S10.E21: Mr. Scratch

[thewhiteowl]

 

When three people implicated in murders claim they were attacked by a “clawed shadow monster” at the moment each crime occurred, the BAU searches for an UnSub who is controlling their minds. Also, the search for the culprit puts one of the team in jeopardy.

 

[spinner33]

Having seen the promo, and knowing who is in jeopardy, am I the only one who is hoping for some satire here?  Maybe some tongue-in-cheek poking fun at all the "one of their own is in jeopardy" schtick that gets done to death?  Please don't let it be the Golden Gopher who runs to the rescue, OMG.  If JJ rescues

Hotch

, I'm going to puke lime-green toads. 

Edited April 21, 2015 by spinner33

[zannej]

Sneak Peek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VjUwrNfQmg

 

Kate's line really cracked me up-- especially the delivery.

[missmycat]

Sneak Peek

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VjUwrNfQmg

 

Kate's line really cracked me up-- especially the delivery.

Totally bummed that the one person(Reid)whose answer I would have been most interested in wasn't asked it. I did like that we got some good Hotch. I just love it when Hotch gets to be the boss of the team and be in charge. As it should be.

[ForeverAlone]

Here is an interview Matthew did for Mr. Scratch.

http://tvline.com/2015/04/21/criminal-minds-matthew-gray-gubler-interview/

[ForeverAlone]

Here is another interview Matthew did for Mr. Scratch.

http://www.tvfanatic.com/2015/04/matthew-gray-gubler-teases-criminal-minds-directorial-debut-oh-t/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[ForeverAlone]

More Mr. Scratch hints.

http://www.tvguide.com/news/exclusive-criminal-minds-sneak-peek-mr-scratch-matthew-gray-gubler/

[Danielg342]

Wow, we're really “Mr. Scratch”-ing the surface, aren't we?

*har har har*

[Bookish Jen]

Thanks for sharing the articles. I totally agree with Matthew on what is implied is often scarier than what is blatantly in our faces.

 

In other words, often what you conceal is much more effective than what you reveal.

[zannej]

Matthew really seems to put a lot of deep thought into the things he directs and he cares about the story being good and resonating. When he talks about the directing he seems more mature than Erica does in her interviews. Her perception of how the fans reacts seems to be from reading teenyboppers on Facebook rather than most of the adult fans... (Sorry, still pissed off from reading some of that crap from her in interviews).

 

MMC, I think if Hotch had asked Reid about his fears as a child it would have been a very long list along with some statistics about what children usually fear. :P

I wonder if later in the episode they will have Rossi ask Hotch what he feared as a child. 

 

Thanks for the links, ForeverAlone.

[Saje]

Reid's Fears:

 

Washing machines

duct tape

the beach

germy hands

abandonment

matching socks

being misunderstood

chopsticks

not getting there in time

developing schizophrenia

new tech that doesn't serve any purpose of his

the inherent absence of light

 

That's all I got. Anyone else?

[spinner33]

Creamed spinach

[Racbec]

That was...wow. Holy shit. MGG did a great job. And so did TG. Need to process what I just saw.

[normasm]

That was way, way, uh, way.... I just don't know, but woah

[normasm]

I will say MGG was right, it did shock me, even though I was prepared for what happened, it was bam-bam, relentless. The start of the hallucination was extremely disturbing.

Wow.

[Keekski]

That was one of the best episodes ever. 

[SSAHotchner]

Wow, for once I was not disappointed. Great job, MGG. This one really did hold your interest and it seemed to just fly by. Well done. I wish I knew where they were heading with this. Did anyone else wonder if MGG was the voice of the monster? 

[Russet29]

Very impressed with this episode. Credit to Breen, I thought the script was great.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

"This is what happened." Jesus, poor Hotch. More later once I'm done wrapping my head around this one.

[BooksRule]

I recorded this to watch tomorrow, but decided to go ahead and watch.  Why didn't I wait to watch it in a nice bright sunlit room? This was an excellent episode.  The vision of the 'shadow monster' with the growl and claws,  eek!  (The drawings were creepy, too). And we didn't get to see the unsub until most of the way through the episode, which is another bonus. 

 

I agree, poor Hotch.  He has to relive how he killed them (in his mind). 

 

Question:  Why was this episode so much better than others?  I'm not familiar with most of the writers or directors.  Was this one written by someone who has penned good episodes before? 

