The Bullpen

[SSAHotchner]

I've decided to no longer call Erica MESSer. It's just so rude of me. And I hate all the name calling whether it's in political punditry or Twitter wars among various celebs. I must admit, it could be due to the Nelson's Sparrow commentary Erica did with Kirsten. I thought Erica came across as rather pleasant. I'm sure she's not a horrible person. She has proved via Nelson's Sparrow and earlier scripts she helped pen that she can write compelling plots and solid characterizations.

 

Sure, Erica could be in over her head as show runner. But then again, I wonder if a lot of CM's direction is out of her hands. Perhaps, it is the suits that are making these despicable decisions regarding CM's recent direction. Why? Is it because they want to reach a certain demographic who aren't as concerned about good scripts and characterizations? Is it because recent fans are bigger fans of torture porn? Are the fans the suits are after bigger on social media? Who knows? I  just know I'm not part of a demographic that is considered "hot" by corporate overlords and advertisers, who let's face it, pay the bills and keep CM on the air.

 

That being said, writing as a skill has been greatly devalued in our society, probably a lot having to due do the rise of shitty bloggers, reality TV and even the most D-list of celebs getting book deals. So I shouldn't be surprised that CM's writing of late has sunk to low levels.

But I've read some good writing on forums. I've enjoyed the level of intelligence and the well thought out comments and (mostly) respect here, and previously on TWOP. It shows me that there are still some thinking people online. I enjoy Facebook because it allows me to keep up with my family and friends throughout the world, but, my word, are there some morons out there! 

[MMC]

But I've read some good writing on forums. I've enjoyed the level of intelligence and the well thought out comments and (mostly) respect here, and previously on TWOP. It shows me that there are still some thinking people online. I enjoy Facebook because it allows me to keep up with my family and friends throughout the world, but, my word, are there some morons out there! 

Speaking of social media, did anyone else besides me see where it was implied on both CM'S Facebook page and their official twitter account that Reid would be getting Morgan's office. All I can say is it is about damn time he was given his own office.Unless of course this is just a bunch of hype and they have no intention of following through with it.

[ReidFan]

wait what? I thought Hotch said it was given to something something Advisor (I can't remember exactly what he said) last night.

 

 

http://www.cbs.com/shows/criminal_minds/photos/1006292/7-things-you-didn-t-know-about-devil-s-backbone-/108728/moving-in/

Edited April 22, 2016 by ReidFan

[smoker]

Have you seen "Secret in Their Eyes" with Julia Roberts?

Original film is better and I've seen some promos only. Anyway, it was a bit boring, in my opinion. Although the remake could move things faster.

[Bookish Jen]

Just talked my friend into watching Criminal Minds! 

You are doing the Lord's work.

 

ETA: And clearly you must be guiding your friend to CM's golden years of yore, right?

Edited April 22, 2016 by Bookish Jen

[MMC]

Well now this isn't good news. Harry Bring seems more concerned than ever as to whether or not CM will get a season 12. I must admit to having mixed feelings.There is a huge part of me that feels like crying,but than there is another part of me who just doesn't gave a damn anymore.

Edited April 22, 2016 by MMC

[autumnmountains]

I'm thinking that he's probably trolling, intentionally getting fans riled up so that when season twelve is announced it'll have even more fanfare. :)

[ReidFan]

that's a complete 180 from his thoughts/posts of a couple of weeks ago. He's the one who eased my mind a bit back then, with his confidence that they'll get it done. They like the residuals too much :) I think  autumn's right, above, that he's just making sure we're all aware. He said he expected the renewal announcement just before the finale aired so, now is the time to make sure we're all noticing :)

[ForeverAlone]

You never can tell with Harry. He has definitely trolled the fandom in the past, which is why I tend to side eye a lot of his comments. If he is right, and any renewal hangs in the balance, I will say that it was a foolhardy choice to end season 11 on a cliffhanger, when they haven't done a REAL cliffhanger (I don't consider season five to a real cliffhanger) in seven years. 

