Criminal Minds Analysis: Profile The Show

[MCatry]

Some of you were saying that Gubler did a lot of acting without words. Well, I just counted his lines:

19 lines and a total of 304 words. And yet he was memorable.

[zannej]

You know those tests they do for female characters to test the quality (and not just quantity) of their screen time? I wonder how something like that would apply to Reid on this show. LOL.

[MCatry]

You know those tests they do for female characters to test the quality (and not just quantity) of their screen time? I wonder how something like that would apply to Reid on this show. LOL.

I didn't know such a test even existed...

[zannej]

I didn't know such a test even existed...

Someone I follow on Tumblr posted about it a few times. It's called the Bechdel Test.

[Danielg342]

Someone I follow on Tumblr posted about it a few times. It's called the Bechdel Test.

Ah, the Bechdel Test...for those who are unaware, the test is this: a work “passes” if it has at least one scene with two females in it where they talk about anything other than a man or men in general. Sounds simple enough, but, according to bechdeltest.com- which evaluates films and adds the requirement that the women in the film must be named- only 56% of films pass the test, with a lot of the big Hollywood blockbusters failing the test.

Now, there's some debate about how to evaluate a TV series- some say only the whole thing counts, others a season and still others say you evaluate a show episode by episode. I'd say if you do the test for CM, episode by episode is the best choice- that way you can control for things like changes in the direction of the writing, for instance.

Personally, I think the Bechdel test is silly- it's no indicator of how sexist a work really is (you could have a movie where a man kidnaps two women, forces them to endure tons of sexualized torture (with a small scene where there's a lull in the torture where the two women talk about lilacs or something) only for a man to save the two women at the end), but that's a rant for another day. I'd actually be curious how CM does in this regard, especially for this past season, where I feel the feminism is so excessively blatant.

I'd also be curious to know how many victims were of either gender, and how many episodes were ones with omnivores, solely male victims and solely female victims. I'd also be interested in knowing how many UnSubs were men, groups or women.

[MCatry]

I am done with season nine.

And I must say I actually liked some tiny bits of some episodes. Maybe I should do a video with those fragments, so I can watch them when it pleases me without having to re-watch some of the worst ones.

Anyway, after watching all those hours of video, I realised that JJ's season was not based only in her pulling out a gun and being at many arrests. The worst part is not that, at all. It's the presence in interviews (of victimis, of relatives of victims, of unsubs, of unsubs's acquaintances,...), the presence in crime scenes, morgues and police stations. Still, here are the results:

I combined the results provided earlier for the episodes 17-24 and the ones I watched (and yes, I did see the 200 again).

Times an agent pulled out a gun:

Morgan, 27

JJ, 24

Rossi, 19

Blake and Reid, 18

Hotch, 17

Times an agent participated actively in an arrest (not just standing there, away from the action, as suggested by the previous count)

Morgan, 14

JJ, 13

Blake, 7

Hotch, 5

Rossi, 4

Reid, 3

I've been toying ŵith the idea of working out a full database to analyse the show, including a number of categories. I am still thinking about how to make it easier to tabulate, because before starting taking the data I need to be absolutely sure about what it means every category I state in the base. But I am working on it.

Edited February 1, 2015 by MCatry

[Old Dog]

Someone give MCatry the medal now!

[normasm]

I think a separate episode category ought to be whether or not an episode has bookends, and i think we should define bookends as action that mostly or only happens within the teaser intro and the outro, with little to no reference to them within the episode. For instance, the episode where a towel-clad Morgan comes out of Garcia's shower in the intro, she feels a little squicky here and there throughout the episode, and then, at the end, we have the other bookend of Morgan, Kevin, and Plum Sauce. Agreed?

Another category that would be easy to discern when watching early season episodes, such as: who came up with the key element that completed the profile and told the team who the unsub was? Early on, it would usually be either Gideon or Reid, but it could also be Hotch, Morgan or Elle in the old days. This might be tougher than I think, but wouldn't it be fun to try, even if we argued?

Edited February 1, 2015 by normasm

[SSAHotchner]

Someone give MCatry the medal now!

And some ice cream.

[whitespace]

Great job MCatry :)

I like the suggestions normasm made.

