S10.E17: Breath Play

[thewhiteowl]

 

The BAU is called to Wisconsin in search of a serial killer, and the team looks for a connection among the victims for clues to the UnSub. Also, Kate has trouble dealing with her niece, Meg, when she begins acting out.

 

[ForeverAlone]

Considering this episode was the writer's first, this was better than some of episodes written by more seasoned writers.

I tend to prefer the sexually motivated serial crime episodes anyway, so this story interested me more than many of the other episodes this season. Even if it was blatantly inspired by Fifty Shades of Gray. Which frankly is a book that could spawn these sorts of crime, since that book was already a crime against writing. :)

I think there was a good amount of actual profiling. It is always nice to see the team talking the crime out, and actually digging deep into victimology. Interesting profiling in determining prior victims and what the possible cause of the cooling off periods.

I had to laugh that Rossi is the one made the connection to the Bare Reflections book. And damn, that man certainly knows his way around the BDSM community. Of course, that nugget of character knowledge didn't surprise me in the slightest. The only one funnier would have been Reid. And why was Reid the only one not giving any part of the profile? Too delicate for the one virgin on the team? He might have gotten the vapors, even if he did read the book. And oh my, Reid knows the definition of hard and soft limits. :) :) :)

I have to say that I am COMPLETELY over the Meg drama. I can only guess that the show wants us to develop some emotional connection to Meg, so when she is likely abducted in the season finale, we will care. Well, I don't care, because I find her deeply annoying and frankly unsympathetic. I think the show is spending way too much time on this subplot, when they could be giving some of their more underserved characters something meaty and substantial to sink their teeth into. I did like the relatively low key way Kate announced her pregnancy,and I though Reid's reaction was super cute. Overall, it was nice seeing Kate this episode interact with the different team members. I actually like her character; I just don't care to see her bratty daughter.

That being said, this episode was part of the annoying trend to show us so much unsub. I don't feel it was necessary. We could have learned everything we needed to know through his victims and his crimes, and even if the show depicted the actual murders, we didn't need to see the actual unsub to understand. And what was up with the team just busting down the door to the unsub's house? They could not bother to knock? I hope they at least got a warrant, because a profile is not necessarily foolproof. This sort of legal gung ho behavior is a more recent addition to the show, since in the past, we saw the team acting within the confines of the law. Instead they sometimes look like some rogue team.

Overall this was an interesting episode for me, and I would rather watch more episodes from this writer than some of the others currently on staff.

Edited March 12, 2015 by ForeverAlone

[The Wild Sow]

Oh, I was really hoping Meg would have a copy of Bare Reflections peeking out from under her covers!

[zannej]

I thought this one was ok, but I had quite a few problems with it. Not so much in terms of the plot really, but in terms of the execution. The starting scene of the first victim seemed to really drag on and I didn't get the sense of suspense that I think we were supposed to be getting. There were pace and timing issues in this one. Some scenes were too slow (literally in slow motion) and then others seemed rushed. JJ's line delivery about when she was pregnant and the music she listened to seemed far too rushed and there was just something off about it. It seemed more like forced exposition instead of natural dialog. I did like the reactions of the team members to Kate's pregnancy. I'm still not clear why a belly piercing was indicative of a teen rebelling against a pregnancy (even though I know that the baby makes the belly grow). That part didn't seem to ring true to me.

 

And Ugh... Meg... The more I see her the more I wish they had picked a better actress. She was ok in her first episode, but the sulky bratty teen thing from the actress is not coming across well. The line delivery isn't believable to me. I actually liked the bit with Savannah talking to Meg though. There was such a contrast-- the actress who plays Savannah seemed believable. I admit I'm annoyed that they couldn't get someone more like her (in terms of demeanor and such) as a love interest for Hotch or Reid. She seemed sympathetic enough, but not too wishy washy.

 

I was a bit confused about something: Were all of the women (except the last victim) expecting him to come over that night? Was the whole going to bed and being ambushed thing part of the fantasy? They never really explained that.

 

At least they cast a decent actress as the unsub's daughter. I did find myself feeling sorry for her. I did think the actor playing the unsub was ok. It was an interesting juxtaposition between the skeevy killer part and when he interacted with his daughter. Something was still missing though.

 

I thought that they handled the subject matter fairly well although I really felt they were a bit heavy-handed with the influence of the book. I wonder where the hell Reid went and I missed him during the profile. There was very little Reid. I liked that Hotch did seem to be leading. I actually liked the scenes where they alternated between Hotch and JJ interviewing the victim's friends/family. 

 

I do think there were some inexplicable leaps made in the profiling. Reid didn't look like he actually finished the book when he shut it and told the team there was nothing about breath play. 

 

I admit I liked the bit where Rossi mentioned dabbling in his senior year and Kate says "ah, college" and he said "high school" and her reaction was funny. I liked how the woman in charge of the BDSM place seemed like a normal person and also seemed to like Rossi (but it wasn't overdone). I could not help but be distracted by the fact that the flowers (or whatever they were) on her necklace were not evenly spaced and I think the necklace may have been crooked. I spent most of that scene just staring at the necklace wanting to straighten it out. LOL.

 

I did think it was a little over the top when the guy saw that he nanny had the book and he got all ramped up and decided to go attack her. It was interesting to have the daughter walk in on the crime near the end-- that is something that usually doesn't happen. I didn't quite understand why the nanny told her to run. I didn't think it seemed like the girl was in any danger. It was sort of weird, but at the same time it made sense when the guy hugged his daughter. I think they captured his conflict in some ways.. Although, I'm not quite sure why murder had to be the endgame. I get that he witnessed a murder, but it would have been interesting if death was just an undesired side effect. I was sort of expecting there to be some victims (or at least one) who survived from a loooong time ago but they were either too embarrassed or weren't sure they could identify the killer. I remember a real case where it turned out a serial rapist/murderer was operating in a particular park and the wrong guy had been arrested and convicted many years before and for some reason the idiots did not seem to realize that there was a pattern and that there were repeat incidents of killings in the same area over the years. There were a couple of surviving victims and one of them identified the wrong guy (who looked a LOT like the real culprit) from a black and white photo.

 

I think my biggest peeve in this one was how Hotch and Reid disappeared at the end and Kate went out on the takedown. There is no way in hell that Hotch would have sent a pregnant agent out on a takedown-- he would have gone instead. Hell, I would have been ok with JJ participating in the takedown in this case if it meant a pregnant agent wasn't out there. I like Kate and would have been fine with her being on the takedown had she not been pregnant. I actually liked the moment where the daughter was leaning her head on the nanny's shoulder as her father was being arrested.

