Criminal Minds Analysis: Profile The Show

[Hotchgirl18]

7 hours ago, Colorado David said:

I'd like to see Hotch and Gideon again (it's been so long I don't remember exactly what happened with Gideon, anybody recall?)

He's dead. Sorry. 

[Colorado David]

Well that is disappointing. And with all the hubbub, I doubt they will let Hotch do a cameo.

[Mysteyman]

On 1/21/2019 at 4:45 PM, kismac said:

Rossi retires, Reid marries and JJ is the new "wheel's up" chickadee. And Garcia is fired for years of sexual harrassment and other unprofessional behavior! ;)

So, in this scenario, Emily fell into a black hole and disappeared?

[Mysteyman]

On 1/24/2019 at 6:13 AM, anna0852 said:

I'd like to see a time jump where Jack and Henry are now a team of unsubs that target other serial killers, subconsciously blaming them for all the times their respective parents were gone during their childhoods 😁

That is actually very sad , but it made me laugh  pretty hard!

[illdoc]

10 hours ago, Mysteyman said:

On 1/24/2019 at 8:13 AM, anna0852 said:

I'd like to see a time jump where Jack and Henry are now a team of unsubs that target other serial killers, subconsciously blaming them for all the times their respective parents were gone during their childhoods 😁

That is actually very sad , but it made me laugh  pretty hard!

Actually, add in JJ's other kid (don't remember his name), so it's a trio of unsubs, instead of a pair that the BAU is used to. Maybe Morgan's kid--not because Morgan was missing from his life, but because Morgan is suffering from PTSD from his time at the BAU.

[SSA Emily Prentiss]

On 25/01/2019 at 4:44 PM, Hotchgirl18 said:

Nah, Elle should be an unsub. 

Not !

[Chaos Theory]

I want to see Elle back it some capacity.  Maybe a small town sheriff who still bitter reluctantly calls the BAU only to find it deeply changed with no ill will toward her at all.  

Also a end to Hotch’s  story.   Hotch  helps the BAU with one last case just as his son is about to go into his first year of college to be a lawyer and follow in some way in his fathers footsteps.   With all enemies gone the BAU ask Hotch back but he has a happy and simple life with a girlfriend and a baby on the way.

Edited January 31, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[Lalaland]

Busy few weeks has meant I have not had an opportunity to see the last 3 episodes.  Reading comments here it would appear that episode 13 is probably the most important one to see?  Good response to that one.  I'm glad.  I like AJ, glad she got an opportunity do this. 

As for returnees. I said my piece earlier but it should be remembered character wise, that Elle, Morgan, and Hotch are no longer agents, they are civilians, so if any of them were to come back, they could not realistcally be involved in the case as an agent.....then again, this is CM in the Messer era.....  Cant quite recall Blake.  Did she resign or just move to a different bureau?  I really liked Blake, woefully underused character. 

Just saw a comment on twitter - apparently the last 10 episodes are going to be character driven, personal stories.....yawn.  Does Messer just read the same script year after year?

[jls1792]

Lalaland, I believe Blake is also no longer an agent. I think they said in the season 10 premiere that she decided to teach full time. 

I'm not sure about Kate, but it's possible the only past team member who is still an agent is Seaver. Not counting Jordan Todd, the show has had 16 main team members. 8 are on the team now, which means there are 8 former members. Two of those 8 are dead, and at least 4 others (Elle, Hotch, Morgan, and Blake) are no longer agents. So that just leaves Seaver and Kate. In the season 7 premiere they said Seaver transferred to another team but they never really said what Kate ended up doing. 

Although some former members are just civilians now, they could still show up. Maybe they get tipped off about something like Morgan did in the season 12 finale. They wouldn't be able to go in the field, but they could hang out at the office. And although they technically shouldn't be given info, I doubt that would stop the team from confiding in them or letting them help a bit. 

The non agents could also show up to celebrate a big milestone, like a wedding or a retirement party. 

 

I read an interview with Harry Bring and he said the last season would have each character getting a focus episode. Erica said the same about episodes 2-8 of this season yet Reid never got one. 

[SSA Emily Prentiss]

Messer's a known liar. But in Reid's case, she probably meant to give him some focus on this season's " Reid's Minds " errrrr I mean " Criminal Minds ", and then all of the sudden she remembered his 10 episodes arc not so long ago, not to mention all those other episodes each season from the beginning of the show 14 years ago, that focused on Reid, Reid, Reid all the damn time. And so she probably told her writers : "What the heck ! Enough focus on that character for a while. He needs a rest. Don't give him squat now until the end of the show." 

Lawd knows there are a lot of things I hate about Messer, but (assuming that's what went down of course), this isn't one of them, lollll. And I say this as someone who's never hated Reid and has come to like him over the last 2 seasons. But I just find too much focus on one character in an ensemble show C.R.I.N.G.E worthy. And I couldn't care less if said character is " our boy genius ". Reid is overrated and I won't be mad if he gets no special episode even in the last season (Knowing my luck in wishes, of course he'll get at least one, and his mamma too, RME.), because they already made it up to him for 12 friggin years.