 

As for renewal, I don't care either way. In the past, I would be on pins and needles, obsessively checking ratings to gauge whether or not it might be canceled. But I wouldn't care if they chose to cancel it now (which is different than hoping they cancel it). I will watch any future seasons if they air (as long as Matthew is still on the show), but the past several years of worsening story quality has lessened my obsessive love for the show. If they had a writing renaissance I would feel different about it, but that would require replacing most of the writing staff. And if they haven't done it by this point, I doubt they will do it in the future. 

[ReidFan]

wow....just rewatched Extreme Aggressor for the first time in ages. I'd forgotten how good that was. And the unsub was my very own saviour Andrew Jackson, what a great actor :)

 

really loved this episode, and I think had I seen it when it first aired, I probably would've been a CM fan from the beginning.

[Danielg342]

Season 11 is supposed to end on a cliffhanger? I thought they were going to wrap everything up in 11.22.

Well, if 11.22 is a cliffhanger and CM is done after that, it wouldn't be unprecedented- after all, they ended Suspect Behaviour on one.

[autumnmountains]

Season 11 is supposed to end on a cliffhanger? I thought they were going to wrap everything up in 11.22.

Well, if 11.22 is a cliffhanger and CM is done after that, it wouldn't be unprecedented- after all, they ended Suspect Behaviour on one.

From mini spoilers, it happens after a feel good family moment or some such

[SSAHotchner]

You never can tell with Harry. He has definitely trolled the fandom in the past, which is why I tend to side eye a lot of his comments. If he is right, and any renewal hangs in the balance, I will say that it was a foolhardy choice to end season 11 on a cliffhanger, when they haven't done a REAL cliffhanger (I don't consider season five to a real cliffhanger) in seven years. 

 

As for renewal, I don't care either way. In the past, I would be on pins and needles, obsessively checking ratings to gauge whether or not it might be canceled. But I wouldn't care if they chose to cancel it now (which is different than hoping they cancel it). I will watch any future seasons if they air (as long as Matthew is still on the show), but the past several years of worsening story quality has lessened my obsessive love for the show. If they had a writing renaissance I would feel different about it, but that would require replacing most of the writing staff. And if they haven't done it by this point, I doubt they will do it in the future. 

I'm in exactly the same frame of mind as you. Although, as much as I love MGG, I won't watch if Hotch doesn't come back. And I have no hope of them improving the writing staff as they just let someone with no writing credits whatsoever write an episode alone. 

[SSAHotchner]

wow....just rewatched Extreme Aggressor for the first time in ages. I'd forgotten how good that was. And the unsub was my very own saviour Andrew Jackson, what a great actor :)

 

really loved this episode, and I think had I seen it when it first aired, I probably would've been a CM fan from the beginning.

Extreme Aggressor is now my favorite CM episode. It was always a favorite, but through the years it has become my favorite. It was so well-written and I loved the visuals, especially the opening. All of the characters were interesting and you saw their skills right away, unlike now when they often seem interchangeable, or vanish part way through the episode. I can watch those early seasons over and over, but I barely remember any episodes beyond season 7. 

[ReidFan]

plus Andrew Jackson is all kinds of awesome :D

[smoker]

Season 11 is supposed to end on a cliffhanger? I thought they were going to wrap everything up in 11.22.

Well, if 11.22 is a cliffhanger and CM is done after that, it wouldn't be unprecedented- after all, they ended Suspect Behaviour on one.

 

I don't wanna jinx it, but even if the show is cancelled I think we'll get a proper finale, I am not saying a good finale, but some closure. I guess they could order a shorter season or even a double episode the same as The mentalist or CSI.

[MMC]

So according to Tvbythenumbers CM ties with Scorpion for 4th place in the L+SD ratings.However when it's dvr ratings are factored in,it moves up to 3rd place.Plus if you just count the dramas, CM ends up being in 2nd place behind NCIS.

[Clemgo3165]

Then why all the talk of cancellation? Is it expense?

