Danielg342

First episode this season that I truly enjoyed...although I'm pretty tired of all this "don't trust Red! He's not what you think!" rhetoric...it's getting tiring. I get it, he's a criminal, a criminal mastermind at that, and by default he's someone you shouldn't trust all too easily. The characters need to stop beating me over the head with that. I also think this episode furthers my own speculation that Elizabeth Keene is No. 1 on The Blacklist (this is where I think the show will go anyway, because I don't think the show could do anything else that would qualify as a "series-finale" level reveal), or that she's got the potential to be a "prized criminal asset" that both Berlin and Red want, with Red deciding he had to step in to stop Berlin from taking her. I also fear that all those feints and misdirections could very well be a sign that Jon Bokenkamp still has no idea how he'll resolve his mystery, giving us six or seven years of clues that, when it's all said and done, will be worthless. Kind of like Bruno Heller and The Mentalist (with the wasted opportunity that was the Season 3 finale), where Heller admitted he didn't know who Red John was until a year and a half before he actually resolved the storyline. I only hope Bokenkamp is a bit more prepared. The case was pretty interesting...nothing like Milgram, unfortunately, and I think the science was simplistic and thus pretty suspect...but, I still found it entertaining. The two Davids- Costible as Dr. Linus Creel and Fonteno as the Senator- were very engaging in their roles, so much so that I think they could have done the episode by themselves. I loved how Costible made Creel ominously creepy without going over the top, as it made the character that much more believable and sinister. So many other actors fail to hit that target, making characters that could have been interesting into mere caricatures, and I think for a storyline like Creel's to work, it needed to be real, even if the character is essentially a "comic book villain". I also liked the concept of the U.S. studying mind control- I could buy something like that, since it's in the Army's best interest to see if there's any way they can "craft" the perfect soldier. It's a creepy thought, but it might be one of the few conspiracy theories I'd actually buy. The other storyline...well, I think James Spader, as usual, sold Red very well and made the exchanges entertaining, but I was a little off-put by the wife subplot. It kind of felt like a "been there, done that" moment, and I was expecting a little more spark. I was also disappointed that Spader and Marie-Louise Parker didn't have much chemistry on screen, which killed the mood. Still, I did enjoy Red showing his character in arranging things so that Naomi gets what she really wants- a normal life- and making sure that Frank is in line with that too. Red's really become the guy you really want as a friend but not as an enemy, because he'll stop at nothing to make sure the ones he cares about are not messed with. Finally...liked the bet between Samar Navabi and Aram Mojtabi, and I believe Navabi only conceded the bet because she doesn't want Aram to know that she knows the truth. I believe they telegraphed it a little when they showed Navabi's interest piqued when Aram and Keene talked about tapping into Naomi's phone calls, but I still think it's well-played. I also wonder- perhaps, maybe even hope- they're having Navabi target Keene just to get rid of her so that Mozhan Marno can assume the role of female lead...not likely, but Marno would be a far better choice in that role, if you ask me. Overall, good work.

I kind of disagree- I don't think that because a character is cerebral that they can't be useful in an "action" setting- The Blacklist has their resident genius, Aram Mojtabi (played by the wonderful Amir Arison) and they're making pretty good use of him. Besides, again, I think the failure behind the utilisation of Reid and Blake has more to with the writers not being creative enough than the fact that they're cerebral characters on an action show. In Reid's case, the show has already established that he thinks best under intense pressure- thus, this means that while he might be the strongest character, he'd be the cleverest, able to turn anything into a potent weapon. I think about the scene in "The Gatekeeper" where Reid find a novel way to take the knife away from the UnSub...that's an example of how his quick thinking can come into play. I certainly think the writers can go to this well more often, especially considering that by now we should be convinced that Reid is better in the field. The only caveat is that the writers seem to be too lazy to be clever, so I worry the current batch doesn't try...but I think if they did it would more than solve the problem.

