S12.E06: Elliot's Pond

[thewhiteowl]

Quote

When three children disappear while riding their bikes on the same path as a similar unsolved disappearance 30 years ago, the BAU team comes in to investigate.

[normasm]

OMG, the original big bad is portrayed by MGG's dad!

[secnarf]

Okay I clearly need to re-watch this episode.

I was really liking it until I got completely lost. I knew immediately (or rather, as soon as I saw the woman) that the two of them were the twins who originally went missing...but what happened? How did the three boys go missing? Or the twins, for that matter?

I feel like I missed a big chunk since the team arriving was totally out of nowhere for me.

And why were the twins left in the house after the kids were rescued?

 

Anyways, I liked the focus on the team, I can live with the convoluted way Hotch was written out, as fanfiction-y and contrived as it is, and I actually didn't feel like the team was too big in this episode. But the plot lost me.

Random thoughts:

-I know the thee kids went missing in present day, but I got a Stranger Things vibe from them that was hard to shake.

-As if the brother can just "switch to coffee" after decades of alcoholism and be completely fine. It doesn't work like that.

[ForeverAlone]

I am not one for sentiment, so I was not down with the multiple scenes reaffirming they are a "family". They just made me feel uncomfortable, especially Rossi and Penelope telling each other they love each other.  But that is my own personal issue with onscreen sentiment.

But the case was fun and interesting. Though it did raise questions how the hell the sheriff managed to miss a mental patient living in his community released in 1982 who had previously abducted a child. That seems like shoddy police work of the highest order, particularly when they were searching everywhere for the Hanson twins. I couldn't figure out if the twins were going be arrested at the end of the episode, but I hope they were.

[ReidFan]

I loved it.

The Hotch people won't be satisfied though.

[Danielg342]

I thought the Hotch stuff was over the top and very melodramatic. We didn't need several scenes of the team talking about how they're going to miss him and contemplating "what is he going to do now?" That opening scene should have been it.

Oh, and Emily? Maybe it's from knowing the spoilers, but her "will she be Unit Chief?" drama rang false.

Then Garcia and Rossi exchanging "I love you"'s? Rossi is old enough to be her dad, if not her granddad. Ick.

Also...big ups to the cameraman feeling the need to have closeups of Garcia's plunging neckline...pretty sure that was a "special guest star" tonight.

(How in the world did she get through the FBI's doors with that top on?)

...but...

I did like the case. Since the show is too chicken to kill kids, at least we got an interesting case surrounding them, instead of the usual "will we find them?" drama. Aliens and conspiracies and the twins who originally went missing being the ones who captured the new set of kids.

It was weird...it was fun...oh and Coop actually had a major role. Imagine that.

Episode Grade: B-. This could have been a bellwether episode...but too much Hotch stuff really dragged it down.

[Droogie]

14 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I thought the Hotch stuff was over the top and very melodramatic. We didn't need several scenes of the team talking about how they're going to miss him and contemplating "what is he going to do now?" That opening scene should have been it.

Oh, and Emily? Maybe it's from knowing the spoilers, but her "will she be Unit Chief?" drama rang false.

Then Garcia and Rossi exchanging "I love you"'s? Rossi is old enough to be her dad, if not her granddad. Ick.

Also...big ups to the cameraman feeling the need to have closeups of Garcia's plunging neckline...pretty sure that was a "special guest star" tonight.

(How in the world did she get through the FBI's doors with that top on?)

...but...

I did like the case. Since the show is too chicken to kill kids, at least we got an interesting case surrounding them, instead of the usual "will we find them?" drama. Aliens and conspiracies and the twins who originally went missing being the ones who captured the new set of kids.

It was weird...it was fun...oh and Coop actually had a major role. Imagine that.

Episode Grade: B-. This could have been a bellwether episode...but too much Hotch stuff really dragged it down.

I don't know how they could relegate Hotch's departure to one two-minute scene and call it a day after 11 years. I'm not happy with the way they have dispatched him but I think he merited the entire episode and not just a smattering of mention over the course of 42 minutes.  