[Saje]

Wow, for once I was not disappointed. Great job, MGG. This one really did hold your interest and it seemed to just fly by. Well done. I wish I knew where they were heading with this. Did anyone else wonder if MGG was the voice of the monster? 

 

I know he played the monster, in a strange suit and tin foil finger attachments. He said it in one of the many interviews. I'm not sure about the voice, though.

[zannej]

I will have to watch it again because I kept getting interrupted. Phone rang a few times and I had to make dinner for my mother.

 

I think the macaw sound worked, although, since I read the interview I kept picturing the bird and started laughing. I thought all of the victims did a good job of being totally traumatized. The first one had a weird thing going with his pupils looking totally dilated as if he were still drugged.

I loved that Garcia didn't freak out and back away from her computers in terror like she did in one episode. She was on top of it and trying to do some damage control. I also liked that she went and got printouts and that Reid got to look at things. I do wonder about the legitimacy of people with such a high math score being considered "dangerous" though. And I wonder how Reid scored on the math tests and if he was recruited by the government.

Hotch meeting with the one guy in the parking garage reminded me of X-Files (Mulder meeting Deep Throat and later X). I liked how the guy verbally said he couldn't do things and then wrote something down.

I actually thought JJ didn't seem cold and dismissive while interviewing the victims who killed their family members. She seemed more human. Her reaction to seeing Reid get shot was realistic. I also liked how Rossi sounded weak when telling Morgan to go. And Thomas knocked it out of the park with frightened and horrified Hotch.

I like how the unsub went in and out of focus and how they picked someone with a face that, in certain light, was rather creepy.

I also thought they got a very good child actor who had great line delivery. He seemed very natural and believable (instead of sounding like he was reading from a script), which is something even adult actors can't always pull off.

I really did enjoy this one, but I do have some nitpicks:
1. Why was the holding area so dark? There were a lot of scenes that were dark and they were a little too dark so it was hard to see.
2. Either its my TV or my hearing, but I had trouble hearing some of the dialog-- especially the whispers. I had trouble hearing Hotch talking to his NSA contact and I had trouble hearing some of the things the unsub was saying (but again, that could be either me or my tv or both- because I had trouble hearing a tv program the night before).
3. I was never fully clear on the unsub's motivations or what exactly happened. I get that as a child he'd been manipulated by a shrink to remember abuse that didn't happen? So, were all of the adult victims people who were made to remember things that didn't happen and then they told the police stuff that caused someone to get into trouble? I wasn't clear on that. And if they were victims, why did this guy want to lash out at them if he blamed the woman. Also, why did he target Hotch? Was Hotch actually adopted? Was he the victim of a shrink manipulating him to remember abuse that didn't happen? And what was the deal with the guy turning himself in instead of suicide by cop?

In terms of entertainment and keeping people's attention, this one scored. And maybe re-watches will answer some of my questions.

Oh, I also liked that in Hotch's hallucination, JJ entered the house first but when it came time for the actual entry, Morgan and JJ went around back while Rossi and Reid went in the front.

 

Saje: Why is "washing machines" on the list of Reid's fears? Did I miss something?

Edited April 23, 2015 by zannej

[Danielg342]

Well I can "Mr. Scratch" this one off my list. :-p

 

Okay, enough of the puns. I thought this one was...okay, I guess? The effects were cool...that monster, Mr. Scratch...he was pretty impressive. The score, the lighting (well, most of the lighting- this was still mostly in the dark), the setting and, of course, the acting (the wonderfully creepy Bodhi Elfman)...so Matthew Gray Gubler, A+.

 

Of course, part of this is helped by the fact its inspiration seems to be Sleepy Hollow- the design for Mr. Scratch was ripped right from SH 01.09, "Sanctuary", which had a similar tree-like creature. Also, the idea of a "demon" taking over people's bodies made the episode reminiscent of SH- in fact, this whole episode felt like a Sleepy episode. Which in this case I actually kind of dug, because it was "different".

 

Having said that...well, it seemed to go from "plausible" to "unbelievable" in a matter of minutes. I could buy the sage and the guy drugging people to make them into killers...CSI did the same thing two years ago, only this time it was better explored. I mean, the mechanics involved a level of sophistication that few are able to achieve, and it seems like an awful lot an amount of work just for revenge, but I've accepted weirder criminals on this show.