Let me know if I can help you with anything!

[MCatry]

Well, I just finished counting seconds, and here are the results for Hero Worship. I combined the times for both unsubs and their victims. I didn't think it was worthy to separate them. And I didn't include the recap, because these were scenes already counted in Nelson's sparrow. 

 

Unsubs and Victims, 14 minutes and 47 seconds

Reid, 14 minutes and 11 seconds
Morgan, 13 minutes and 11 seconds
Rossi, 12 minutes and 59 seconds
Kate, 12 minutes and 10 seconds
JJ, 10 minutes and 58 seconds
Hotch, 10 minutes and 56 seconds
Einstein, 2 minutes and 27 seconds
Garcia, 1 minute and 16 seconds

 

Two conclusions: This episode had a really even screentime for the main characters (of course I am excluding Garcia from that group, and I would be glad if she never again is shown for more of two minutes)

And for me at least, Einstein managed to be even more annoying than Garcia in just one appearance,

 

One final note: this episode was shorter than the other ones. Normally, an episode with titles included reaches 42 minutes. This one just got 39 minutes and 52 seconds. I think they could have use those two extra minutes, but maybe they ran out of ideas?

Edited February 10, 2015 by MCatry

[MCatry]

Figures for Scream

 

Unsub, 17 minutes and 23 seconds
Kate, 11 minutes and 20 seconds
Morgan, 9 minutes and 20 seconds
Rossi, 9 minutes and 5 seconds
JJ, 8 minutes and 5 seconds
Hotch, 6 minutes and 57 seconds
Reid, 6 minutes and 4 seconds
Garcia, 4 minutes and 46 seconds
Kate's family, 4 minutes and 19 seconds

 

Total real duration of the episode (all scenes including the recap, but without standard titles)
38 minutes and 47 seconds

CM keeps getting shorter and shorter...

[normasm]

You're amazing, MCatry!

[zannej]

I think Hanelle mentioned that they had to cut some of the violent scenes out and came up short and had to put the phonecall scene with Chris (Kate's hubby) back in. 

[Old Dog]

A prime example that it is now The Unsub Show! And I thought episodes were supposed to be 42 minutes?

Thanks for doing that MCatry - you're a star!

Edited February 15, 2015 by Old Dog

[Droogie]

I think Hanelle mentioned that they had to cut some of the violent scenes out and came up short and had to put the phonecall scene with Chris (Kate's hubby) back in.

I figured that might be the case. They probably end up well over 42 minutes a lot of the time and then have to cut a scene or two that end up putting the episode under.

[MCatry]

I figured that might be the case. They probably end up well over 42 minutes a lot of the time and then have to cut a scene or two that end up putting the episode under.

It really doesn't matter. If the episode would have 42 minutes, it will have twenty minutes of unsub, which doesn't appeal me at all, nor does CM any good. They didn't cut any team time, suspense, intelligent dialogues... Just unsub. So now I gues I am ok with those almost 39 minutes.

[normasm]

I love the opening BAU scene of Fisher King part 1: From Elle and Morgan chatting in the break room, the camera tracks their conversation back to the bullpen, wheels around to them sitting down at their desks, catching Reid hurrying into the bullpen to get his things and say goodbye, pans over to the staircase as Hotch comes down, says goodbye, wheels back over to Morgan and Elle, then Gideon comes down the other stairs and walks out the door! All one shot with little tidbits about each character. 

[amensisterfriend]

So we were just doing this in the Psych thread, and it's too much torturous fun not to reintroduce here as well: How would you guys currently rank the nine full seasons from your favorite to least favorite, no ties allowed? Have your rankings changed over time? And if you could save just 3-5 episodes from each season, which would you pick? 

[missmycat]

So we were just doing this in the Psych thread, and it's too much torturous fun not to reintroduce here as well: How would you guys currently rank the nine full seasons from your favorite to least favorite, no ties allowed? Have your rankings changed over time? And if you could save just 3-5 episodes from each season, which would you pick? 

All I can say so far is that I now rank season 6th higher than I use to. I now find the totally lack of JJ a breath of fresh air. That isn't to say it'll ever become a favorite of mines. And while I am in no ways a Seaver fan nor will I ever be, in many ways I am actually finding her more tolerable than the JJ of today.

