The Bullpen

[normasm]

It could also be the 2 pregnant ladies weren't up for a party where everyone is being loud and drinking. Just sayin

Edited April 13, 2015 by normasm

[ForeverAlone]

Matthew did not have another event Saturday night, though it looks like he was out and about. But Matthew doesn't always go to the season wrap party. He has missed it more than once.

[zannej]

I wonder if he's hoping that the show will NOT be picked up for season 11 so he can be free to go do what he wants-- but if there is a season 11, I think he will feel obligated to at least try to negotiate to stay.

[Danielg342]

Matthew did not have another event Saturday night, though it looks like he was out and about. But Matthew doesn't always go to the season wrap party. He has missed it more than once.

Probably a good sign there *will* be a S11. Otherwise, why would Gubler skip out on what may be the last time he'd see the cast and crew?

[Russet29]

So John Hatchitt tweeted something to JSB that strongly hints she won't be back next season. I've heard someone, I think it was on this board, theorize that Messer deals with the network and contracts and such as the show runner and JSB is in charge of the writing. I'm not sure if there's any evidence to back that up but if it is true this could be good news.

[normasm]

Hmmm…. I didn't see that Russet, do you have a capture?

[ForeverAlone]

I saw the same tweets from John to Janine. You can see them in his Twitter feed and he said he was happy for her new adventure, but he will miss seeing her around on set. It certainly sounds like Janine is leaving. Frankly I hope there is FINALLY some serious turnover in the writing department after four years, as long as they are replaced by writers better suited to Criminal Minds.

[Russet29]

https://twitter.com/johnhatchitt/status/588456812220850176

https://twitter.com/johnhatchitt/status/588457315130474496

 

Well this is the best I can do, I'm quite tech challenged.

[missmycat]

I am no fan of JSB's writing. However, I do feel she has potential. So part of me wishes it was Kim Harrison, who has little to no potential at all,who was leaving. I still say someone else,probably Rick Dunkle, wrote most of "Into The Woods" and Kim just got the credit for it. If Janine is indeed in charge of the writing I shudder to think of Kim taking over that position if Janine is indeed leaving.

[ForeverAlone]

I can't see Kim taking over anything unless she is the last writer standing. And if she does, we know Erica went full crazy and all hope is pretty much lost for this show. But if Janine (and hopefully more) does leave, they will have to hire at least one new writer and I hope it is someone who can write for this show better.

[missmycat]

I can't see Kim taking over anything unless she is the last writer standing. And if she does, we know Erica went full crazy and all hope is pretty much lost for this show. But if Janine (and hopefully more) does leave, they will have to hire at least one new writer and I hope it is someone who can write for this show better.

My fear is they would end up being as disappointing as Ticona joy and Erica Stiller were. ES was especially disappointing to me since he had interned under Ed Bernero. I thought that Ed's writing style would influence him. Sadly his episode came a cross more as having been influenced by the likes of Erica, Janine and Kim.

[zannej]

It was Tari (aka Willowy) who runs the Criminal Minds Fans page (not to be confused with Criminal Minds Fanatics page) who talked to people behind the scenes and found out who did what on the show. Harry Bring scouts locations and is in charge of set safety and probably in charge of getting filming permits for outside locations. He's also involved in the budgeting. Erica liaises with CBS and is in charge of budgeting. Janine is in charge of the writing somehow. Not sure exactly how it works.

 

Another person who used to work in the industry as a writer once told me that the producers and other writers can give a lot of input on the script and that sometimes the script can be changed almost entirely but the writer who came up with the initial idea still gets the credit. Not sure if that is how CM operates though.

[spinner33]

I don't think it's a bad thing if there's a shake up in the writing staff on CM.  They're dreadful.  Maybe the suits at CBS are finally listening to fan complaints.  I doubt it could get any worse, but now that I say that, I'll probably have to eat those words =\ 

[zannej]

Oh no... You said the words that always jinx things in my experience. Things could *always* get worse. One of the few things I'm superstitious about is not saying "What else could go wrong" or "It couldn't get any worse". Because every time someone close to me has said that, life has shown us how it can get worse or just what else can go wrong.

 

Knocking on wood and hoping things work out if there is another season.