 

I think this was a decent first effort from this writer, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

 

I think this one would be a C or maybe a B-.

[ForeverAlone]

Yeah, I agree. Kate should not be participating in tactical raids. But this is the same show that had a pregnant JJ go out on a convoy in a combat zone, so you know they aren't about realistic depictions of pregnant women in these sorts of jobs. *sighs*

[zannej]

Some questions:

* They mentioned something about 3 times the unsub had children in different years, but I only remember 2 of them (the children) being in the episode. Or am I wrong?

* Were Reid and Hotch still at the unsub's house while Kate and Morgan went to the nanny's place? Maybe that was why they weren't there? But how far away were they really? It couldn't have been too far. (I agree with Solitude that it was not cool for them to just kick in the door without a warrant).

* When Garcia said she had to crack open the unsub's juvie record, why was that necessary? Didn't it just say that he was a witness? It would only be sealed if he'd committed a crime, right? In fact, it wouldn't actually be a "juvie record" unless he did something wrong. Or did he commit a crime early on and I missed it?

Edited March 12, 2015 by zannej

[SSAHotchner]

Zannej, I was bothered by that woman's necklace as well. :)

 

I kind of liked this episode, but did not like seeing the unsub so early. I guess they tried to counter that with showing him as a family man, but I prefer the episodes where we are kept guessing as to the unsub's identity. The episode held my interest and was suspenseful for me. A friend was not impressed at all and thought the plot was silly. I think the reason I felt suspense was that when I was young I used to be afraid of someone breaking into our house when I was alone. I used to lay in bed at night and plan how I would get out if someone were to break in or if there were a fire or something. The scene where the unsub was under the bed took me back to those kinds of fears I used to have. I also liked that the daughter picked up on the fact that her father was showing interest in the nanny. I'm not sure that I liked the fact that the wife seemed to be clueless. Another stereotype. Overworked working mother doesn't have time for her husband or her kids. 

 

Count me among those who can't stand Meg. For all of Erica's talk about motherhood, she and the writers don't really seem to understand kids all that well. I also think the girl is too old to be put out over her aunt being pregnant. Most girls that age would look forward to spending some time with a baby, provided they are not expected to be a constant free babysitter. I understand there are time limitations on the show and that we don't want to see a lot of family stuff in place of the actual case, but it felt off to me that Kate didn't actually reason with her in person at the doctor's office and get to the bottom of her rebellion right away. But really, I find this girl to be annoying and I agree with Forever Alone about them trying to drum up some sympathy for her prior to her possibly being endangered later in the season. I dislike this kind of attempted manipulation of viewers. 

 

I'm ready for Garcia to take a hike. I call BS on her being able to find out in less than a minute that the victims had bought or checked out the book. I'm just so tired of this kind of crappy writing and I'm willing to bet that KV wrote her own lines in those scenes where, again, she was extolling her greatness. I liked that Rossi was more prominent in this one and he had some funny scenes. Am I the only one that enjoys that Rossi uses words like "balls?" Not sure what happened to Reid, but I assume that Thomas was busy wrapping up last weeks episode and that's why Hotch had less to do this week...not that they need an excuse to barely give him anything to do these days. JJ was tolerable for a change. My CM friends are mostly Kate haters, but I don't mind her. I don't mind her getting a little focus in this episode. She really hasn't been overused in my opinion, unlike JJ. I'm not crazy about the focus being all on her personal life, but I don't find her annoying or overbearing.

 

So, overall I liked the episode, but like most episodes the past 4 seasons, it's not something I'd tell a friend they had to see or something I'd go out of my way to watch again. 

Edited March 12, 2015 by SSAHotchner

[Danielg342]

So last week Morgan the fighter came back and this week Morgan the tackler came back. Some vintage work from him...maybe this is, sadly, a last hurrah.

Episode was...well...blah, really. It was a true "novel" concept and a direct rip on "Fifty Shades of Grey", and I suppose this is the show's way of criticizing the book without actually directly mentioning it, but I think it ultimately fell flat.

I liked the guy who played the UnSub, but I didn't understand his motives. Like zannej said, they never explained the strangulation part. Personally, I was expecting it as part of the book or at least as part of the fantasy, where the victims expressed a desire to be asphyxiated, but it never came about. I also thought in the back of my head that maybe he never intended for the victims to die- they just happened to die because he doesn't know how to properly administer "erotic asphyxiation" (which is a common way erotic asphyxiaters die). Perhaps something like that wouldn't have made the story palatable but I believe it would have made more sense that way.

I also liked how they mentioned that the book perverted what BDSM is supposed to really be about- a real criticism of "Fifty Shades of Grey"- but I thought they glossed over it too much. I never caught if the Carson character from the book also perverted BDSM (like Christian Grey did) or if the book followed along with the rules but the readers did not. I would have also liked it a bit better if the victims were shown trying to use "safe words" and the UnSub is seen blatantly ignored them, which would turn the episode from consenual to an actual rape. I think that would have highlighted perversion of BDSM better than any other explanation provided.

(I admit, I did laugh out loud when Rossi corrected Kate that he experimented with BDSM in high school, not college)

Lastly...Meg...I'm just going to say flat out that she's annoying and adds nothing to the story. She's a bratty teen rebelling against the fact that Kate is never home? Yawn. Been there, done that. I might have liked this storyline better if Meg wasn't so whiny from the start- that way she's not so one-dimensional.

Other than that, it was your typical middle-of-the-road episode- nothing groundbreaking but nothing truly poor. Not on my rewatch list, but it also isn't in the trash can- a rarity this season.

C.

[SSAHotchner]

Some questions:

* They mentioned something about 3 times the unsub had children in different years, but I only remember 2 of them (the children) being in the episode. Or am I wrong?

* Were Reid and Hotch still at the unsub's house while Kate and Morgan went to the nanny's place? Maybe that was why they weren't there? But how far away were they really? It couldn't have been too far. (I agree with Solitude that it was not cool for them to just kick in the door without a warrant).

* When Garcia said she had to crack open the unsub's juvie record, why was that necessary? Didn't it just say that he was a witness? It would only be sealed if he'd committed a crime, right? In fact, it wouldn't actually be a "juvie record" unless he did something wrong. Or did he commit a crime early on and I missed it?

I'm not sure about the number of children they had. I'd have to watch again to check and I'm not ready to do that tonight. It seemed to me that there were more than 2 children when they came in and tossed their stuff down. 

 

As for the nanny's house, it couldn't have been too far away since the daughter rode her bike over there. 