 

...but then the whole hacking thing, and turning off the power in the FBI and the NSA stuff...talk about being "over the top". Not only is it a suicide wish, but that's a whole different level of sophistication...I mean, I'm not even sure George Foyet was that good. I guess I could buy that he's got Reid-like intelligence, but introducing that made me feel like he was beginning to get a little superhuman. It's way too much for a single episode...makes me wonder if a criminal is supposed to be "this" good, why not expand him and use him over a few episodes? Foyet was unbelievable at times but at least, seeing him through a few episodes, he was at least human. This guy...he's something else.

 

I'll give credit where credit is due, and the scene with Hotch at the end was all kinds of lovingly confusing and terrifying, and leaves me wondering- in the right kind of way- just what exactly did happen at that house (of course, I could gripe that when Hotch dreamed of his team being gunned down, only the males seem to be shot, but I'll digress- the bigger gripe is that I knew all along that it was a dream). Hotch himself was wonderfully maniacal here- I didn't see that coming from Thomas Gibson.

 

Still, centrally, though, there are two main gripes. One, the situation at the house would not have happened had Hotch not held "The Idiot Ball" and went inside, alone, without backup. That's just asking for trouble. Secondly, I doubt we'll get much fallout from something like this- chances are, next week, all the effects will be gone and nothing more will be made of it. I hope I'm wrong, because something like this should help "grow" Hotch as a character, but considering how many other times the show has dropped the ball in cases like this, I won't get my hopes up.

 

Overall...not bad.

[normasm]

Yeah, Daniel, I need to re watch as I missed a few things first time around, I too wondered why Hotch went in alone. His eyes at the end! His acting with Breen's writing, and especially Matthew's directing, made it a superb ride from start to finish. The "hour" went by very quickly.

I'd love it if we see more fallout from Hotch in future.

MGG may have only got to do one this season, but what a doozy!

[Old Dog]

I was mesmerised from start to finish! TG was superb in this and it's about time MGG started directing movies because the direction in this was off the scale. I just wish they had made this the finale - what a way to leave the season that would have been!

[zannej]

I think Hotch wanted to go over and make sure that the shrink was safe and he called out to her and she actually said his name and told him she was ok and invited him in. Her voice did sound a little odd, but it didn't seem like a sitiuation where he would be in danger. If Hotch thought the guy was after the woman, he wouldn't have known that he was the target.

 

But I can't figure out why he was the target... And I don't understand why the guy wanted revenge (maybe because I missed stuff)... I would love for them to followup and explain why the guy decided to pick on Hotch.

 

I thought the acting was spot on from everyone. I was very relieved that the kid could act. Too bad this kid wasn't cast as Jack Hotchner.

 

I loved that the power went out and that Garcia wasn't able to use her computer for awhile. Liked the candles in the BAU office. Thought the flickering lights worked well-- reminded me of when my power fluctuates during storms. I kinda call BS on the lights and equipment being fixed up so quickly though. Power surges like that can totally fry the wires-- I've had that happen at my house more than once-- recently the wire to my water pump (I'm on a well system) got fried. Garcia should have had a UPC to backup her computers. Fun fact: Google's servers have built-in batteries in case power goes out.

[zannej]

Ok, I re-watched and some stuff was more clear.

So, the unsub's name is Peter Lewis and his parents ran a foster care place. The bitch shrink coerced one boy into accusing Peter's father of dressing up like the devil and sexually abusing the kids. Then the other children were manipulated into backing up the story. While the father was being held pending trial, he was murdered in prison. I paused it when it was showing the autopsy info. The father had his eye stabbed out, face slashed, genitals slashed (although the circle was around the abdomen) and some toes on his left foot cut off. ouch. It also noted that Peter shunned social interactions so he could take advanced college classes while in high school and focused a lot on his studies. He was due to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard.

When Hotch talked to Axel-- something from the NSA he revealed that the unsub was too unstable to be recruited, but they were keeping an eye on him.

 

I'm still not sure exactly how the guy got the woman to stab herself in front of Hotch. I also wonder if the one guy really killed himself rather than kill his child or if Peter decided not to have an innocent child killed (the speculation was that the father's paternal instinct overrode the unsub's control).

 

Btw, I loved the bit where the kid asked the father if he had a boogeyman and the father said something about "FICA, and he haunts my paycheck". LOL.

 

I actually really liked JJ in this one. She spoke softly and with the appropriate gentleness when questioning one of the victims/killers. She also showed the appropriate horror over Reid's death (albeit that was a hallucination). Matthew got a very good performance and it was like having the old JJ back, which was great.

