Season 12 Spoilers, Speculation and Anticipation

[Bookish Jen]

14 hours ago, normasm said:

All I can say is, Matthew, are you listening? Your real life is calling your name. Listen and heed.

I adore Matthew's work in front and behind the CM camera. Spencer isn't just my favorite CM character; he is one of my favorite TV characters of all time! I don't want to be rude when it comes to Matthew's very personal career decisions, but perhaps it is time for him to throw in the CM tattered towel and call it a day. He's had a fruitful CM run. I'd love for him to stretch himself as an actor and take on challenging and fun roles. He's definitely capable of it. But most of all, I want Matthew to embrace his true love, film making, and direct some amazing feature films, ultimately winning an Oscar for Best Director!

And seriously, how many more CM characters do we need? Less is more, and apparently more is MESSer. Soon the BAU will become the crime fighting equivalent of the Duggar family.

Edited October 1, 2016 by Bookish Jen

[normasm]

36 minutes ago, Bookish Jen said:

Soon the BAU will become the crime fighting equivalent of the Duggar family.

Hahahahaha! Yes!

[MaliceMisel]

2 hours ago, Bookish Jen said:

I adore Matthew's work in front and behind the CM camera. Spencer isn't just my favorite CM character; he is one of my favorite TV characters of all time! I don't want to be rude when it comes to Matthew's very personal career decisions, but perhaps it is time for him to throw in the CM tattered towel and call it a day. He's had a fruitful CM run. I'd love for him to stretch himself as an actor and take on challenging and fun roles. He's definitely capable of it. But most of all, I want Matthew to embrace his true love, film making, and direct some amazing feature films, ultimately winning an Oscar for Best Director!

The problem is he isn't so good at directing as at acting. Well, just my opinion. Who knows? He could be the next Woody Allen or Wes Anderson?

But may be this was one of the reasons why Wes Anderson chose him rather as an actor than as an intern of directing.

[Lebanna]

Well, to be fair, a normal length movie often needs twenty or more actors in speaking roles, plus multitudinous extras, but only one director, so I'd say the odds of becoming a director are worse than becoming an actor. Having got so much experience and fame on Criminal Minds, I'd expect the leap from well know actor to successful director to be much easier for MGG now. I've seen various former TV actors go on to direct many different TV shows, movies etc, so it is completely possible to make that transition.

But I would guess that either Reid or Rossi might be leaving at the end of this year. I'd be sad to see either of them leave. I suppose it could also be that Prentiss is only staying for the year, or that the actress hasn't signed up for longer than that and it's up in the air depending on whether she's enjoying it enough to remain in the show. That might explain the larger cast.

Edited October 1, 2016 by Lebanna

[Bookish Jen]

38 minutes ago, MaliceMisel said:

The problem is he isn't so good at directing as at acting. Well, just my opinion. Who knows? He could be the next Woody Allen or Wes Anderson?

But may be this was one of the reasons why Wes Anderson chose him rather as an actor than as an intern of directing.

Interesting point. I think Matthew has grown as a director, but he still has ways to go. Sure, he was born with an innate talent, but what counts more is education and practice, practice, practice. Matthew can and should continue acting (he better!) but still practice, practice, practice beyond CM by directing other TV shows, videos, shorts, indie films, etc.

Then again, innate talent, education, and practice, practice, practice pretty much sums it up no matter what you do-directing, acting, cooking, writing, teaching, nursing, etc.

[Danielg342]

Just because Gupton is a regular and Esai Morales isn't doesn't mean that Gupton's character can't replace him. There are more than enough arguments that can be made saying that the role of Section Chief can be a regular role on this show, especially if he's just a supporting character and not a "main" one. I already said that I think the Section Chief should be the one handing them cases and perhaps should even be the "point man" in the media, to allow his underlings to focus entirely on the investigation, and that alone can be a "regular" role.

Furthermore, this is a show where we hardly see any jurisdictional issues. This is something else the Section Chief can take care of.

[ForeverAlone]

Just a minor point, but Matthew interned for Wes Anderson as a film making student and not as an acting student. The routes for him to direct are many, depending on if he would rather stick to TV or branch out into feature films.