 

I don't remember the bit about the juvie record. I only remember that he had killed in other states. I will try to pay better attention when I let my sister watch it on my DVR tomorrow when she comes over to do her laundry. It's unclear to me whether they established a motive for him killing. Your wife is pregnant or has a new baby and isn't up for sex all the time so you go out and rape women and then kill them?  But I do chat with online friends during the episode and I have a tendency to miss some things and have to go back and watch again later to catch what I might have missed first time around. 

[Old Dog]

It was just OK for me. I think the unsub dominated the episode taking up what seemed like at least half the time, I liked Kate in this but have zero interest in the Meg sub story - they have made her into a real cliche of the bratty kid. Garcia annoyed me and again her magic computer brought up information at the flick of a button. Maybe if they hadn't spent so long on the unsub they could make Garcia's instant production of difficult to find information just a tad more believable. Nice to see  Morgan tackling the unsub at the end. Not much JJ which is always a bonus for me. But Reid and Hotch both disappeared - I know they were both involved with pre and post production of the episodes they were directing but there can never be enough Reid for me. Oh and a nice little Hotch smile at the start when Kate announced her pregnancy. I thought the guy playing the unsub did a great job, I just wish they hadnlt devoted so much of the episode to him. It was OK.

[myKingAndQueen]

Jeeeez yes, Fifty Shades of Grey IS a horrible book and movie, we get it, could everyone just stop shoving it down our throats?!

 

But other than that, it was an okay episode. Not too boring. It started refreshingly good, with a nice team moment because of Kates pregnancy and everyone seemed like to do something. (Hotch and JJ questioning the family etc.) Also, it had some nice profiling.

But the end felt very rushed like "oh shit we still need an explanation so let's just have Garcia say that the UnSub witnessed this exact same crime as a kid!"

Too much UnSub. I didn't mind it at first because it was kind of interesting with his family but it was just too much.

What really bothered me was that everyone except Kate and Morgan disappeared again. It felt like, besides Rossis funny moment, there was nobody on this team but these two. I like Kate (Morgan not that much) but you know, there is just no way Hotch would disappear and let do her (pregnant) the takedown. But this has been already said. Also that Meg is just annoying!

 

Some questions:

* They mentioned something about 3 times the unsub had children in different years, but I only remember 2 of them (the children) being in the episode. Or am I wrong?

 

When we first meet the family (UnSub comes home and the two daughters happily run to him) there is a baby on the Nannys arms, so I think that was supposed to be child number three.

[whitespace]

I found the last victim a bit off. I mean apparently he connects with his first victims over the book (Calls, SMS. Pics) before he makes a move on them. But with the nanny he just gets all exited as soon as she mentions that she owns a copy? I felt a bit like a set up to excuse the focus on the unsubs family.

 

btw: So does Rossi have an app for locating "munch's" or how did he find one that fast? 

Edited March 12, 2015 by whitespace

[bkathi]

So this was a combo of two Jaime Dornan projects - The Fall and 50 Shades.  Interesting.

[missmycat]

How much more of this snot nose brat must we endure. She is the oldest of the CM children yet seems to act the most immature.Not at all happy that Meg is going to figure big time into the show's season finale, because she will be part of the Kate story line. But than again I am pissed about the season finale being given over to the Kate character anyway.

 

What the bleep is it with Erica Messer and whoever the hell else makes these decision. I don't get why they keep insisting on handing the season finale over to these newbie.Of course I am thinking this is probably more of Messer's doing. Because this crap didn't start happening until she took over.

[WordFreak]

Count me in as another person who's sick of 50 Shades of Grey being so prominent these days. When Rossi figured out that book Bare Reflections was the basis of the crimes in this case, I said to the TV "Seriously?" It's time to find something else to focus on, since from what I've heard, 50 Shades is absolute crap.

 

While I didn't care much for this case, there were moments among the team members I liked. I thought Kate's pregnancy reveal was cute, and I enjoyed the scene between her and Rossi when he mentioned his past with BDSM. A bit TMI maybe, but I love Rossi.

 

Where the heck was Reid when they delivered the profile? Was he not allowed to be there because they were talking about sex? As far as I could tell, there was no logical reason for his absence there. 

 

Finally, enough with Garcia and the computer. I call BS on her being able to look up who had a copy of that stupid book. And, like many others, I have no patience for Meg. Calling Kate's house a gulag was a bit OTT, but whatever.  I guess this is all a set-up for her season ending abduction, but I just can't get invested in the storyline.

 

 

[Droogie]

I felt like the whole episode was rather pedestrian, although there were some elements I liked.

Rossi's little crack about BDSM and high school, plus Kate's reaction, was cool. And I laughed when he said "balls." Sometimes fan fiction does snarky!Rossi better than the writers, so I was pleased to have him more of what I consider to be "in character."

Forgive my naïveté but I still don't get "breath play." If it was sort of about autoerotic asphyxiation, I didn't really see the correlation.

Wayyyy too much UnSub. I think they could've kept his identity a mystery for awhile and maybe introduced another character to lead us in another direction before revealing who it was -- this could've been done in the same amount of time and been more interesting.

The daughter was good. Kinda icky how she walked in on her dad. And I didn't understand why he suddenly targeted the babysitter. And if childbirth was his trigger, I wish somehow the victims had been newer mothers or something.

I wish Reid had commented more about the book -- maybe blushing, or a comment that made it seem as though he understands the sex aspect more than everyone seems to think he does. Funny how he mentioned "hard limits." Heh. I had to google to confirm what it meant although I was pretty sure I had an idea.

And where the heck was he during the profile? His absence was ridiculous. I don't believe he's doing so much pre-production that he simply wasn't available.

I echo all the various comments I've read about pregnant Kate in the takedown. And of course, there's JJ front and center, bursting into the UnSub's house...

I liked the Morgan Tackle.

I can't bring myself to care one whit about Meg. And I still don't understand why her belly-button piercing was somehow a reaction to Kate's pregnancy. Still don't need to see Savannah, btw. I was aggravated that we had to get Meg in the closing scene instead of a plane scene (in which I'm sure Reid would've been asleep, but still). Just... argh.

...and that's all I have for now.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Droogie

[SparkleStick]

(Quick note - I'm a CM fan from the beginning who had to stop watching a few seasons in just because, at the time for me, the show became a little dark.  :)  I picked it back up this season and have been re-watching old episodes on Netflix, too.  I've really enjoyed reading this board because I was pretty taken aback at some of the changes and am glad to know so many others have some of the same issues.) 