 

I loved that you couldn't tell quite what was real and what was fake-- oh, and how long has it been since we saw Hotch's ankle gun?

 

Loved how Hotch shoved his gun at Rossi and told him to take it and was so freaked out. I still wish that I knew why the guy targetted Hotch, or if Rossi called while the unsub was there and the guy decided to dick with whoever arrived first (assuming it would be Hotch since it seems Rossi called to give the woman a heads up).

 

I thought Elfman was great in the part-- that creepy smile just before they put him in the car was fantastic. Hotch struggling to talk while drugged was done well. Everyone contributed in this one, there was the appropriate amount of urgency, and it really was fun. I enjoyed it more on second viewing.

 

Also, the female victim freaking the hell out and scratching her own face mixed with the lights blinking worked quite well. I give this one a 9 out of 10 (would be a 10 if the unsub's motive was more clear-- we never found out what caused him to pick now and what caused him to pick Hotch).

 

Also, I wonder if Reid qualified to take the math55 thing and ended up declining to take that harvard class or he took it and declined the NSA job (or maybe he worked in NSA for awhile before transferring to the FBI?)

 

Btw, am I the only one who noticed that the victims were given regular pencils to draw Mr. Scratch, but the final drawings appeared to be in oil pastel or colored pencil?

Edited April 23, 2015 by zannej

[MCatry]

I was mesmerised from start to finish! TG was superb in this and it's about time MGG started directing movies because the direction in this was off the scale. I just wish they had made this the finale - what a way to leave the season that would have been!

I totally agree. This could have been a great way to end the season. Knowing, and not really knowing, that everything was back in place.

I was really surprised. All the members of the cast delivered strong performances, and I didn't feel the urge to press fwd not once, which hasn't happened in a very long time. So much, actually, that I can't even remember.

And the visuals were awesome.

I just saw this, after reading the comments here at PTV, and despite knowing what I was going to see by the end, it surprised me anyway. I jumped from my seat with both Reid's and Morgan's deaths. And believe me, I am not jumpy, at all.

[Old Dog]

I totally agree. This could have been a great way to end the season. Knowing, and not really knowing, that everything was back in place.

I was really surprised. All the members of the cast delivered strong performances, and I didn't feel the urge to press fwd not once, which hasn't happened in a very long time. So much, actually, that I can't even remember.

And the visuals were awesome.

I just saw this, after reading the comments here at PTV, and despite knowing what I was going to see by the end, it surprised me anyway. I jumped from my seat with both Reid's and Morgan's deaths. And believe me, I am not jumpy, at all.

I just worry that the last two episodes will be really anticlimactic - especially as no-one seems to care much about the bratty Meg. I think it would have been simply amazing to end the season on that shot of Hotch's face and with us not knowing just how he has been affected. And you're absolutely right - the visuals were awesome.

And yet I have been amazed to read some less than glowing comments around the boards. Seems a lot of people just discount MGG;s episodes as "weird" and don't really get involved with them. It amazes me because this was such a patently well written, beautifullly directed, team based episode and TG's acting was stunning.

[zannej]

I think it would have been a fantastic finale. They need to have Breen/Matthew as the team for finales from now on.

[spinner33]

The episode was amazing!  Can't wait to watch it again!  For me, this is the season finale, because I won't be watching the rest.  Don't care about the niece.  Messer will be wasting two hours on her usual, lame-ass bullshit. 

 

I wouldn't worry about the people calling this episode weird either.   Waaaaahtever.   Just bitter Golden Gopher fans who get jealous when someone else steals the limelight.   I wonder what Messer's screen name is, or if she has a PA who runs from board to board dissing other stars of the show in favor of her Mary Sue.  Thomas and Matthew both deserve a lot of praise for this episode, in spite of what the haters think. 

[Keekski]

You know, after reading more of your comments I sort of wish this had been a two part episode, so they could have concentrated more on the aftermath. I definitely felt WHOA like so many of you did, but usually they are so hyper focused on the unsub this episode I felt like they weren't? I was so freaking happy that father did not kill his son. As a mom to two young girls, anything with kids murdered/abused, ect gives me the willies. I actually had the volume all the way down during that part hoping they wouldn't show anything gruesome.

 

Still, like I said above, one of the best episodes ever.

[Demented Daisy]

That was probably the best episode of CM in years.  I saw a lot of Stephen King in the episode, namely It.  (I haven't read the interviews yet, so if it has been mentioned, sorry.)

