S11.E03: Til Death Do US Part

[thewhiteowl]

When brides-to-be in Savannah are killed on the eve of their nuptials, the BAU suspects a jilted UnSub is at work.

 

 

Writer; Karen Maser, director Joe Mantegna

[Danielg342]

Savannah is my favourite U.S. city. I doubt the episode will look anything like Savannah, but I understand why. Kind of excited to see it featured.

[normasm]

Just hope it doesn't have a lot of fake "southern" accents. Oy.

[Racbec]

Well, that was not good. At all. Not the worst, but not good. Predictable story, simplistic writing, convenient guesses taking the place of profiling, clunky direction, too much unsub, way too much Garcia. Sigh.

Glad that it was another JJ-free episode. (Trying to appreciate them while I can.)

[rapgodminho]

Good lord that was horrendous

[amensisterfriend]

Lord help me, but I actually found this one entertaining and engaging. Yes, my expectations and standards at this point are really THAT low :) 

[rapgodminho]

Lord help me, but I actually found this one entertaining and engaging. Yes, my expectations and standards at this point are really THAT low :)

I also found it entertaining! Perhaps not in a good way, but entertaining in some way.

[ForeverAlone]

Hmmm....I would grade this episode as a C. It had some interesting ideas, but again, I feel the execution fell short of what I like to see in a quality Criminal Minds episode.

 

First off, this was basically another Unsub Show. We saw way more of the unsub than we needed to see. The audience consistently knew more about the unsub than the team did. While on the face of it, the story made sense, I feel it is only because we saw everything that was going on. If you look at the case from the BAU perspective, there is NO way the team could know what they did or make the sort of leaps in logic they did.

 

While I called that the unsub was female very early on (because none of the physical evidence concretely pointed to a male unsub), at first I thought it was the younger sister. But it was made very obvious very quickly who the unsub really was and what she was doing. The delusions were super obvious, and in the better episodes, if we saw the delusions, we were left in the dark that these were delusions. However, this time it was patently obvious she was having psychotic delusions, so that took a lot of the suspense and mystery out of this story. Of course, there really was no mystery in the first place, because we saw it all unfold.

 

I don't think the team would have made the connections they did based on the limited evidence they actually had. This profile seemed pulled out of thin air, with little evidence to support it. Sure, I think it was the right call to think female unsub based on the use of the lipstick, the fact that she wrote "slut" on one victim's forehead certainly doesn't point to a female unsub. Plenty of men call women sluts, particularly the type of men who kill women. It would probably have been better for the DNA test on the fingernail saliva to come back as female. Which points to another fact. There was really no physical evidence to support them targeting the unsub. Certainly not enough to assume probable cause and get a warrant to burst into her apartment with guns ablazing. Of course this show hasn't often bothered with such pesky niceties as warrants and probable cause in years now (which I complain about often). And this episode was a PRIME example of Penelope and her magic computer. Seriously, they pulled the suspected unsub out of a freaking magic hat. We are supposed to believe that in the space of less than a minute she was able to pull up the sister's engagement and that she worked as a florist? Ok, yeah sure, whatever. Massive eyeroll here. Kind of like how Reid just assumed that the sisters were at some sort of greenhouse (and there they were- but where were Reid and Rossi?). Seriously, those sisters could have been anywhere.

 

Minor quibble, but as an ardent Reid fan, I didn't appreciate YET AGAIN where Reid says some sort of interesting trivia and the team just looks at him like he has grown a second head. Some of them have worked with him for over 10 years now, and they still sometimes treat him as a freak. I did appreciate last season where Kate actually seemed interested in Reid's trivia bits and certainly didn't look at him weirdly for them.

 

Another minor quibble, but how exactly does FBI agent Derek Morgan know Michael Irvin?

 

As a single, celibate woman, I do have to give a bit of side eye to the idea that a woman who is denied love and affection from a man she wants, is a prime candidate for psychotic depression. There could be many triggers for the unsub's delusions, but come on. 

 

I am glad that the writer did acknowledge that the female unsub would have to be larger and stronger to carry the victims. We have seen in past episodes where tiny, little slips of women were somehow able to overpower bigger and stronger men and even move their dead bodies

 

Like I said before, the idea behind this episode was interesting, but I felt it failed on the profiling level. If a writer can't write an episode where the case and profiling makes sense when you view it from the team's perspective, you probably should rethink your episode structure. How exactly are we supposed to believe that the BAU could have plausibly come up with this profile? Or at least the focus could have been on the team and them talking out the evidence and actually building a profile. Show us the team's thought process, because too often, profiling seems to be some sort of magic trick, and not taking the physical and behavioral evidence to determine who the unsub could be.