[smoker]

this is for ReidFan and every Reid fan around :)

 

http://www.cbs.com/recommended/photos/1005769/17-quotes-that-made-us-fall-in-love-with-dr-spencer-reid-on-criminal-minds/

[Old Dog]

Pretty much all of those quotes are from the early golden years!

[ReidFan]

LOL.....saw it yesterday and 1. almost none of the photos are from the episode the quote is taken from. (I looked!) and 2. already made my reply... though he doesn't even need to open his mouth and say anything for me to fall completely in love with him, I just adored season 4, episode "Amplification" where he's in the decontam tent and says to Morgan "I'm about to get naked so they can hose me down. Is that really something you wanna see?" and of course Morgan gives him the 'I'm outta here' look, yet me and millions like me are literally screaming at the tv: "YES!! YES it is!!!!!"

Then why all the talk of cancellation? Is it expense?

a few weeks back, Harry mentioned that the big hold up is the battle between CBS who owns it and airs it and ABC Studios who produce it. This happened last time the production contract was up too. AFAIK, all of the main actors are already signed for the optional season 12. He said specifically the cast and crew were not the issue.

[autumnmountains]

I still think Harry is trying to get people riled up so that when season 12 is announced, people will be even more relieved. :)

[ReidFan]

I still think Harry is trying to get people riled up so that when season 12 is announced, people will be even more relieved. :)

oh absolutely. Keep CM uppermost on people's minds..... :) 

[Bookish Jen]

LOL.....saw it yesterday and 1. almost none of the photos are from the episode the quote is taken from. (I looked!) and 2. already made my reply... though he doesn't even need to open his mouth and say anything for me to fall completely in love with him, I just adored season 4, episode "Amplification" where he's in the decontam tent and says to Morgan "I'm about to get naked so they can hose me down. Is that really something you wanna see?" and of course Morgan gives him the 'I'm outta here' look, yet me and millions like me are literally screaming at the tv: "YES!! YES it is!!!!!"

a few weeks back, Harry mentioned that the big hold up is the battle between CBS who owns it and airs it and ABC Studios who produce it. This happened last time the production contract was up too. AFAIK, all of the main actors are already signed for the optional season 12. He said specifically the cast and crew were not the issue.

And when Dr. Kimura came in wearing a hazmat suit and Spencer said, "You look nice," I thought to myself, "Aww, Spencer, you're actually flirting!" Of course, he was flirting in his awkward yet charming sweetly dorkish way.

[Bookish Jen]

"Happy Sunday, my nerds!"

 

Hey, everybody! I think I found the perfect band to open for Spencer, Hold My Earrings.

 

Seriously, PTV-CM Unit, do you really think I could wait until Wednesday to post this little treasure?

 

[ReidFan]

current status: binge watching season one of CM, since the spousal unit has Nascar and then hockey and then baseball on the tv. Already watched: Compulsion, Won't Get Fooled Again, Plain Sight, Broken Mirror and LDSK. Skipped ahead to Soul Mates and Cold Comfort because I wanted to screencap the glorious Reid hair of those episodes (*wistful sigh*). Back to The Fox and Natural Born Killer. 

 

I might take a break later and watch Suburban Gothic and Life After Beth.......

[Bookish Jen]

Speaking of social media, did anyone else besides me see where it was implied on both CM'S Facebook page and their official twitter account that Reid would be getting Morgan's office. All I can say is it is about damn time he was given his own office.Unless of course this is just a bunch of hype and they have no intention of following through with it.

Yes. By now Spencer deserves his own office. He earned it, plus if he's like a lot of other introverts (and even some extroverts) a totally open work area probably makes him feel over exposed, like he's a cadaver on a slab. At least that's how I felt working in very open work places.

 

Damn, even that non-stop, overtly extroverted chatterbox, Garcia, has her own office!!!!

 

#GiveReidhisownoffice!

