Spencer Reid: Gorgeous Gray Matter

[normasm]

"He" as in He is my God, CoStar! I'm just kidding for those of you who just perceived blasphemy…. it wasn't me!

[Droogie]

Is that the royal 'he', normasm? ;-)

 

Seriously, though, that's an adorable interview. "I look out the window and smile." Even if he doesn't mean it, that kills me because its just so cute. Although apparently he doesn't surf CM-related stuff very much, because how can he not know about the many, many, many discussions about his hair? :-P

Funny when he talked about his hair and said SPOILER it was part toupee and part CGI and said that was one reason he isn't on screen much (!) bc it's so costly and time consuming to film it. Loved it.

[Saje]

I enjoyed this one more than his last one. He's just so sweetly self-conscious but when he talks about directing you can hear the confidence. I am really looking forward to the ''shocking'' Mr Scratch, he seems proud of it. 

 

And hello to all! *waves* Big Matthew fan, here.

[normasm]

Welcome, Saje

Funny when he talked about his hair and said SPOILER it was part toupee and part CGI and said that was one reason he isn't on screen much (!) bc it's so costly and time consuming to film it. Loved it.

I was hoping someone would note that and it's Droogs!

[Ganya]

Regarding the open mink discussion....if you look at one of the deleted scenes from Life After Beth, I think it is clear that he is doing very well for himself. 

 

There is an outtake in which he is in the character's bedroom, in his underwear and t shirt.  All of a sudden he gets up and well hello there, Matthew has himself all "activated".  He is lying on the bed, in full salute.    It looked more than better than the average bear to me.  And I have met quite a few bears.  You can still find the scene on Oct 28, 2014, in the archives of Gublernews (thank you olaurao).

Edited April 21, 2015 by Ganya

[MCatry]

Funny when he talked about his hair and said SPOILER it was part toupee and part CGI and said that was one reason he isn't on screen much (!) bc it's so costly and time consuming to film it. Loved it.

Quite interesting.

He is aware that people miss him on the screen.

Hmmmmm....

[normasm]

Ganya, I think he said they taped him down for the skivvy scenes, so, I was pleasantly amused to see he was quite escaped, or at least abandoned in that scene. it was hilarious as he went on and on with that scene, that the director lets him roll, and when he breaks up laughing at one point, someone says, "He could do this all day!"

[Saje]

Ganya, I don't suppose you have a link? I can't seem to find it. All the behind the scenes pictures I saw of that 't-shirt and tighty whities' scene seemed to corroborate his claims of being less than fortunate in that area. I would gladly be proven clueless! 

 

Edited - normasm, the taping down would explain it then (ouch?).

Edited April 21, 2015 by Saje

[Ganya]

I am not good at linking with a video or embedding, sorry.  Perhaps someone with better skills can give it a try.  For the good of us all.  But if you go to her tumblr, go to the archives, look in the several outtakes she posted on Oct 28 of Life After Beth, you can easily find it.

 

Still a little contained by the tighty whities.  On looking at she video again, I would add that it looks like he is at the "let's get this party started" stage, and not at the dimensions that occur later when another person is partying along.  So there is probably even more to this delightful story than we can see. 

 

You know what?  I am not even ashamed!

Edited April 21, 2015 by Ganya

[zannej]

Welcome, Saje!

 

In a bit of bummer news, apparently the amateurs at coveteur magazine didnt' realize they uploaded the "bonus" images. I've had several messages from them on Tumblr about the images. They think they were "leaked" and I've been trying to explain to them that the images are on THEIR site and that they all turn up in a google image search. Once they actually get it through their skulls, they will probably delete the images from their server. So those pics that I posted will probably disappear from this thread at some point.

[Old Dog]

I am not good at linking with a video or embedding, sorry.  Perhaps someone with better skills can give it a try.  For the good of us all.  But if you go to her tumblr, go to the archives, look in the several outtakes she posted on Oct 28 of Life After Beth, you can easily find it.

 

Still a little contained by the tighty whities.  On looking at she video again, I would add that it looks like he is at the "let's get this party started" stage, and not at the dimensions that occur later when another person is partying along.  So there is probably even more to this delightful story than we can see. 

 

You know what?  I am not even ashamed!

Thanks for the link Ganya! I'm not ashamed either to say that the sight of an aroused Gubler has made my day. No strike that - it's made my year!

[Droogie]

I am not good at linking with a video or embedding, sorry. Perhaps someone with better skills can give it a try. For the good of us all. But if you go to her tumblr, go to the archives, look in the several outtakes she posted on Oct 28 of Life After Beth, you can easily find it.