Edited October 15, 2015 by ForeverAlone

[SSAHotchner]

It was an embarrassment. Shame on Joe for not at least getting some decent acting out of these guys, but I guess the script was just that bad. For heaven's sake put some money into getting some decent writers, CBS. This was nothing but crap. It's not even worth my time to try and elaborate. 

[NYGirl]

This show used to be must see TV for me but not in the past couple of years.  I don't like seeing the unsub at the beginning.  It ruins it for me and makes it just another procedural.  And ForeverAlone you are definitely on track with regard to Garcia. 

 

I used to have a knot in the pit of my stomach and be nervous from the beginning of each episode.  No more...now it's blah to me.

 

They need new writers.

[Saje]

Two words. Andrew. Wilder.

 

And why aren't you people posting on twitter where it will really be seen by CBS? All I see over there are gushes! :(

[ForeverAlone]

At this point, I am almost willing to start a Kickstarter to pay Andrew's salary to come back and write for Criminal Minds. :) :) :) 

[missmycat]

At this point, I am almost willing to start a Kickstarter to pay Andrew's salary to come back and write for Criminal Minds. :) :) :) 

either that or one of us needs to win the lottery. If I were to win I'd love to by the rights to the show. I would then send EM and the majority of these writers packing. I would convince Ed to come back as show runner and make Andrew my head writer. I would also pay Paget enough to make it worth her while to come back. And I would probably try to convince Morgan to stay. I would then proceed to get better writers ones who actually know how to write for a freaking suspense drama. How the hell do they even have the gall to continue to refer to this show as a suspense drama.

Edited October 15, 2015 by missmycat

[Saje]

OMG I love you people.

[missmycat]

You know an episode has to be bad when so many people on CM's official FaceBook page are complaining about it. Since they are not the most discerning viewers and for the most part are probably easier to please than us folks who post here.

Edited October 15, 2015 by missmycat

[rapgodminho]

I tend to stay away from the CM subreddit because there's too much JJ worship and not enough dank memes but these comments are on point, also my full stop key is stuck because I got so bored writing fanfic during the episode I started typing really hard and broke it, thanks CM

edit: OH MY GOD ONE OF THE COMMENTS ON FACEBOOK "Michael Irvin? Is Trump next?" MY SIDES ARE HURTING

Edited October 15, 2015 by rapgodminho

[missmycat]

I tend to stay away from the CM subreddit because there's too much JJ worship and not enough dank memes but these comments are on point, also my full stop key is stuck because I got so bored writing fanfic during the episode I started typing really hard and broke it, thanks CM

edit: OH MY GOD ONE OF THE COMMENTS ON FACEBOOK "Michael Irvin? Is Trump next?" MY SIDES ARE HURTING

Unfortunately some of that is going on over at CM's official Facebook page.It's amazing how so many of these so called AJ/JJ fans are apparently clueless to the fact that the actress is currently missing from the show due to the fact that she had been out on maternity leave.Do they even know that she recently gave birth. Than again I suppose I shouldn't be at all surprised by their ignorance.Because as someone pointed out to me recently;  3 years after Paget Brewster voluntarily left the show there are still people demanding that she be bought back.

[rapgodminho]

Because as someone pointed out to me recently;  3 years after Paget Brewster voluntarily left the show there are still people demanding that she be bought back.

 

No, they want "Prentice" back, and they love "Reed", and they want more "Hodge", and "Alisha Taylor" is terrible and has terrible hair

[rapgodminho]

Maybe they're all high on

 

Sorry it's so huge but honestly bigger is better

[CoyoteBlue]

When they were searching the unsubs room Reid said 'PCOS can cause obesity'. No, no, no! 

 

Yes, yes, yes? It may not cause it, but it makes it incredibly easy to put weight on and hellishly hard to keep it off. It's seriously one of the major symptoms of PCOS - in fact, I have perfect ovaries, but my reproductive endocrinologist diagnosed me with PCOS just by looking at me (my weight and how I carried it). Also it messes with the way your body manages the "energy in, energy out" equation.

