S16.E09: Memento Mori

[Danielg342]

Quote

Rossi's BAU career is on the line when he does whatever he can to prove Elias Voit is Sicarius.

 

[Danielg342]

"He's baiting us to arrest him."

...and, you fell for the bait. Even after you realized he knows everything about you.

Of course, I'm predicting that, in the final episode, this is all, somehow, part of David Rossi's convoluted plan to catch Elias Voit because that's how Rossi rolls.

Not that I understand a lick of this plan because CM, as it usually does, went in 1500 different directions and followed through on none of them.

...but...

While there is some reasonable drama about Rossi, CM hit us over the head with Rossi's mind and career in a seeming death spiral, which only means that it's a reasonable certainty that Rossi survives the final episode with both his career and his mind intact.

This show may be cruel, but I can't see the writers being so cruel as to finish off one of their heroes in the most pathetic way possible. That's just too low for this show, considering all the things they have done.

...but...

I can never underestimate Erica Messer, can I?

*sigh*

I'll give this show this much that Joe Mantegna and Zach Gilford played off each other well. Plus the show actually remembered that Will LaMontagne is actually still a detective, and the opening moments sure did hold my attention. It just went off the rails rather quickly and predictably.

I could rant and rave about none of the Voit case and how it's been handled makes any sense, but, hey, when has CM ever made any sense?

On to the finale.

Edited February 3, 2023 by Danielg342

[Snazzy Daisy]

Rossi, what were you thinking??! It's time to retire.

In his battle and mind games with Elias/Lee, I couldn't see Rossi as a competent agent with tricks under his sleeve, only a 70yo trying to survive. The AG gave BAU 48 hours and now they have to spend the time they don't have to locate and rescue Rossi.

Why would Emily send Penelope to the field and not Tara? Because of her sexually proficient boyfriend was there?

And where is Deputy Director Doug Bailey? He just vanished in the middle of an important case? 😳

What's the point of showing the flashback of Luke & Penelope's cringey first date? To prove that Tyler is the one for her? Don't get me started on Penelope trying to talk to Luke about her sexcapade. Ugh. 🤮

Anyway, I hope the #Garvez nonsense will be put to rest now.

My eyes hurt after watching this episode, too much eye-rolling. No more stupidity in the finale please. 🙄

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by SnazzyDaisy

[Danielg342]

1 hour ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

In his battle and mind games with Elias/Lee, I couldn't see Rossi as a competent agent with tricks under his sleeve, only a 70yo trying to survive. The AG gave BAU 48 hours and now they have to spend the time they don't have to locate and rescue Rossi.

I'm putting my metaphorical money on the idea that Rossi knew the BAU's hands were tied and thus he knew that if he baited Elias into kidnapping him the BAU would have no choice but to rescue him. Rossi probably concluded that, at his age, he has "nothing to lose" (well, he'd be right about that) and he would further conclude that Elias would be so narcissistic that he would rub it in the FBI's faces that he kidnapped a FBI agent instead of just nonchalantly offing Rossi and dumping his body in the woods.

That last point makes no sense the more you think of it. For a supposedly bright serial killer, Elias Voit should have known that by repeating the same pattern- using the storage locker and keeping Rossi alive- would keep the BAU on to him. If Elias did something different- like taking Rossi into the woods and shooting him- he would have thrown the BAU off. Heck, the BAU might not have even caught him because it would be a while before anyone knew Rossi was dead and, despite the fact Elias was the last person to see Rossi alive, there's no way to pin the murder on him, or at least not before he could beat a retreat that would be well-planned.

The way he's done it, every law enforcement agent is now looking for him (or at least they should be) and the FBI has no choice but to reopen their case on him, for no other reason other than they have an interest in bringing back Rossi alive, as he is still technically a FBI agent.

So, good work Mr. Smart Serial Killer.