[SSAHotchner]

All I can say so far is that I now rank season 6th higher than I use to. I now find the totally lack of JJ a breath of fresh air. That isn't to say it'll ever become a favorite of mines. And while I am in no ways a Seaver fan nor will I ever be, in many ways I am actually finding her more tolerable than the JJ of today.

I hear you, MMC, but I still hate not only the Seaver character, but the silly spy arc with Prentiss and then all those episodes (with the exception of Hanley Waters - I just love Hotch in that one) where Seaver is the only female. It was just dismal. 

 

I actually rank season 7 above 8 and 9. We still had Prentiss and there are probably a third of the episodes that season that I liked. 8, to me, was the worst season. There may have only been 2 episodes in that season that I'd watch again. 

 

I know we've done this before, but I rank the seasons from best to worst:

 

1

4

2&3 (tied)

5

7

6

9

8

 

Season 10 may end up to be higher than 8 for me, but I'm not going to decide until I've seen the whole season.

[Old Dog]

My ranking is:-

4

1

3

2

5

8

7

6

9

 

10 is looking to move in front of 7 so far but I will wait and see. Nothing could be worse than the dreadful Season of JJ! I still haven't bought the season 9 dvd's even though the price has come right down because of 200 and the Ninja.

6, 7 and 8 are pretty interchangeable really - not much to really love. I put 8 at the front of those 3 episodes only because we actually saw more of Reid in it even though his arc was poorly done.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Old Dog

[amensisterfriend]

2&3 (tied)

 

Not allowed!!! (Just kidding ;)) 

 

I'll go with:

 

S1

S4

S2

S3

S7

S5

S6

S8

S9

 

But S1 and S4 trade places with ridiculous frequency. Objectively, I think S4 is the better season, but I'm a little more emotionally attached to S1. S1 has a disproportionate amount of my favorite Hotch, Hotch/Reid and Gideon/Reid moments. Honestly, a lot of it comes down to whether I'm feeling like Gideon is fascinating and compelling or just aggravating and whether I'm more in the mood to 'spend time with' Elle or Emily...if only they had been on the show at the same time! (I know, I know...this is why fanfic exists!)

 

S2 is creeping higher and higher up the list for reasons I rambled about in other threads. I was actually thisclose to ranking it second. S3 is consistently awesome with very, very few skip-worthy episodes for me, but it just happens not to have all-time favorite episodes of mine...and I just can't with Reid's S3 hair ;)  

 

S7 is a definite step (and a pretty large step at that) below those golden first four seasons for me, but it actually has a few surprisingly compelling, engaging cases for me and more episodes I'm likely to rewatch than S5. S5 is too grim and melodramatic for me with the Hotch/Haley/Jack stuff, and just happens to have surprisingly few cases that I enjoy. Also, I loathe Reid's S5 hair. There's a definite pattern forming here: when in doubt, I tend to prefer the season where Reid's hair is a bit shorter and more tamed. Not that I'm a shallow viewer or anything. ;) 

 

...the remaining seasons aren't really worth commenting on (aka whining about!) more than I already have except to say that I've always held the UO of preferring Seaver to JJ but dislike S6 for a whole bunch of other reasons and that S10 ranks above S8 and S9 for me so far...if only by default! 

 

The 3-5 episodes I'd save from my top four seasons:

 

S1: Compulsion, Broken Mirror, LDSK, Derailed, The Popular Kids 

S2: Fisher King II, North Mammon, The Last Word, Sex Birth and Death, No Way Out

S3: Doubt, Identity, Lucky, Birthright, 3rd Life,  Damaged

S4: Angel Maker, Instincts/Memoriam  (yes, I'm cheating and counting these as one!), Masterpiece, Zoe's Reprise, Conflicted 

 

 

...argh, this was torture. I could all too easily vote to save at least 10-15 more from each of these seasons, especially S1, S2 and S4! 

[Droogie]

 I put 8 at the front of those 3 episodes only because we actually saw more of Reid in it even though his arc was poorly done.