And I really got the feeling that Rossi and Garcia declaring their love was intended to be a familial, phileo kind of love, rather than an "in love" love.  Granted, I thought it was treacly and OTT, but not intended to be seen as romantic.

Agreed that "the girls" were front and center -- they often are.  And hey, let's wear a ridiculous necklace to further suck you into the vortex that is Garcia's cleavage.  But MGG was the director.  Maybe we should take it up with him. :-)

Edited November 17, 2016 by Droogie

[autumnmountains]

I'll be honest, I really, really loved this episode :) 

[Willowy]

I didn't get to see it all, but will watch tomorrow to fill in the gaps.

Liked what I did see, except for the clinking of glasses yet again?  Okay I guess this time it was warranted, but still. I love the celebratory moments, but I could go the rest of the series without ever seeing them do that again. Looking forward to seeing the parts I missed!

[smoker]

I've not seen it yet... So they picked up the witness protection exit... Let's see if they are capable of leave Hotch alone by the end of the season. Basicaly, that's my main problem with it. A transfer or even an illness in the family would give me a mayor sense of safety for the future. Although, I guess they always can kill him while he's alive...

@ReidFan, I couldn't help thinking of Brooky ;D 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

There were pro's and con's to this episode.

Pros:

•   Team-bonding was great.  Rossi's speech at the end really spotlighted the core of the show, and that being the BAU coexisting as a familial unit.
•   The reunion of the Hensons (Hansons?) was one of the more memorable 'win' finishes to a CM episode in quite a while [from my own personal perspective]
•   Luke's best episode to date?  Just might have been.  Noticeable, but understated.
•   I admit to being a fan of Emily's, that said...  say or debate as you will, about how maybe either Rossi (because of age & combined years in the unit) or Reid (because of 'seniority') should be Unit Chief instead, but I have no problem with EP being given and taking the job.  Honestly, there wasn't a bad choice among any of them [aside from the two newbies, Lewis & Alvez].

Cons:

•   Is it just me, or does it seem like the only person who seems to be feeling the effects of not having Morgan around is Garcia, and that only because of her serious case of OTT melodramatics - usually with/around LA - on a weekly basis?  I thought this was supposed to be a storyline for Reid, as well, but other than a couple mentions of him, I've yet to see Reid showing even a hint of slight remembrance of DM.
•   I know it was an emergency storyline, considering everything BTS and TG's firing, but the whole 'witness protection' stuff?  That's going to make things seriously hard to believe when Mr Scratch goes after other members of the BAU team later.  Why them instead?  Why would he quit going after Hotch just because of a little complication like the WPP?  I guess they could play it off as going after the BAU to draw Hotch out, but even then.......

 

The "I love you"s were a tad dramatic, but helped sell the 'family' basis of the episode.  No real big problem with them.

A query about Emily's former life in London, the past few years - I missed the two 'guest spot' episodes she had in the past couple seasons - is Mark a new person 'introduced' this season?  Or has he been part of her established backstory from those past episodes?

[Willowy]

Emily and Mark were in bed together all snuggly wuggly in one of the previous episodes.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

2 minutes ago, Franky said:

Emily and Mark were in bed together all snuggly wuggly in one of the previous episodes.

Ah, thanks.  I was confused and wondering if he was a 'told about, but never seen' character or not.

[JMO]

The episode:

The kids were all pretty good.  Nice ‘Stand By Me’ vibe from the present-day set of them.  Grown-up male half of the missing twins looked like Gollum. Also borrowed from the '10 Cloverfield Lane' plot.

Very much enjoyed having the local cop front and center as much as he was.

Was this the first time Reid and Luke were paired up?  I would have liked to hear something that indicated Reid was reminiscing on Morgan during their ‘first time’.  Might have been hard to accomplish in the episode where Hotch disappears, seemingly forever.

I wonder if MGG used to make movies like the kids did on their cell phones, when he was younger.

Hotch:

Tara was in on the ‘Hotch-is-on-special-assignment’ conspiracy?!  Really?

If Hotch could send in a resignation, and have a conversation with the director, he could at least have sent personal messages to the others.

