S16.E08: Forget Me Knots

[Danielg342]

Quote

Rossi leads the BAU to new information regarding Sicarius. Meanwhile, Voit takes a risk in an effort to deal with his urges.

 

[Danielg342]

The only thing I am sure of in this convoluted mess of an episode is that I knew the real estate agent was going to live.

Erica Messer's CM hardly ever kills women, especially when said woman is presented as "the damsel that needs to be saved".

Of course, putting aside the virtue signalling misandry of such a practice, in this episode, it allows the BAU to get extremely lucky.

If Ramona Havener does not survive, there is no one that can put a face to Elias Voit.

Well, OK, Tawny- the hardware store clerk that Voit bought his materials from- could actually put a face on to Voit, and you have to wonder why David Rossi never thought, "ask the clerk about the man she was talking to during the time of that surveillance clip".

As well as pulling credit card records, car rental information (which you need ID for), other stores and parking lot surveillance footages...you know, the kind of deep dive that police forensics should be doing on this show but never does, in a failed attempt to make the BAU look clever.

You know, Voit's supposedly cleverness falls apart the more you think of it. He kidnaps Tawny's dog but never thinks to off Tawny even though she saw his face. I don't care how many months ago that was, Voit showed with Ramona he never takes that risk.

More to the point, why would Voit even risk kidnapping Ramona? He could have asked for her advice in a casual conversation and- guess what- the FBI would not be coming after him.

Then it's how lucky he was that the serial killer he did activate was the strangulation guy, not the one with the acid, leaving the possibility of the killer this week leaving someone alive and...

...

You know what, I'll stop now. The amount of inconsistencies and contrivances I am expected to believe will make my head explode.

Worse, CM does this all the time. Their episodes become so hard to follow along because they just decide to cram so much into the episode that they lose...

...what's that word?

Oh yes.

Focus.

For what it's worth, next week is not the season finale, according to the Futon Critic. Acid guy will likely show up then, because Voit will be too spooked about Rossi visiting his home despite the fact I'm sure Rossi will dismiss the interview as yet another dead end, just so he can brood over it in Episode 10 and wonder "how did I get that wrong? Should I retire?"

Uh, yes, you should have done that a while ago, but I digress.

Only things I liked about this episode was the performance of Kerry Knuppe (Ramona) and Henry looking like he could actually be a profiler.

Other than that...ho hum.

[jabRI]

1 hour ago, Danielg342 said:

As well as pulling credit card records, car rental information (which you need ID for), other stores and parking lot surveillance footages...you know, the kind of deep dive that police forensics should be doing on this show but never does, in a failed attempt to make the BAU look clever.

As opposed to triangulating phone cell signals over an enire REGION of the country... then cold calling door to door all the missed calls.  Sure, we've got a year to do this.

 

But the worst is the immaturity.  Can you imagine any office job where its ok for co-workers to sit around and observe/declare 'oh she's getting some!'

[Snazzy Daisy]

Henry LaMontagne has gotten so big, he is taller than JJ now!   

 

Edited January 27, 2023 by SnazzyDaisy

[joanne3482]

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

"ask the clerk about the man she was talking to during the time of that surveillance clip".

To me, Voit is pretty generic looking. There's nothing distinct about him. I've worked retail in the past. I'm 100% sure I would not remember a random guy who came in to buy whatever he bought, even if he did talk about my dog.  If he had a distinctive mole, or a birthmark or anything, maybe I'd remember that, but not generic white guy who bought some supplies. Heck, I had a guy in my office two days ago and we had a whole conversation and if you asked me to describe him I wouldn't be able to. I'd recognize him if I saw him again, but I couldn't describe him. 

[Retired at last]

Is this Henry still played by AJ Cook's real son? I really do appreciate your recaps, @Danielg342, so I really don't have to watch. I read that the finale is Feb.9.

[Danielg342]

I have to say, tonally, this whole case is off.

We have Tara Lewis uncovering evidence of a serial killer who has been active for almost twenty years. We have the FBI, after further investigation, revealing that this serial killer isn't just killing on his own, he's hired a network of serial killers all across the country to help him carry out his work.

Why the Department of Justice and the actual Bureau are not treating this as an "all hands on deck" situation is beyond me.

Worse, now that Sicarius is headline news across the country, why the country isn't in a state of panic is also escapes me. I mean, one of the victims was a sitting Senator. Congress would be up in arms about this and every police force in the country would be activated to catch this guy, and a lot of them would put in the work to get it done. The public would be demanding that things get done and, at the very least, they wouldn't act like "things are normal".