[spinner33]

Hope I haven't screwed us all  =( 

[Saje]

"Hey Breen can I pick your brain about that two-page monologue Reid has?" :D

 

http://cmsetreport.tumblr.com/post/117007664855/gublernation-and-breen-frazier-on-the-set-of-the

[SSAHotchner]

I saw the same tweets from John to Janine. You can see them in his Twitter feed and he said he was happy for her new adventure, but he will miss seeing her around on set. It certainly sounds like Janine is leaving. Frankly I hope there is FINALLY some serious turnover in the writing department after four years, as long as they are replaced by writers better suited to Criminal Minds.

YES!!!!!!

I think it's a stretch to say Kim would be put in charge of anything. She is the weakest writer. Maybe Breen or Sharon? I really want new writers. And not just folks who have been hanging around the set doing other jobs. Real writers and hopefully with some law enforcement/crime background. 

[Bookish Jen]

YES!!!!!!

I think it's a stretch to say Kim would be put in charge of anything. She is the weakest writer. Maybe Breen or Sharon? I really want new writers. And not just folks who have been hanging around the set doing other jobs. Real writers and hopefully with some law enforcement/crime background. 

Yes, to everything you just stated.

[zannej]

If season 11 gets picked up and Janine is not there, its probably going to be pretty hectic. Tari said that Janine basically runs the writer's room. I think she schedules which writers handle which episodes and probably approves stories and such. I'm sure Erica is involved in that as well, but I don't think she oversees the writers as much-- I think she's more busy dealing with CBS.

 

They really need a very detail oriented script coordinator to come in.

[normasm]

Saje, that clip is hilarious!

[Saje]

HAHA I watched it about 15 times. Matthew's face when he whacks him is the best! :)

[normasm]

Breen shouldn't quit his day job for acting, however….. :)

Edited April 22, 2015 by normasm

[SSAHotchner]

If season 11 gets picked up and Janine is not there, its probably going to be pretty hectic. Tari said that Janine basically runs the writer's room. I think she schedules which writers handle which episodes and probably approves stories and such. I'm sure Erica is involved in that as well, but I don't think she oversees the writers as much-- I think she's more busy dealing with CBS.

 

They really need a very detail oriented script coordinator to come in.

And some decent researchers. 

[Bookish Jen]

And some decent researchers. 

 

As a writer I have a lot of research experience. CM should hire me. And because I'm such a nice person I'll even make my sugar mint cookies every once in a while.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Bookish Jen

[missmycat]

http://zap2it.com/blogs/bones_castle_criminal_minds_svu_create_perfect_crime-2015-04

 

 

Please pay close attention to Erica Messer's answer to the question when to show and when to tell. I swear the outright bull crap that comes out of the mouth of this woman never ceases to amaze me. Although I don't know why it should, this is EM we are talking about.

And shame on Jim Clemente for choosing to be a total suck up and not wanting to do his job diligently. because if he was doing his job, a lot of this crap would have never passed the smell test, most notably that piece of garbage known as 200.

[Bookish Jen]

http://zap2it.com/blogs/bones_castle_criminal_minds_svu_create_perfect_crime-2015-04

 

 

Please pay close attention to Erica Messer's answer to the question when to show and when to tell. I swear the outright bull crap that comes out of the mouth of this woman never ceases to amaze me. Although I don't know why it should, this is EM we are talking about.

And shame on Jim Clemente for choosing to be a total suck up and not wanting to do his job diligently. because if he was doing his job, a lot of this crap would have never passed the smell test, most notably that piece of garbage known as 200.

 

The more I learn about Messer the more I realize why JJ was turned into the most glorious Mary Sue to ever Mary Sue, and Reid is just an annoying mosquito, she figuratively squashes every chance she gets.

[Danielg342]

http://zap2it.com/blogs/bones_castle_criminal_minds_svu_create_perfect_crime-2015-04

Please pay close attention to Erica Messer's answer to the question when to show and when to tell. I swear the outright bull crap that comes out of the mouth of this woman never ceases to amaze me. Although I don't know why it should, this is EM we are talking about.

And shame on Jim Clemente for choosing to be a total suck up and not wanting to do his job diligently. because if he was doing his job, a lot of this crap would have never passed the smell test, most notably that piece of garbage known as 200.

Well, that interview shows the gulf in class in abilities between Messer and the rest of the showrunners. Messer states obvious misinformation- like how Jim Clemente is there to ensure the cases “are right” when many of the cases are not just implausible but nigh on impossible- talks like an obvious fangirl and shows no understanding about how to craft a story. Seriously, her idea of starting with a story is “what would be scary”? Seriously? No wonder most of the cases are of dubious quality- because Messer cares more about “shock value” than things like plotting or pacing or, well, just about anything that would make sense, really.