[Snazzy Daisy]

23 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

I'm putting my metaphorical money on the idea that Rossi knew the BAU's hands were tied and thus he knew that if he baited Elias into kidnapping him the BAU would have no choice but to rescue him.

If BAU catches Elias in the act (their usual MO), he will be charged with kidnapping a federal agent. Do they have solid & enough evidence to convict him with all the 60+ murders that he committed? Still work in progress. With Ramona, it’s also a kidnapping case.

 

35 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

For a supposedly bright serial killer, Elias Voit should have known that by repeating the same pattern- using the storage locker and keeping Rossi alive- would keep the BAU on to him.

BAU only managed to locate and identify 2 of his storage bunkers, right? Rossi must have been taken to a different one, closer to his home.

It’s not that believable for a smart & resourceful serial killer (who plans his moves carefully) to kidnap an FBI agent as his last resort, hoping they will let him go. He should know better. Elias Voit has been presented to us as someone methodical, not really an exhibitionist.

 

[Danielg342]

10 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

If BAU catches Elias in the act (their usual MO), he will be charged with kidnapping a federal agent. Do they have solid & enough evidence to convict him with all the 60+ murders that he committed? Still work in progress. With Ramona, it’s also a kidnapping case.

I'm not quite sure, but this hasn't stopped the show before. I have no official statistics, but I'd imagine a good number of the arrests on CM would only qualify for kidnapping and attempted murder, not the serial killings they were after, because the CM writers always portray "stopping the serial killer from killing his last victim" as the ultimate "win condition" for the BAU. I'm not sure CM has bothered trying to make sure the BAU has credible evidence to prove their case for quite some time.

10 hours ago, SnazzyDaisy said:

BAU only managed to locate and identify 2 of his storage bunkers, right? Rossi must have been taken to a different one, closer to his home.

I think there are only two they have not accounted for. Of course, there is the possibility there are many other bunkers they do not know about, but I think the BAU and the FBI knew of 13 bunkers and recovered 11 of them, if I have things correct.

[Snazzy Daisy]

6 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I have no official statistics, but I'd imagine a good number of the arrests on CM would only qualify for kidnapping and attempted murder, not the serial killings they were after, because the CM writers always portray "stopping the serial killer from killing his last victim" as the ultimate "win condition" for the BAU.

Yeah, you’re right. I really want Elias to get punished for what he has done (instead of getting killed by the BAU in the end) and worry about compiling indisputable provable evidence, not only the victimology.

 

6 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

but I think the BAU and the FBI knew of 13 bunkers and recovered 11 of them, if I have things correct.

If not mistaken, they knew about 13 kill kits but managed to recover only 11. The last 2 kill kits were for strangulation (his cohort who strangled Ramona) and acid.

 

[Annber03]

I really liked the interaction between Rossi and Elias this episode, they had a good back and forth going. I'm hoping some of Rossi's decisions and kind of "helpless old man" demeanor in spots are part of a ruse he's building to throw Elias off, because yeah, Elias is younger and all, but it was still startling to see Rossi get knocked down so easily as he did. So hopefully he finds a way to really turn the tables on Elias. 

That said, hoo, boy, when this case is over, presuming Rossi makes it out all right, there's going to be one HELL of a tense meeting happening between him, Garcia, and Emily. She legit looked like she wanted to throttle Garcia when the team heard that voicemail message. I don't know what kind of punishments she'll dole out, if any, to them, but I won't be at all surprised to see her read them the riot act at the very least. And it would be deserved. 

I also liked Luke trying to call out Garcia's decision as he did. Interesting to see the flashback to their date - I still like the idea of them together, but I also totally get where they might've found it a bit awkward in the moment. Maybe the timing just wasn't right? I dunno. 

Very weird to see Will on the jet. Let's just hope he and JJ stay close together as they chase down Elias, 'cause otherwise...that's gonna be bad. 