[UncleChuck]

 

~I didn't appreciate YET AGAIN where Reid says some sort of interesting trivia and the team just looks at him like he has grown a second head. Some of them have worked with him for over 10 years now, and they still sometimes treat him as a freak

 

I don't think they look at Reid as a "freak" anymore...they just do not think his trivia is that "interesting". 

Seems to me like the attitude is..."forget that crap, Reid.  Let's get busy with solving this case"

 

[missmycat]

I don't think they look at Reid as a "freak" anymore...they just do not think his trivia is that "interesting". 

Seems to me like the attitude is..."forget that crap, Reid.  Let's get busy with solving this case"

Oh and I suppose it it perfectly okay with them the way Garcia will be blabbering on about something totally useless before getting to the point. It has always irritated the hell out of me how this team would frequently give Reid the side eye yet continues to give Garcia a pass for the most part. I thinks there is a bit of a double standard  going on  there.

[Bookish Jen]

There is not enough Spencer Weed in the world to make me smoke and enjoy last night's episode. It was really cringe-worthy. I, for the life of me, could not figure out why the unsub was holding a torch for the bland Ken doll she thought was her one and only. And I could not figure out why the unsub's sister was so overjoyed over his proposal. He was such a freaking void. I've swept up dryer lint that was more interesting.

 

While watching, I found myself zoning out. I ended up polishing my nails a lovely shade of cherry red and went to the kitchen to wash some dishes. When a sink of dirty dishes fascinates you more than an episode of CM, you know things are messed up.

 

Yes, bring back Ed as show runner and Andrew as head writer. And because so many of us are total Reid-ettes and have IQs higher than room temperature, bring us on as consultants on how to spark some more creative energy to a character we find so compelling (and not just because Matthew is so dreamy to look at-though that helps). And because we'll all be high on Spencer Weed, I'll bring my sugar mint cookies because we'll have a massive case of the munchies.

Edited October 15, 2015 by Bookish Jen

[iscoffy]

So PCOS doesn't make you crazy, but it might make you crazy?  What was the point of that interlude?  And I'm 99% sure the person they showed carrying the walloped bride in the alleyway was not the actress who played the unsub, which had me hoping there was a twist somewhere, but, sadly, no.

Spencer Weed is making me think of the Speed Weed era on L&O: SVU.  Unfortunately, Criminal Minds appears to be in its own Speed Weed era.

[CoyoteBlue]

So PCOS doesn't make you crazy, but it might make you crazy?  What was the point of that interlude?  

 

 

I think? that they said she was on hormone treatments for it. And you know, girls and their hormones, amiright? Although you'd think a doc would make sure the PCOS treatment didn't clash with her existing depression / mental health issues.

[JMO]

This was about as bad as they come.  Rehashing, in mish-mosh fashion, a number of old cases, unfortunate stereotyping, the use of cliches, the inclusion of totally unrelated scenes, the usual medical mistakes and misuse of a condition that had no place being in the story, overacting by the guest cast (did anyone else think the unsub reminded them of the one in Uncanny Valley?).  I actually felt sorry for the regulars.   Even the soundtrack was overdone---I noticed it because the story wasn't holding my interest.  

 

And it failed the Reid-meter.

 

Here's hoping for better with episode 4.  

 

 

[SSAHotchner]

Oh and I suppose it it perfectly okay with them the way Garcia will be blabbering on about something totally useless before getting to the point. It has always irritated the hell out of me how this team would frequently give Reid the side eye yet continues to give Garcia a pass for the most part. I thinks there is a bit of a double standard  going on  there.

I'm so sick to death of Garcia that it occurred to me after this week's episode that I would be relieved if an unsub killed her. I want to grab Kirsten by the shoulders and say, "What are you playing here?" I find nothing fun and quirky about her anymore. She is simply annoying and a huge time waster...not only for my time in watching the show but for the team in trying to solve the case. She needs to shut up and do her job. EM and Kirsten have turned Garcia into someone who never would have been hired by the FBI. If anything, she should be becoming more hardened by/used to seeing crime scenes and details. I'm sick of the shrinking violet. 