As for the new character, it seems like the cast is expanding beyond a reasonable size. However if he is just a stop gap, because a current series regular is leaving, that is perfectly all right with me. From a realism perspective (not that realism has ever stopped this show), but it would make the most sense to let Joe go, since Rossi is WAY past the mandatory retirement age. On a personal level, I have no issue with Matthew leaving, since it would allow him to move on to different things.

[Danielg342]

It's not just limited to Rossi or Reid...JJ could be leaving, Prentiss could leave, Garcia could too (though I find this unlikely), even Tara...in fact, it could be likely it's Tara, because if she leaves, CBS would need- or feel they need- another black actor/actress to replace her. Hence Gupton.

[ForeverAlone]

Yeah, but Paget was just rehired and Aisha was made a series regular this season, so I can't see why that would happen if they planned on leaving. While AJ could leave, somehow I doubt it, and I can't see them bringing in another profiler if Kirsten was leaving. IF anyone is leaving (and we don't even know that is the case), the smart money is on Joe, with a smaller possibility being Matthew, in my opinion.

[Danielg342]

At the beginning of S10, I would have said Kate isn't leaving- why bring in Jennifer Love Hewitt for one season? That's what happened, though.

[ForeverAlone]

Jennifer only left because she got pregnant. She was supposed to stay longer than one season when she signed her contract. Aisha just became a series regular a month ago and Paget was just rehired to take over as unit chief.

[Danielg342]

4 hours ago, ForeverAlone said:

Jennifer only left because she got pregnant. She was supposed to stay longer than one season when she signed her contract.

Which still goes to show that anything can happen. Obviously, the network probably wouldn't want Aisha Tyler or Paget Brewster to leave after one year...but, things change. I'll remind you that A.J. Cook got pregnant at the exact same time as Jennifer Love Hewitt did and Cook came back, meaning Hewitt could have done it too. Without reviving an old argument, something happened- either on Hewitt's side or CBS'- that caused them to nix the second year of her contract.

I'm not sure what the terms of Tyler's or Brewster's contracts are, but one or the other may have told the network they may not come back next year, or only signed on for one year. Procedurals are very volatile...considering there is no unequivocal "star" of CM, I don't put anything off the table.

[Blackbird999999lol]

At first I thought ep13 is a tribute episode for TG/Hotch but Kirsten said  http://smashinginterviews.com/interviews/actors/kirsten-vangsness-interview-criminal-minds-star-on-garcia-cast-changes-and-giving-back ""...It shifted because everything got wacky with Thomas leaving, but that episode will be in the middle of the year basically."" < it was planned before TG got fired.

Also : i don't think it's a goodbye episode for MGG/AJ/JM. Erica Messer said ""The last thing we did was Shemar [Moore] leaving the show, so emotionally, we know that's a bar we're not going to hit""

I don't think she would say something like this if 1213 was MGG/JM/anyone 's last episode.

[MaliceMisel]

Ep13 won't be anybody's exit episode, which doesn't mean no one will leave after this season.

And I don't think it will be AJC. If it was AJC who decided to leave the show, TPTB would promote AJC WAY MORE NOW like they did for SM. Official accounts' posts would be dominated by AJC pictures and praising words for her even when Rodriguez was a newbie.

Also I doubt JM's leaving b/c JM seems to be quite happy on the set. He is willing to post the pics on the set, which ONLY MGG hasn't done.  

If the leaving one was MGG who is "white" and also one of original characters whom Messers hate, everything including MGG careless attitude to CM members and all the members' almost ignoring MGG's existence makes sense.

[MaliceMisel]

BTW what do you think this theory? 

http://piepeloe.tumblr.com/post/151171089521/reids-upcoming-arc

[secnarf]

1 hour ago, MaliceMisel said:

BTW what do you think this theory? 

http://piepeloe.tumblr.com/post/151171089521/reids-upcoming-arc

I don't really think there's anything in there that hasn't been discussed already here - it seems to be one of the more popular theories, because everything we have been told points in that direction. Although, it wouldn't be the first time EM and TPTB have misdirected the audience in this way.

I will reiterate something I said previously though - Jane Lynch is in episodes 11-12 as part of a "fun Reid story", not episode 13 - at least, based on the information that has been released thus far. And, episode 13 is supposedly a "big" one, and is co-written by EM and KV. I don't think all three episodes would be part of a Reid exit arc in the same way Morgan's three episodes were, since 11-12 are supposed to be "fun", but they could still be part of a lead-up to Reid's exit.