 

I wish they'd been able to make this episode without relying so much on the 50 Shades knock-off - I think the basic plot was interesting but UGH on all the "Bare Reflections" (Carson Bare...really?).  I didn't know if they'd go there with the daughter catching the father in the act, but I like that they did.  I mean, I didn't *like* it, but it was good story telling.  If you're going to go for it, go for it.

 

Not interested in Kate and her family drama although the show clearly wants me to be.  I love the original characters, of course, but I'm open to new ones - just don't find Kate compelling.  She's fine as a profiler and a member of the team, but I don't need to see behind her closed doors.

 

I'm still getting used to JJ moving to profiler and Garcia taking on some of her role - is she a media liasion, too, or has that kind of just gone away?  I really loved JJ in her previous position and miss her presenting the case, talking to the families, and handling the media.  She always seemed like a really human contact point in the story and I think this show needs that.  I loved when she'd recognize that a victim or family member needed a moment and she'd get it for them.  Plus, does being a profiler mean she can only wear black and white now?!  Seriously, it's kind of startling to see the old shows and she's in bright colors (which always looked nice on her...I think AJ Cook is pretty, but now she's always in dark colors, darker hair, etc., and I don't think that's as flattering).

 

My biggest beef is with Garcia taking on JJ's old role, though.  I actually love her character when she's the kooky tech in the computer lair.  She's good at that.  Her personality and speech just seem way too upbeat and glib for some of the things she's doing now.  When she was presenting the case to the team, she did a funny little bit about Wisconsin and cheese and whatnot and then it was like, and, oh, yeah, there are these three women who were brutally murdered.  Who wants some Cheddar?  When the team was calling her it was like she had to say something clever and "hilarious" EVERY time before she gave them her information, and there was a LOT of that.  When JJ presented the cases in the past, she was more reserved and it seemed more respectful.  Garcia just seems too light and airy - she works really well for me in small doses.

 

Having said all of that (probably too much...it's been a long time since I've been able to share opinions on CM!), I do still like the show and am looking forward to the rest of the season!

Edited March 12, 2015 by SparkleStick

[UncleChuck]

It occurred  to me that J.J. was way more than a little knowledgeable about how married women were most likely to cheat with a married man, and how that was the best way to avoid detection--as well as being VERY CAREFUL.   Wonder if she got all that out of a profiling class textbook?

 

[whitespace]

My biggest beef is with Garcia taking on JJ's old role, though.  I actually love her character when she's the kooky tech in the computer lair.  She's good at that.  Her personality and speech just seem way too upbeat and glib for some of the things she's doing now.  When she was presenting the case to the team, she did a funny little bit about Wisconsin and cheese and whatnot and then it was like, and, oh, yeah, there are these three women who were brutally murdered.  Who wants some Cheddar?  When the team was calling her it was like she had to say something clever and "hilarious" EVERY time before she gave them her information, and there was a LOT of that.  When JJ presented the cases in the past, she was more reserved and it seemed more respectful.  Garcia just seems too light and airy - she works really well for me in small doses.

I am absolutley not a fan of the decision in making Garcia the case presenter (don't know if I said it here or on IMDb ... but she used to be FREAKED OUT about all the cruel photos of the crime scene).

And for me she becomes more and more the annoying aunt.

[Russet29]

I am absolutley not a fan of the decision in making Garcia the case presenter (don't know if I said it here or on IMDb ... but she used to be FREAKED OUT about all the cruel photos of the crime scene).

And for me she becomes more and more the annoying aunt.

I actually think I have a bigger issue with Garcia presenting the case than I do with JJ becoming a profiler. At least with JJ's progression they gave an explanation (granted it was a train wreck and came two seasons too late). Garcia has grown more immature with each season. I also still don't understand who picks the case now that JJ doesn't. I mean there's no way Garcia has the qualifications or know how so I'm assuming it's Hotch. I guess he picks the case and debriefs Garcia on it so she can present it to the team? That seems incredibly convoluted.

 

On the issue of Kate taking part in the take down I was also pretty annoyed at first. I found a way to rationalize it but it's dependent on the writers making a few decisions. Here goes: if they decide to write in AJ's pregnancy it would make sense for JJ to immediately take herself out of the field due to her prior miscarriage. I can understand if the writers don't want to do the exact same thing with Kate and personally I don't want them to either. She's probably not thinking of the worst case scenario (though I would think Hotch would be). As I'm writing this explanation I'm realizing that there's no way the writers are giving it this much thought. What it probably came down to was that it was a Kate-centric episode so she had to be part of the arrest.

 

On a somewhat related note, I can't help but think that writing in AJ's pregnancy would be a great opportunity for JJ to return to her former position as the liaison but I'm obviously not getting my hopes up.

[Calamity Jane]

Why am I still watching this show?  It's a mystery I can't solve, for sure. 

[zannej]

Thanks to the people who answered my questions. I had missed the 3rd child in the scene. I actually didn't have too much of a problem with the mother being completely out of it because she was overworked and exhausted. I've seen worse mothers who don't even have the burden of working a tough job. It was kinda sad to see that the father really seemed to care about his family and seemed like a pretty good dad, but he secretly had fantasies of BDSM because of the "love map" imprint from witnessing the murder as a child. 

 

As for the breath play thing, some people get off on having the control to stop someone from breathing and the voyeurs get a kick from watching it vicariously. Apparently some people get off on being strangled because it is the ultimate vulnerability and there is supposedly a rush from not being able to breathe and then being able to breathe again. Totally not my bag at all.

 

I wish that they'd had Meg as less whiny and not coming off like a rotten brat. I was ok with Kate not getting too involved in asking her what was going on because 1) Kate doesn't know what to say for certain and 2) She didn't have the time. I like to think she talked to her about it later.

 

I can sort of buy that Garcia might have found some of the info on the people who had the books-- but if some had borrowed the book, it might not have been traced. Online stores like amazon keep tabs on things their customers buy -- although I don't know if Garcia would have been able to access that kind of data. At this point I'm starting to get accustomed to Garcia's magical computer, but I don't have to like it.

 

I actually sort of liked the bit where Garcia said something to Rossi as if she were speaking to Morgan and then realized that it wasn't appropriate and backtracked a little. LOL.

 

I think I figured out one of the things that bugged me in this episode: In older episodes whenever they had a case with a controversial topic, we would get some discussion where the team indicated their thoughts on the matter-- either they supported it or were against it or were undecided. It would have been nice if someone other than Rossi had given their personal thoughts on BDSM-- but I think that the writer was trying very hard to be supportive and not show the team as being judgmental; but at the same time, I don't know how realistic it is. I could have seen a team member saying it was ok for other people, but that they wouldn't want to do it themselves. They could have done that and still been respectful toward the lifestyle.