 

[Chaos Theory]

On 1/22/2019 at 8:17 PM, kismac said:

A) it was tongue in cheek

B) anyone else subjected to being around it could have complained as well

C) "and other unprofessional behaviors...."

 

But didn’t we already have an episode of someone complaining about García’s behavior and it was Morgan himself who pretty much said....screw them.  

I honestly don’t want too much to change for the finale.  This show would work best as a life goes on and so does the BAU.  There will always be a new killer and we will always be here to stop him.  But like I posted previously I would love to see an episode focusing on Elle Greenaway and her being forced to call on the BAU has a small town sheriff. Also deal with Hotch one last time.  Maybe end it the way it started with Jack going off to college and Hotch married with a pregnant wife.   This time he choices his family over the BAU.

Edited February 6, 2019 by Chaos Theory

[jerseyflower]

On 1/25/2019 at 4:44 PM, Hotchgirl18 said:

Nah, Elle should be an unsub. 

That would be awesome too! :P

I consider myself a liberal feminist but I'd love to see Thomas Gibson make an appearance, not everything is so black and white.  His politics seem more along the same lines too, fwiw. 

 

Eta, my last comment was for those saying "SJW's" wouldn't want him returning.

Edited February 6, 2019 by jerseyflower

[mythoughtis]

Blake quit with zero notice, in fact, she just left her badge in Reids’ portfolio and didn’t actually quit. So no, I don’t need to see her back.  Kate would be ok, except it would just take focus off the agents who  have been there since season 1. 

[Mystery]

On 1/19/2019 at 10:19 AM, Hotchgirl18 said:

 My theory is that the firing happened because strong men, men in positions of authority are now frowned upon these days. 

I don't think an actor kicking a writer counts as a strong man acting in a position of authority. I'm not sure if I'll be watching next season (tonight's episode left a pretty bad taste in my mouth) but Hotch coming back wouldn't affect me either way. I think for me, if I watch, I'd like to see an actual "bad guy" (could be a woman) who doesn't devolve into something silly by the end of the story arc. Since it will be a short season, the showrunners might be able to handle that. 

[K42]

I feel like Reid is gonna go out with a bang. I have a strong feeling that they've been ignoring him since his prison arc only to fuck him over in a major way in the season finale. I feel like she won't be happy until she breaks him and turns him into a murderer. Either that or she's gonna continue ignoring him and give him a trivial ending.

I just hope that she doesn't just sweep everyone's personal life under the rug and gives them a shallow ending. Man, this woman scares me with her terrible storylines. 

[SSA Emily Prentiss]

14 hours ago, jerseyflower said:

That would be awesome too! :P

 

 

If any character past and present is gonna be turned into an unsub, I vote for it to be SuperNinjaKung-Fu barbie aka JJ. She already looks like one anyway.

Edited February 7, 2019 by SSA Emily Prentiss

[Hotchgirl18]

On 2/7/2019 at 6:40 AM, SSA Emily Prentiss said:

If any character past and present is gonna be turned into an unsub, I vote for it to be SuperNinjaKung-Fu barbie aka JJ. She already looks like one anyway.

No, Super Ninja Barbie needs to get KILLED by the unsub. Damn. Where's that Chameleon Rossi's been chasing?. He hurt the wrong agent!! Where's an unsub when you need him?.

On 2/7/2019 at 5:52 AM, K42 said:

I feel like Reid is gonna go out with a bang. I have a strong feeling that they've been ignoring him since his prison arc only to fuck him over in a major way in the season finale. I feel like she won't be happy until she breaks him and turns him into a murderer. Either that or she's gonna continue ignoring him and give him a trivial ending.

I just hope that she doesn't just sweep everyone's personal life under the rug and gives them a shallow ending. Man, this woman scares me with her terrible storylines. 

She's a woman child. She's a liar too. Hmmm. Reminds me of someone else in a high position, dontcha think? 

[idiotwaltz]

Can we have an appearance by Cat Adams? Because having her hook up with Reid still makes more sense than this Reid/JJ shenanigan. 

No, forget it, let’s just pull a Russian Doll and have everyone die in bizarre ways only to wake up again on the jet with the original BAU (yes, that means Gideon and Elle and Morgan instead of Emily and the newbies). 

[Hotchgirl18]

5 hours ago, idiotwaltz said:

Can we have an appearance by Cat Adams? Because having her hook up with Reid still makes more sense than this Reid/JJ shenanigan. 

No, forget it, let’s just pull a Russian Doll and have everyone die in bizarre ways only to wake up again on the jet with the original BAU (yes, that means Gideon and Elle and Morgan instead of Emily and the newbies). 

I'd rather have Cat and Reid get together than hit and JJ. Hell, Reid and Cat are more compatible. And that's sad. 

[PamelaMaeSnap]

On 2/6/2019 at 2:54 PM, Chaos Theory said:

But didn’t we already have an episode of someone complaining about García’s behavior and it was Morgan himself who pretty much said....screw them.  