Didn't Gary Gilmore need to get to the Supreme Court just to get the firing squad?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=90935 There's even this "money" quote: (emphasis mine) ^ You can plead guilty to capital murder and even request the death sentence. What the links I've provided show is that doing so results in some vetting of the decision, so that the state makes sure it's not killing an "insane" person, which is illegal under the Constitution. In the case of Michael Passaro, the appeals were state-initiated, since the appellate attorney, Joe Savitz, believed Passaro viewed death as a reward, not a punishment. Regardless, as I've shown, it is possible to plead guilty to capital murder and waive the appeals as Greg Baylor did. I might grant that, in reality, the process likely wouldn't take mere months to complete- Passaro was arrested in 1998, pled guilty in 2000 and was executed in 2002- but that's mainly due to logistics, since in reality court schedules are packed and hearings thus can never be scheduled back to back. Given that a lot of shows handwave the length of time of this process (Law & Order being the most egregious) and that CM itself handwaves the process at times ("The Edge of Winter", "Tabula Rasa", "Damaged", "25 to Life"), I can accept that Baylor got around to his execution so quickly. I also understand that, due to the constraints of writing the series, it's just not possible for a writer to wait years to resolve the arc, so I can accept them speeding up the process. In any case...take away from this the fact that you can plead guilty to capital muder (avoiding a trial) and waive the right to appeals. Just like for any crime.

So I've been wanting to enter the discussion about character inconsistencies, UnSub-focus, the stylistic shift and the lack of arcs on CM for quite some time...I had a whole post planned. With quotes...but I don't think I'll ever get to that. So I'll just go with my gut. I think the one thing that needs to be remembered is that CM is sold as a show where the vast majority of its episodes are self-contained. It's tailor-made for syndication, and syndicators don't particularly like shows that *need* their episodes to be aired in a specific order. Thus, they like shows that wrap up the stories neatly in a tiny little bow at the end, instead of leaving several different plot threads hanging after each episode. What this means from a storywriting perspective is that CM can't really have too many elaborate arcs over a season or several seasons- thus, they can't have long, deep, introspective character arcs that some other shows do because the expectation is that when you watch an episode of CM, you won't *need* to watch the other episodes to understand what's going on. It's probably why any character-defining moment is done in random snippets, and if a character has a major storyline (such as Garcia's recent journey to Texas), it's dealt with in a single episode. Now, I do think that CM doesn't make enough use of arcs and I kind of wish they'd do more to develop storylines for the characters (they don't need to be major...each character should at least have a sense that they're "growing", at least, bit by bit with each year), but I don't want the show to turn into a character-based drama in order to do it. Which brings me to the UnSubs...what drew me to this show was the idea that I'd be able to see into the criminal's mind and understand, exactly, why they do what they do. I like the thought of things being not so "black and white", with the criminals perhaps being sympathetic or at least being "vulnerable" in that we see their human side, plus I think there's only so many times I can watch rudimentary evidence collecting in a murder investigation before they all start looking the same- adding the human mind to that equation and even using it as evidence is a novel idea. Thus, I'm not against the idea of "showing the UnSub early" because I think it can be done well- look at Norman Hill ("Normal"), Johnny McHale ("True Night"), and Wade Hatchett ("Solitary Man"). I just don't like them showing the UnSub early if we're not going to get some deep examination of their motivations and their life situation- if it's just about showing how "deranged" they are, I'll take a pass. This ties into the next point, and that's CM's stylistic shift. You watch Season 1 and you see a completely different show- S1 was about mystery and "putting the puzzle pieces together" while the rest of the series has been about episodes that are more about "action" and "urgency"- S1 didn't have as many spree killers as we see now. There must have been a moment in between S1 and S2 where the writers decided the show needed to be less "methodical" and more "decisive" and I think the show ultimately benefitted from that. Not that there's anything wrong with cerebral-type, puzzle-building mysteries, but after a while it becomes weary- you eventually want the characters to do things, instead of just talk. Besides, as I said before, there's only so many different ways you can craft the puzzle before it all starts looking the same- at some point, you need to "freshen" it up. I think about Elementary and its ratings decline last season and I point to precisely this point- the cases just got weirder and more obtuse with the characters mostly just posturing and talking, and I think a lot of people checked out. I still loved it because I'm a cerebral kind of guy, but the wider, general audience likes it when the writer "gets to the point", and Elementary didn't do that enough. I understand this is another rendition of the "Viewers are Morons" argument, but I tend to think there's a tiny bit of a kernel of truth to that- not everyone's brain is going to have the patience to "solve a muder" so if you can mix mystery with action, then you've done a good job. Do I think CM should inject a bit more mystery nowadays? Yeah, it could, but I also think it shouldn't stray too far from the mystery-action mix.

In a nutshell, yes. If Garcia is going to seek forgiveness from someone, shouldn't that person be redeemable? It wouldn't make sense for me if Garcia was trying to get the forgiveness of a jerk- it begs the question, "why is she worried what he thinks?"