 

I saw someone mentioning that the main character in Shades of Grey "perverted" the lifestyle. Can someone who has read it or knows more about it explain to me? Did the guy end up violating the rules (like not accepting the limits or something)?

 

Someone wrote a review of it and said that every time the main female said "Oh my" they thought of George Takei and then they started to hear his voice and then they started to picture the woman as George Takei and then they pictured the male character as William Shatner and they were unable to finish reading the book.

[normasm]

Overall, I liked it, but had some problems I had to watch it again to see.

 

The Good:

I liked Kate in this, both the way she was written and played by JLH. Her joking manner with Rossi and Morgan was nice, even her trying to parent the sulky teen was nicely handled (I liked the note on the dry erase board at the end where Meg has written GO AWAY!! and Kate writes NO!). It was plausible that she would be at the take down at this supposedly early stage of her pregnancy, so, not out of line, although I hope that in the next few episodes they pull her to a less physical role.

 

I liked seeing Savannah totally separate from Morgan. She was smart and sympathetic (and gosh she's pretty!)

 

The Bad:

No profiling to really explain what caused this unsub to unsub. 

Too much unsub.

The slight smacking of blaming the woman I get from some of the male writers who seem to blame the wife for the unsub unsubbing. (I'm looking at you, BZ)

The awful Meg storyline. What a whiny little bitch.

The disappearance of Reid in the middle (although this may have been filmed when Matthew was sick and doing his promotional screenings of Suburban Gothic, so maybe they covered for him a little).

The rape scene, long and gratuitous.

Garcia…. Garcia…. what more can I say?

 

The Weird:

Spencer reaching out and firmly touching Kate's belly (!) as he said congratulations…. where the heck did that come from in the Spencersphere?!

[Danielg342]

I saw someone mentioning that the main character in Shades of Grey "perverted" the lifestyle. Can someone who has read it or knows more about it explain to me? Did the guy end up violating the rules (like not accepting the limits or something)?

I mentioned that Fifty Shades of Grey has been accused of perverting BDSM culture.

Now, I'm going to preface this by saying I haven't actually read the book but I have read quite a few reviews about it, so that's where I draw my understandings from. Make that of what you will.

Anyhow, Fifty is about the relationship between Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey. Grey seeks out someone to be the submissive to his dominant persona, and Steele, attracted to him, decides to take part. However, according to reviews- including several scholarly reviews- Steele seems at times to be a reluctant participant, telling Grey at certain points there are activities she doesn't want to do, but Grey does it anyway.

For example, there apparently is a scene in the book where Steele tells Grey she doesn't wish to have sex because she's on the period- Grey decides that he doesn't care and wants sex anyway, so he rips out the tampon from her body and has sex with her right there (yes I know...squicky...). I think Steele winds up enjoying the sex anyway but it doesn't absolve Grey, who ignored what she wanted in the first place.

There are also other parts of the novel where Grey tells her what to eat and who can be her friend, with Grey at times yelling at her for communicating with people he didn't approve of. There are also extensive passages where Steele says that she is afraid of Grey and wishes he would leave her alone, but Grey ignores all this. While the only violence, I understand, in the book deals with Grey's BDSM sessions- which Steele willingly (though not always enthusiastically) participates in- looking at the Grey/Steele relationship, it's pretty clear that it's not a healthy one.

Allow me to state that I do understand that there are people engaged in BDSM who allow themselves to fall into “dominant” and “submissive” roles- a couple in Britain once gained notoriety when the woman agreed to be “walked” like a dog, chain and all, by her boyfriend. However, even within *that* context, there is still a mutual understanding of basic love and respect- the controlled trusts that the controller will not “go too far” while the controller will only order the controlled around under a strict set of guidelines and only if the controlled is enjoying the encounter- otherwise, the controlled would say a safeword or something and the controller would have to back off, otherwise, the act is not consensual.

This is, ultimately, where Grey fails. Yes, he obviously is controlling Steele, but he is not doing it with mutual respect or trust- he orders Steele along and expects her to obey, whether she actually wants to do what he wants or not, and that's just not how a BDSM relationship works. If Grey were, say, to tell Steele that “from the hours of 09:00 to 21:00 I can have sex with you whenever I want, regardless of your menstrual state” and Steele agrees to that, it would be one thing, because at least Steele is allowing that to happen. It's another thing entirely for Steele to repeatedly tell Grey she isn't interested in sex and Grey not only ignores her but forces his way into her...and we all know what that is called.

There is, apparently, a contract in the book, but as I understand Steele never signs it- and, in fact, she runs away from Grey and breaks up with him. This was apparently supposed to be her “triumph” over him and apparently is supposed to make Grey appear to be the antagonist, but reviews of the writing imply that Grey is supposed to be alluring, not revolting- when the opposite appears to be true.

I haven't read the book so I can't say for sure this is what's happening, but the flack the book gets was the inspiration for the episode, and that's what I have explained in a (rather large) nutshell.

[ForeverAlone]

I have read all three books, and your assessment is pretty accurate. These are books that take the trappings of BDSM but twists them away from what BDSM is supposed to be. Christian is ridiculously controlling and only gets worse in the later books. Of course Anastasia is annoying as all get out, but that is another discussion. And the writer really doesn't seem to have a positive view of BDSM, because she basically paints Christian as a guy into BDSM, just because he is working out his warped views of women. He calls his birth mother a "crack whore" (she was a prostitute). All his lovers who he loves to dominate and mistreat (including Anastasia) are dead ringers for his birth mother he has nothing but contempt for. Basically the writer portrays Christian as damaged and his love of BDSM as a symptom of his damage, and he is magically healed through Anastasia's love and patience. It doesn't do a good job of exploring healthy and legitimate reasons people could be into BDSM and engage in activities that are safe, sane and consensual. Frankly, it would have interesting if this episode had doubled down on 50 Shades of Grey and the unsub be JUST like Christian Grey (like those multitude of memes that came out just when the movie did).

Edited March 13, 2015 by ForeverAlone

[SSAHotchner]

I am absolutley not a fan of the decision in making Garcia the case presenter (don't know if I said it here or on IMDb ... but she used to be FREAKED OUT about all the cruel photos of the crime scene).

And for me she becomes more and more the annoying aunt.