My theory - and I hope it's wrong - is that they kill off Diana Reid. If that does end up happening, I could see how that could lead to Reid leaving. I could also see a storyline where they don't kill off Diana and instead have Reid leave permanently, to go spend more time with her.

I have serious doubts that MGG would leave before the show is over, though. I don't want to re-hash that whole argument of would-he-or-wouldn't-he since we've done it to death already, but for me personally, I have doubts that he would.

I am a bit confused though - I know KV said in that article that things had been jumbled up a bit due to Hotch's exit, but one of the posts above states that the episode co-written by KV/EM is a "Halloween" episode. Since episodes 11-12 were supposed to air in early 2017, it seems pretty late for episode 13 to be a Halloween episode. Or am I missing something?

[JMO]

It would have been interesting had there been a Halloween episode, written by KV and EM, directed by MGG, and wrapping up the Mr. Scratch story line.  Alas.

If the KV/EM episode was supposed to deal with Hotch and Mr. Scratch, perhaps it had to be moved to accommodate for changes.  All conjecture on my part.

If MGG is leaving, I hope his character gets a fitting exit story.  Don't need a three episode arc, just a well-written story that maybe has a few subtle scenes as a set up beforehand.  I think that would have been a better idea for the Shemar/Morgan departure as well.  

[anna0852]

16 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Which still goes to show that anything can happen. Obviously, the network probably wouldn't want Aisha Tyler or Paget Brewster to leave after one year...but, things change. I'll remind you that A.J. Cook got pregnant at the exact same time as Jennifer Love Hewitt did and Cook came back, meaning Hewitt could have done it too. Without reviving an old argument, something happened- either on Hewitt's side or CBS'- that caused them to nix the second year of her contract.

I'm not sure what the terms of Tyler's or Brewster's contracts are, but one or the other may have told the network they may not come back next year, or only signed on for one year. Procedurals are very volatile...considering there is no unequivocal "star" of CM, I don't put anything off the table.

I believe that came down to each actresses personal preferences regarding stay-at-home-motherhood. Jennifer had gone on record that she wanted to stay home for the first year, like she did with her first. It's why they had her character do the same. AJC, on the other hand, seems to prefer being a working mom.

[smoker]

http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/09/criminal-minds-episode-1202-sick-day.html

sneak peek

and it seems there won't be Hotch in this episode. Rossi and Tara are already saying he's consulting something.

Did I misunderstand the press release or Hotch was suposed to be in episode 2? The incident happened while they were filming this episode, but it was said TG would be absent in episodes 3 and 4. His absent in the second episode was never implied, does it?

And they are adding Prentiss "scenes" in this promo too. Why?? It must be some subliminal master plan to... I don't know why... well, I do know, but I can't say it without disrespet, so I'll shut my mouth.

Edited October 4, 2016 by smoker

[autumnmountains]

On ‎10‎/‎2‎/‎2016 at 11:28 AM, secnarf said:

 

I have serious doubts that MGG would leave before the show is over, though. I don't want to re-hash that whole argument of would-he-or-wouldn't-he since we've done it to death already, but for me personally, I have doubts that he would.

I agree with this :-)

[JMO]

2 hours ago, smoker said:

http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/09/criminal-minds-episode-1202-sick-day.html

sneak peek

and it seems there won't be Hotch in this episode. Rossi and Tara are already saying he's consulting something.

Did I misunderstand the press release or Hotch was suposed to be in episode 2? The incident happened while they were filming this episode, but it was said TG would be absent in episodes 3 and 4. His absent in the second episode was never implied, does it?

And they are adding Prentiss "scenes" in this promo too. Why?? It must be some subliminal master plan to... I don't know why... well, I know, but I can't say it without disrespet, so I'll shut my mouth.

Maybe the Prentiss scenes are part of the story JJ's telling Will?  

The biggest challenge with 'newly-created flashbacks' is Reid's hair.  

[Bookish Jen]

On 10/1/2016 at 0:30 PM, normasm said:

Hahahahaha! Yes!

 

"The unsub was eventually found in Michelle Duggar's uterus."