Still a little contained by the tighty whities. On looking at she video again, I would add that it looks like he is at the "let's get this party started" stage, and not at the dimensions that occur later when another person is partying along. So there is probably even more to this delightful story than we can see.

You know what? I am not even ashamed!

I've seen those LAB out takes. He cracks me up -- no shred of self-consciousness that I can see and it's so funny when he giggles at himself. Sandals and socks and tighty-whities: a combo only MGG can still make sexy. Best I not seek it out and watch it again, though -- I recall blushing mightily. At least his briefs were darker in the leaked magazine photos. I felt slightly less lascivious gawking at them. Slightly.

I read an interview where he said he is "hung like a mouse." I need to know more about this mouse.

He also said he promised a friend he would do a nude scene in a movie they made, and he was nervous about it, but he still would, because he had promised.

Welcome, Saje!

In a bit of bummer news, apparently the amateurs at coveteur magazine didnt' realize they uploaded the "bonus" images. I've had several messages from them on Tumblr about the images. They think they were "leaked" and I've been trying to explain to them that the images are on THEIR site and that they all turn up in a google image search. Once they actually get it through their skulls, they will probably delete the images from their server. So those pics that I posted will probably disappear from this thread at some point.

I saw where it said "all parties involved" were unhappy about it. That tells me Matthew was unhappy. Which is all I need to know to keep me from disseminating the pics, if I were so inclined. The magazine itself should be more careful, but I'll bet it got them some serious traffic. I am sorry MGG was displeased, though. I feel bad about that. He is so lovely to look at -- I at least hope he knows how much his fans enjoyed those pictures. Edited April 21, 2015 by Droogie

[spinner33]

I might have to give buying the "Life After Beth" disk a second consideration if it involves such delicious out-takes as this!   

[Bookish Jen]

All this talk of Matthew's package is quite "enlightening" on a cold, dreary April day. Nice to know he is more than "adequate" in that area.

 

See, my friends. I'm not that much of an uptight pearl-clutcher when it comes to nudity and sexuality. I wrote an article about sex toys a few years back. And I once hung out with porn star Becca Blossoms (she was so nice) at a Milwaukee Slut Walk back in 2011.

 

I know I claimed to be shy and reserved; I never claimed not to be full of surprises.

[normasm]

"… a Milwaukee Slut Walk…." just resonates with me somehow

[Bookish Jen]

"… a Milwaukee Slut Walk…." just resonates with me somehow

 Hmm, part of the Spencer, Hold My Earrings playlist?

[Ganya]

I might have to give buying the "Life After Beth" disk a second consideration if it involves such delicious out-takes as this!   

Yes, it does come with the disk of LAB.  The video we can see here only goes to 780 resolution.  But imagine how it might be on Blu-Ray.  I am going to get off my butt and purchase it.  I am a serious creeper, good at my job.  But really, only a creep for Matthew.  Otherwise, I lead a normal life!

[normasm]

"Only a creep for Matthew…." sounds like a country song. Maybe Spencer, Hold My Earrings should branch out into the High Lonesome whine of pedal steel for this one….

[Ganya]

Yes, I love it.  It makes it sound so much more respectable too, which I deeply appreciate. 

 

There are many country songs that could be for Matthew or Reid.  I don't know the genre very well, but I bet others can think of many that apply. 

[Droogie]

I saw something on Instagram where people were saying that MGG personally messaged them asking them to remove the leaked photos. Wonder if that is true?

[Bookish Jen]

Yes, I love it.  It makes it sound so much more respectable too, which I deeply appreciate. 

 

There are many country songs that could be for Matthew or Reid.  I don't know the genre very well, but I bet others can think of many that apply. 

My name is Bookish Jen and I'm a closet country music fan. Ganya, you should examine the genre further. No doubt you'd find a huge list of songs that would apply to Matthew/Reid.

 

So interesting the idea of music/CM has been brought up. When I saw the episode of "Nelson's Sparrow" I thought of Carly Simon and Jimmy Webb's cover of "Spring Will Be a Little Late This Year."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8EtxRzcBs0

Edited April 22, 2015 by Bookish Jen

[ForeverAlone]

I saw something on Instagram where people were saying that MGG personally messaged them asking them to remove the leaked photos. Wonder if that is true?

Yes, that is true. He sent out a form DM to accounts that posted the "leaked" photos politely asking them (in that Gubler way of his) to remove the photos.

Edited April 22, 2015 by ForeverAlone

[zannej]

ForeverAlone, it seems to have eaten your reply. I see nothing in your reply but the quote...