What annoys me most is the inconsistency of her character. She's still over the top freaked out over photos, etc. at times and other times goofy like Sparkle mentioned above. In the early seasons, although she didn't like the gory aspect of the cases, she was much more professional. She didn't shriek or talk about needing to look at kittens when she saw crime scene photos or videos. She and Reid watched torture videos in Natural Born Killer (season 1) and she watched the torture videos in The Big Game and Revelation in season 2. They have made her a caricature of her original self and I hate that. They also have gone over the top with the sex talk with Morgan to the point where it's just gross and annoying. A little comment here and there was funny. Now it's just in your face. And I really hate her self-aggrandizing. 

[Danielg342]

Frankly, it would have interesting if this episode had doubled down on 50 Shades of Grey and the unsub be JUST like Christian Grey (like those multitude of memes that came out just when the movie did).

I totally agree (loved those memes). I always had this thought we could have this fun story about a battered wife looking to get back at her ex-husband for what he did but can't- and the team finds it difficult to do- because he's some wealthy philathropist that everyone else wants to protect. We could have even make this guy a magnet for women who don't understand who he really is.

As much as I hate the books, exploring what makes Christian Grey tick would be fascinating...and would be the perfect episode for CM to explore.

[zannej]

On the BDSM culture thing, I read a blog from a woman who was a submissive partner in a "relationship" and her dominant male partner was abusive. Not just controlling, but he physically hurt her whenever he wanted and there was no safe word. She was lamenting how people from the BDSM community were telling her that this was NOT normal and NOT ok. She expressed her conflict because she felt she loved the guy, but he was causing her pain and anguish and she felt like it was ok and that it wasn't their place to say that her relationship wasn't "normal" or "ok". She had several people telling her that there are rules and the guy was not adhering to the rules and not respecting her. Apparently when he wasn't being an abusive jerk, the guy was very romantic and loving with her to make up for it. I felt sorry for her because I think she had low self esteem and was in a bad situation but didn't want to accept that she was in a bad situation.

 

Meanwhile, did anyone else notice the look on JJ's face when she gave a half-hearted hug to Kate? She put her hands on Kate's shoulders and it wasn't a full hug. Kate put her arm all the way around and her hand landed in the middle of JJ's back and she truly looked happy. But JJ looked like she was almost in pain having to hug her. It was very awkward. She was the only one of the group who didn't look happy. She had a very forced smile and it did not reach her eyes. I wonder what that was about. I can't figure out if JJ was supposed to be feeling that way or if it was AJ's actual reaction. I get the impression that she's not all that bonded with JLH.

[normasm]

I think the distinction here with the BDSM community looking down their noses at abusive relationships is that they are implying that people like your blog woman are the victims of malignant narcissists masquerading as loving consensual BDSM partners. They may be right and the "community" really has strict rules and boundaries, I really don't know. It just seems like a gateway drug for sadistic people to bloom into full-fledged unsubs, to me. It would have been more interesting and perhaps more realistic if this unsub had harbored this impulse that got out of whack, but then they showed him being a loving father, and malignant narcissists just can't go there. And, his victim would have been his wife, at least the first one. Badly profiled IMO.

[Droogie]

Meanwhile, did anyone else notice the look on JJ's face when she gave a half-hearted hug to Kate? She put her hands on Kate's shoulders and it wasn't a full hug. Kate put her arm all the way around and her hand landed in the middle of JJ's back and she truly looked happy. But JJ looked like she was almost in pain having to hug her. It was very awkward. She was the only one of the group who didn't look happy. She had a very forced smile and it did not reach her eyes. I wonder what that was about. I can't figure out if JJ was supposed to be feeling that way or if it was AJ's actual reaction. I get the impression that she's not all that bonded with JLH.

Could it be a (poorly-written and poorly-acted) emotional response in light of her miscarriage? I had a very early miscarriage between my two children and, while I was basically OK, for a short while (until I became pregnant again) I sort of took pregnancy announcements from others a little personally, if that makes sense. I'll bet when they announce JJ's pregnancy, we will have more of the miscarriage storyline.

[ForeverAlone]

There is absolutely a difference between a healthy, consensual BDSM relationship and an abusive relationship. Yes, that woman above was absolutely in an abusive relationship and not in a BDSM relationship as it is supposed to be practiced. But assholes of all varieties will use whatever they can to subjugate their victims and justify their behavior. And like with anything, BDSM is a spectrum of behaviors and not all dominants want to inflict pain on their partners, and not all submissives want to experience pain. Sure some do, but there is a wide variety of things one can do to be in a BDSM relationship that is not abusive in any way.

Edited March 13, 2015 by ForeverAlone

[ForeverAlone]

You know upon rewatching, I have to wonder why there was zero talk of the unsub targeting victims across racial lines. As we know, it is not that common for sexually motivated homicides to cross racial lines, and that should have inspired some discussion among the team.

It also was even more obvious how unnecessary all the unsub scenes really were. The only thing they even showed that we did not know through the actual profiling was seeing that he was an involved father. But even that was not essential for the story. The episode could have remained team and victim focused and we would still have known everything we needed to.

I also am glad for a return of snarky Rossi. I prefer Rossi when he first came to the team, because he was snarky and had an edge to him. I like that more than cuddly uncle Rossi.

And part of this is because I am a huge Reid fan and think he is woefully underserved for the most part, but it would have been an interesting contrast to see hellraising sexual Rossi paired with sweet, virginal Reid for the entire case. I particularly liked Reid in Pleasure is My Business, and it would have been interesting to see any difference or character growth when it comes to sexuality.

And JJ busting down a door pissed me off even more the second time, because it was so ridiculously unnecessary. They probably didn't bother with a warrant, as frankly they had no probable cause, because all they had was a profile and no solid evidence to link him to the crimes. That is practically grounds for a lawsuit. This sort of flagrant disregard for the law would not have happened in earlier seasons.

Edited March 14, 2015 by ForeverAlone

[missmycat]

Could it be a (poorly-written and poorly-acted) emotional response in light of her miscarriage? I had a very early miscarriage between my two children and, while I was basically OK, for a short while (until I became pregnant again) I sort of took pregnancy announcements from others a little personally, if that makes sense. I'll bet when they announce JJ's pregnancy, we will have more of the miscarriage storyline.

The problem with that is JJ didn't seem to have any sort of negative reaction as she stood there watching Reid delivering a baby. In fact she was looking at the baby and practically beaming. There wasn't even so much of a hint of this miscarriage she endured. Of course now that isn't necessarily going to stop EM & CO from deciding that they want JJ's response to Kate's pregnancy to be based in part on having suffered a miscarriage. But then again who cares about the blatant inconsistency if that was indeed the plan. EM & CO sure as hell don't.   