As for Reid and "newly-created flashbacks" of his past season's treasure trove of hairstyles, I'm sure these wigs will be more of a hair don't rather than a hair do.

[secnarf]

3 hours ago, smoker said:

http://www.spoilertv.com/2016/09/criminal-minds-episode-1202-sick-day.html

sneak peek

and it seems there won't be Hotch in this episode. Rossi and Tara are already saying he's consulting something.

Did I misunderstand the press release or Hotch was suposed to be in episode 2? The incident happened while they were filming this episode, but it was said TG would be absent in episodes 3 and 4. His absent in the second episode was never implied, does it?

And they are adding Prentiss "scenes" in this promo too. Why?? It must be some subliminal master plan to... I don't know why... well, I know, but I can't say it without disrespet, so I'll shut my mouth.

Rossi and Tara said Hotch was consulting on the case that they will be working on - the one with the two missing kids. I don't think that means he's not in the episode at all. I wonder if it was re-jigged a bit since he they couldn't film all of his scenes in it. I don't know how much they were actually able to film, though. It makes a big difference if The Kick happened on the second day of filming or the last day of filming for this episode.

I didn't see the promo to see the Prentiss scenes you're referring to, but we know she'll be back as a regular and she's a really popular character, so it makes sense they would promote her.

The case reminded me a bit of the Homolka/Bernardo case. Not too sure why since there are several key differences just from that sneak peek, but something about the way JJ said that one was on her way to school and the other was on his way home from taekwondo reminded me of how Kristen French was abducted on her way home from school. I really hope it doesn't end up being like that case at all - that one is a bit too close to home.

I am curious as to what these memories of JJ's are, though. I'm looking forward to the episode, but if it's too similar to the Homolka/Bernardo case, I'm not sure I'll finish it.

[smoker]

1 hour ago, secnarf said:

I didn't see the promo to see the Prentiss scenes you're referring to, but we know she'll be back as a regular and she's a really popular character, so it makes sense they would promote her.

Sorry secnarf, I was commenting your post and  I've started seeing red, nothing to do with you or your opinion, of course. I disagree with their advertising techniques.

 

Agree she is coming back and that's important for several reasons. They would be stupid if Prentiss's return wasn't promoted properly. General promos for the season are perfect for that. And she will be in the next episode.

However, they mixed episode 1 and 3 and this time is even worse, because the promo looks really weird. In episode 2 promo, more than scenes, it seems there are images of Prentiss mixed between the scenes. It's ridiculous.

I think it's unprofessional and pathetic and not only because of Hotch (I would add low if that was the case). What about the rest of the cast? What about the other characters? Suddenly the show spins around Saint Prentiss?

Edited October 4, 2016 by smoker

[ReidFan]

OMG if this episode hinges on the Bernardo/Homolka case, I will have even more reason to twitch and not like it. Good god, that case was almost 25 years ago and it's still fresh in the minds of anyone who had a vested interest in it. For me, it was terrifying once he was arrested, my younger sister went to school with him for a couple years. One of the rapes happened on my aunt and uncle's next door neighbour's front lawn. My husband was a news reporter at the time and came home with all sorts of details which were, at the time, under a publication ban. The whole thing squicks me still, and the fact that this monster still draws breath irks me to this day.

*yikes* please no.....

[smoker]

1 minute ago, ReidFan said:

OMG if this episode hinges on the Bernardo/Homolka case, I will have even more reason to twitch and not like it. Good god, that case was almost 25 years ago and it's still fresh in the minds of anyone who had a vested interest in it. For me, it was terrifying once he was arrested, my younger sister went to school with him for a couple years. One of the rapes happened on my aunt and uncle's next door neighbour's front lawn. My husband was a news reporter at the time and came home with all sorts of details which were, at the time, under a publication ban. The whole thing squicks me still, and the fact that this monster still draws breath irks me to this day.

*yikes* please no.....

I don't know anything about the real case Reidfan, but it seems horrible. When these things happen close to home, they are even more territying.

[secnarf]

32 minutes ago, smoker said:

Sorry secnarf, I was commenting your post and  I've started seeing red, nothing to do with you or your opinion, of course. I disagree with their advertising techniques.

 

Agree she is coming back and that's important for several reasons. They would be stupid if Prentiss's return wasn't promoted properly. General promos for the season are perfect for that. And she will be in the next episode.