Edit: Now I see your post.

 

People did get messages from Gublergram, but I don't think it was Matthew sending out the messages. I think he has an assistant or friend that answers e-mails and stuff for him, and I think he had one of them send the messages out to people starting with "Howdy" and mentioning the employee responsible for the pics being up was new and she could lose her job so please take the photos down.

Edited April 22, 2015 by zannej

[ForeverAlone]

I don't know. I don't see him giving other people access to his Instagram or Twitter. Otherwise we have to consider that some of his posts are not actually from Matthew, but an outside source. I would rather think it is all Matthew.

[missmycat]

Sorry if this is offtopic. 

I re-watched season 1-9 and took note of all of Reid's lines/interactions. (conversations where he contributes, not just if he's there). I originally did this for the sake of writing more accurate fan fiction but should I do something more? Make a graph or some kind of chart with the amount of lines he gets each episode? Season? Or would that be pointless because I've only tracked his lines/interactions.  

I sure would be interested in it. And I will just bet you will find that there is a significant difference in how much Reid contributed to an episode when Bernero ran the show vs Messer's running of the show. I am almost certain you will find that his have decreased while JJ's increased.

Edited April 23, 2015 by missmycat

[zannej]

I don't know. I don't see him giving other people access to his Instagram or Twitter. Otherwise we have to consider that some of his posts are not actually from Matthew, but an outside source. I would rather think it is all Matthew.

Well, I know that he apparently had someone answering some of his e-mails for him. Either his brother or a friend.. I can't remember, but someone got into a discussion with them. He didn't have time to answer things by himself. I think he does do his own tweets and images posted to instagram, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had a friend or sibling type of the message to ask people to take down the images.  It could have been from him though.

[MCatry]

This time I used http://www.onlinecharttool.com/and I'm so happy with the results!

Hahaha!!!

I can't believe he talked so much in somebody's watching! It didn't feel like that, at all.

[zannej]

I'd laugh so hard if MGG did Reid's line with valley girl accent now.

[Bookish Jen]

I'd laugh so hard if MGG did Reid's line with valley girl accent now.

Now that you mention it, a DVD extra of MGG saying various Reid lines in different accents including Valley Girl would be loads of fun. And you know MGG would totally be up for it.

[Racbec]

Love when they post these:

 

http://www.buzzfeed.com/eleanorbate/21-times-spencer-reid-from-criminal-minds-stole-1b0l9#.knwwNN6dE

[zannej]

I like the gifs, but I can never relate to any of those articles. I feel like they must be aimed at a different subset of the audience.

[Saje]

Oh, but look at Elephant's Memory. I feel justified in favoring that episode, now! :)

[Old Dog]

qwerty - just have to say you are a legend for compiling these! I.m a mega fan of the show and have been for 10 years but I don't think I could sit and count words for every episode! We ought to send you back in when you finish and count for Hotch - I bet his have plummeted over recent seasons.

[normasm]

Querty, how many times does Spencer find the key element to solving the case?

[spinner33]

I can't imagine the patience it takes to do something like this!   Thanks for the link for the scripts.   It would be interesting to know what the average number of words in the scripts runs to, and which characters' numbers have increased, which have decreased, and which have remained the same over the seasons.  But that's like a massive amount of time and research!  It's not a suggestion, but just where my mind goes when I see the chart on Reid.  It stands to reason that there would not be fewer words per episode.  I would think there would be a running average which remains nearly the same, because the time has remained nearly the same.  So as Reid's dialogue increases, whose decreases?  Conversely, as Reid says less, who says more?   Like Normsm above, I would be curious to know how often Reid finds the key elements which solve the case, and how that changes over the years.  I'll wager that has changed over the years too!

[JMO]

The thing I find most interesting about these word counts is that, except for some of the very obviously Reid-centric episodes, they don't really tell us anything about his prominence in the episode.  It doesn't even hold for Reid-centric episodes----look at Revelations.  And you can bet the count will be low for Nelson's Sparrow as well.  It speaks to how well MGG conveys body language, and to how well-directed some of those episodes were, that he could have real presence without needing reams of dialogue.

Edited April 30, 2015 by JustMyOpinion

[normasm]

JMO, i thought the exact same thing when I saw that word count for Revelations! It wouldn't make me happier at this point for my favorite character to have more lines than my least favorite if the lines were stupid or out of character. I trust that MGG will make Spencer compellingly watchable, even if he's not actually heard. And Nelson's Sparrow is a perfect example. There are 4 Spencer scenes wherein he says not one word, but is very moving, and imbues the story with the proper feel of Gideon the character.