Reid recovered a lot more quickly than expected.  It was only seconds before he came out with, “This’ll be good, right?”  Given their history together, I would have expected the notion of Hotch being gone to take emotional precedence over Emily becoming unit chief.

Garcia / Rossi exchange---just no.  The exchange I would have welcomed would have been the conversation Reid and JJ had just before encouraging Emily to take the job.  I would so much rather have heard their conflict between the pain of losing Hotch and their pleasure at the prospect of having Emily back permanently, to hearing Garcia gushing at Rossi.  I also think it would have been appropriate for JJ, Reid and Emily to have discussed it all together.

Didn’t mind the idea of the toast, as an encouragement to Emily.  But the content….see below.

Witness protection leaves the door open for other things.  It’s just my guess, but, once upon a time, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Hotch make another appearance down the road.  Some ongoing circumstances probably make that a moot issue now.  So, another possibility is that he might still be killed off.  If it would mean an opportunity to do better by the character than they did last night, I would be okay with it.  No matter what TPTB think of TG, or certain fans, there are a lot of us who would like to see the character properly honored.  Didn’t happen in this episode.

The writing:

I realized, during the episode, that it’s not the ‘we are a family’ business that I dislike about EM’s writing.  It’s the concreteness.  In the past, the writing was cerebral, marked by restraint, and irony.  You could sense their emotions, and the relationships between and among the characters, because of the spaces in between.  That required investment by the audience, whose personal responses actually had a role in creating whatever sense of relationship was there.  But now, especially with EM, there’s no need for an audience, no need for taking things in and interpreting them.  We have the ‘and now, here’s the audience representative (Garcia) having your reaction for you’ and ‘now it’s time to be sentimental’ (Garcia/Rossi)  and ‘now it’s time to remember we’re really a family’ (because Rossi says so, in so many words).  It’s just so extraordinarily concrete and clunky.  I cannot imagine it is remotely interesting for the actors to play.

Performed nicely on the Reid-meter, for time and appearance, points off for all of the missed opportunities with content.

[normasm]

I was disappointed by the weak writing here. Even MGG couldn't make it very exciting, although he still had great atmospheric shots and interesting sets, as usual. And using photos of his dad as the elderly mental patient who kidnapped the original kids was hilarious (Mr. Gubler looked mighty dangerous and unsubby). But I knew even before the show got going that the 2 Hansen kids had to be the present day kid-nappers (duh). 

The sentimentality surrounding the absence of Hotch was a bit cloying, but I understand it's going to be really difficult saying goodbye to such a seminal character in a few scenes and a toast (at least it wasn't at Rossi's!). I'm beyond tired of Garcia whingeing and grimacing above yet another ridiculous necklace and an over-sharing of her cleavage. I was OK with her declaration of love to Rossi (it was not a romantic statement, Daniel, so it doesn't matter about the age gap, IMO). 

The use of the LEO was OK, but just how inept was he back then, and just how were the boys waylaid in the first place? That was never really explained. There were zero promised scares, with the exception of when the curly-headed boy went around the corner and the "ghost" rushed out. MGG had to pad with endless slow-mo scenes of people hugging their children/siblings (I almost expected Lily Kershaw to start warbling somewhere). And the weird guy with the blue truck and the Christmas tree decorated with the boys things? What was that all about?!

More troubling to my POV is the return of Emily to front and center. I love Paget, but the new/old Emily is just not very good. She's way too "sensitive" and has none of the toughness Emily had. None. And Reid is more robot-like, because they don't seem to care for him to have a reaction at all. Only Garcia gets to react, and that's to make faces and whine. Oh, well. Maybe in 2 weeks it'll be better. 

[JMO]

I agree with your whole post, Norm.  

Thanks for the reminder about the slo-mo scene.  It harkened back to the 'real-time' scene at the end of Mosley Lane, among the most touching of the series---but, in Mosley Lane, we spent substantial time with the parents, and felt their angst.  In this one, the parents were barely there, so it seemed oddly over-the-top to see the reunifications.  