Oh, and don't get me started about Messer's belief that they hold back on the gore- some scenes on CM look like ones Saw would reject.

I think what really got me was when she prattled on about needing a “balance” about the amount of victims of each gender. Not only is it a tacit admission that she views victims as nothing but pawns but it confirms my belief that she's motivated by political correctness, and I can't stand for that. Don't get me wrong- I wouldn't want the show to “only” have female victims or “only” have male victims, and I agree, in principle, that there should be a balance. However, it shouldn't be done by treating victims as pawns.

First of all, you don't solve the problem of gender inequality by making males pawns after years of females being pawns- that's just substituting one wrong with another. Second of all, Messer seems to forget that many of the show's (earlier) female victims actually mattered to the story, playing a part in the UnSub's fantasy, whereas the males seem to be used increasingly just to show how “depraved” the Mon-Star of the Week is. There's just no excuse for that.

Third of all, if Messer is so concerned about gender equality, then riddle me this, Erica- why is it when the team saves the final victim, it's always female? Why is it when the team makes the decision between talking down the UnSub or shooting the UnSub, it's always the male that gets shot? Why is it when actual violence is depicted onscreen, is a male the only one who actually takes the hits? Why has it never been a male that rises up against the UnSub and escapes from the criminal's clutches?

Then, of course, we can point out how Messer loves JJ and Garcia and seems to shun the male cast to the side...how's that gender equality, anyhow?

To me, there's a clear dissonance with what Messer wants to portray and what actually gets shown on screen. It's clear she's just not fit for the job.

[Bookish Jen]

Danielg342, I agree so much with your post, but especially this quote:

"Oh, and don't get me started about Messer's belief that they hold back on the gore- some scenes on CM look like ones Saw would reject."

 

Now compare Messer's interview with Matthew's interview on tonight's episode. Matthew actually respects the audience for having brains in their heads, and can imagine things with only the slightest hint. Whereas, Messer treats us as errant children who need everything spelled out for us by "mommy."

 

[MCatry]

http://zap2it.com/blogs/bones_castle_criminal_minds_svu_create_perfect_crime-2015-04

 

 

Please pay close attention to Erica Messer's answer to the question when to show and when to tell. I swear the outright bull crap that comes out of the mouth of this woman never ceases to amaze me. Although I don't know why it should, this is EM we are talking about.

And shame on Jim Clemente for choosing to be a total suck up and not wanting to do his job diligently. because if he was doing his job, a lot of this crap would have never passed the smell test, most notably that piece of garbage known as 200.

For me the most shocking part is when Messer state that they, the writers, consider themselves 'profilers'.

There's the mother of all evils: they are full of themselves to the point of no return.

That's why they cannot see (and won't see) how ridiculous their scripts are more often than not.

[zannej]

"So in depicting reality, it's more often than not that a female is a victim. But on this series, because we've been on for 10 seasons and over 225 episodes, we cannot stomach doing that every single week."

"It's not depicting reality so much anymore, because I would argue there are not many males who fall victim to serial crimes. But we on this show have done that, because we've been very aware that it feels too heavy on the female victim side."

 

Well, that explains a whole hell of a LOT. She doesn't like violence against women and decided to change the show from having more or less realistic depictions of violence to unrealistic because she can't stomach it-- it bothers her. Well, if it bothers her, then she's in the wrong line of work.

 

And Erica and her people saying "Oh my Gosh"..... Who talks like that anymore? She seems focused on what makes HER scared. I noticed her answers are so different from the other showrunners.... And then she blatantly lied because they *do* show the violence a lot of the time. She's so full of shit...

 

I also call Bullshit on Jim reading every script. I can't fathom that he would allow some of that crap to make it to production. I think she's just claiming that to try to make it seem more legitimate-- either that, or she gets his input and then ignores it.

 

I need to stop reading articles with interviews from Erica.. They always piss me off.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

"So in depicting reality, it's more often than not that a female is a victim. But on this series, because we've been on for 10 seasons and over 225 episodes, we cannot stomach doing that every single week."