[spinner33]

Which shows you the depth of talent that Matthew has!  He can make you understand what he's feeling without saying a word! 

[zannej]

Qwerty, would you mind posting the images in the statistics spiel thread? I think seeing the images all lined up would be good to get a clear picture.

I am wondering what his average amount of words per season is or if you find an average of words per episode to get an overall idea of how much he spoke in the earlier seasons.

 

Its too bad it doesn't reflect meaningful contributions vs useless fluff. Because sometimes he was given motormouth useless lines so the team could roll their eyes at him.

[zannej]

I'll start doing that for now on. I also started making another chart for words per season which I'll post when season 10 finished. 

If I wasn't so lazy, I'd add up all of the words from each episode in a season. I think thus far in your chart, the fewest amount of words Reid spouted was 111 in an episode. I think he gets down lower in season 9 or 10.

[Bookish Jen]

Which shows you the depth of talent that Matthew has!  He can make you understand what he's feeling without saying a word! 

So true, so true.

 

Like I've said before, it's not what you reveal; it's what you conceal. Matthew gets this.

[Bookish Jen]

For some odd reason, I'm going to leave this right here:

 

You just know Matthew would totally want the sock in the middle, but first he'd have to fight my 9-year-old niece for it.

 

Maybe I'm out of it, but didn't Matthew mention that when he had his unfortunate incident he was actually wearing matched socks? Well, no wonder he's always going to wear "mis-matched" socks.

 

"I'm never going to dance again/These matched-sock feet have got no rhythm."

Edited May 4, 2015 by Bookish Jen

[Cobalt Stargazer]

So for those of ya'll who watch on the weekends, [Elephant's Memory, The Instincts, and Memoriam will be airing on A & E starting at nine a.m. Eastern time. It's a Reid triple threat!

 

As a random note, WTF does my spell check keep telling me that memoriam is misspelled? Because for shits and giggles I tried memorium instead, and it tells me that isn't right either.

[Bookish Jen]

It looks like Dr. Spencer Reid and Bookish Jen got busy on Bookish Jen's b-day.
http://jezebel.com/naked-from-head-to-toe-couple-arrested-having-sex-in-li-1701522485

 

Interestingly, enough. Waukesha is both a county and a city just west of Milwaukee.

[secnarf]

I just stumbled across this today - not sure if you all have seen it before, as it's a few years old, but it's the first I've seen of it:
https://web.archive.org/web/20121028230538/http://www.etonline.com/tv/126267_Criminal_Minds_Creator_Reid_Was_Supposed_to_Be_Bi_Sexual/index.html

As a bisexual woman, I am very saddened/angry that CBS refused to allow this. I suppose if they wanted to go that route, it's never too late. Having said that, I'd be kind of hesitant with the way things are right now with the current writers/showrunner. I wonder if CBS would still block them from having a GLBTQ main character. It seems every time I take a step back and look at how far things have come over my (relatively short) lifetime, something happens that makes me doubt we've moved forward at all.

[missmycat]

I just stumbled across this today - not sure if you all have seen it before, as it's a few years old, but it's the first I've seen of it:

https://web.archive.org/web/20121028230538/http://www.etonline.com/tv/126267_Criminal_Minds_Creator_Reid_Was_Supposed_to_Be_Bi_Sexual/index.html

As a bisexual woman, I am very saddened/angry that CBS refused to allow this. I suppose if they wanted to go that route, it's never too late. Having said that, I'd be kind of hesitant with the way things are right now with the current writers/showrunner. I wonder if CBS would still block them from having a GLBTQ main character. It seems every time I take a step back and look at how far things have come over my (relatively short) lifetime, something happens that makes me doubt we've moved forward at all.

Hey Jeff Davis also created the character of Dr. Spencer Reid(thank you Jeff) with the notion that he'd be the BAU's only resident genius. But look where we are today with that very notion. Garcia is also a genius. And then you have JJ,who unlike Garcia has never bragged about being a genius,but has been written at times as being more of a genius than Reid.

[normasm]

I just stumbled across this today - not sure if you all have seen it before, as it's a few years old, but it's the first I've seen of it:

https://web.archive.org/web/20121028230538/http://www.etonline.com/tv/126267_Criminal_Minds_Creator_Reid_Was_Supposed_to_Be_Bi_Sexual/index.html

As a bisexual woman, I am very saddened/angry that CBS refused to allow this. I suppose if they wanted to go that route, it's never too late. Having said that, I'd be kind of hesitant with the way things are right now with the current writers/showrunner. I wonder if CBS would still block them from having a GLBTQ main character. It seems every time I take a step back and look at how far things have come over my (relatively short) lifetime, something happens that makes me doubt we've moved forward at all.