However, they mixed episode 1 and 3 and this time is even worse, because the promo looks really weird. In episode 2 promo, more than scenes, it seems there are images of Prentiss mixed between the scenes. It's ridiculous.

I think it's unprofessional and pathetic and not only because of Hotch (I would add low if that was the case). What about the rest of the cast? What about the other characters? Suddenly the show spins around Saint Prentiss?

I think it's similar to the issues people have with the promos for Supergirl promoting Superman. It's typical advertising - always needs to be taken with a grain of salt. That said, I haven't seen the promos in question, so I can't actually comment on them directly.

12 minutes ago, smoker said:

I don't know anything about the real case Reidfan, but it seems horrible. When these things happen close to home, they are even more territying.

You can read more about it online than you would ever ever want to know but a brief summary here - Paul Bernardo is a serial rapist - literally everywhere this guy travelled, there were rapes that didn't end up being attributed to him until years later. He was known as the "Scarborough rapist" after the area where this started, but I believe there are cases as far away as Hawaii. He married Karla Homolka (they went to Hawaii on their honeymoon), and together they drugged, raped and killed Homolka's younger sister, and kidnapped/tortured/killed two teenagers, Kristen French, who was walking home from school (my cousins were friends with her) and Leslie Mahaffy, who had come home after curfew and was locked out of her house. This was all in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
The case is pretty well-known for the legal controversy whereby Karla Homolka took a plea deal, despite evidence that she lied and participated quite a bit more than she had admitted - it turns out the two of them made video tapes of their crimes. Even after the tapes were discovered, the plea deal held, and she was released in 2004 or 2005 (can't remember which). She's now married with three kids.

I think CM has referenced them before - in one of the cases with a husband-and-wife serial killer team - and I think there was an episode that was very reminiscent of their crimes. The psychology of it is kind of interesting, especially for Karla Homolka, if you can get beyond the horror of the crimes.

It sounds like this episode will focus more on the victims than the unsubs, but I'm not so sure that's any better if it ends up taking bits from the Homolka/Bernardo case. Hopefully we'll just get more JJ-flashbacks. I'm aware this is an unpopular opinion, but I like JJ, and I will take anything over a storyline that reminds me of this god-awful case.

[autumnmountains]

48 minutes ago, smoker said:

I don't know anything about the real case Reidfan, but it seems horrible. When these things happen close to home, they are even more territying.

I hope Criminal Minds doesn't ever do a episode based on Kati and Kristen Lisk (1997) and their murderer. That was a case that hit very home as they were found in my county-and very close to the house of some childhood friends. The girls were 12 and 15 at the time, I was 12 so it really stayed with me.

Anyways, that's what I hope season 12 doesn't bring (that case, I mean). Sorry for the tangent.

Edited October 4, 2016 by autumnmountains
clarification :-)

[SSAHotchner]

I remember that case. I understand how you feel if you have a personal connection to the case, but as for me, I would rather CM write episodes based on real cases than bizarre killers and outlandish ideas like trying to put someone in the path of a tornado, turning someone into a human marionette, amputating one person's leg and attaching it to another person, etc., etc.  And I also prefer to remember that most of the serial killers are evil and not people we have to feel sorry for. 

[autumnmountains]

5 minutes ago, SSAHotchner said:

I remember that case. I understand how you feel if you have a personal connection to the case, but as for me, I would rather CM write episodes based on real cases than bizarre killers and outlandish ideas like trying to put someone in the path of a tornado, turning someone into a human marionette, amputating one person's leg and attaching it to another person, etc., etc.  And I also prefer to remember that most of the serial killers are evil and not people we have to feel sorry for. 

oh I understand and even agree. It's just that case has always stuck with me- I think it was because it was one of first times it really hit me of evilness. That and my friends I referred to were very traumatized. The movie, "Kiss the Girls," came out shortly after that and it was banned in the surrounding areas.

I agree that I hope season 12 brings realistic based on true cases.

[Danielg342]

6 hours ago, secnarf said:

I think CM has referenced them before - in one of the cases with a husband-and-wife serial killer team - and I think there was an episode that was very reminiscent of their crimes. The psychology of it is kind of interesting, especially for Karla Homolka, if you can get beyond the horror of the crimes.