[ForeverAlone]

Well, the soundtrack (at least the song at the end) was overdone, because Gia Mantegna was singing the song. :) :) :) 

 

I know I can be a bit sensitive to how they portray Reid, but I interpreted the reactions of the team (just staring at him like they couldn't believe what he just said) as to be either an example of the team just thinking that he is some weird freak, or inviting the audience to laugh at the team's reaction (and therefore, by extension, laugh at Reid). To me, it just seems like a cheap and easy gag that the writers employ way too often. Particularly yeah, when they allow Penelope to prattle on stupidly for way too long. 

 

Yeah, I think the link between PCOS and psychotic depression was tenuous at best. Sure, I can see why someone COULD be depressed, because of PCOS. Not because PCOS makes you depressed, but some of the effects COULD be depressive. But psychotic depression is a rather different condition than garden variety depression, and that is where I have to call bullshit. I don't recall them talking about Dana having some sort of psychosis PRIOR to being diagnosed with PCOS. My impression is that she developed psychotic depression  after she was diagnosed with PCOS, and it was the effects of PCOS, and the fact that she did not have romantic affection from men, that caused her to devolve into psychotic depression (and therefore serial murder). This show often gets the medical facts wrong, and I just don't think they made a strong enough case for PCOS to lead to psychotic depression. In fact, it could easily be considered offensive  to suggest conventionally unattractive, unloved women could become serial killers. I wouldn't say I was offended (because it was just a TV show), but I did have to give a bit of a side eye to that notion, because that is how I interpreted where the story was going. 

 

And yeah, the unsub we saw at the beginning carrying off the victim was not Dana, but I guess they didn't want to give too much away in the open. 

Edited October 15, 2015 by ForeverAlone

[iscoffy]

Coyote Blue:

I think? that they said she was on hormone treatments for it. And you know, girls and their hormones, amiright? Although you'd think a doc would make sure the PCOS treatment didn't clash with her existing depression / mental health issues.

 

 

ForeverAlone:

In fact, it could easily be considered offensive  to suggest conventionally unattractive, unloved women could become serial killers. I wouldn't say I was offended (because it was just a TV show), but I did have to give a bit of a side eye to that notion, because that is how I interpreted where the story was going.

 

 

I don't think the episode necessarily meant to go there, but there was kind of an icky underlayment to the whole thing, because, you know, overweight, not conventionally attractive women are suspect and in danger of becoming deranged and killing people because conventionally attractive men could never, ever love them.

 

On a separate nitpicky note, do all florists really grow their own flowers?  I don't see why a florist having greenhouse flowers means that they must own a greenhouse.  The whole operation seemed kind of rinky-dink for three people to be running a storefront, doing flower arrangement, running a photo business and keeping up a greenhouse with exotic flowers, but I guess in the scheme of ridiculous things about the episode, that is one of the least.

[secnarf]

 

 My impression is that she developed psychotic depression  after she was diagnosed with PCOS, and it was the effects of PCOS, and the fact that she did not have romantic affection from men, that caused her to devolve into psychotic depression (and therefore serial murder).

Due to some PVR issues, I haven't yet seen this episode, but based on the comments here, I'm not sure I want to waste an hour.

 

Did they actually imply that her not having romantic affection from men contributed to her becoming a serial killer?

Perhaps mass murderer - didn't something similar happen in California sometime in the last year or so? Except it was a guy who was rejected by women? But it's still quite far-fetched without an underlying psychiatric disorder, and that doesn't include PCOS.

 

PCOS can cause hormonal issues that can affect mood (and weight), as can oral contraceptives, which are often used by women with PCOS, but nothing close to the extreme consequences that it sounds like this episode implied.

[ForeverAlone]

I would need to rewatch the episode to be SURE if Dana had some sort of underlying psychosis, but that was certainly the impression I got from the conversations the team had that PCOS was a contributing factor. I mean, Tara specifically brought up the fact that Dana hadn't had romantic affection from men, and I certainly interpreted her comments to mean that the lack of affection contributed to her psychosis. I also interpreted the conversations about PCOS as being a contributing factor to her PSYCHOTIC depression. I could understand how some of the effects of PCOS could lead to low self esteem, and possibly even some depression, but no way can I see how any of the effects could lead to PSYCHOTIC depression and therefore serial murder. I just don't see the through line from the medical issues to her psychological state and murderous behavior. But as we have discussed more than once, this show has often gotten medical facts wrong. 

[Droogie]

PCOS or whatever the hell, I could not care less at this point. This episode amounts to 42 minutes of my life that I'll never get back. Morgan and Garcia have A Moment early on that looks to be is foreshadowing his departure because oh, look, they're Close. Lewis avoids a call from her fiancé. Yawn. She already has a life outside the BAU, three episodes in. Oh wait, I'm being petty: Reid has fish!