I've also been wondering, for a few of this season's episodes, why the team was called in so early in the process.  I'm thinking of the family seemingly killed by a hit man, and then, the case from last night.  In Mosley Lane, JJ had to fight to convince the team to open the case, and there had only been eight years from the first abduction to the current one.  She had to fight again for the missing teens in North Mammon.  So why were they so readily called in on day one in this case, where the prior missings had occurred so long ago?  For that matter, why were they called in at all?

[BooksRule]

Quote

Nice ‘Stand By Me’ vibe from the present-day set of them.

That's a good example.  I didn't think of that, but I was thinking of 'The Goonies', mainly because the kid with the curly hair reminded me of Chunk.

I thought that the opening scene where they talked about Hotch was kind of stilted and clunky (it seemed like they were just reciting their lines while thinking 'let's get this over with so we can stop talking about the character and can move on').

The scene where the older brother was reunited with his siblings was very sad, although I agree that there was no excuse not to have found those kids way back in 1983.  They couldn't have been that isolated.

Edited November 17, 2016 by BooksRule

[Danielg342]

Maybe it's just me, but I got an icky vibe from the Garcia/Rossi "I love you". I realize it's not meant to be romantic, but Garcia's fawning isn't the kind of fawning you'd get between friends or even family members. Or co-workers, especially ones in the FBI.

Mind you, Garcia breaks so many rules about decorum that her actions in this episode weren't surprising. They were still grating.

As for her cleavage, I understand that Kirsten Vangsness has the ability to infuse her own style into Garcia, so I do not know how much I blame Matthew Gray Gubler about her clothes. Maybe about the close-ups, though.

Finally, about Hotch- I would have liked to have had some lines where the other characters reminisce about past experiences and maybe share a laugh about them. It shouldn't have all been tears and gloom.

[Bookish Jen]

I could pick Garcia's cleavage out of a line up at this point. 

[Lemur]

10 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I thought the Hotch stuff was over the top and very melodramatic. We didn't need several scenes of the team talking about how they're going to miss him and contemplating "what is he going to do now?" That opening scene should have been it.

Oh, and Emily? Maybe it's from knowing the spoilers, but her "will she be Unit Chief?" drama rang false.

Then Garcia and Rossi exchanging "I love you"'s? Rossi is old enough to be her dad, if not her granddad. Ick.

Also...big ups to the cameraman feeling the need to have closeups of Garcia's plunging neckline...pretty sure that was a "special guest star" tonight.

(How in the world did she get through the FBI's doors with that top on?)

...but...

I did like the case. Since the show is too chicken to kill kids, at least we got an interesting case surrounding them, instead of the usual "will we find them?" drama. Aliens and conspiracies and the twins who originally went missing being the ones who captured the new set of kids.

It was weird...it was fun...oh and Coop actually had a major role. Imagine that.

Episode Grade: B-. This could have been a bellwether episode...but too much Hotch stuff really dragged it down.

I thought they actually hit the nail pretty well on the head with the Hotch departure scenes.  I thought they did a good job of using Penelope as an audience surrogate for the whole situation both on screen and off.  And that's a platonic love, not a romantic one.   I agree it was an odd case, and as someone else said, there was a Stranger Things vibe to it, complete with the throwback to 1983 in the beginning and even the physical appearance of a couple of the kids.  That said, still trying to figure out why the feral twins were left back in the cabin (psychological reasons?) and what happened to the guy who'd snatched them (did I just completely miss that part?  Is he buried in the backyard?)

[ReidFan]

13 hours ago, normasm said:

OMG, the original big bad is portrayed by MGG's dad!

hilarious! 

[Princess Lucky]

3 hours ago, normasm said:

More troubling to my POV is the return of Emily to front and center. I love Paget, but the new/old Emily is just not very good. She's way too "sensitive" and has none of the toughness Emily had. None. And Reid is more robot-like, because they don't seem to care for him to have a reaction at all. Only Garcia gets to react, and that's to make faces and whine. Oh, well. Maybe in 2 weeks it'll be better. 

I agree, both Emily and Reid seem to be missing *something* from their earlier, I want to say incarnations, but I do love them both so I'm still enjoying them.