"The Perfect Storm" (S02E03) was about Amber and Tony Canardo, who abducted girls and filmed and raped their murders, very similar to Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo. The only difference is that the Canardos sent the videos to the parents of the girls as a way of taunting them, and Bernardo/Homolka did not do that.

6 hours ago, SSAHotchner said:

I remember that case. I understand how you feel if you have a personal connection to the case, but as for me, I would rather CM write episodes based on real cases than bizarre killers and outlandish ideas like trying to put someone in the path of a tornado, turning someone into a human marionette, amputating one person's leg and attaching it to another person, etc., etc.  And I also prefer to remember that most of the serial killers are evil and not people we have to feel sorry for. 

I can understand the other side of the argument, but I would agree that I'd rather have CM "rip from the headlines" instead of crafting impossibly bizarre cases. I got into this show because I want to understand what makes serial killers tick and what compels seemingly normal people to commit absolutely horrific crimes, and for that to work, CM's got to analyze real killers.

I also believe it is absolutely wrong to "avoid" talking about certain crimes just because they're uncomfortable. In fact, it's because they're uncomfortable is precisely the reason we should be talking about them. How can we understand and deal with the issues a crime caused if we cannot accept the reality that it happened?

That's just in general terms.

As for the Homolka/Bernardo case itself, I was 11 when Kristen French was abducted, as the Bernardo and Homolka trials were a staple of my teenage years (and Homolka was released in 2005, after her twelve year sentence expired). I lived near Toronto when it happened, and I still live in the city. The case is as haunting now as I recall it then.

I perfectly understand why a CM case based on the Bernardos would be uncomfortable to watch, and I can respect those that choose not to. I'm not sure it's any more lurid than many of the other cases CM has covered (both based on real ones and ones they've made up) but, that's just me.

...but, I still remember when the movie about Homolka was about to be released and how there was this huge public backlash against it ever coming out. The only thing I could ever think of was:

1) No one's forcing anyone to see it

2) Like I had said before, we need to come to grips with the reality that the case happened instead of sweeping it under the rug. Denying its existence serves no one, and by failing to understand why it happened, we will unwittingly allow it  to happen again.

So, I hope CM will address it and address it well- as much as they can without retreading "The Perfect Storm". It's uncomfortable reality for many of us in Ontario- but, at some point, we're going to have to accept it.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Danielg342

[Bookish Jen]

The names Bernardo/Homolka sounded familiar to me so I looked them up. There aren't enough adjectives in the dictionary to describe how sickened and disturbed I feel by their criminal acts. How can two people be so evil? And I'm not surprised our Canadian unit is so affected to this day over their acts of pure evil. I'm from Wisconsin. The Dahmer case and now the Slenderman case does the same thing to me.

And wasn't their also a case in Canada where a madman shot up a classroom of college students, all female, hating them for being feminists or something? I went to an all woman's college and I remember that affecting me greatly.

[Danielg342]

46 minutes ago, Bookish Jen said:

And wasn't their also a case in Canada where a madman shot up a classroom of college students, all female, hating them for being feminists or something? I went to an all woman's college and I remember that affecting me greatly.

Ecole Polytechnique massacre by Marc Lepine on December 6, 1989 in Montreal...I was eight at the time. I still remember one day my Grade 2 teacher commented on it, saying how disgusting it was that someone killed women for simply being women. Those words and her reaction have stuck with me all these years.

[Bookish Jen]

1 minute ago, Danielg342 said:

Ecole Polytechnique massacre by Marc Lepine on December 6, 1989 in Montreal...I was eight at the time. I still remember one day my Grade 2 teacher commented on it, saying how disgusting it was that someone killed women for simply being women. Those words and her reaction have stuck with me all these years.

Thanks, but yet, not thanks, for giving me more of the particulars on this case. 

[secnarf]

Thanks, @Danielg342 - I do remember that episode with the Canardos and the videos. They clearly weren't too creative with the names. I don't remember if I finished watching it or not. Definitely never re-watched.