I can't rank them. There is always a tie somewhere. I completely agree with you about S8. Reid had an actual arc, and he was magnificent in it, But I loathe"Zugzwang" and will never ever watch it again. I can barely tolerate the other episodes that reference it. It was every kind of wrong.

[ForeverAlone]

I am fine with Zugzwang up until the final minute. Now I just watch it and get angry that the writers deliberately decided on this ending. It was completely unecessary and wasteful.

[normasm]

I have a problem with Zugzwang because the writers/runners chickened out on tying in Maeve with the Replicator, which cheapened both story lines IMO. I agree with Forever that the last 22 seconds of the episode make me mad.

[ForeverAlone]

I honestly think they had a different conception of the season finale, and for some reason they decided to make it Blake centric. They must have had some sort of idea for the finale, because Breen really hinted that the Maeve story would be a major point in the finale. I would love to know what the original idea was, and WHY it was changed.

[MCatry]

Season finales since Messer

7- JJ's family in peril, then JJ and Will marriage.

8- Blake in peril.

9- JJ everywhere (interviews, action scenes, turning points) Garcia saves Reid and Blake feels guilty and finally leaves.

10- Probably it will be all about Kate and her family.

I think it's safe to assume Messer doesn't give a damn about the wonderful male cast she has.

[amensisterfriend]

Random thoughts from recent rewatching:

 

In addition to the other reasons this show went south, I think it was a surprisingly ENORMOUS mistake for them to drop the idea that the team members had distinct niches, roles, areas of expertise, etc. It was never all THAT firmly defined, but one reason I find myself loving the first and part of the second season (to the point where I'd now name that stretch of the series as my "best"!) is that you had a far clearer idea of the different, distinct strengths that each team member contributed: Morgan was the obsessional crimes expert and an expert in physical combat; JJ was the media liaison, skilled at communicating with the various players involved and the public at large but NOT a profiler; Garcia was a tech specialist (not absurdly omnipotent like she became later on!); Elle specialized in sex crimes and was sensitive to women's issues; Hotch was the firm leader and brilliantly efficient administrator; Gideon was the experienced expert in profiling; and Reid was the quick thinking genius with particular talents for geographic profiling, linguistics, etc.  whose own experiences with his mom also gave him a lot of insight into mental illness.

 

I didn't realize how much this aspect of the team and the overall show was a true "best" for me until it mysteriously evaporated! When Emily first appeared, it looked like she'd be used as an expert in different languages and cultures, but by S3 or even earlier she and the rest of the team had become just sort of generically, similarly awesome at everything a particular episode required. It's like they all became watered down Reid Lites, for lack of a better way of putting it. And while I'm a JM/Rossi fan, IMO he doesn't really exude that same 'Original Recipe Profiler/Uniquely talented in this particular field!!' intellectual expertise that the admittedly exhausting Gideon did to me.

 

As much as I personally like S3 and S4, I'm guessing that people who started watching in those seasons would have been hard-pressed to name what any of the characters' 'specialties' or even unique strengths and skills were, as aside from Garcia and *sometimes* Hotch, they all started to play more or less the same role, trading somewhat awkwardly written exposition so that the writers could show every member supposedly contributing before all inevitably coming up with the same sort of ideas irrespective of the particular case and topic. In so many CM episodes, you could just as easily have nearly any of the characters uttering nearly any of the other characters' lines, which is generally not a sign of quality writing! 

 

Even back in S3-S4 while the cases and overall tone of the show were still pretty awesome and compelling, it starts to feel to me like the team members all have the EXACT same strengths and (unrealistic lack of!) weaknesses and that pretty much any person of above average intelligence could readily fill in as a BAU agent since none of them other than Garcia and sometimes Reid seemed to offer any unique knowledge or expertise.  And in S5 and beyond, where the cases themselves became markedly less compelling and the writers seemingly ran out of profiling-related insights to share and opting for torture porn instead, the generic similarity of the team members' skills, strengths and even personalities is increasingly problematic IMO. Which makes it a "worst" for me :) 

Edited March 14, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[normasm]

Random thoughts from recent rewatching:

 