Perhaps you both missed the post, but I have already pointed out that you can. See this: http://forums.previously.tv/topic/15888-s10e02-burn/?p=447407 I like your alternate story, although I have a minor suggestion- drop the DNR part and simply make the infection terminal. With the DNR order it makes it look like "Baylor brought all this upon himself" and might be harder for him to gain audience sympathy. Making the infection terminal leaves Baylor with no choices and adds more urgency to the story. I also agree that maybe the case should have been similar to the storyline Garcia was going through...perhaps it would have been more cohesive since both plotlines would have explored the same themes.

This could either be really campy or really good- it'll all depend on the execution. I do like the idea of someone taking over planes and crashing them- it's a novel idea, kind of like Gotham's "The Balloonman" that used weather balloons as a murder weapon.

I'm going to reply in "The Writers of CM", since I think that's where the discussion is going.

Just a minor correction here- “James Colby Baylor” was the alias he gave Garcia, his real name was Jason Clark Battle.

He's got a lot of zingers, so it'll be hard to narrow it down. Here goes: -"What's up with you? Do you need a hug or something?" ("Carbon Copy") -"I'm not going in there...(my shoes) are Italian leather." ("Solitary Man") -"What? I know things." ("Safe Haven") -"My wife always said I had a flair for the dramatic." (Hotch: "which one?") "All of them." ("Omnivore") -(Det. Linden (referring to Reid): "Where'd you find this kid?") "He was left in a basket at the footsteps of the FBI." ("Soul Mates") -"Now before (Reid) gets to his quantum physics knock-knock joke." ("Masterpiece") -"Reid, we want people to join the FBI..." ("Masterpiece") -"Gold is going up. The trick is knowing when to get out." ("100") -(Prentiss: "Well Roadside motels definately go on my list.") [When Reid gives her a funny look... ] (Prentiss: "Of things to never do again.") (Reid: "You have a *list?*") [to Reid] "You *don't?*" ("Paradise") -"The only people I made happy were my divorce attorneys." ("The Crossing") -(to JJ after she catches him admiring Strauss) "I think I liked you better before you were a profiler." ("Brothers Hotchner")

I don't really think there's urgency there. If we're doing this in one episode, having Garcia's work suffer for one episode really won't sell it to me that she's having PTSD- it seems more like "a bad day" than "a continuing problem". The show already tried recently to resolve one team member's PTSD in one episode- Reid's grieving over Maeve in "Magnum Opus"- and it just didn't ring true to me. Furthermore, seeing the whole thing wrapped up in a "talk" is just underwhelming to me- it seems so simple a solution that it's almost like it trivializes the situation. Lastly, again, the guy is still alive and will be after the talk- there's no immediacy to resolve the problem because Garcia "can do it whenever". I think the only way the "Garcia needs to talk to Baylor" solution works would be if Hotch gave her an ultimatum saying "fix your issues or you're off the team", but, again, I feel the only way that works is if we establish over multiple episodes that Garcia's work is suffering from PTSD. Doing it in one episode would be rushing things. Well, it was Garcia's actions that got him arrested- if she didn't shoot Baylor then he would have killed Reid and herself and he might have escaped capture. In any case, as others have said, PTSD sufferers aren't really all that rational, so I don't see much of an issue with Garcia overinflating things and making them "about her" when they aren't.

Enough of the side plots...they just convolute the episodes and detract from the main storyline. I get that now in Season 2 they want to expand on things but they need to keep things coherent...so many loose threads gets confusing real quick. Another thought- since it says we're dealing with a psychological experiment, will this episode reference Stanley Milgram?

I think what the realism debate boils down to is whether or not the storyline was entertaining. I found the storyline entertaining, so I have no problem dismissing some of the more outlandish elements (although, as I pointed out before, the death penalty being meted out this quickly actually isn't all that implausible). Other storylines that I didn't find quite as entertaining I'm less willing to handwave stuff. It's subjective, I think. As far as the other ways this could have been handled- I'd have to wholeheartedly disagree that this could have been handled with just a pep talk from Reid or if Baylor wasn't condemned...it had to have had the finality of a death sentence. If the person isn't dying, then resolving the guilt of putting that person in that position doesn't have the same kind of urgency, and urgency is important for a storyline. If Baylor wasn't sentenced to death, there's no sense that Garcia needs to resolve her feelings *now*, because then Baylor would have at least a few years of life ahead of him and Garcia could just wait for the right moment. While that could be great for an arc, as a one-shot deal it just doesn't have the same kind of punch that Baylor on his deathbed does. Same thing with the pep talk with Reid- that's great for an arc but as a one-shot deal, it's just not as compelling. I probably would agree that Reid should have had a bigger role in the storyline- even if it was so much as a phone call to explain how he handled shooting Dowd or a simple picture of Baylor's victims- but there's only so much the show can do. We could probably argue about whether or not this should have been an arc, because it could have been. I'm not sure it would have been all that great since arcs require detail and nuances and this group of writers just aren't that good at that (being much better at single episode storylines), so I'm happy it gets resolved in one episode. Is it unrealistic? Yeah, but sometimes in entertainment, you just have to make that choice.