"It's not depicting reality so much anymore, because I would argue there are not many males who fall victim to serial crimes. But we on this show have done that, because we've been very aware that it feels too heavy on the female victim side."

 

Well, that explains a whole hell of a LOT.

 

Other than that Erica is a maroon, you mean?

 

You know, I'm not involved in the entertainment industry, and I guess I have to be fair and say that its easy to play armchair writer/producer/whatever. OTOH, every time Messer opens her piehole anymore, I just know something ridic is going to come out of it, and she has not disappointed me. Why should the show not have some[ basis in reality, FFS? It's enough of a stretch to accept the notion that there are 817,000 serial killers roaming around, to say nothing of the idea that one team of FBI agents (and their families) would be repeatedly targeted by some of said serial killers and still be allowed to remain on active duty. I don't know how real federal law enforcement works, but I'm pretty sure it isn't like that.

 

EM just needs to be quiet, because it makes her sound dumb when she's yammering on about screen time equating ice cream and not depicting violence when anyone who actually watches CM these days is aware that there's a fair-sized chasm between what she says and what shows up in the finished product.

[normasm]

All respect to JC, but I'm thinking he's nearly as blind to reality as EM is anymore. He defended several plot divergences and whole stories that made a lot of us here howl derisively. I know the man has paid his dues as an actual profiler, but that alone does not imbue him with a lifetime pass for credulity.

 

I don't even know how hard it is to write episodic TV for a living, but I expect, to do it right, you need to always be checking your sources yourself, because it's easy for anyone to fall into patterns of not questioning what they knew 20 years ago. Myself included, of course.

[JMO]

Well, I don't usually get involved in these things.  But I feel like my intelligence has been insulted.  And I never take kindly to that.

 

I know it's all shades of gray, so I don't blame EM alone for the times when the show is inconsistent or downright disappointing.   There's no reason a writer can't choose to write better, or remain in canon, or research history/character traits/ pertinent facts---in spite of her, if not because of her.  And maybe she's just acting as the mouthpiece for a situation she can't change---who knows? 

 

BUT... one can't simultaneously admit to purposely straying from the reality at the heart of the premise of the show (male on female serial killers) and then defend the scripts by telling us that a former real life profiler vets each one.  Because his 'vetting' apparently doesn't return the script to a more reality-based premise.  If Jim Clemente is okaying scripts that are purposed as affirmative action programs for female serial killers, his 'vetting' counts for nothing.  Which, of course, throws into question his defense of episodes like (the awful) 200.

 

 

[normasm]

BUT... one can't simultaneously admit to purposely straying from the reality at the heart of the premise of the show (male on female serial killers) and then defend the scripts by telling us that a former real life profiler vets each one.  Because his 'vetting' apparently doesn't return the script to a more reality-based premise.  If Jim Clemente is okaying scripts that are purposed as affirmative action programs for female serial killers, his 'vetting' counts for nothing.  Which, of course, throws into question his defense of episodes like (the awful) 200.

Yes, ma'am

[SSAHotchner]

I call BS on Jim Clemente approving all the scripts, too, but he has sucked up to EM and JSB and defended some of their crap. I really lost all respect for him after he claimed that the script for 200 was believable. 

[Danielg342]

Wow. Thanks for the support...glad to know I'm not the only one outraged about this.

 

For me, there are a few takeaways:

 

1) Wholehearted agree that if Erica Messer isn't "comfortable" with violence against women then she should never have taken up the job in the first place. Full stop. This is a show that drew us all in with stories based upon real serial killers, the majority of whom where men targeting women. So, at the very least, we as an audience expect episodes where there's violence against women, and some people may actually tune in because they enjoy that kind of stuff (which is twisted, but as long as they're not doing it for real...). Plus it goes against the very nature of the show if one gender is exclusively shown as victims- this is Criminal Minds (not "Miss Killer" or "It's Raining Men" or some other show geared towards female on male violence), and criminals target everyone. So at the very least, to do this job, you need to be comfortable with the idea of women getting beaten and killed, because it's a reality that we as an audience at least expect.

 

There's nothing wrong, in principle, with Messer wanting to do a show where there's almost exclusively male victims, with females killing them and females rescuing them. She should just create her own show if she wishes to go with that premise, and not do it and on a show that's already got an audience with expectations about how the show will play out. Because, as we're plainly seeing, she'll just alienate the fans who are already there while failing to really pick up any new fans (who will see the older version and realize it's not what they were led to believe).