Edited April 25, 2016 by Bookish Jen

[ReidFan]

I don't see anywhere where it says Reid is getting Morgan's office.....

 

point me please?

[MMC]

I don't see anywhere where it says Reid is getting Morgan's office.....

 

point me please?

Unfortunately there is none.I meant to bring this up sooner,but it appears sadly I had jumped to the wrong conclusion after seeing this post on CM's Facebook page. But damn it all he deserves his own office.I suppose us Reid fans were asking for too much though.It was kind of foolish of me to have even entertain the thought Reid would be getting his own office.I just can't see him being worthy enough to obtain his own office, let alone Morgan's, in the eyes of Erica MESSer.

[ReidFan]

the link I left sends you to a page of script where Garcia and Jareau are talking about Morgan's office....and this scene didn't appear in the episode, so I think it got deleted.

 

There's still hope that it'll be Spencer's office :) I guess. 

[Bookish Jen]

"Happy Wednesday, my nerds!"

When unsubs go on Shark Tank:

[Bookish Jen]

On ‎4‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 10:48 PM, ReidFan said:

the link I left sends you to a page of script where Garcia and Jareau are talking about Morgan's office....and this scene didn't appear in the episode, so I think it got deleted.

 

There's still hope that it'll be Spencer's office :) I guess. 

Well, with the way Spencer has been treated lately, he'll probably never get his own office. Most likely, he'll lose his desk and get placed in a moldy cardboard box like a feral cat about to give birth to kittens.

And most likely, Eric Messer's BAU favorite, Golden Girl Ninja Barbie, JJ, will get her own office. Rumor has it the exterior of JJ's office looks like this:

[JMO]

Testing, testing....

Re: offices.  Rule number one----never give one up!  If your team owns an office, move someone in there ASAP, before it's given away!  If you can get an extra from another department, take it--which is what they did in procuring Morgan's office.  

On the other hand, they moved JJ out of her old office, and into the bullpen, when she became a profiler.  And then, inexplicably, per (the awful) '200',  left the office empty and untouched.  

If there is a rhyme or reason, it's attached to leadership.  So, if Reid were to be asked to step up as a leader, then he would get an office.  Otherwise, probably not.  Frankly, he's the best positioned of all of them to be able to maintain focus in the middle of a busy bullpen.  Absent the leadership question, looking solely at talent and ability, I would leave Reid where he is (not to mention that it's also where I can see him without doors and blinds in the way). 

I'm not surprised Garcia has her own space.  Can you imagine her computer works (and wires) sitting in the middle of the bullpen?

[autumnmountains]

I would hope he would get his own office. JJ still has one (per the scene in the awful The Forever People episode) and he's been a profiler much longer than she has been. Come on, show runners, show him as being worthy of an office especially since JJ apparently still has one.

[JMO]

JJ doesn't have an office.  It's called 'JJ's old office' because she now inhabits the bullpen. As of last sighting, her old office was uninhabited.

[ReidFan]

it was inhabited.....by a bunch of storage boxes :). Looks like my spare bedroom. 'Where should I put this box of <whatever>?" "Oh, just stick it in JJ's old office"

I wonder if the show runners ever regretted even giving Morgan an office. They rarely show anyone but Garcia in their 'office' anyway. Most of the BAU headquarters scenes seem to be 'everyone meet me in the conference room in five minutes' uttered to the assemblage in the bullpen....followed by the scene where they're all gathered at the round table and Garcia comes in to present the case.

[autumnmountains]

32 minutes ago, JMO said:

JJ doesn't have an office.  It's called 'JJ's old office' because she now inhabits the bullpen. As of last sighting, her old office was uninhabited.

I've only forced myself to watch that episode in full, once. I'll still believe she thinks of it as her own. Plus, and I could be wrong, but Reid said something like "I put the file in your office.". :)

[JMO]

I don't think anyone else can move into it, because it's still as messy as she left it.  Speaking as one who has spent the past few weeks packing up her office, and then unpacking it again.  Only tossed half of what needed it on the packing side, now need to toss the rest on the 'unpacking' end.