 

They relived their greatest fear from childhood, something Pennywise did with his victims.  Except, as a shapeshifter-type monster, he actually became that monster.  One of the murderer/victims was from Derry, Maine.  King is also quite fond of open-to-interpretation endings -- it seems as though the monster was dead at the end of It, but later books have sightings of a creepy clown and graffiti that says, "Pennywise lives!"  (Oh, and one of the other murderer/victims was named Christine, wasn't she?  Different book, I know, but anyway....)

 

In any case, I really enjoyed the episode.  I like it better when the Unsub isn't revealed to us in the beginning.

[normasm]

Stephen King is a fan of the show, which makes it so much better.

[JMO]

Like nearly everyone else, I thought it was a great episode.  Here's why:

 

• The story---In contrast to some episodes which, to me, only seem complex, because they dart this way and that, this plotline was layered.  We had the murderous victims who victimized their own loved ones, and will pay a life-long psychic price for having done so.  Then we had their victimization at the hands of Peter Lewis, turning them into murderers.  We had the victimization of all of them by the psychiatrist who elicited their false reports---and may even have been well-intended at the time.  And we have the original victimization by Lewis' father, who scared the kids in his home with Mr. Scratch.  (I took that part to be true, because there had to be a reason the kids were talking to the psychiatrist in the first place.) Wow.
• It forced me to pay attention--the intricacies of the plot kept my brain engaged, the performances of the guest cast were, across the board, excellent and sometimes riveting.  There was never a lull in the action, so I never looked away. Been a very long time since that's happened with CM.
• MGG's direction---I love the way he lights faces, and I love the way he transitions from scene to scene.  And I love that he knows when and how a scene needs to end abruptly.  I know there are some critics who feel differently, but I love a good, dramatic gesture in film. For me, it's part of what makes it art. MGG draws excellent performances from his actors.  He's said it's all in the casting, but I think he's probably downplaying his role.  Oh, and his 'running around in the dark' scenes, contained light, so I was able to see what was happening.
• TG's performance---So, the entire regular cast was good.  But TG was outstanding, especially in those final 10 minutes.  We've seen him that intense before, but never that unstable.  There was a vulnerability, and yet a fierce will to win, each competing for prominence.  The hauntedness of his eyes in the final scene----I've always felt that MGG held the market on acting with his eyes, but TG was right up there in that scene.
• This is silly, but----I thought JM and SM 'died' very convincingly.  SM particularly frightened me with that second strangled gurgle.
• All around, good storytelling, good acting, good directing---great episode.  A little like watching the X Files, but making more sense.  (And, PS, the parking garage meeting spot was in X Files, but it originated with 'Deep Throat', in Watergate.)

 

Still, some questions remain for me.  I understand how Peter Lewis used Mr. Scratch to scare the others, because he shared the same experience.  I understand less how he knew what to do with Hotch.  So, for the scene where Reid/Rossi/Morgan get shot:

• Were we supposed to think that Hotch told that story to Peter Lewis, when he confessed his greatest fear?  (and why wasn't his greatest fear losing Jack?)
• Or were we to think that he hallucinated it and Peter Lewis somehow gleaned it and used it?  If so, how?
• Or were we to think that he was still together enough to make up that story, so Lewis would try to use the team in his command to Hotch, and with Hotch planning all along to turn the gun on Lewis?

 

I'm curious to read what you all think.

 

 

[Danielg342]

Don't have too much time for a long reply but I do want to raise an additional question, JMO:

Is Peter Lewis even dead?

[Old Dog]

I agree with you about how great the episode was JMO.

 

As for your questions, I thought he hallucinated it after being drugged. The fact that he knew the team were right behind him meant that he feared they would be killed - and the fact that they were all shot in the neck like Reid was in Angels must have been a hark back to the last time he feared for the life of one of his team. I thought about Jack too but rationalised it by the fact that it was in the middle of a case with the team so they were topmost on his mind as being in immediate danger. And we don't really know what he said or gave away while under the drug - but that;s part of what was so great about this episode, the fact that it left us with lots of questions and speculation.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Old Dog

[Chaos Theory]

This episode was way to freakin weird for me. Although Thomas Gibson acted the hell out of it.