Hey, I would have liked Spencer just as much if he had been (well) written as a bisexual man. I'm happy he's who he is, except for the fact that TPTB have been steadily chipping away at what makes him special so that he's not so special. And it's not that bisexuality would have made him Extra-Special, but it would have been a part of his canon, and one of the things that fans down the road would have insisted on. Now, i think, because he's not "edgy" or different to their way of thinking as a bisexual or gay man, they figure they can shove him in the corner in favor of other perceived archetypes. Well, we don't care about archetypes, writers/showrunners: we care about characters who are well written no matter what category they might or might not fill. We want the characters we have embraced to stay true to their canon (while growing and changing as we all do) without becoming interchangeable pieces of a checkerboard, only black or red.

Edited May 7, 2015 by normasm

[secnarf]

Hey, I would have liked Spencer just as much if he had been (well) written as a bisexual man. I'm happy he's who he is, except for the fact that TPTB have been steadily chipping away at what makes him special so that he's not so special. And it's not that bisexuality would have made him Extra-Special, but it would have been a part of his canon, and one of the things that fans down the road would have insisted on. Now, i think, because he's not "edgy" or different to their way of thinking as a bisexual or gay man, they figure they can shove him in the corner in favor of other perceived archetypes. Well, we don't care about archetypes, writers/showrunners: we care about characters who are well written no matter what category they might or might not fill. We want the characters we have embraced to stay true to their canon (while growing and changing as we all do) without becoming interchangeable pieces of a checkerboard, only black or red.

If they want him to be bisexual because they think it makes him "Extra-Special", I'd rather they avoid it altogether. There are so many other things that (used to) make him special, and they're much more unique than not being straight. He could easily be bisexual and still be the same character, and that's certainly how I'd prefer it. After his speech about how it didn't matter what Maeve looks like because she's already the most beautiful woman in the world to him, I think it could fit with his character and worldview to not really care so much about something like gender, and instead focus more on the person.

Anyways, I'm not at all bothered by Reid being straight, or even that all of the main cast are straight. If that's who the characters are, then that's who they are. I'm bothered that Reid was initially bisexual (for like three episodes) and then CBS insisted that he be straight. It wasn't even that the producers/writers decided it didn't work for the character. CBS didn't want a bisexual main character on one of their shows.

[Droogie]

Maybe the early writers could've sold the idea, but the amount of retconning it would take now to pull it off isn't something I trust to this newer crop.

I personally am glad for the way Reid is written, simply because I love him (don't know how to make it very clear on little sleep and no small amount of vodka). In the same way that Morgan doesn't float my boat, Reid as bisexual wouldn't have sparked my interest the way that he has.

I can see Reid as a person who looks beyond appearances and sees the heart of an individual -- I think he does this already. I don't know what type of character he would've been had he been written differently. I will say that, regardless of orientation, they don't seem to give two craps about giving him a love life. So ultimately, it is a moot point.

JJ aside, relationships in the BAU seem to be fraught with challenges. Fanwanking a bit to say that it would seem that those best suited for a relationship with a profiler would be another profiler. Based on that, I sort of always "shipped" Reid with Prentiss. I stumbled upon MadLori's fanfiction and bought it hook, line and sinker. They were the perfect couple in the perfect realm of perfectness, in my CM fantasy-land. Maybe it's due to their off-screen closeness, but I could see it happening.

I know a lot of fans love the idea of Reid and Morgan together, but I don't. If Reid were to be in a relationship with a man, it would have to be Hotch. Protector/protected, admirer/admired, mutual respect and trust, ad infinitum.

Edited (again) to add: isn't Monty in the spin-off supposed to be bi or gay?

Edited May 7, 2015 by Droogie

[Cobalt Stargazer]

The only thing that prevents me from really getting behind Spencer and Emily as a pairing is that, in canon, the rift between them was never really dealt with. I've also read MadLori's awesome fanfction (and I blew through all forty-one chapters of blythechild's Mistaken in one go), but canon-wise the betrayal of trust never getting a resolution makes it hard for me to see him with her, particularly since her ulcer was not his damn fault. I love Prentiss, but I'm contrary enough to consider that enough to disqualify her. :-)

 

Ultimately, its Spencer and Elle all the way for me. She's not to everyone's taste, and sometimes I can see why, but even when she was unraveling she treated Reid with a kindness that makes her stand out even after all this time.