 

2) There isn't, also, anything wrong with the principle of having a "balance" of victims, and ensuring that you're not going with too many males or too many females- CM wouldn't be realistic in my mind if it featured an exclusive set of victims. The thing that Messer doesn't seem to understand is that it shouldn't be about having a "checklist" where the number of victims are tallied- it should be about the story first and then things like victim selection and perpetrators should organically come from that. People are not simply beans to be counted- everyone's got a story, including the victims, and it's the job of the writer to tell that story. That is ultimately what makes these episodes interesting- the story of how the victims and the killer(s) got entangled. Not, "we need male victims this week, write a story based around that." Fact of the matter is, if it isn't coming from the heart, then it shouldn't come at all.

 

3) The other showrunners seem to have a basic understanding that, in order to tell a great story, sometimes you need to flub reality just a little bit. I notice that Messer was the only one who didn't bring up DNA and yammered about how she's got people to ensure that her scripts are "real"- despite the fact she's got Garcia's magical computer with databases on things that there wouldn't be databases on, she's got a team of FBI agents who run around the country in a fancy jet and wantonly disregard local laws and protocols just to shoot up "guys who deserve it" and she's got an agent, JJ, whose learning curve is patently unrealistic. Messer should stop trying to pay lip service to "reality" and, like the other showrunners, admit that every now and then in order to create drama you need to do things that might not actually happen- all that matters is if people can buy what's happening.

 

She's got such a poor grasp of fiction that, frankly, it's mind-boggling how she even got considered for the showrunning job, let alone actually be able to hold on to it. It's one thing for her to blatantly lie about things being "real" on her show when they aren't, and it's another thing not to acknowledge things have to be like that. This is fiction- things are going to be blown out of proportion, simply out of necessity. Our day to day lives are never as dramatic as TV makes them out to be, and I think if they were, half the population would likely commit suicide because of it (because, let's face it- TV lives are depressing). So, as a fellow writer myself, I'll tell Messer that she should stop trying to achieve 100% realism- because she'll never achieve it. If she wants an entertaining show, anyway.

[Saje]

I think that any woman is uncomfortable when shown violence against women, and they should be, and not only women should be uncomfortable with that. I don't think that she shouldn't have signed on because of that, either. She's entitled and in the right to be uncomfortable about that. That said, her show features a new serial killer each week, so yeah, some of the victims are going to be women. 

 

What makes her a bad showrunner is her incorrect interpretation of what is good television. She's juvenile in her approach, she's inconsistent, and she excuses bad storytelling by favoring sensationalism. She's stuck in a rut. 

 

What she did say that I agreed with is that they couldn't stomach doing the 'tortured woman in peril' thing constantly, every single week. That there had to be some mixing up of the victimology.  

[Ganya]

She is is so far over her head.  Sitting in the same room with Warren Leight....she should not breathe the same air.  He wrote some of the most magnificent episodes of Law and Order, Criminal Intent, that were ever done on that series. 

[Danielg342]

I think that any woman is uncomfortable when shown violence against women, and they should be, and not only women should be uncomfortable with that. I don't think that she shouldn't have signed on because of that, either. She's entitled and in the right to be uncomfortable about that. That said, her show features a new serial killer each week, so yeah, some of the victims are going to be women. 

 

Maybe I should rephrase what I said. Of course, the general idea of violence against women- heck, violence against anyone- should be revolting to any reasonable person. That's not at issue, since I doubt even the people who do have shows with violence against women show that violence in anything other than a negative light.

 

What's at issue here is that Messer seems uncomfortable with having a show that features crimes against women. I'm sorry, but that's just not a tenable position if you're going to run Criminal Minds. The show, by its very nature, will have episodes where the crimes will be committed against women, and that has to be something the CM showrunner must be able to rectify. Obviously, you don't want to go too far over the top and you ideally will only show the violence that is necessary for the story to work, but, bottom line, if Messer wants to "run" CM, she cannot be reviled at the idea that she'll have cases involving female victims. They're a fact of real crime stories, and if she wants to replicate that world, well, she can't deviate from that reality.

 

It would be like someone taking over a show about a bakery being revolted that they have to actually depict cakes on air. Cakes are a big part of just about any bakery, and trying to pretend that they aren't does a disservice to anyone who enjoys that bakery. There's nothing wrong with shifting the focus to other kinds of goods that perhaps the cake people didn't showcase before, but, if you're going to showcase the bakery, you have to, at least, every now and then show off a cake.