Yet the show is acting like the wider world is all fine and that no one- other than the BAU- thinks this is a serious situation that needs attention.

What gives, show?

10 hours ago, jabRI said:

As opposed to triangulating phone cell signals over an enire REGION of the country... then cold calling door to door all the missed calls.  Sure, we've got a year to do this.

You would think experienced investigators like the BAU would know better than that. Of course, the actual BAU doesn't do any actual investigating- they just provide analysis for the investigating detectives to use on their case- but stuff like this does not speak to the quality of the BAU's work when they're doing things more experienced investigators would avoid.

7 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

To me, Voit is pretty generic looking. There's nothing distinct about him. I've worked retail in the past. I'm 100% sure I would not remember a random guy who came in to buy whatever he bought, even if he did talk about my dog.  If he had a distinctive mole, or a birthmark or anything, maybe I'd remember that, but not generic white guy who bought some supplies. Heck, I had a guy in my office two days ago and we had a whole conversation and if you asked me to describe him I wouldn't be able to. I'd recognize him if I saw him again, but I couldn't describe him. 

I thought about that too. Would Tawny actually remember Elias Voit? He did spend over $400 at the store, but is that enough for Tawny to remember someone she saw literally months ago?

Still, it's the kind of routine police work that this show often ignores. Due diligence would say that, even if the likelihood of Tawny recognizing Voit is small, she has a chance to do it, so at least the investigators should try.

[Lady Jane]

5 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I have to say, tonally, this whole case is off.

We have Tara Lewis uncovering evidence of a serial killer who has been active for almost twenty years. We have the FBI, after further investigation, revealing that this serial killer isn't just killing on his own, he's hired a network of serial killers all across the country to help him carry out his work.

Why the Department of Justice and the actual Bureau are not treating this as an "all hands on deck" situation is beyond me.

Worse, now that Sicarius is headline news across the country, why the country isn't in a state of panic is also escapes me. I mean, one of the victims was a sitting Senator. Congress would be up in arms about this and every police force in the country would be activated to catch this guy, and a lot of them would put in the work to get it done. The public would be demanding that things get done and, at the very least, they wouldn't act like "things are normal".

Yet the show is acting like the wider world is all fine and that no one- other than the BAU- thinks this is a serious situation that needs attention.

What gives, show?

 

They've concluded that the Senator's son was the murderer as he confessed to all the crimes, if I remember correctly. The bureaucrats prioritized having a closed case over catching the right guy. 
That's why they jumped at the chance to investigate a similar crime--one where the locals were actively asking for help. They got to investigate Sicarius w/o having to reopen the closed case.

I don't think any hardware store clerk would remember a transaction as small as $400.  During remodeling we regularly dropped $5K a visit if we were buying plywood, 2x4's etc. Now if someone bought $400 worth of trashbags, lye, zipties, and a shovel they might be memorable!

Also, I've always worked in male-dominated fields (stockbrokerage and law) and "she's getting some" wouldn't even blip on my radar from a coworker. We can debate its appropriateness, but in my experience it is extremely commonplace to discuss coworkers' personal lives. Ideal? No. Realistic? Yes.

[Danielg342]

5 hours ago, Lady Jane said:

They've concluded that the Senator's son was the murderer as he confessed to all the crimes, if I remember correctly. The bureaucrats prioritized having a closed case over catching the right guy. 

I understand that part. I'm not quite sure I buy it. Even before Benjamin Reeves fessed to being Sicarius, the show's universe acted like nothing was wrong. They so desperately wanted to have "obstructive bureaucrat" Bailey when something like Sicarius should have the entire FBI, if not the DOJ, in a state of panic. The stress levied on the BAU should have been about the Bureau getting impatient with the pace of the results, not by making it difficult to investigate the case in the first place.

Even after they catch Reeves, should it be so cut-and-dry that, when the higher ups at the Bureau say he's Sicarius that it's now "open and shut"? Without stirring the flames of the debate, the pandemic should have taught us that when the government is in a state of panic, there's a ton of second guessing that goes around no one ever agrees with the course of action. Not that politicians didn't do this in the first place, but a state of panic just heightens this feeling. There should be more than just the captain of a county's police force in North Carolina concerned that the FBI may have caught the wrong guy.