Here's the thing about Morgan: yes, he has an attitude of “I know what's best for you”, but let's not forget that he's a profiler and knowing what's best for other people is his job. What is unique in his situation is that he applies his profiling skills on the rest of his team and his friends, and, while I wish someone would call him out on it from time to time (other than Savannah and JJ in “What Happens in Mecklinburg”) and that, maybe every now and then his predictions turn out wrong, I'm okay with the characteristic. Morgan having a bit of cockiness would be in character for him, and at least he does things with the right intentions. Plus this is a show about profilers- you gotta think someone is going to use his skills outside of work. Furthermore, while Morgan did ignore Garcia's calls, at least he lamented that he had nothing to say. He might have wanted to tell Garcia that and at least have listened to her, but at least his intentions were in the right place.

I believe it was in "Anslo Garrick, Part 2" when Keen was investigating the mole that she met Mr. Kaplan. I remember Kaplan showing Keen the cameras in her house and the two of them working together to try to figure out where Red was kidnapped. In any case, the two of them have met.

First off, Kirsten Vangsness really killed it tonight (no pun intended). I don't care if the storyline was manipulated so that she'd have the opportunity for some real time emoting, but I have to say, this is the best I've seen Vangsness in the series. It was remarkable, and it's a pity we don't see the "human" Garcia more often. I also thought Potsch Boyd- who played the felon, Greg Baylor- was pretty good too, and I'm glad Barrois stayed away from any politicking, since it would have turned out badly. That storyline I thought was well laid out, with no one character- Garcia, Morgan or Baylor- receiving undue attention or weight. I do think it's a bit early to dismiss Garcia's PTSD, though it's TVLand so I'll let that slide. I loved the callback to "LDSK"- one of my all time favourites- but I think Janine Sherman Barrois messed up on the details. Reid mentioned "all the people that (Phillip Dowd) killed", as if he killed lots of people but Dowd only killed two, and neither were intentional. I also don't seem to recall Reid going through a lot of personal trauma after the incident, aside from having nightmares in "The Popular Kids" (four episodes later), and I don't recall those nightmares being specifically about Dowd (though I don't think Reid gave a reason for the nightmares back then either, so they could be an aftereffect of shooting Dowd anyway). At least she tried, though, so I'll give her credit for that. The actual case though...I thought it was pretty weak, though I don't believe it was entirely Barrois' fault. We got to see the UnSub early for no particular reason (that looked to be a directorial choice by Karen Gaviola), and when the second victim was struck by the hammer, his head snapped backward against the direction of the blow (again, that's on Gaviola). I also thought the UnSub was quite one dimensional, although I appreciated the fact that all of his victims were male (that had to have been done to counter claims CM is "misogynistic") even if I'm not entirely convinced Justin Leu could have subdued all of those victims (he did look kind of small, though he had muscles). Kind of also thought there were pacing problems, and, though I liked the final victim was saved, I did wonder why Leu didn't just shoot him and finished burying him afterward? Other minor things- thought Rossi's joke about Morgan and Garcia was funny, and I also liked how Reid got to use his intellect tonight. Not much JJ or Callahan tonight, especially the latter which I found odd, but at least it's a sign that Jennifer Love Hewitt is interested in the "team" game. I also liked seeing the badass Morgan of old by tackling Leu's accomplice, even if the chase was a bit short, and I thought he was the one who kicked down his door, but I seem to have that detail wrong. No matter- for once, Morgan actually caught up to someone instead of seeing the guy run away from him, which seemed to happen too often. Overall, I was actually pretty entertained...seems like Season 10 looks like it's going to be a good one. :)