Luke keeps getting better, and I like him more and more every week. Now that he's been on for a few episodes, they've stopped making it an issue ("oh there's the new guy") and they're just treating him like a member of the team ("they" as in the writers), and he's fitting in just fine.

The Hotch resolution was the only option which would still serve the character. This way, he won't be able to contact the others, but not out of spite or disinterest. It'll be for everyone's safety. And he put his son first, over his job, which again serves the character well. All things considered, I liked it.

2 hours ago, Lemur said:

I thought they actually hit the nail pretty well on the head with the Hotch departure scenes.  I thought they did a good job of using Penelope as an audience surrogate for the whole situation both on screen and off. 

I agree. A character like Hotch can't be sent off with a "oh well, he's gone now, on to the next case!" but, because of the circumstances, they can neither use the actor nor can they focus too much on his loss (because writing-wise and story-wise it doesn't make sense, it happened suddenly and it wasn't the result of a character arc). So, again, all things considered, it wasn't bad.

This was a nice, creepy episode. I enjoyed it.

[ReidFan]

11 hours ago, smoker said:

I've not seen it yet... So they picked up the witness protection exit... Let's see if they are capable of leave Hotch alone by the end of the season. Basicaly, that's my main problem with it. A transfer or even an illness in the family would give me a mayor sense of safety for the future. Although, I guess they always can kill him while he's alive...

@ReidFan, I couldn't help thinking of Brooky ;D 

aw thanks :). I actually think this was very respectful of the Hotch character. They didn't kill him off. Although I doubt he'll be back, at least it lets the viewer know he's safe and alive and leaves the teeniest little possibility that he could be referred to again in the future.

along those lines, I wonder if they couldn't have done at least one brief little thing using Cade Owen, perhaps hugging a dark haired man (who we see from behind, and through some kind of trickery like the fakeDiana through the sprinkler scene in Entropy) and have him say something along the lines of "You did the right thing Dad, we'll be together. Safe now." or whathaveyou. *shrug* just a thought,

[normasm]

34 minutes ago, Princess Lucky said:

Luke keeps getting better, and I like him more and more every week. Now that he's been on for a few episodes, they've stopped making it an issue ("oh there's the new guy") and they're just treating him like a member of the team ("they" as in the writers), and he's fitting in just fine.

A character like Hotch can't be sent off with a "oh well, he's gone now, on to the next case!" but, because of the circumstances, they can neither use the actor nor can they focus too much on his loss (because writing-wise and story-wise it doesn't make sense, it happened suddenly and it wasn't the result of a character arc). So, again, all things considered, it wasn't bad.

Mr. Gubler looks so mean! 

Princess, I agree about liking Luke now that he's not "fitting in" or being accosted by a ridiculous woman in heels and kitty ears. In fact, I felt the same way once they did the same with Tara, she seems to have found her unique place on the team. 

And i do agree, that's about as good an acknowledgement as we could expect of Hotch's character. Still makes me sad.

[Bookish Jen]

1 hour ago, ReidFan said:

hilarious! 

I bet this is the look Matthew got from Daddy Gubler, when he was being naughty.

And it doesn't surprise me in the least that Daddy Gubler was totally up to posing for this photo. Look at who his son is!

[ReidFan]

2 hours ago, Bookish Jen said:

I bet this is the look Matthew got from Daddy Gubler, when he was being naughty.

And it doesn't surprise me in the least that Daddy Gubler was totally up to posing for this photo. Look at who his son is!

I wonder how difficult it was for such a professional man as John Gubler to be made down like this. He always looks so dapper and so happy in any photos, this is a testament to what a great actor he must be too :)

I can just see the photo shoot:

Matthew: Hey, dad just remember that  time when I was ten and I told Laura: "F&^% off you @$$hole!"

John: ***  (assumes above look)

Photographer: Holy crap! I totally see where he gets it!

[Droogie]

Great actor and a great sport!  The entire family seems like a rocking good time.