Lewis also gets to make the points Reid should've made -- but of course, Reid is the butt of the joke; someone else has to be the genius. I'll take redundant characters for $500, Alex.

I'm over it. Terrible writing, sloppy directing (I never like JM's directing -- love him, big fan. Stay in front of the camera, Joe), wooden acting, too much UnSub. How is this show even still on? I'll keep watching because Reid. And also because apparently I'm a masochist.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Droogie

[The Wild Sow]

 

Rehashing, in mish-mosh fashion, a number of old cases, unfortunate stereotyping, the use of cliches, the inclusion of totally unrelated scenes, the usual medical mistakes and misuse of a condition that had no place being in the story, overacting by the guest cast (did anyone else think the unsub reminded them of the one in Uncanny Valley?).

Yes.  And in "Today I Can, Tomorrow I Will" also.

 

but there was kind of an icky underlayment to the whole thing, because, you know, overweight, not conventionally attractive women are suspect and in danger of becoming deranged and killing people because conventionally attractive men could never, ever love them.

Yes -- this!  More fat-girl hate from this show.  Because chubby girls can't possibly have a successful life and a happy relationship, right, show?  Unless, they're, y'know, "quirky," like Garcia (who is by no means "fat" in the real world, only when compared to the usual run of very slim actresses.)

 

So says the chubby woman with a successful, happy, 30 year marriage to a very handsome man.  And so says my young relative with PCOS (who has a successful, happy marriage to a good-looking guy too.)  She did have several miscarriages in between 2 successful pregnancies, and severe gestational diabetes.  PCOS is associated with insulin resistance; hence Dana's Rx for Metaformin - and it's unclear whether Dana was taking her Metformin & just skipping her antidepressant, or skipping all her meds.   But so far, no trail of dead bodies for any of us!

 

OK, rant over.

[Danielg342]

There are no words. Horrible. Just horrible. Not the worst ever CM episode, but it's pretty close.

 

Let's start with that "wonderful" sound stage that pretended to be Savannah, Georgia. I should have known CM wouldn't get it right, but that looked a lot more like downtown Whittier than downtown Savannah (I've been to both, so I know). Savannah is chock full of some nice historic buildings that evoke a 19th century aesthetic...which is not to say that rundown areas don't exist, but they're further south, far from the river and not likely where any wedding vendors would be.

 

Oh, and Savannah has no lakes...it's on a river. There is Tybee Island though.

 

Minor quibble I guess...geographical errors are given on this show.

 

The main issues was just how slow and boring this story was. As soon as I saw the fat girl, I knew she was the killer- why else is she on this show? It's not like they have fat women do anything else. I also found her delusions to be incredibly stilted and unmoving...practically every scene of theirs was exactly the same, with "Ryan" telling Dana that "she needs to do this for our love".

 

Oh, and should it really surprise anyone that her sister would be the last victim? As soon as you saw who the UnSub was it should have been no surprise...a story about scorned lovers and two actors doing a horrible job hiding the fact that their characters are together...not to mention the writer obviously telling the audience, "why should you expect a hot guy like Ryan to fall in love with an ugly girl like Dana? She has to be delusional to believe that, you know". 'Cause, you know, it's entirely impossible for a man to fall in love with a woman because of her personality.

 

The profile...or, more like "the team leaping everywhere and hoping they land somewhere". I don't think any of that made sense. It was just a series of random guesses that eventually led to a fat girl...and the path to that girl made no sense. While I'll credit Tara Lewis for having a bit more believable a reason for why the UnSub is a woman (for once, the show didn't go "oh, she's motherly so she must be a woman!"), I still couldn't buy it. It's not news to me that there are plenty of guys who would call a woman a "slut".

 

There's also no reason to assume that because there was no signs of sexual assault, the UnSub had to be female. There's impotence, as Reid suggested, but we don't even have to go there. Yeah, I do find it a touch unrealistic that many of the male UnSubs on this show never raped their victims when they could have and probably would have, but this show has been clear that men don't always have a sexual component to their crimes. Besides, when did we assume heteronormativity for how our UnSubs would act? Do lesbians not exist in the Criminal Minds world? There's no reason to assume that a woman could never sexually assault another woman.