I think my biggest issue with the depiction of the Homolka/Bernardo case in the media is a portrayal sympathetic to the perpetrators - CM does that a lot with their stories, and sometimes it's warranted, but not in this case IMO. I also have some difficulty separating reality from fiction - I was learning about the Homolka/Bernardo case in my law class in high school - obviously focusing more on the legal aspects rather than the actual crimes - and went to read more about it, and stumbled on transcripts of the tapes. There was a Canadian publication ban on them, but that didn't affect American media. So, with the visual image from those transcripts, it is hard to watch a fictionalized version of the case without seeing those two girls. I will say though - no network show would dare to come anywhere close to showing what Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy actually endured. Also, I strongly suggest against looking for the transcripts online.

I don't necessarily think that CM should shy away from these stories, and I think it's interesting to learn about on an intellectual level, but for this particular case, it's not something I really want to see.

I think the issue with the movie "Karla" was that people worried that it sensationalized the criminals, without showing respect to the victims. I'm not sure I agree with banning it, even in the St Catharines area, but I don't think it was a very good idea to do the film in that way. Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. And frankly, I can never look at Laura Prepon the same way - I never saw the film, but the commercials were enough. The French and Mahaffy families did not object to the film after they watched it, though, so I suppose that is worth something.

Anyways, in general I do think it would be better for CM to take real-life cases and fictionalize them, but the key is to fictionalize them and do it well - not like the Pickton disaster. And ideally enough that the names don't sound the same (Canardo is like a mash-up between "Canadian" and "Bernardo"). I don't think they've done a very good job of making up their own original stories, though, because they're running out of ideas.

I wonder with this upcoming JJ story, if they could actually take this fiction-meets-reality issue and portray it using JJ. We know the episode centres on a case hitting too close to home for her - that can mirror when a certain episode of CM hits too close to home for the audience. I am (perhaps unreasonably) optimistic about this episode, because I think there's a lot of potential for it to be really good. It's hard to speculate without knowing exactly why it hits too close to home for her, though. If it's just because she's a mom of two kids, not even close to the same ages as the victims, I'll give it serious side-eye. This is not their first child abduction case since she had Henry. The flashbacks are (hopefully) promising, though.

[MaliceMisel]

I don't know where to post this.

I've just read the reviews of JJ heavy boring ep2. And I'm quite happy with wasting no time on the crap. I'm just wondering if stupid CBS wanted so much to replace Reid with JJ and a new guy, why hadn't they already fired him. Please CBS. Do it quick asap.

And I saw someone on imdb said that the actors presented on that fatal day might be MGG and JM.

If this was the fact, judging from recent posts of CM official accounts fully ignoring MGG, MGG isn't happy at all with TG's getting fired, but JM seems to be quite OK with it. MGG might hate a gag order. He posted almost nothing about his directing episode and seems to be way less interested in CM promotion.

I do wish he leaves after this season or after ep12.

[zannej]

I really really hope that they aren't going to try to have more spy arcs. The spy arcs have been some of my least favorite episodes. They just don't know how to write them believably. I didn't watch Alias when it was on and I don't want this show to try to mimic Alias.

There are already too many characters on the show. They don't need to be adding more. They are horrible at balancing screentime for the characters they have. They already can't let more than one character at a time react to the case. They feel the need to focus on just one and exclude the others-- which, IMO, is weak writing. Having other characters be affected doesn't have to take anything away from the character they want to feature. I'm ok with them featuring a character every once in awhile, but it really does seem like they give more focus to some than others. And it has gotten to the point that a lot of the main cast don't even really bother emoting when their characters aren't the ones featured. They just say their lines and move on. I miss in the early days when there was more of a reaction from all of them. We could see that it affected them in different ways. I also liked when more than one character was able to be concerned about someone. Like when Reid admitted he had nightmares to Morgan and he told Hotch. So both of them talked to Reid and Elle even gave him concerned looks at times. Now it feels a lot like they are just phoning things in and unless an interaction is scripted, we don't get those little subtle nuances anymore.

I don't know if that is the directing, or if the actors just don't feel it is necessary to do more.

[smoker]

22 minutes ago, zannej said:

I really really hope that they aren't going to try to have more spy arcs. The spy arcs have been some of my least favorite episodes. They just don't know how to write them believably. I didn't watch Alias when it was on and I don't want this show to try to mimic Alias.