[ReidFan]

awwww

and the 'movies' the kids were making in this episode, according to cbs, 

http://www.cbs.com/shows/criminal_minds/news/1006182/8-things-you-didn-t-know-about-elliott-s-pond-/

were shot by Matthew. :) LOL he always gets so into the episodes he directs.

[Willowsmom]

 Witness Protection allows a lot of flexibility with the Hotch storyline. It's a good short notice choice allowing the final decision to be made later. If this show has a later, it's looking awful tired.

[Willowy]

Matthew's parent DO seem like good sports. His mom played one of the exercising ladies in Suburban Gothic. She was all bending over and shakin' her rump, lol. I wonder if he has any plans to use Laura and Gray in anything... and omg how cute would Hunter be?

[Droogie]

While I am growing annoyed at the champagne toasts and forced family moments, I do think the team genuinely loves each other (my dissatisfaction at how easily they dismissed Hotch notwithstanding). They are on call 24/7 and see every manner of horror together (things not readily understood by your average fellow citizen), which forges a bond.  I can buy that they are close in ways other types of co-workers are not generally (I'm thinking a kind of foxhole mentality). The writers need to stop forcing this fact on us, but I do think there is a strong, unbreakable bond that would not be readily understood by folks who aren't in that life with them.  I'd like to see more brotherly/sisterly annoyance and disagreements with each other.  And, I'll say it again -- regardless of regulations, I think it's very likely there would be/have been some intra-team dalliances.  Not desirable to all, perhaps, but realistic.

However, I believe the writers could convey this without shoving it down our throats -- no pasta parties and no more champagne.  Get an original idea.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Droogie

[Danielg342]

46 minutes ago, Droogie said:

While I am growing annoyed at the champagne toasts and forced family moments, I do think the team genuinely loves each other (my dissatisfaction at how easily they dismissed Hotch notwithstanding). They are on call 24/7 and see every manner of horror together (things not readily understood by your average fellow citizen), which forges a bond.  I can buy that they are close in ways other types of co-workers are not generally (I'm thinking a kind of foxhole mentality). The writers need to stop forcing this fact on us, but I do think there is a strong, unbreakable bond that would not be readily understood by folks who aren't in that life with them.  I'd like to see more brotherly/sisterly annoyance and disagreements with each other.  And, I'll say it again -- regardless of regulations, I think it's very likely there would be/have been some intra-team dalliances.  Not desirable to all, perhaps, but realistic.

However, I believe the writers could convey this without shoving it down our throats -- no pasta parties and no more champagne.  Get an original idea.

I would agree completely.

More to this point- I'd like to see more scenes like "the Star Puzzle" or "Physics Magic" or Morgan refusing to let Hotch drive, or Hotch sending flowers to Garcia on Gideon's behalf because those scenes do a lot better an illustration of the kind of family the BAU is than any contrived champagne toast.

Individual families, like individual people, have their own quirks. We need to see that.

[secnarf]

13 hours ago, JMO said:

Tara was in on the ‘Hotch-is-on-special-assignment’ conspiracy?!  Really?

I didn't get this at all? I thought she seemed surprised.

[Chaos Theory]

So I was right Hotch is running off to join the circus.  No?  Ok then.  I thought Hotch going off into Witnes Protection with his son made sense and brought his entire 11? Season storyline full circle.  He lost his wife because he chose his job he wasn't about to lose his son.  Of course the show wasn't going to kill Hotch the show doesn't run like that so having him chose his son was a good way to end his run.

Edited November 18, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Willowy]

Well, they did kill Gideon (although it took them 10 years), and they killed Strauss. I wasn't positive they weren't going to kill Hotch, as well. 

But this is nice, and who knows, Hotch may find ways to sneak them a message now and then. 

[senin]

First of all, general impression: I loved the episode, I really enjoyed it. 

I did get the "Stand by Me " vibe, and it also reminded me of some episodes: Mosley Lane was pretty obvious, but also Blood Relations, and Revelations (the cornfield... after this I'm not going near a cornfield ever again!!)

The quote said by Rossi at the beginning, was said by Hotch in one of the early seasons, maybe season 4... I will have to check it. I thought it was nice to have it remembered. 