 

Oh, and while we're talking about sexual assault...sorry Dr. Lewis, you don't get a pass for victim blaming by saying "I'm not victim blaming" when you clearly are. Not that I think here was malicious intent- going out and getting drunk is going to increase your risks of being a victim of any crime, not just rape, and it's not like Lewis defending a rapist...she was just trying to understand possible reasons why the UnSub did what they did. Still, she- or rather, the writer- shouldn't try to pretend she was doing something was wasn't doing all because "victim blaming" is a dirty word.

 

I will say the takedown was actually creative, playing to Dana's delusions...but, call me weird, but I was almost hoping she was shot. This show shoots its male UnSubs with reckless abandon, but female UnSubs get a pass. What, are only female UnSubs worth saving? Besides, the show should stop being lazy and shooting the male UnSubs anyway...it doesn't take much to write a takedown scene that works, like this one did.

 

Alas, that would mean these writers actually have to work, and they're quite averse to doing so.

 

Other notes from this episode:

 

-I think I should start referring to Garcia simply as "The Clown". Because that's exactly how she dresses and acts, and boy is it annoying.

-Nice stunt cameo by Michael Irvin, especially because it's oh so believable that Michael freaking Irvin not only knows Derek Morgan, but knows Morgan good enough to call him "D". Perhaps it's possible- FBI agents are going to have high profile clients- but I would think Morgan would more readily help out someone from his team, the Chicago Bears (like, say, Brian Urlacher), or a local, like a Baltimore Raven or a Washington Redskin. If nothing else, the whole thing felt awfully forced.

-Speaking of Morgan, the actor who played the Captain of the Savannah precinct was actually named Derek Morgan. That must have been fun on the set.

-Reid had quite a bit to do, although I still feel he was marginalized. He was really just "Mr. Exposition", and though I understand why he was told to stay behind at the florist shop, it still felt like it was an attempt to keep him out of a scene. Pretty sure tonight an actual robot could have played Reid and no one would have noticed.

-Rossi, too, now that I think of it, was a robot as well, aside from his snark showing during that pointless interrogation (did anyone really think he was going to be the UnSub? It was way too early in the show).

-Lastly, call me mildly interested in Lewis' failed engagement storyline. It's nice that they're going there with a female agent- because only the men seem to have relationship difficulties- but I feel it'll be "more of the same" rocky love stories we've gotten before. So, I'll see where it goes, but I'll wait before I get excited.

 

All in all...horrible. D-

[MCatry]

After reading most of your comments I was not really hoping to see this episode, but then I decided that if you suffered throughout it, the least I could do is to share your pain. After all, we are all comrades here.

There were a lot of classic annoying moments in this episode:
Classic brainstorming, then classic horror-movie misleading unsub, and old titles.
Reid and the classic useless geodata, and the ulterior Exchange of preliminary ideas.
Also classic ‘let’s stare at Reid’ moment, which is mostly bad because of Reid’s reaction, but at least Lewis didn’t join his ‘friends’ reaction.

And Garcia interrupts again. And again. And again.
Oh. How. I. Hate. That. Character.
Every single time it seems a good scene would develop, they have to have her interrupting.

There were also other not-so-classical annoying moments.
Shemar Moore showing up he is still fit, with a guy I never saw in my life, but most people say he is famous. Oh, well.
FBI or NFL???? You cannot expect a meaningful comment here. I was expecting to see a soda pop or some fries as part of this commercial ad.

 

The case, as solid as jello.

On the bright side:
Three times in a row, and Reid and Hotch don’t disappear in some obscure office of those police stations.
...
Ups. I wrote that too early.
I just got to the part when Hotch leaves the ‘kid’ with grandpa Dave.

Three times in a row without shooting unsubs. YAY! The unsub survives another day, and we all hope someday someone at the BAU would interview her in search of answers and tips to prevent those crimes from happening again.

And that was pretty much ‘it’.
Oh. And the song.
I didn’t like the song, nor the singer. And I still don’t like nepotism.

Is it me, or quotes are getting cheesy lately?

[Saje]

A friend says her review for this episode will be the easiest she's ever written: 

 

"WHAT. THE HELL. WAS THAT."

[preeya]

Very weak episode.

 

And what's up the the Michael Irvin cameo?

Oh yeah; a complete waste of a few minutes.