[Danielg342]

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I'm hoping some of Rossi's decisions and kind of "helpless old man" demeanor in spots are part of a ruse he's building to throw Elias off, because yeah, Elias is younger and all, but it was still startling to see Rossi get knocked down so easily as he did. So hopefully he finds a way to really turn the tables on Elias. 

I sense it's part of Rossi's profile, since he thinks Elias will let his arrogance get the better of him. Since Elias sees Rossi as "the king of profiling", if Elias thinks he's bettered Rossi then he might develop a sense of invincibility which will inevitably lead to him slipping up. Arguably, this is what has happened, since if Rossi didn't get involved Elias might have slipped out of sight for good. With Rossi now kidnapped, the BAU now have no choice but to go after Elias, keeping him on the FBI's radar.

It's a heck of a strategy, but I wish we had a bit more foreshadowing leading up to it. I suppose Elias gave us a bit of that when he told Rossi he doesn't see an expert profiler but a deluded old man, but I'm not sure it goes far enough. We've only seen Elias take matters into his own hands once, with Tyler Green, and that was because Green balked at completing his assignment. Why Elias is taking matters into his own hands with Rossi hasn't been explained, at least not directly. There's a fine line between a clue being a clever feint or something pulled out of the writer's rear and without the proper setup, Rossi's hunch looks to be more of the latter than the former.

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

That said, hoo, boy, when this case is over, presuming Rossi makes it out all right, there's going to be one HELL of a tense meeting happening between him, Garcia, and Emily. She legit looked like she wanted to throttle Garcia when the team heard that voicemail message. I don't know what kind of punishments she'll dole out, if any, to them, but I won't be at all surprised to see her read them the riot act at the very least. And it would be deserved. 

You would think, but CM has been inconsistent on this end in recent years. Hotch was always good at reprimanding Rossi and other teammates who went over the line, but there were better writers then. The CM of recent vintage is a different beast. In "Ex-Parte", Simmons can go rogue to save his wife from terrorists and Prentiss doesn't say a word to him. In "Luke", the eponymous agent also goes rogue to catch the killer of his best friend, and not only does Prentiss read him the Riot Act, Luke also gets demoted.

There are already shades that Prentiss may neglect her duty because she didn't bench Garcia upon learning she defied a direct order, instead bringing her into the field. There is still time for a "proper" resolution but I'm not counting on it. These writers have, time and again, failed to realize the broader impacts of the events and scenes they write about and I fear this will happen again, which only has the effect of making Prentiss look bad when this is really on the writers.

The only saving grace in all this is that one could argue that Rossi's antics, while unorthodox and risky, did get the job done with only Rossi putting himself in an elevated state of risk. If there ever was a time where Prentiss could say "the ends justify the means", she could say it with Rossi.

Speaking of Prentiss, I find it very curious that when the Attorney General first challenged her about the team's investigation of Sicarius that Prentiss was willing to quit rather than give in to the AG's demands. When the AG demands Prentiss resign over what Rossi does, Prentiss relents. I don't know what to say about this, other than, again, suspecting faulty writing for the inconsistency.

[jabRI]

I also did not see how Rossi confronting the wife (she was good in the Glades) amounted to termination? because he didn't stand down? really ridiculous how they can't pursue leads.

[Danielg342]

9 hours ago, jabRI said:

I also did not see how Rossi confronting the wife (she was good in the Glades) amounted to termination? because he didn't stand down? really ridiculous how they can't pursue leads.

My guess is that the show is saying the FBI is firing Rossi for "bringing the Bureau into disrepute". Over the top, yes, but not unrealistic.

What gets me is that Prentiss didn't really defend him. When a few episodes back the AG "it's either I kill the investigation or I fire you", Prentiss went with the latter. Presented with the same scenario, Prentiss goes with the former. Now, perhaps Prentiss was in a "lose-lose" situation ("either you fire Rossi or I fire you both") but the inconsistency rankles, especially considering it was the AG who made this mess in the first place.