[threebluestars]

I don't think he picked Hotch - the psychiatrist woman told Hotch when he arrived that she got Rossi's message  - I think Peter Lewis was there when that msg was left and knew Hotch was on the way and just decided to mess with him because he was there and he could. There could've been an element of revenge in that the FBI never shut down the woman until way she had ruined his family.

[Droogie]

Yeah, I think whoever arrived at the house first would've been the target. I could nitpick and say Hotch would never have gone in that house, alone, like he did. I wish it would've been implied that the team was close behind.

I wasn't able to watch it until this morning. I don't have much to add to the comments. I'll just say WOW. I was riveted. I planned to pick apart everything and pay attention to the lighting and the camera angles and the music but it all just morphed into something I couldn't look away from (gah! I hate ending sentences with a preposition.). Easily one of the best episodes for me.

I wondered about that Harvard math class. Since Reid didn't go to Harvard, could it be that Cal Tech offered something similar, since mathematics is one of his PhDs? I would think Reid would be at least as dangerous as the UnSub, if he decided to cross over to the dark side,

Also, I noticed that Reid discussed the unreliability of repressed memories uncovered by a therapist, with Rossi continuing that thought, when exactly that scenario took place for Reid in Season 4.

But I'm not quibbling! Loved it, times infinity. MGG needs to direct more. Breen needs to write more. And my goodness, Thomas Gibson can command the screen.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Droogie

[normasm]

BTW, after watching it again (even more riveting), i noticed the pencil they gave the murderers/victims to draw with was an art pencil i recognize as a charcoal or pastel pencil (Derwent, possibly), although the color in both drawings can't be explained. Minor point. I love that they looked similar yet very different. Matthew said he drew one with his right hand and the other with his left because he wanted them to be very different. The man is brilliant.

 

Going back to the scene with the Father and young son, at that point in the story, with us seeing how loving the dad is and how sweet and innocent the son, my gut was just twisting with the buildup of tension. I thought they couldn't possibly even imply that the dad killed the son! I'm so glad they didn't do that. Still, even with this extended homey scene, it didn't feel like a lull in the story, i guess because I was so worried how it might end up.

 

And the surprise of the hallucination/murder of the team, even though we know it's hallucination, you're still screaming mentally, or as Hotch said after Peter found out his fear, "Son of a bitch."

[Droogie]

BTW, after watching it again (even more riveting), i noticed the pencil they gave the murderers/victims to draw with was an art pencil i recognize as a charcoal or pastel pencil (Derwent, possibly), although the color in both drawings can't be explained. Minor point. I love that they looked similar yet very different. Matthew said he drew one with his right hand and the other with his left because he wanted them to be very different. The man is brilliant.

Oh gosh, he is. Just brilliant. I loved the view of the catatonic woman thorough the smoke of the sage. And I loved Hotch's perspective of the UnSub when he was under the influence of the drug.

[Bookish Jen]

Re: Last night's episode. Wow, just wow! I'm still so speechless. I knew I would love it, as a I always love the CM episodes Matthew directs. I would adore to pick his brain about the artistic choices he makes and his creative process. I hope Matthew wouldn't think I was being too weirdly intrusive or something.

 

So many of you brought up the many elements that made Mr. Scratch such a master class that I don't think I have to add anything else right now. I'm going to be super busy for the next few days but I'll probably watch it again next week when I have more time.

 

Usually while watching TV, I just sit back and relax on my couch. But not while watching Mr. Scratch. I actually sat forward on my coffee table, hands clasped, my blue eyes as big as saucers and grinning like a goon. I was that riveted.

 

And I actually could not sleep last night I was so excited, freaked out, whatever. I actually heard some strange moaning sounds coming from my street. I don't if I was hallucinating or these sounds were for real. Considering there  are quite a few odd ducks in my neighborhood, I wouldn't be surprised if they were real.

 

Note to self: Do not burn sage in your home. You'll probably end up picking up your Wusthof chef's knife and stab some poor schmuck to death.
 

[Russet29]

The episode was amazing!  Can't wait to watch it again!  For me, this is the season finale, because I won't be watching the rest.  Don't care about the niece.  Messer will be wasting two hours on her usual, lame-ass bullshit. 

 

I wouldn't worry about the people calling this episode weird either.   Waaaaahtever.   Just bitter Golden Gopher fans who get jealous when someone else steals the limelight.   I wonder what Messer's screen name is, or if she has a PA who runs from board to board dissing other stars of the show in favor of her Mary Sue.  Thomas and Matthew both deserve a lot of praise for this episode, in spite of what the haters think. 