Plus, unless Senator Reeves was loathed, I'm sure, at least, her own political party would have something to say about the "official" narrative. Even if the FBI says it's a closed case, her death would still lead to several inquiries and investigations. Congress sure wouldn't take the death of a sitting Senator sitting down (no pun intended). The BAU wouldn't hear the end of it for months.

At the very least, in the beginning there should have been more police units on alert, because a national network of serial killers would not be something the police would or should ignore. I don't know if the public would know about Sicarius until the death of Senator Reeves, but the police and the FBI should have been more alert than they were shown to be.

Things just feel way too pedestrian for how big this case should be.

5 hours ago, Lady Jane said:

I don't think any hardware store clerk would remember a transaction as small as $400.  During remodeling we regularly dropped $5K a visit if we were buying plywood, 2x4's etc. Now if someone bought $400 worth of trashbags, lye, zipties, and a shovel they might be memorable!

My point is more that David Rossi should have at least pursued that lead. I would get that Tawny being able to remember Elias Voit would come down to the considerations of the plot, but at least that's a plot element that would be believable. If Rossi interviews Tawny and she produces his face, then Rossi doesn't need to canvas every door in the Pacific Northwest.

[jabRI]

And I know they always have a 'valid' reason, but since this was their only solid lead to an active serial killer, couldn't one of them tried to shoot the hangman in the leg/arm just to disable him?    So another convenient dead end.

[Danielg342]

3 hours ago, jabRI said:

And I know they always have a 'valid' reason, but since this was their only solid lead to an active serial killer, couldn't one of them tried to shoot the hangman in the leg/arm just to disable him?    So another convenient dead end.

Especially on TV. They're deadeye marksmen- way more accurate than they should be- so you'd think Rossi should be able to hit his shoulder instead of his chest. Especially from as close as he was.

[juliet73]

I haven't been paying very close attention to this season, mainly because I think it's so over the top, unrealistic and dumb.  Anyway, I'm confused that Elias's kids know he keeps a cell phone in the garage, but his wife didn't seem to know/care?  Where does he get all the money from to fund his killings?  I think it was mentioned briefly the senator's son gave him money, but I wouldn't think it would be enough to travel around the country constantly, buying shipping containers and kill kits and  also having a beautiful house in Seattle.  Plus, I thought a few episodes back he was having money problems.  Or am I thinking of a different character or show?  Why didn't he kill the real estate agent?  Also, he doesn't kill federal agents (as mentioned when the bomb exploded but JJ and Luke received a warning).  How did Rossi know to go to the Pacific Northwest to look for the killer?  And he's going to go door to door to a millions of houses?  How does that even make sense?  When did Rossi snap out of grieving about his dead wife and treating the team like crap and back to his regular Rossi self?   Garcia and Tyler is so stupid!  First, there is absolutely no chemistry between them whatsoever.  She is beyond annoying and her clothes are completely unprofessional and way too tight.  And I find it unbelievable that Garcia would put a case at risk, especially one as important as this one, just to get laid.  If JJ's husband has a thyroid issue that is treatable with medication, why is he seeing an oncologist?  

Like everyone else, I miss Hotch, Reid and Derek!

[Annber03]

I actually genuinely thought Ramona might die for a brief moment there towards the end. I'm glad she didn't, of course, but it would've been interesting to see what would've happened had the team lost a potentially valuable witness. I agree her acting was great throughout, especially in that scene in the hospital when Tara was asking her for a description of the man who'd held her captive. She really nailed the haunted, horrified, shell-shocked look one would have after such a traumatic experience. 

Such a shock to see Henry as tall as he is! I appreciated him calling out his parents on their secrecy about everything - I get why they didn't want to tell him everything going on, of course, and in the case of JJ's job specifically right now, there's stuff she literally couldn't tell him even if she wanted to. 

But he's old enough to understand what his parents do for a living, and lord knows he's seen his parents go through a hell of a lot already as it is, and it's understandable he'd want to know at least a little of what's going on as a result. I just hope his fears about Sicarius and any potential threat to the family are unfounded, but knowing this show...

[idiotwaltz]

I have to give credit to this episode for being decently lit for the most part. I could barely see half of what was going on in the other episodes. 

There was also less Garcia than usual, which was pleasant. 

Henry makes me feel ancient. In my head he’s still that adorable bright eyed toddler in the S7 finale which was … 11 years ago. Yikes. Good to see him and his brother again. Makes me wonder how Jack is doing. 

I like this Emily/Rossi silver-haired power couple thing they’ve got going. 

Still don’t care about the serial killer part of this serial killer show.