In addition to the other reasons this show went south, I think it was a surprisingly ENORMOUS mistake for them to drop the idea that the team members had distinct niches, roles, areas of expertise, etc. It was never all THAT firmly defined, but one reason I find myself loving the first and part of the second season (to the point where I'd now name that stretch of the series as my "best"!) is that you had a far clearer idea of the different, distinct strengths that each team member contributed: Morgan was the obsessional crimes expert and an expert in physical combat; JJ was the media liaison, skilled at communicating with the various players involved and the public at large but NOT a profiler; Garcia was a tech specialist (not absurdly omnipotent like she became later on!); Elle specialized in sex crimes and was sensitive to women's issues; Hotch was the firm leader and brilliantly efficient administrator; Gideon was the experienced expert in profiling; and Reid was the quick thinking genius with particular talents for geographic profiling, linguistics, etc.  whose own experiences with his mom also gave him a lot of insight into mental illness.

 

I didn't realize how much this aspect of the team and the overall show was a true "best" for me until it mysteriously evaporated! When Emily first appeared, it looked like she'd be used as an expert in different languages and cultures, but by S3 or even earlier she and the rest of the team had become just sort of generically, similarly awesome at everything a particular episode required. It's like they all became watered down Reid Lites, for lack of a better way of putting it. And while I'm a JM/Rossi fan, IMO he doesn't really exude that same 'Original Recipe Profiler/Uniquely talented in this particular field!!' intellectual expertise that the admittedly exhausting Gideon did to me.

 

As much as I personally like S3 and S4, I'm guessing that people who started watching in those seasons would have been hard-pressed to name what any of the characters' 'specialties' or even unique strengths and skills were, as aside from Garcia and *sometimes* Hotch, they all started to play more or less the same role, trading somewhat awkwardly written exposition so that the writers could show every member supposedly contributing before all inevitably coming up with the same sort of ideas irrespective of the particular case and topic. In so many CM episodes, you could just as easily have nearly any of the characters uttering nearly any of the other characters' lines, which is generally not a sign of quality writing! 

 

Even back in S3-S4 while the cases and overall tone of the show were still pretty awesome and compelling, it starts to feel to me like the team members all have the EXACT same strengths and (unrealistic lack of!) weaknesses and that pretty much any person of above average intelligence could readily fill in as a BAU agent since none of them other than Garcia and sometimes Reid seemed to offer any unique knowledge or expertise.  And in S5 and beyond, where the cases themselves became markedly less compelling and the writers seemingly ran out of profiling-related insights to share and opting for torture porn instead, the generic similarity of the team members' skills, strengths and even personalities is increasingly problematic IMO. Which makes it a "worst" for me :) 

I'm just quoting your whole post because it's brilliant!

[amensisterfriend]

Normasm, thanks for the compliment---it made an otherwise difficult week! 

 

I'm trying to pick my current 5-10 'best'---or, more accurately, personal favorites even if they're not objectively the 'highest quality' episodes. (For example, Revelations and 100 are both objectively great episodes, but it's too hard for me to actually watch them!) It's forever changing based on my mood and whether I'm feeling more inclined to hang out with Elle/Gideon or Emily/Rossi, but at the moment I'd go with:

 

1. Compulsion (it was my first episode and therefore one I'll always have a huge attachment to...plus, I love when there's some great profiling and some mystery as to who the Unsub is!)

2. Broken Mirror

3. Derailed (Such a terrific Elle episode...and Reid episode...and Elle/Reid episode :) Even if we had to pick just 2-3 episodes, this one would make my list)

4. Fisher King (I normally don't love 'team members in peril' episodes of my crime dramas, but this was our first and arguably best encounter with the wonderful Diana and Reid/Diana relationship! Great moments for nearly every team member here) 

5. Aftermath (painful in some ways, but so compelling, a treat for those of us who love the Reid/Elle dynamic...and those of us who like good cases. And Reid in glasses. :)) And can I count Boogeyman here too, as I always think of these as a two-parter?! That one has a creepily compelling case as well, and I adore Hotch and Elle's goodbye.  

6. Sex, Birth and Death

7. Lessons Learned (The case isn't a favorite of mine, but I so adore Emily here and her interactions with Reid and Gideon on the plane.)