[zannej]

My gut feeling is that JJ's reaction to Kate's news was not scripted and I think it was all AJ- and I don't think it had anything to do with JJ's miscarriage. But that is my personal speculation.

 

I agree with ForeverAlone about the BDSM culture. I watched a video where they talked about the different facets of BDSM and that consent and trust was absolutely key. They said one of the primary things to do was to sit down and discuss exactly what was planned, what was ok, what was not ok, what the expectations were, etc.

 

I think a person who doesn't respect their partner's boundaries can happen in any relationship, but in BDSM the submissive partner can be particularly vulnerable. But then, its been proven time and again that abusive/sadistic people seek out positions of power/authority and try to get themselves access to victims and put themselves in control. That is why some sexual predators become counselors, teachers, priests, etc... Because people are supposed to trust them and do what they say and society is (or at least was for a long time) reluctant to believe the victims.

 

I didn't even notice JJ kicking down the door. Honestly, Hotch should be doing it when Morgan isn't around because he has more weight behind him.

 

I noticed that there were different looks and races of the victims and I was surprised that nobody on the team mentioned it. The profiling in this one really was not that good.

[Droogie]

The problem with that is JJ didn't seem to have any sort of negative reaction as she stood there watching Reid delivering a baby. In fact she was looking at the baby and practically beaming. There wasn't even so much of a hint of this miscarriage she endured. Of course now that isn't necessarily going to stop EM & CO from deciding that they want JJ's response to Kate's pregnancy to be based in part on having suffered a miscarriage. But then again who cares about the blatant inconsistency if that was indeed the plan. EM & CO sure as hell don't.

Oh, I completely agree, if the writers hadn't gone off the rails with "Forever People," when suddenly the miscarriage was a thing. Just grasping at straws here...

[Danielg342]

I don't know how many of you know who Jian Ghomeshi is, but for those of you who don't, he's essentially Canada's version of Rush Limbaugh...if Rush was a hipster and a staunch liberal instead of someone who's as conservative as they get.

Anyway, Ghomeshi used to have a radio show until he was fired on October 27, 2014, with the reason being that his employer, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, was troubled by rumours that he was abusive towards women, both at work and outside of work. Rumours of his behaviour had dogged him in the past but they never gained any weight until the CBC fired him, and since his firing more allegations of abuse came out leading to him getting charged for sexual assault and battery.

Ghomeshi's retort- aside from a simple denial- is that he likes "rough sex" and that whatever pain he inflicted on the women he dated was consensual. If you live in Canada like I do, there's a debate about which side is right, with some believing Ghomeshi actually committed abuse while others believe him and believe his "lifestyle" is misunderstood. Personally, I choose to decide once his trial is finished (it officially starts in a week's time, I believe) before I have my own opinion.

Now, given all that, I think in this episode we could have had a wonderful story of what a real, consensual BDSM relationship is like compared to someone using it as a cover to abuse other people. Perhaps it's too "simple" of a story but with the Ghomeshi scandal and Christian Grey's mere presence, I think it's more of a "real" story than the episode we did get (which was inconsistent- the first three victims seemed to consent while the last one was ambused).

[needschocolate]

My prediction, in season 25 of CM, there will be a case of men being killed during sex and through the magic of Garcia's computer, they will discover it was a 20-something year old woman who had witnessed her father trying to strangle her nanny to death during sex.  

 

Why kill the women if they were willing to do the breath play thing with him?  Wouldn't it be a lot of trouble to keep finding new women?  I suppose this is because he gets off on the killing - then why doesn't he still need to kill when he is having sex with his wife?  It doesn't seem very plausible to me - "If I can't have non-fatal sex with my wife, then I have to strangle women to death during sex, there is no in between."  The wife should have been wearing turtlenecks and long sleeves to hide the callouses from the bondage.  

 

Motive illogical and Garcia's computer aside, I think the most ridiculous thing about this episode was the first victim weighing herself after she got out of the shower, she wouldn't weigh herself dripping wet, she would weigh herself before she got in.  

 

 I have no patience for Meg. Calling Kate's house a gulag was a bit OTT, but whatever.  I guess this is all a set-up for her season ending abduction, but I just can't get invested in the storyline.

 

She knows what a gulag is but doesn't doesn't have a clue that the guy sending her photos on facebook may not actually be the guy in the photos?

[Danielg342]

Why kill the women if they were willing to do the breath play thing with him? Wouldn't it be a lot of trouble to keep finding new women? I suppose this is because he gets off on the killing - then why doesn't he still need to kill when he is having sex with his wife? It doesn't seem very plausible to me - "If I can't have non-fatal sex with my wife, then I have to strangle women to death during sex, there is no in between." The wife should have been wearing turtlenecks and long sleeves to hide the callouses from the bondage.

It's why I was hoping that he'd at least be disappointed he was killing the women- it would sound more plausible to me that the killings were a mistake, since the women seemed to want him to be there and the crimes seem to be about sex, not murder.

The killer was way too inconsistent to be believable.

[RollTheHardSix]

So this was a combo of two Jaime Dornan projects - The Fall and 50 Shades.  Interesting.

I thought of The Fall, too, in the very first scenes! I didn't even realize the 50 Shades thing (because I haven't read or watched it since my interest in the book/movie could not be any lower...)

Too bad for CM that The Fall is actually good.

 

I liked that we finally had an ordinary serial killer without a super elaborate setup or completely strange M.O. Too bad that the whole story was a ripoff (see above), but better a mediocre copy than a bad original.

Something bothered me about the episode, but I'm not exactly sure what it was - something beyond the usual (plotholes, why the unsub suddenly goes after the nanny...). I think it was the unsub's daughter. Nevermind the violence (that's par for the course on CM) but I thought that the episode was veering towards the exploitative and voyeuristc at times - they were really dragging out the girl's emotional pain. Also there was a bit too much focus on how much the unsub was getting off on choking the nanny.

The episode was somewhat uneven.

[JMO]

Finally got to see this one. Of course, curiosity had me reading everyone's comments beforehand, so I was pleasantly surprised to like it a bit more than I'd thought I would. My own thoughts:

Failed the 'Reid-meter', so that was a major ding. I've read that he was ill, so maybe he lost a few lines or scenes to that.

I didn't think the plot was as lame as I expected, given the '50 Shades' tie-in. If I gathered correctly, the unsub was someone who was already perpetrating, but then discovered what he thought was a much wider subject pool because of the book. But I couldn't quite figure out (and didn't find it interesting enough to go back and try again) if he was sort of courting readers of the book, thinking they would be open to his 'breath play', and then things went too far, over and over again-----or if he was just stalking them.