I agree with you that it's the writing- it's not Megan Boone's fault that Lizzie has a childish streak and needs to have clues handed to her, that Diego Klattenhoff has to portray the cliche of a pill popping Ressler (one that uses tampons in surgery to boot!), that all Harold Lennix portrays a Harold Cooper who does nothing but stand around and give orders that are ignored as the plot needs them to be and that all Amir Arison is given are snappy one-liners and Garcia-like hacking ability (referring to Criminal Minds' uber-hacker)- that's all on the writing. It's also not the actors' fault that the FBI on this show are so incompetent that you wonder why the U.S. even bothers funding the department- that's all on the writers too, and I have to say, in the second season, this is all wearing on me. The one actor I will blame is James Spader, since he's an executive producer for the show. He constantly says that he knows little more than what the fans do and only asks the questions needed to do his job as an actor, but I've got a hard time believing that. He might not be involved in the creative process, but I'm betting my bottom dollar that he vets every story that's created and whatever tweaks that he wants he gets. This is likely why Red is consistently the smartest person on the show by a mile, and why Red seems to always be one step ahead of all the other characters, including enemies who (presumably) are his equals in competence, because I can't imagine a writing team that would allow a character to that unassaible, especially given that the other major characters have already gone through severely rough patches. I'd like to give Spader the benefit of the doubt and believe it's more a matter of him worrying about appearances than about massaging an ego, but I've got no doubt that Red's storyline- and his almost "Villain Sue"-like characterization- are the products of Spader's meddling.

Minor point: I wonder if the line about “washing his feet” is a reference to Jesus, as if Morgan is implying that Garcia is trying to be the felon's Saviour. One of Jesus' many acts in the Gospels was to wash the feet of His Disciples (contrary to practice at the time), so I wonder if Morgan was referencing that.

I still find it dodgy...I guess they might not need the ME's testimony to convict Covington (although he's the only one who can answer the question about where Covington truly got his organs), but it flies in the face of Ressler who questioned Lizzie's ethics at the end of the episode- he can't really complain about poor ethical choices when he was willing to break the law himself, even if said breakage of law wouldn't matter later.

Ressler was speaking in generalities, as if Lizzie had been consistent. I do agree that she is inconsistent. Perhaps, but it was still illegally obtained. Pretty sure you can't just cut open dead bodies just because you feel like it, and that body was technically in the possession of the M.E. I think a more favourable interpretation would be, “Megan is still learning the ropes so I've agreed to help her out” just like what I believe the show is trying to evoke in the Red-Keen. Since the quote was made in late October of last year (when it was just starting) when Keen was still very much in “learn mode”, I don't think it's a stretch to assume the veteran Spader took it upon himself to teach Boone.

Well, in a sense, by allowing the operation to go through Lizzie is essentially saying that Covington was right to kill the donor just so the kid could live. It's not like the donor willingly gave the kid his lungs, thus the dilemma- if you go through with the operation, you're essentially saying that the donor's intentions don't matter. That's a nitpick though- my greater point was that Ressler seems to think that last year, Lizzie wouldn't have sacrificed the rule of law "just to do the right thing" when last night she did just that, when I seem to recall last year that Lizzie channeled her "inner criminal" more than a few times. There was the torture scene with Tom, the time she had to steal someone's credentials to get into an embassy (a job that Ressler was in on) and then right there in the pilot, Lizzie stabbing Red's neck with a pen just to get him to talk. So I have a hard time believing that Lizzie has become "depraved" as Ressler seems to think. Of course, it could be an indicator that Ressler isn't all well but I still don't think the observation is apt.

I was right about Red not being vulnerable, although I thought the takedown was done pretty well. I suppose if this was a first season episode I would have enjoyed it more, but the whole "Red is always one step ahead of the game" is getting tiring. We get it, Red's a smart dude, but he ain't invincible. It's times like these where I miss Anslo Garrick, since he was the only one who really threatened Red in any shape or form- this Berlin guy just seems content with posturing. So Elizabeth Keen from last year wouldn't have traded another adult's life for the kid's life? Thanks for telling me, Agent Ressler, because I sure didn't see that. Besides, with all the shady criminal proceedings you seem to put up with allowing Red to solve the cases for you, I'm not sure you're a fine one to talk about ethics. Case in point- Mr. Kaplan inspecting the dead body just so they have "proof" to get Dr. James Covington's organ harvester...it's illegally obtained evidence and no one so much as bats an eye? Surprise, surprise, random dude Keen frisks at the motel isn't so random after all. I was disappointed about that...I just wanted the guy to be a random, since it's getting so predictable that all these guys are "not as they seem". The only redemption I would have in this case is hoping this guy is actually on Red's side, because then it would be too predictable that the Seemingly Random Dude is working for Berlin. Overall, though, I did actually enjoy the episode- if I look at this as some "comic book" madcap adventure about Red and wave away the implausibilities, it's quite fun. The only thing I wished about this episode, in the grand scheme of things, was that Covington actually played a bigger part in the plot, like the account manager did in "Monarch Douglas Bank". I'm with others who lamented it was a throwaway, especially considering it could have been an interesting storyline. ETA- Read the Previously.TV recap...love the idea of Red and Vargas...I think I'd tune in. Although I tend to think "Red and Aram" would work well too.