[ReidFan]

16 minutes ago, autumnmountains said:

I've only forced myself to watch that episode in full, once. I'll still believe she thinks of it as her own. Plus, and I could be wrong, but Reid said something like "I put the file in your office.". :)

she may think of it as her office, and Reid did say he left 'the file in your old office' but she doesn't use it anymore. She sits across from Spencer in the bullpen. The most recent time I can remember her being there was when she was munching saltines at the end of season ten, pulling open the drawer to get them when Reid walks up and says "not you too? Am I gonna have another godson?".....

Oh! and the end of whatever episode it was early this season, where Reid's calling his mom to tell her he's coming to visit, JJ very clearly just finished putting stuff away at her bullpen desk.

Pretty sure her old office is just the black hole of storage space now.

[Watermelon]

If it's anything like my job, they wouldn't give her an office if her rank or job didn't require one. Gotta keep things up for propriety's sake.  There was an office shuffle in my building and they moved us to an office with glass doors, only to remove the glass and put up drywall since only VIPs get glass.

 I could see them all callling the storage room JJ's office since that's what it used to be as an inside joke.

[ReidFan]

feel compelled to add though, if everyone thinks Reid needs to have a private space, I'd be more than willing to accommodate his needs here at home. O:-)

[Droogie]

I know Morgan had to fill in as Unit Chief, but I don't think I ever really understood why he needed an office of his own after that.  My brain is riddled with stuff right now that's blocking access to my CM history lobe.

I'm fine if Reid doesn't have an office, as long as no one who has less seniority than he gets one.  But I'd really like to see more of him showing what he's made of, especially since I think he's the logical choice to become Hotch's right-hand man.

Edited April 28, 2016 by Droogie
Typo

[autumnmountains]

1 hour ago, Droogie said:

 But I'd really like to see more of him showing what he's made of, especially since I think he's the logical choice to become Hotch's right-hand man.

Exactly.  Il

[ReidFan]

2 hours ago, Droogie said:

I'm fine if Reid doesn't have an office, as long as no one who has less seniority than he gets one.  But I'd really like to see more of him showing what he's made of, especially since I think he's the logical choice to become Hotch's right-hand man.

especially since Hotch is left-handed :D     O:-)

[Bookish Jen]

17 hours ago, ReidFan said:

especially since Hotch is left-handed :D     O:-)

You mentioned Reid and Hotch's hands, excuse me while I blush.

Edited April 29, 2016 by Bookish Jen

[ReidFan]

lol. Sorry Booky. Hands Hands HANDS!!!     there you go. I'm more of an eyes person myself....

 

 

>:-( argh! I have a lovely close up of eyes I'm trying to share. The file is 45 kb in size. And it won't let me upload it, it keeps telling me the file size limit is 275 kb. Considerably larger than the 45 kb in question. GRRRRRRR 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

6 hours ago, Droogie said:

I know Morgan had to fill in as Unit Chief, but I don't think I ever really understood why he needed an office of his own after that.  My brain is riddled with stuff right now that's blocking access to my CM history lobe.

Did Derek have an office after his stint as unit chief? I remember that both Strauss and Hotch insisted that he take Aaron's office, but I don't remember him ever using it after he stepped down.

[JMO]

Yes, I'm pretty certain we saw him still in the office after Hotch came back as unit chief.  I'd try to be specific, but I'm binge-watching season 1 of West Wing.  How I love an intelligently written show!

[ReidFan]

2 hours ago, JMO said:

  How I love an intelligently written show!

we get that occasionally with Criminal Minds....more frequently in the early years. 

[autumnmountains]

2 hours ago, Cobalt Stargazer said:

Did Derek have an office after his stint as unit chief? I remember that both Strauss and Hotch insisted that he take Aaron's office, but I don't remember him ever using it after he stepped down.

Yeah, a recent episode  (A Beautiful Disaster (???) showed Garcia and him cleaning it out.