[zannej]

I love when we have food analogies when discussing the writing. (yes, I'm fat).

 

I noticed that Erica never once referenced the journey of the victims the way some of the other writers did. To her, I think victims are just fodder.

 

As for Jim Clemente, he's had a tough life and I respect what he's done to bring down the bad guys, but that doesn't mean I agree with all of his opinions and assessments. I disagree with how he deals with trolls on Twitter, but its up to him to decide how to deal with people. I know one of the writers mentioned something about him saying they don't do the cognitive interviews right.. So, I call BS on Erica saying he approves of everything. I think he tells them what he thinks and then they do what they want regardless. Also, maybe the version that comes out on screen is not the version presented to him when he oversees it. but I do think its an exaggeration about it being *every* script. Maybe on twitter he can confirm or deny that, though. Plus, he also seems to defer to the writers when it comes to writing stuff because he sees them as the professionals and doesn't want to tell them how to do their jobs-- so he might let them pass certain things off as artistic license.

 

I agree that it shouldn't be a female victim every single week every single time, but the amount of male victims vs female victims as well as killers is out of whack. And I really think they have gone more to shock value than actual good storytelling.

[Droogie]

I love when we have food analogies when discussing the writing.

How about "crap sandwich"? The writers have tried to feed us a lot of those.

[Bookish Jen]

How about "crap sandwich"? The writers have tried to feed us a lot of those.

Or how about, "You can't crap on a cone, and expect me to call it ice cream."

[missmycat]

Learned this bit of information from a poster over at the IMDb.Apparently when it comes to online viewing, first time as well as rewatching, Reid episodes are by far the most popular. Unfortunately JJ does rather well too. So it got me to wondering if that didn't play a factor into her having been given so damn much screentime/ focus.

But if that is indeed the case, then why the hell does Reid continue to be ignored and neglected the way he has been, as far as any kind of centric episode/ storyline.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Learned this bit of information from a poster over at the IMDb.Apparently when it comes to online viewing, first time as well as rewatching, Reid episodes are by far the most popular. Unfortunately JJ does rather well too. So it got me to wondering if that didn't play a factor into her having been given so damn much screentime/ focus.

But if that is indeed the case, then why the hell does Reid continue to be ignored and neglected the way he has been, as far as any kind of centric episode/ storyline.

 

Way back in 2002, Joss Whedon stepped aside as showrunner of BTVS so that he could work on his new project, Firefly. Marti Noxon, who had been a co-exectuive producer, took his place. Like Erica Messer, Noxon had written episodes in the past, and she did a decent job of it. Nothing spectacular, but she was solid enough.

 

While its true that the character of Spike had been very popular prior to that, it wasn't until Noxon was running things and Whedon wasn't really around that he and Buffy began banging. Theories as to the reason for it abounded, one of the meaner-spirited ones being that Noxon had a crush on James Marsters and was thus trying to vicariously be Buffy. It didn't help that JM had given an interview at some point prior to that saying that "if your character isn't either fighting Buffy or fucking her, you're not going to get much focus." In case anyone is wondering, I haven't forgiven that crap yet.

 

As it relates to CM, social media in general is such a strange beast that its hard to discern what people are thinking when they post. I've tried to use Twitter and such, but it seems a bit like a lot of people screaming into the wind all at once, in the hope that whatever they're saying gets heard before its lost in the shuffle. I don't mean to denigrate anyone here who uses it, and I do adore Gubler's posts because they're just so Matthew, but as a whole I prefer places like this because its possible to have an actual discussion about things. If I'm being generous, I think most of Cook's fans are simply over-enthusiastic because they like her and/or JJ so much that they want to see her all the time. If I'm being not so generous, I wish they would calm down at least a little so that the ensemble cast can get some attention. One of the things that made Mr. Scratch such a good ep IMO is that characters who aren't JJ got to do things and figure things out. Without kung-fu fighting their way out of the situation. YMMV.