8. The Angel Maker 

9. The Instincts/Memoriam 

10. Zoe's Reprise

 

 Needless to say, they're in chronological order because listing them in order of preference would be pretty much impossible :) For the record, I could very easily have picked at least 15-20 more that I very often love as much as these, but I like giving myself painfully difficult, albeit pointless, challenges :) 

[amensisterfriend]

Season 4 may be the 'best' season, and I do love Emily and Rossi, but whenever I rewatch S1 I realize that it's the season to which I'll always be most sentimentally attached. Ironically, I actually feel like the team members' professional roles, individual personalities and their relationships with one another were better defined back in that very first season than at any time since. It makes things a million times more realistic and interesting to me. For so many seasons now, they've all been on more or less the same blandly friendly terms. Back then, Reid/Morgan had a relationship that was clearly different from, say, Reid/Gideon or Morgan/Gideon, which was very different from Gideon/Hotch...etc. Elle was clearly closer to Reid and Morgan than to JJ, and while I'm usually all for closer TV female friendships, it felt realistic to me that in any group 1) some people just click far better than others and 2) I can see how Elle and JJ are two people who wouldn't really click. 

 

Beyond that, the profiling, psychological insights and overall sense of suspense were all just so great in S1, even when we knew the identity of the Unsub---there was a freshness and energy that I'm not sure they ever fully recaptured. There was effectively chilling darkness, but also wonderful moments of natural humor and joy...as opposed to painfully forced "we're FAMILY!" scenes :) 

 

There were a few definite clunkers, but even those have some rewatch-worthy moments. Oh, and the secret shipper in me adores Elle/Reid...but I swear that's only one of MANY reasons to adore that first season :) 

Edited April 17, 2015 by amensisterfriend

[Bookish Jen]

I'm just quoting your whole post because it's brilliant!

 

I concur!

[MCatry]

He drunk before the whole drug thing but after that he had food while everyone else has alcohol. I'm assuming he took sobriety really seriously.  He has wine at Rossi's when Emily comes back but shit I'd break sobriety if my friend faked her death, although that's just speculation as to why he stopped drinking/ it's seen less. 

Edit: Also in the game he says addictive stimulants/substances aren't good for him or something like that. I might be remembering it completely wrong though.

I always assumed it was Gubler the one that attended to Rossi's party. That scene is so out of character from acting to wardrobe. Not to mention that the whole scene was poorly conceived...

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I always assumed it was Gubler the one that attended to Rossi's party. That scene is so out of character from acting to wardrobe. Not to mention that the whole scene was poorly conceived...

 

And since the ridiculous pasta party was just on yesterday, it struck me that it was Hotch who told Rossi that Reid was angry and frustrated, and that a gathering might be a good idea. Given that Aaron and JJ were the ones who kept the secret of Emily being alive, it seems particularly jarring that he wasn't more.....not sensitive, necessarily, but less in a hurry to facilitate an end to the friction. He might not have been nipping at Spencer's heels like a cocker spaniel, (hi, JJ!) but WTF would he think of "cooking lesson" was going to solve everything?

[zannej]

The pasta party was just so contrived and unrealistic. I noticed Reid had wine then. Times I remember Reid drinking alcohol after he got off drugs (in no particular order): 

1. Pasta party

2. JJ's wedding

3. Wake for Strauss

 

And wasn't he drinking at some other event at Rossi's house? I can't remember. I think it was 4 times, but my memory has really been going. It seems to be wine every time, so I don't think he shuns drinking, but he probably only drinks in moderation.

[Bookish Jen]

The pasta party was just so contrived and unrealistic. I noticed Reid had wine then. Times I remember Reid drinking alcohol after he got off drugs (in no particular order): 

1. Pasta party

2. JJ's wedding

3. Wake for Strauss

 

And wasn't he drinking at some other event at Rossi's house? I can't remember. I think it was 4 times, but my memory has really been going. It seems to be wine every time, so I don't think he shuns drinking, but he probably only drinks in moderation.

When I think of canon Reid, I tend to think of coffee, not wine.

 

Other then we "whine" when Messer screws him over again (rimshot)

[ForeverAlone]

Just because Reid was addicted to narcotics does not mean he has a problem with alcohol. I don't think he is a big drinker or anything, but he obviously occasionally imbibes.