Loved Rossi's "high school" and Kate's reaction.

Thought the introduction of Kate's pregnancy was good, although if Morgan needed to see the 'glow' to know she was pregnant, I think he might need glasses. And Garcia might need new ones. As to Reid's patting her baby bump (which was, apparently, obvious to him in a way that it wasn't to the others)----no. My guess is that they were trying to avoid MGG hugging JLH because he was ill-----thereby totally forgetting that neither the hug nor the pat would be in character for Reid.

Given JJ's very recent show of PTSD, and her acknowledging the miscarriage at the root of it, I would have liked just an instant of camera time spent on a JJ facial expression that showed regret, a fleeting sadness----something. Then, she could have 'covered' with her comment about the headphones. Where, apparently, she forgot that it was Beethoven (not the Beatles and BeeGees----I know, so confusing, they all start with 'B') that she had coming through those headphones, when Reid suggested Mozart.

Meg. So, 13 (she'd better be closing in on 14 if she was about a year when her parents died) is definitely DQ time, so there's that. But the source of her drama doesn't make sense without some significant, currently missing, backstory. So, in my mind, I've created this: Kate and Chris adopted her as an infant, and never told her she was adopted. She called them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Some time in the past year, they broke the news, or she discovered it somehow. There was a blow-up, and they became 'Kate' and 'Chris' to her. And, now that she knows they're not her biological parents, she's put out because she's interpreting the pregnancy as meaning they want 'one of their own'. Otherwise, I can't make any sense of this kind of sibling rivalry at 13.

Both Meg and the teenage daughter of the unsub need to get into therapy, fast.

I do like Kate's personality. She doesn't take herself too seriously, yet comes across as a responsible parent. I like her apparent partnership with Chris in both the marriage and the parenting. Even with him off screen, there's more chemistry than with a certain other pairing we've seen on screen multiple times.

Finally, I liked Savannah, and her incorporation into something that wasn't a 'Morgan-centric' episode. That's the kind of integration of a recurring character, and a relationship, that makes sense to me. To me, it makes the relationship seem more real, and more stable, because it's not the subject of drama every time we see it.

Edited March 16, 2015 by JustMyOpinion

[normasm]

Glad you're back and commenting JMO. I agreed with all you said, especially the Reid and Kate parts. And Savannah.

[zannej]

I actually don't think that a hug would have been out-of-character for Reid. He hugged JJ when he found out she was pregnant. Granted, he'd known her for longer than he's known Kate... But he patted and rubbed Elle's knee when he hadn't known her all that long. I think its about how well they bonded and how close they feel to one another. Reid might have really taken to Kate quickly.

 

I had not heard that Matthew was ill for this one-- but I thought that was the excuse for the lack of screentime in the last one Hanelle directed.

[90PercentGravity]

It bugged me that they made a point of showing that the guy took his pants down, including at least two shots of his legs with his pants around his knees, and then when his daughter came in he jumped up and chased her and his pants were fully on. Nitpicky, I know, but it was the fact that they were so explicit about his pants being down.

[SSAHotchner]

Finally got to see this one. Of course, curiosity had me reading everyone's comments beforehand, so I was pleasantly surprised to like it a bit more than I'd thought I would. My own thoughts:

Failed the 'Reid-meter', so that was a major ding. I've read that he was ill, so maybe he lost a few lines or scenes to that.

I didn't think the plot was as lame as I expected, given the '50 Shades' tie-in. If I gathered correctly, the unsub was someone who was already perpetrating, but then discovered what he thought was a much wider subject pool because of the book. But I couldn't quite figure out (and didn't find it interesting enough to go back and try again) if he was sort of courting readers of the book, thinking they would be open to his 'breath play', and then things went too far, over and over again-----or if he was just stalking them.

Loved Rossi's "high school" and Kate's reaction.

Thought the introduction of Kate's pregnancy was good, although if Morgan needed to see the 'glow' to know she was pregnant, I think he might need glasses. And Garcia might need new ones. As to Reid's patting her baby bump (which was, apparently, obvious to him in a way that it wasn't to the others)----no. My guess is that they were trying to avoid MGG hugging JLH because he was ill-----thereby totally forgetting that neither the hug nor the pat would be in character for Reid.

Given JJ's very recent show of PTSD, and her acknowledging the miscarriage at the root of it, I would have liked just an instant of camera time spent on a JJ facial expression that showed regret, a fleeting sadness----something. Then, she could have 'covered' with her comment about the headphones. Where, apparently, she forgot that it was Beethoven (not the Beatles and BeeGees----I know, so confusing, they all start with 'B') that she had coming through those headphones, when Reid suggested Mozart.

Meg. So, 13 (she'd better be closing in on 14 if she was about a year when her parents died) is definitely DQ time, so there's that. But the source of her drama doesn't make sense without some significant, currently missing, backstory. So, in my mind, I've created this: Kate and Chris adopted her as an infant, and never told her she was adopted. She called them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Some time in the past year, they broke the news, or she discovered it somehow. There was a blow-up, and they became 'Kate' and 'Chris' to her. And, now that she knows they're not her biological parents, she's put out because she's interpreting the pregnancy as meaning they want 'one of their own'. Otherwise, I can't make any sense of this kind of sibling rivalry at 13.

Both Meg and the teenage daughter of the unsub need to get into therapy, fast.

I do like Kate's personality. She doesn't take herself too seriously, yet comes across as a responsible parent. I like her apparent partnership with Chris in both the marriage and the parenting. Even with him off screen, there's more chemistry than with a certain other pairing we've seen on screen multiple times.

Finally, I liked Savannah, and her incorporation into something that wasn't a 'Morgan-centric' episode. That's the kind of integration of a recurring character, and a relationship, that makes sense to me. To me, it makes the relationship seem more real, and more stable, because it's not the subject of drama every time we see it.

JMO, Meg is Kate's niece. They mentioned in the first episode this season that her parents were killed in the attacks on 9/11.

[JMO]

 

JMO, Meg is Kate's niece. They mentioned in the first episode this season that her parents were killed in the attacks on 9/11.

 

Yes, I understand.  I just think it's strange that Kate and Chris adopted Meg as an infant, yet she doesn't call them Mom and Dad.  Same with the 'sibling rivalry' of a teenager.  My work is with children and families.  While neither of these situations is totally unheard of, they are both exceedingly rare.  So I just created my own little backstory, to try to make sense of it.

 

First time in forever that I'm home on a Wednesday night.  Now I just have to find a way to stay awake for two more hours....

Edited March 26, 2015 by JustMyOpinion