[Russet29]

As it relates to CM, social media in general is such a strange beast that its hard to discern what people are thinking when they post. I've tried to use Twitter and such, but it seems a bit like a lot of people screaming into the wind all at once, in the hope that whatever they're saying gets heard before its lost in the shuffle. I don't mean to denigrate anyone here who uses it, and I do adore Gubler's posts because they're just so Matthew, but as a whole I prefer places like this because its possible to have an actual discussion about things. If I'm being generous, I think most of Cook's fans are simply over-enthusiastic because they like her and/or JJ so much that they want to see her all the time. If I'm being not so generous, I wish they would calm down at least a little so that the ensemble cast can get some attention. One of the things that made Mr. Scratch such a good ep IMO is that characters who aren't JJ got to do things and figure things out. Without kung-fu fighting their way out of the situation. YMMV.

I think you can probably say that about most fans though. When an actor isn't prominently featured in an episode, that actor's individual fan base (particularly on twitter) makes a lot of noise about it, even if the prior episode featured that character heavily. However it does seem that AJC and MGG have the most vocal fan bases. And you're absolutely right about twitter. It's the worst, particularly when you read the responses to an actor's post. They're so often irrelevant and bordering on harassment. A couple weeks ago a fan asked Jim Clemente if SM was on set that day and JC said no. The fan then asked if he would be on set the next day and JC asked the fan if they ever stopped to wonder if it would be a security issue if everyone knew the actors' schedules. People are creepy when they're behind a keyboard.

[ForeverAlone]

There have been plenty of crew who have been very forthcoming about which actors are on set and when, so it is not surprising that people feel comfortable asking such questions. I have been able to track how many days each cast member works per episode, just by reading crew members' responses to questions like that.

[Russet29]

It's disturbing to know how easy it is to get that information. Of course maybe I'm just being paranoid because I watch this show too much.

[zannej]

There is also a twitter account that has access to filming schedules for some shows somehow and posts filming locations so people can go and gawk. This was how one of MGG's creepiest stalkers (chick actually went to his house in Las Vegas and knocked on his door but nobody answered and bragged about her plans to visit his house in California) got to meet him and get pics. Meanwhile, same creep was sending really abusive messages to MGG's then-girlfriend on Twitter. I think later on they started roping things off and Harry Bring passed notes to Matthew and let him sign things and then passed them back to the fans so that Matthew was relatively safe from stalkers.

 

I don't really like the character limit of Twitter-- and I despise the result of substitutions of numbers for words and lack of punctuation.

[Droogie]

I actually love Twitter -- I read that "Facebook makes you hate people you've known your entire life, and Twitter makes you love people you've never met." I agree. I don't tweet much; I mostly "favorite" and re-tweet, but I find it very interesting.

I really don't get stalking. I understand what it's like to really like someone, but to invade their space, and possibly make them uncomfortable and/or afraid? It's a mystery to me.

[Danielg342]

Twitter, Facebook and all other forms of social media are such strange beasts, ones that I'm not convinced the media knows how to handle. It amazes me that a few dozen or so people can speak their disapproval of a celebrity's post and the media reports it as an "outrage", conveniently forgetting the many tens of millions of users that have social media accounts along with the possibility that a good few of those accounts may be nothing more than "sockpuppets" (not to mention conveniently forgetting the actual demographics of social media, which skew towards the kind of people who are going to be "overly sensitive", for the lack of better words). Just because comments are visible and are prominent on one platform doesn't mean it represents the public's "true" reaction to a matter, if the public even feels justified in "reacting" to it.

 

I noticed that Erica never once referenced the journey of the victims the way some of the other writers did. To her, I think victims are just fodder.

 

That's what I think the real fault is- CM doesn't treat its victims with any kind of respect any more. They're just pawns used to show us the latest torture method the UnSub dreamed up this week, and the team reacts to this as if they've been asked to wash the dishes. The humanity of the show is just gone.

 

In earlier seasons, as much as we like to fault how many episodes focused on female victims, at least then the team reacted like they were people. There was always the constant question about "why these women", and what made them important to the UnSub. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think "victimology" has ever come up since Erica Messer took over, when it used to dominate the episodes of Edward Allen Bernero and Jeff Davis. The victims themselves might not have actually "done" much within the stories, but, at the end of the day, the show still treated them like people. There's also the many times Gideon and Elle commented on how the people they chased were "cowards" because they sought the weakest in society just to have a twisted sense of "dominance", as well as the many times the BAU got into arguments with the local police when the local police didn't want to deal with cases involving transients or prostitutes (like in "Legacy" or "To Hell...And Back"), because the BAU- rightly- reminded the locals that even "undesirable" lives are still lives.