[zannej]

Yeah, its true that some people who were addicted to other drugs are told to avoid alcohol as well. Some people can't handle it and others can.

 

And I know what you're talking about in the Criminal Minds game by Legacy Interactive... In Case #2 the nurse flirted with Reid and asked if he wanted to get a drink and he said :

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Oh now I wasn't saying that at all! I just know some people that avoid all addictive substances even though they only had a problem with one and in the game I think someone offers him a drink/asks to go out for a drink and he says something about avoiding addictive substances/stimulants(?). Does anyone know what am I talking about? I feel like I'm fabricating this memory now.

 

It is true that some people who use or have used drugs don't drink because their addiction issues are that strong, or just that they've chosen their particular poison and don't deviate from that. In the movie Trainspotting, Robert Carlyle's character was the only one not hooked on heroin, but on the flip side he was a violent, unpredictable alcoholic who picked random fights with total strangers out of plain meanness.

 

As for Reid, as was said upthread he does imbibe but only occasionally. It is, however, worth noting that he declined any sort of narcotics in Amplification. Dr. Kimura offered him something to ease his discomfort just before the anthrax infection got worse, and he very firmly told her he didn't want anything.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Cobalt Stargazer

[Droogie]

I don't think Reid has an addictive personality, per se. His addiction was forced on him, and so he now fears revisiting that feeling in any manner -- although I think the situation is so far removed from him at this point that he could receive appropriate painkillers if needed and he would be basically OK. He probably doesn't have negative thoughts about the occasional drink with friends in a pleasant setting, but at the same time, he probably fears any loss of control.

[zannej]

I don't think Reid has an addictive personality, per se. His addiction was forced on him, and so he now fears revisiting that feeling in any manner -- although I think the situation is so far removed from him at this point that he could receive appropriate painkillers if needed and he would be basically OK. He probably doesn't have negative thoughts about the occasional drink with friends in a pleasant setting, but at the same time, he probably fears any loss of control.

Good point. In fact, I think what happened with Reid was more that he was trying to numb the emotional pain since he couldn't forget and he had no idea of how to make it go away. But he learned to deal with it over time.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I don't think Reid has an addictive personality, per se. His addiction was forced on him, and so he now fears revisiting that feeling in any manner -- although I think the situation is so far removed from him at this point that he could receive appropriate painkillers if needed and he would be basically OK. He probably doesn't have negative thoughts about the occasional drink with friends in a pleasant setting, but at the same time, he probably fears any loss of control.

 

Oh, I agree that he doesn't have an addictive personality, and Amplification only happened a couple of years/seasons after the Hankel situation. However, Proof took place in the seventh season, and when he tells JJ that he thought about going back to Dilaudid, it was precisely because he was in emotional pain due to Emily's "death". He can absolutely handle social drinking in the company of friends, and I'm sure that he can take painkillers now, but under the wrong circumstances, the habit could theoretically return.

[LeonardoSpencer]

Okay. Though I had to mention that in my opinion, this weeks episode is on par with some of the best from earlier seasons. Does anyone agree?

[normasm]

I don't know that I could say that now, it's kind of a thing that needs time for assessment. But, yeah, it felt wonderful, like I wouldn't be afraid for my non-fan loved ones to see it, they might be impressed.

Edited April 24, 2015 by normasm

[LeonardoSpencer]

Yeah, you're probably right. But when they shot Reid in Hotch's dream state, I was about to shut down my computer and just lie on the floor in the dark.

[Saje]

It was his blood smear on the wall, and the back of his sweet head that got me. He just looked so... dead. It really was very upsetting. I'm still upset from the visual, even thought I know it was a fever dream. That just isn't any kind of thing I ever want to see again. 

[Droogie]

I agree -- his head clearly went down the wall and his neck was at such an awful angle. So brief but horrifying.

[Peter Rhea]

Unlike most people i didn't see the promo for Mr. Scratch. So I almost got a heart attack watching Reid get shot :(.

[Peter Rhea]

As for the episode though I really enjoyed it and brought some optimism on the next two episodes, I've been pretty dissapointed with this season though from the dissapointing Nelson's Sparrow to the god awful beyond borders. this episode however has given me some hope. Mostly because the episode made me question what was real or not.