, presumably, share her own experiences, instead of "older" characters who have experiences Messer might not know about. It probably points to another failing of her as a showrunner, but I can at least understand if she wanted to play more to her strengths.

Well, it *is* his fault if he couldn't properly establish the characters...that's on the showrunner. However, I would agree that blaming Mundy would be unfair- perhaps he wasn't up to the showrunning gig, but that shouldn't take away from his skills as a writer. Also, I'm pretty sure there was lots of behind the scene stuff that prevented Mundy from really getting behind the project, so I'm not even sure this reflects badly on his showrunning skills.

I won't comment on the acting, because that's subjective. I'll also state that I also think she's beautiful and not just for her age (though I think if we're talking the 50+ crowd I take Julianne Moore, but that's another topic). What I did mean is that, rightly or wrongly, Tripplehorn being 51 is going to affect her chances of getting roles. It's possible someone could take a flyer on her and give her another starring gig but I somehow doubt it- Hollywood likes them young. As far as the two actress' profiles are- I followed neither's career, and I'd never heard of Tripplehorn before her time on CM but Hewitt had long been on my radar. I may have only seen one or two episodes of The Ghost Whisperer and Party of Five and never saw her movie career (the I Know What You Did Last Summer series, Can't Hardly Wait) or The Client List, but I knew who she was and knew she was a star. Maybe my own TV/movie habits mean I've got a different perspective on who's the bigger star, but to me, based on what I knew, Hewitt has bigger star power. What I think it ultimately comes back to is age. Since Hollywood tends to like them young, injecting youth and "fresh faces" into the show has to be a move to keep the show going, which is why the news of Hewitt's pregnancy won't spell the end of Callahan. Hewitt and CBS likely knew of her baby-making plans and worked them into her role in the show, I'd be fairly certain. I've also got the faint hope that maybe Hewitt's hire for the "young and fresher look" means the show is positioning the series so that Reid might one day take centre stage. I think it's about time for that by now.

Nothing against Jeanne Tripplehorn, but I don't think she can compare to the star power of Jennifer Love Hewitt. Before CM, the only thing Tripplehorn ever got known for was getting her butt squeezed by Kevin Costner in Waterworld and having an intense sex scene with Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct. Hewitt, at least, had The Client List and The Ghost Whisperer in recent memory, and Hewitt's age has the benefit of being on the right side of 40 (Hewitt is 35), whereas Tripplehorn is “Hollywood aging” at 51. Then you have Hewitt being the #1 reader's choice by Maxim Magazine in 2009 and TV Guide called her “TV's sexiest woman” in 2008. I'm just not sure how you can compare the two, and by adding someone who is younger and meant to be “learning the ropes” it can only be a sign that the commitment is for the long haul, isn't it?