There are already too many characters on the show. They don't need to be adding more. They are horrible at balancing screentime for the characters they have. They already can't let more than one character at a time react to the case. They feel the need to focus on just one and exclude the others-- which, IMO, is weak writing. Having other characters be affected doesn't have to take anything away from the character they want to feature. I'm ok with them featuring a character every once in awhile, but it really does seem like they give more focus to some than others. And it has gotten to the point that a lot of the main cast don't even really bother emoting when their characters aren't the ones featured. They just say their lines and move on. I miss in the early days when there was more of a reaction from all of them. We could see that it affected them in different ways. I also liked when more than one character was able to be concerned about someone. Like when Reid admitted he had nightmares to Morgan and he told Hotch. So both of them talked to Reid and Elle even gave him concerned looks at times. Now it feels a lot like they are just phoning things in and unless an interaction is scripted, we don't get those little subtle nuances anymore.

I don't know if that is the directing, or if the actors just don't feel it is necessary to do more.

It's some kind of perfect storm

[smoker]

TG is credited for episode 3 in the IMDB. There is a mistake or it's a bureaucratic issue.

[ReidFan]

imdb is the epicentre for screwups. They didn't have ANY of the regulars listed as cast for the season premier except for Joe Mantegna for a couple of weeks prior. All the guest stars were listed, but no Gubler Cook Vangsness Rodriguez Gibson Tyler. They finally fixed that the day before the episode aired. I've come to NOT depend on imdb until after the fact :)

[smoker]

2 minutes ago, ReidFan said:

imdb is the epicentre for screwups. They didn't have ANY of the regulars listed as cast for the season premier except for Joe Mantegna for a couple of weeks prior. All the guest stars were listed, but no Gubler Cook Vangsness Rodriguez Gibson Tyler. They finally fixed that the day before the episode aired. I've come to NOT depend on imdb until after the fact :)

thanks for the intel Reidfan!

[ForeverAlone]

Here is a short article about Paget's return this episode.

http://www.etonline.com/tv/200037_criminal_minds_paget_brewster_returns_for_good/

[Danielg342]

Is it just me or do the interviewees sound like they're overdoing the whole "praise our classmates" thing? What's with Joe Mantegna and the trade analogy?

[ReidFan]

11 hours ago, ForeverAlone said:

Here is a short article about Paget's return this episode.

http://www.etonline.com/tv/200037_criminal_minds_paget_brewster_returns_for_good/

aaaaaaaaand no Matthew....

3 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Is it just me or do the interviewees sound like they're overdoing the whole "praise our classmates" thing? What's with Joe Mantegna and the trade analogy?

well he's a huge Cubbies fan, and it's playoffs and his team is in so I get it :)

[Bookish Jen]

4 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

Is it just me or do the interviewees sound like they're overdoing the whole "praise our classmates" thing? What's with Joe Mantegna and the trade analogy?

It comes across like a total PR puff piece, not solid entertainment journalism, not that I expect any journalism credibility from Entertainment Tonight; they're a half-step up from the likes of TMZ.

56 minutes ago, ReidFan said:

aaaaaaaaand no Matthew....

well he's a huge Cubbies fan, and it's playoffs and his team is in so I get it :)

And the next time the Cubbies will be in the playoffs, Joe will be dead for about 50 years.

Sadly, no input from Matthew; perhaps he was busy darning his mismatched socks or brushing his teeth with pumpkin spice Neosporin.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Bookish Jen

[Danielg342]

3 hours ago, Bookish Jen said:

And the next time the Cubbies will be in the playoffs, Joe will be dead for about 50 years.

The last time the Cubs made the World Series was in 1945, two years before Joe was born.

[ReidFan]

8 minutes ago, Danielg342 said:

The last time the Cubs made the World Series was in 1945, two years before Joe was born.

LOL! sounds *almost* as bad as my Leafs....though I was alive last time they won the Stanley Cup... back on topic. I played with the cast photo. and. :-( *sniffle* removing Hotch, adding Prentiss

[ForeverAlone]

Here is an extended version of one of the sneak peeks. 

http://tvline.com/2016/10/11/paget-brewster-returns-criminal-minds-prentiss-season-12-video/

[ForeverAlone]

More Paget love. 

http://www.tvguide.com/news/criminal-minds-prentiss-return-paget-brewster

[normasm]

Gosh, how many times are they going to use that mouthing off about the newbie while the newbie is right behind him/her thing? What is this, the third time?

Edited October 11, 2016 by normasm