Whoa. Take a deep breath. Everything is fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, even if it differs from the majority. MGG's episodes have a tendency to be a bit out there and are more like a mini horror film than the usual CM episode. That's not everyone's cup of tea and there's nothing wrong with that. And while I'm not at all looking forward to the continuation of this arc with Kate's niece, I'm glad this episode wasn't the finale. I thought the ending was haunting and perfect cap to the episode, but it would be odd to end a season on that note.

 

Yet again the promo gave away the unsub while the episode didn't. Who the hell edits those? I don't think it's anyone directly connected to the show because I remember one of the writers or producers mentioning it in an interview and essentially saying the person in charge of the promos is screwing up.

 

As soon as JJ and Morgan said they would be doing a cognitive interview with the one victim/killer I rolled my eyes because I think the show can be over reliant on them to an unrealistic extent. But then something amazing happened: they didn't get a ton of new information out of it. All they did was jar the guy's memory. He didn't all of a sudden remember seeing a van out front and it had a logo on the side for a plumber and the license plate contained H and T and 99 and voila they found the unsub (I'm convinced this actually happened in a past episode).

 

I hope no MGG fan is upset with me for saying this but this is the first episode he's directed where I found myself really enjoying his style. The only previous episode of his I really enjoyed was Mosley Lane. I just found that the whole tone of that episode fit perfectly. It felt very atmospheric. In contrast to that debut, the past several have been disappointments. This one definitely breaks that streak.

 

Finally, even though I knew that scene with the team getting shot wasn't real, I still found it very effective. Maybe it's knowing that based on the law of probability something like this should have happened by now (I mean they've been in how many shootouts and none of them have died). Or maybe it was just seeing these characters we've spent so much time with actually lose. Whatever the reason, it shook me a little bit.

 

There's a bunch of stuff I can nitpick with the plot, but I'm tired of always focusing on the negatives of this show. It was an engaging hour of television and I'm not gonna ask for any more than that.

[Chaos Theory]

I really don't get this show at all, do I? Episodes I love everyone else seems to hate. Episodes I hate like this one everyone seems to love.

[Old Dog]

I really don't get this show at all, do I? Episodes I love everyone else seems to hate. Episodes I hate like this one everyone seems to love.

Pleeease don't tell me you loved 200?

[normasm]

Well, Chaos, just because many (certainly not all) of us tend to agree on our CM likes and dislikes, it doesn't mean we won't listen to you. Why didn't you like this one? And if you did like 200, what did you like about it? I mean, maybe it's all a discussion for the best and worst thread or whatever, but you should make your thoughts known, if you want to. 

 

What turned you off about Mr. Scratch?

[Old Dog]

It would be a dull world if we all liked the same things. I can quite see that Mr Scratch was very different from the usual CM episodes and some people do not like that. I would like to know what made you not like it ?  For me, that was the first time I've been on the edge of my seat for a long time and the visuals were stunning. And of course TG's wonderful performance.

[Chaos Theory]

I love Hotch. He might actually be my favorite character and yes I did like 200. I liked the idea of this episode but the execution felt too science fiction to me. Plus I took exception to Garcia not being able to place the code. Yes I know that everyone loves Reid and giving him a chance to be smart is always appreciated but this was directly someone else's domain. Plus the lights flickering on and off like they did was just horror movie trope. And making me use the word "trope" pisses me off.

I don't know. The episode just didn't work for me.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Chaos Theory

[normasm]

I love Hotch. He might actually be my favorite character and yes I did like 200. I liked the idea of this episode but the execution felt too science fiction to me. Plus I took exception to Garcia not being able to place the code. Yes I know that everyone loves Reid and giving him a chance to be smart is always appreciated but this was directly someone else's domain. Plus the lights flickering on and off like they did was just horror movie trope. And making me use the word "trope" pisses me off.

I don't know. The episode just didn't work for me.

 

Now, to me, this is as close as we'll probably ever get to the elimination of Penelope's magic computer solving everything at a tippy-tap. TPTB seem to have been listening to some of us moan about her magic computer, because they first had her tell Hotch she was going to have to slog through the analog black hole because the connection was 30 years old, and then the whole network and backup went down. Meanwhile, Reid can read and comprehend 20,000 words a minute (and remember what he reads), and think even faster, so it made sense that his "computer" would still be functional. So I liked that.

Edited April 23, 2015 by normasm