[Danielg342]

You know what this episode could have done? With two potential UnSubs in Nicole and Dana, the show could have waited until that dinner scene to reveal who the UnSub was (since she would have to be the one who is upset at not being proposed to).

Furthermore, if they really wanted to make things interesting, Ryan and Nicole could be seen madly in love and working together to dispose of the bachelorettes...only to find out at the dinner scene that Ryan's love for Nicole was a delusion since Ryan's been with Dana the whole time. Sure, I know Nicole looks too small to be the killer, but a lot of athletic women are smaller than they look, and we've already seen one psychotic get superhuman strength (Johnny McHale). Plus- and more importantly- we'd subvert the whole “fat girl can't get the guy” issue by pairing the fat girl with the guy and making the “pretty” girl flabbergasted that the guy would go for her sister, since she- and perhaps even the audience- just wouldn't understand it. It'd make more sense from a “jilted lover” point of view and would be far more entertaining.

[Bookish Jen]

The only things I liked about this episode were all the pretty flowers at the flower shop and Dana's bridal gown. I liked seeing a bridal gown with sleeves. I'm so sick of strapless bridal gowns.

 

And Danielg342, I like your creative twist when it comes to this atrocious episode, but creative twists are just not in the wheelhouse of CM's typing monkeys, oops, I mean writing staff.

[MCatry]

... but creative twists are just not in the wheelhouse of CM's typing monkeys, oops, I mean writing staff.

CM Typing monkeys. I really like how this sounds!

[missmycat]

CM Typing monkeys. I really like how this sounds!

Actually I feel it is kind of insulting to real monkeys, considering the fact that if someone was to stick a bunch of them in front of a computer and they all began typing randomly on the keyboards, eventually they would probably come with something as creative if not more so than what some of these CM writers have given us.

[zannej]

DanielG gets points for the suggestion of how this should have been done.

 

Is it just me or did they just completely fail to do the victimology part where they looked to see if there were any catering/florist/wedding planner/bridal shop/etc things that the women used. They could have called around or done a credit card check to see if ther were any overlapping businesses and discovered that at least two of the victims used that same florist.

 

I was annoyed that they just magically pulled this girl's name out of the computer and were like "Oh, she's fat and seems to be single-- that's grounds to kick her door down". I know they stopped getting warrants, but I want to see them go back to actually having to obey the law and do things with at least some of the restrictions of the law/FBI. Getting a reason for a warrant would have helped.

 

And not revealing the unsub before the 30 min mark would have been nice. I almost turned my TV off when it became clear who the unsub was.

 

I think the writer was really trying and was attempting to get a feel for the characters but was just a little off on some of them.

 

I really think they need to bring Andrew Wilder back to fix things.

[Danielg342]

And Danielg342, I like your creative twist when it comes to this atrocious episode, but creative twists are just not in the wheelhouse of CM's typing monkeys, oops, I mean writing staff.

Thank you. :)

I think the really sad part is that it would have been so easy to do, regardless of whether or not Nicole or Dana were the UnSub. The elements were all there for a “reveal” at that restaurant, but Karen Maser really wasted it with those early UnSub scenes. If there ever was an episode that highlights the need to keep the UnSub hidden early on, it was this one.

[secnarf]

Wow, that really was awful.

I actually watched the episode while planning my friend's bachelorette party, which was totally coincidental and definitely made for some odd TV viewing, but really didn't do anything to help the episode.

 

I did laugh when Reid picked up what looked like a tube of toothpaste and said "metformin", though.

[Mom x 3]

I think Danielg342 had a great idea for this story, but I don't think the guy playing Ryan could have done it.  While Dana seemed to genuinely care for Ryan, the guy didn't seem to have any chemistry with either sister, and I think he was only cast because he was pretty.  Not Reid pretty, but pretty.  I did like the relationship between the sisters. 

Yea, the rest of it sucked.  Garcia is getting more annoying, not because she babbles (she always did that), but because she is always whining in every scene.  She used to be confident and awesome, and now she's a whimpering drama queen who feels the killer won't get caught if she isn't there to do her job.  Wasn't she the Dark Queen or something?  Since when is she fazed by the damned internet?

[missmycat]

I think Danielg342 had a great idea for this story, but I don't think the guy playing Ryan could have done it.  While Dana seemed to genuinely care for Ryan, the guy didn't seem to have any chemistry with either sister, and I think he was only cast because he was pretty.  Not Reid pretty, but pretty.  I did like the relationship between the sisters. 