http://www.jaapl.org/content/27/3/471.full.pdf ^ According to this, a death penalty inmate can waive their rights to appeals. It is simply subject to a psychiactric review and while that process takes time, I'm perfectly okay with the show glossing over the process- they've done it before ("The Edge of Winter", "25 To Life", "Damaged")- and, as Willowy said, the constraints of a TV show necessitate that things get sped up. We don't want to wait years for the resolution, and, in some cases, the only reason why the storyline is being used now is logistics- considering all the things a show plans to do with its writing, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the only episode where they could "fit" the storyline in was in this one. I don't personally see anything wrong with the sped up process here. Furthermore, how many UnSubs have wished for death and set things up so the team would kill them? I don't see this scenario as anything different, except that the felon wants the state to kill him and not the BAU. As far as Garcia's feelings over what happened- yeah, she's making it "all about herself", but consider this: she's actually being called out for it (based on that little snippet with Morgan). Garcia- rightly- is in shock that she actually had to shoot someone, and seems to have no motivation about going on the trip except to be "the white knight" and save the guy from death, and Morgan (also rightly) believes she's got no reason to step in for a man who killed other people and kept on doing it in trying to kill her and Reid, thus having no remorse over his actions. I'm also assuming the "washing his feet" line implies that Morgan believes the felon is "playing" Garcia, and since Garcia is easily manipulated ("The Black Queen"), I can understand that Morgan is skittosh about Garcia going on the trip, since there's nothing she can realistically gain from the ordeal. The only eye-rolling part I have about this is the politics, because the show doesn't seem to handle it well ("Broken" being a prime example of that). I'm personally with Garcia that there's never a justification for the death penalty, but I believe there are better cases to handle an argument like that than the case they have here. Since I doubt they're going to make the felon at all sympathetic (he very nearly killed two people on the team), the only angle I can see is that Janine Sherman Barrois is using this to tell us, "see guys, sometimes people just can't be saved and that's why we need to kill them!" and I think that's a very dangerous message. It's couching a very sensitive matter in purely emotional terms when the debate needs to be logical. It does a disservice to those who have a much better case for not being on death row (such as someone who's showing remorse or was wrongly concluded to have acted in a premeditated fashion) if their fights are trivialized, since (it appears) Barrois is saying a victim's right to closure trumps the accused's rights to a fair trial. I might agree there are quite a few people who are irredeemable (Karla Homolka, Dennis Rader, Charles Manson, etc.), but given that cases are so rarely cut and dry, that's hardly a reason for keeping the death penalty.

I wasn't exactly too thrilled about the weather balloon storyline- it seemed rather implausible as a murder weapon. At least it seemed like Harvey Bullock was having some fun with the investigation didn't take it too seriously. Oswald Cobblepot...I believe he's quickly becoming my favourite character. He's just so neurotic and earnest, the kind of "deliciously crazy" that makes for a wonderful criminal. The only problem I had with the storyline is that I think he came back to Gotham a little too quickly...then again, I guess there's only so long you can have him meandering the outskirts before you bring him back where he can do things. Him showing up to the door at the end of the episode was a nice hook, and I can't wait to see Cobblepot and Jim Gordan match wits in the next episode. The Montoya/Barbara kiss...unless I'm mistaken and it happened in the comics, I'm not exactly thrilled the show made the decision to give the pair sexual tension. I felt the whole lesbian kiss thing smacked of desperation and seemed unnecessary. The two characters are rivals for Jim Gordon's love...isn't that enough? I'm starting to think that maybe there are too many characters and that some ought to be demoted to recurring status. There's just too many storylines for each episode to pay attention to each week- the Case of the Week, Major Crimes, Barbara's worries over her husband, Bruce Wayne's story, Oswald Cobblepot's story, Falcone vs. Mooney, Selina Kyle...there's just too many to juggle, with too much posturing and action not done with the storylines. Easily a storyline or two could have been demoted to "recurring" status, because some of the stories haven't seem to have gotten started yet. Overall though, it was pretty entertaining.