Hotch's "goodbye" : It was as good as possible in the circumstances, IMO. He's chosen to be with his son, he's still there, somewhere safe (we hope!!) 

I have some more ideas to share, but my brain is refusing to cooperate, I have a bad cold and I don't seem to be able to write anymore, I'll come back any other time.

A note to Reidfan: has someone in CBS writing team been reading your stories?? At the beginning I thought of "Friends and Changes", but at the end , Rossi said something about many profilers going in and out of these doors and ... well, "Doors" is one of my favourites so....  are you sure you didn't help in the writing of this episode??

[ReidFan]

LOL re: cornfields, YES! you are so right. The ones you cited, also the episode where the strippers are found dead in the cornfields. Just *not* a good place to go.

People are mentioning 'Stranger Things' which I've never seen/heard of. I got a definite 'Stand By Me' and 'Goonies' vibe from the episode, as well as the obvious thought back to Mosley Lane.

And Senin, I hope they HAVE been reading my stories! Maybe something good might happen to Reid then! I should get on the Christmas story ASAP I suppose :-\

[Bookish Jen]

1 minute ago, ReidFan said:

LOL re: cornfields, YES! you are so right. The ones you cited, also the episode where the strippers are found dead in the cornfields. Just *not* a good place to go.

People are mentioning 'Stranger Things' which I've never seen/heard of. I got a definite 'Stand By Me' and 'Goonies' vibe from the episode, as well as the obvious thought back to Mosley Lane.

And Senin, I hope they HAVE been reading my stories! Maybe something good might happen to Reid then! I should get on the Christmas story ASAP I suppose :-\

Like you I got a "Goonies" and "Stand By Me" vibe. I also got a "Stranger Things" vibe even though I've never scene an episode. I also got a "Children of the Corn" vibe, too. Dang, that movie scared me when I was a kid.

CM-related I got a "Mosley Lane" vibe and some "Blood Relations" vibe, too. Gee, I can't imagine why.

I just might send a link of Daddy Gubler Scary Mofo pic to my friend Nora and ask "Hmm, who is this guy?" For some odd reason, she'll probably figure it out.

[normasm]

Hahahaha, Daddy Gubler Scary Mofo!

[Bookish Jen]

6 minutes ago, normasm said:

Hahahaha, Daddy Gubler Scary Mofo!

"F&^% off you @$$hole!" - the latest song from Spencer, Hold My Earrings!

On-topic: I thought the script was weak. Most of you summed up the plot holes and the WTFs? with your own comments. And yes, it was good to see Spencer and Luke work together, and work well. And at least Spencer isn't being childish and creepy about it...well, until he gives Roxy a set of encyclopedias.

[ReidFan]

3 minutes ago, Bookish Jen said:

 until he gives Roxy a set of encyclopedias.

that'd be one expensive way to paper train a dog!  (who's probably already trained anyway)

[senin]

21 minutes ago, ReidFan said:

LOL re: cornfields, YES! you are so right. The ones you cited, also the episode where the strippers are found dead in the cornfields. Just *not* a good place to go.

People are mentioning 'Stranger Things' which I've never seen/heard of. I got a definite 'Stand By Me' and 'Goonies' vibe from the episode, as well as the obvious thought back to Mosley Lane.

And Senin, I hope they HAVE been reading my stories! Maybe something good might happen to Reid then! I should get on the Christmas story ASAP I suppose :-\

YESSS, pleaseeeee!! 

More comments. I checked the quote, it was said by Hotch in Bloodline (4x13). 

The first time we see the kidnapped kids in the house, there is a scene in which we see the sneakers of one of them and part of his legs, it made me think of The Instincts/Memoriam (  in fact I thought the kid would be dead, so glad he wasn't) 

I liked the interactions among the different members of the team, I think we got a lot of different combinations, and I liked them all: the whole group, Reid/Luke, Lewis/Prentiss, loved the scene in the jet with Reid/JJ/Prentiss. 

The story was not perfect, of course, but I liked so many things that I can live with the ones I didn't like!!

[smoker]

3 hours ago, senin said:

First of all, general impression: I loved the episode, I really enjoyed it. 