Yea, the rest of it sucked.  Garcia is getting more annoying, not because she babbles (she always did that), but because she is always whining in every scene.  She used to be confident and awesome, and now she's a whimpering drama queen who feels the killer won't get caught if she isn't there to do her job.  Wasn't she the Dark Queen or something?  Since when is she fazed by the damned internet?

I agree about Garcia. I hated that she continued to present the cases after JJ's return.She needs to grow the bleep up. And her and Morgan both need to get their damn hormones under control. Her more so than Morgan. You can't tell me Savannah would really be okay with all of this. It was beyond ridiculous the way Garcia was acting as if Morgan was either her boyfriend or even her husband in the episode "Burn". I was so happy that Morgan had told her off at the beginning but then was disappointed that he was there waiting for her at the end. And finally it irks me to no end that this annoying character is more likely nowadays to get a centric episode/storyline than Reid is.

Edited October 19, 2015 by missmycat

[secnarf]

I think Danielg342 had a great idea for this story, but I don't think the guy playing Ryan could have done it.  While Dana seemed to genuinely care for Ryan, the guy didn't seem to have any chemistry with either sister, and I think he was only cast because he was pretty.  Not Reid pretty, but pretty.  I did like the relationship between the sisters. 

Yea, the rest of it sucked.  Garcia is getting more annoying, not because she babbles (she always did that), but because she is always whining in every scene.  She used to be confident and awesome, and now she's a whimpering drama queen who feels the killer won't get caught if she isn't there to do her job.  Wasn't she the Dark Queen or something?  Since when is she fazed by the damned internet?

I actually really liked the guy playing Ryan in Flashpoint - he was a regular there. Though having said that, he seemed to have more chemistry with the actress playing his sister on Flashpoint than he did with either of the sisters in this episode :P

 

Garcia's scenes are totally cringeworthy and she is really irritating me. I've definitely had enough.

[Danielg342]

I think Danielg342 had a great idea for this story, but I don't think the guy playing Ryan could have done it. While Dana seemed to genuinely care for Ryan, the guy didn't seem to have any chemistry with either sister, and I think he was only cast because he was pretty. Not Reid pretty, but pretty. I did like the relationship between the sisters.

Just to clarify, I never did think Ryan would have been in on it...I see his role in the murders being that Nicole hallucinated that Ryan was helping her out, much like how Dana did in the real episode.

I think it would have worked, since at least Ryan and Nicole look like a “believable” couple...I realize you disagree, but to each their own. The problem with trying to deceive the audience into thinking Dana and Ryan were together is that I doubt many would believe it, because Hollywood never considers the possibility that a guy like Ryan could actually fall in love with Dana. Flipping the scales and making Ryan actually in love with Dana and that his helping of Nicole was all inside her head would at least acknowledge that the “ft girl” stereotype is wrong.

Okay, so I had to rewatch the episode to do my word count and I discovered it's actually an amazing episode if you going into thinking it's some kind of comedy and Reid is actually high as a kite. It actually makes more sense that way. That's how much the character has changed since the early seasons, he's getting older but he just acts younger.

LOL...didn't realize that, although maybe I should rewatch the episode this way. Might get more of a kick out of it.

The fact that everything on the unsubs wedding registry has to do with food. The screenshot is poor but she wants

-Blender

-Coffee Maker

-Coffee Grinder

-Expresser Maker

-Juice

-Hand Mixer

-Rice Cooker

-Panium Press (?)

-Ice cream maker

-Knife Sharpener

-Skillets

-Sauces

-Saucepan

-Broder Pan

-Casserole Dish

-Muffin tin

-Cooling Rack.

Some corrections here:

That's an espresso maker and a panini press...one's for the strong coffee and the other is to bake a sandwich.

I'm Italian, so I know what they are. :-p

Side point- my father used to always fill up a water bottle full of straight espresso every morning before work, when he did some long hours. Which is *a lot* of coffee...but whatever it takes, I guess.

[ForeverAlone]

As I said in one of my comments on another forum, Karen's writing lacks subtlety. She banged us over the head with her points and shoved every last unsub thing in our face. And she still was a bit off about things.

[Danielg342]

That's very true, ForeverAlone. I wonder where CM gets their writers- you'd think people who fail at basic creative writing wouldn't be employed on a Hollywood show, but here we are.