I did get the "Stand by Me " vibe, and it also reminded me of some episodes: Mosley Lane was pretty obvious, but also Blood Relations, and Revelations (the cornfield... after this I'm not going near a cornfield ever again!!)

The quote said by Rossi at the beginning, was said by Hotch in one of the early seasons, maybe season 4... I will have to check it. I thought it was nice to have it remembered. 

Hotch's "goodbye" : It was as good as possible in the circumstances, IMO. He's chosen to be with his son, he's still there, somewhere safe (we hope!!) 

I have some more ideas to share, but my brain is refusing to cooperate, I have a bad cold and I don't seem to be able to write anymore, I'll come back any other time.

A note to Reidfan: has someone in CBS writing team been reading your stories?? At the beginning I thought of "Friends and Changes", but at the end , Rossi said something about many profilers going in and out of these doors and ... well, "Doors" is one of my favourites so....  are you sure you didn't help in the writing of this episode??

I know the feeling hahaha xP

Get better soon senin!!

[Danielg342]

2 hours ago, senin said:

More comments. I checked the quote, it was said by Hotch in Bloodline (4x13). 

Which quote is that?

[senin]

The  one Rossi says at the beginning, when they are flying in the jet  "the strength of a family, like the strength of an army, is in its loyalty to each other". 

[Bookish Jen]

2 hours ago, ReidFan said:

that'd be one expensive way to paper train a dog!  (who's probably already trained anyway)

Then we can call it a set of encyclo-pee-dias. But yep, by now Roxy is probably trained.

[Droogie]

4 hours ago, ReidFan said:

LOL re: cornfields, YES! you are so right. The ones you cited, also the episode where the strippers are found dead in the cornfields. Just *not* a good place to go.

People are mentioning 'Stranger Things' which I've never seen/heard of. I got a definite 'Stand By Me' and 'Goonies' vibe from the episode, as well as the obvious thought back to Mosley Lane.

And Senin, I hope they HAVE been reading my stories! Maybe something good might happen to Reid then! I should get on the Christmas story ASAP I suppose :-\

You must go to Netflix post-haste and watch Stranger Things.  Luckily, you'll just be one season behind.  There definitely was a ST vibe in this episode.

Incidentally, i saw a review of EP on a site called I think Criminal Minds Fans Blog on Tumblr that I thought was in such poor taste, regardless where you fall on the Gibson-as-aggressor spectrum.  There were a couple of disparaging remarks about Thomas Gibson as a person that I felt had no place in a review of the episode.  Some fans weren't thrilled with the way his absence was explained, and that's fine (or should be).  A review should state whether the episode was effective and leave out editorial comments.  We can dislike the way Hotch's exit was handled -- that doesn't make us part of the #NHNW crowd.  The one positive I can glean from it is that I don't think the site gets much traffic.  

[normasm]

Ditto, Droogs

[Willowy]

Huh. There weren't any disparaging remarks about Thomas in the review, that I was able to find. Someone did comment below regarding him personally, but I didn't see Thomas insulted in the review. Maybe you can point out what you meant, Droogie? Regardless, I liked the review. :)

[JMO]

1 hour ago, Droogie said:

You must go to Netflix post-haste and watch Stranger Things.  Luckily, you'll just be one season behind.  There definitely was a ST vibe in this episode.

Incidentally, i saw a review of EP on a site called I think Criminal Minds Fans Blog on Tumblr that I thought was in such poor taste, regardless where you fall on the Gibson-as-aggressor spectrum.  There were a couple of disparaging remarks about Thomas Gibson as a person that I felt had no place in a review of the episode.  Some fans weren't thrilled with the way his absence was explained, and that's fine (or should be).  A review should state whether the episode was effective and leave out editorial comments.  We can dislike the way Hotch's exit was handled -- that doesn't make us part of the #NHNW crowd.  The one positive I can glean from it is that I don't think the site gets much traffic.  

Went and looked at it, Droogie.  I was surprised to see a negative comment about someone who wasn't even in the episode.  Don't see what place it had in a review.