I've been bingewatching a lot of the earlyish seasons (that's what's on ION and the other networks) and yes, I JUST watched that episode "The Black Queen"). It wasn't complaining per se about Garcia ... it was a "workplace harassment" seminar for the BAU with the examples specifically being banter phrases between Garcia and Morgan ... 

Did we the viewers ever find out what "flarpy blunderguff" was? THAT is the one question I hope they answer in the series finale.

[SSA Emily Prentiss]

I never got why they didn't explore Reid and that lovely, sassy bartender from "52 Pick-Up". Many people say that Maeve was the perfect woman for him, but having only read about her and their short-lived romance, I can't have any opinion on that. But I found him and that bartender pretty sparkling and regretted that it didn't go further.

[Fashionista7]

NEWS INVOLVING REID:

https://tvline.com/2019/02/12/this-is-us-season-4-spoilers-nbc-justin-hartley-kevin/

[Danielg342]

So Reid is getting a love interest...who will it be? JJ?

*snerk*

I just hope we don't get a storyline where Reid falls in love with someone else and JJ pines "for the man she let go".

[BookWoman56]

On 1/4/2019 at 2:34 PM, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I wish I could feel more guilty and/or upset in admitting I have not (truly) been keeping up with CM - haven't caught up since after this season's premiere (to see the conclusion to Reid's predicament to end S13).  Honestly, its just plain boring and predictable.  And for the last few seasons, I'm always left with a "seen this exact type of episode so many times before" after most non-arc standalone eps, and heck even in the eps in the "Reid in prison" arc, that when not dealing with Reid's time in prison but dealing with the team & their USotW cases.

I'm in the same boat in terms of feeling only the slightest guilt about not keeping up with the show. I agree there should have been some changes in the last couple of seasons. What I'm struck with when watching current episodes is just that IMO there are too many profilers. I preferred a smaller team, if nothing else because it meant that each character got more focus (at least in theory). To me the show as a whole has gone the way that the scene when the profile is delivered has gone. Instead of doing a cohesive profile delivery where one profiler goes over the profile, there's this stupid thing of each profiler giving one sentence (maybe two), so that on the surface it's an equitable division of screen time/ amount of dialogue. So now any given episode just seems a jumble of jumping around from character to character, often with various characters having essentially throwaway lines. I will at some point go back and watch a couple of seasons that I more or less skipped entirely, but for me the critical thing is that I can go back to the first couple of seasons and still enjoy rewatching those episodes. They felt focused and compelling. With the most recent episodes I've bothered watching, yes, there's definitely a feeling that the unsub, killings, and motivations are just slight variations on an earlier episode. I've just about hit that point where I feel like if you've seen one serial killer, you've seen them all. 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

On 2/13/2019 at 5:55 AM, Danielg342 said:

So Reid is getting a love interest...who will it be? JJ?

*snerk*

I just hope we don't get a storyline where Reid falls in love with someone else and JJ pines "for the man she let go".

I read an opinion article earlier that brought that up as the 'worst case scenario'.

Basically, it was "JJ finally cracks under the pressure of the confession & dealing with her feelings for Reid, and reveals all to Will, thus leading to a (somewhat) amicable divorce.  Then when she gets around to revealing the news to Reid, he'll be with the new LI and that'll set up heartbroken & pining JJ (if not both)."

I'm already planning to be disappointed and mad, as an admitted JJ/Reid fanon enthusiast.  Why pull this shenanigans now if it won't go anywhere?  If this ends up just being a 'special shoutout to the Jeid/Jencer #OTP fans', then they used an unforgivably despicable choice of way to convey it.

In fact, I expect the same here in S15 as we usually get from CM writers.  There will be a few passing mentions of the 'dealing with the confession' in the first couple eps - basically, "ha, lol we were jk, their just friends and it was just JJ being a poker bluff genius" - but then poof!, it'll all disappear (& never be hinted at again) like a magic trick.   And we'll get to see a central character get fixed up with a LI, with just a limited amount of time & episodes to do it any justice.

The announcement that this next season would be the last used to feel bittersweet.  Now its just plain ol' bitter.

[Annber03]

4 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I read an opinion article earlier that brought that up as the 'worst case scenario'.

Basically, it was "JJ finally cracks under the pressure of the confession & dealing with her feelings for Reid, and reveals all to Will, thus leading to a (somewhat) amicable divorce.  Then when she gets around to revealing the news to Reid, he'll be with the new LI and that'll set up heartbroken & pining JJ (if not both)."

I was wondering the same thing myself. Especially considering the mention of a time jump when season 15 starts. She could already be divorced by then. 

We were likely going to see some kind of pining/heartache either way next season, whether it'd be Reid longing for a married JJ or JJ longing for Reid as he starts dating somebody new. But yeah, since we've already got the messiness with Will and JJ to deal with, I do agree that it would seem rather pointless to bring in a new woman to add to the heartache and messiness as a stall tactic of sorts.

It's the only theory that would really make sense, though, especially since they're already well into filming the final season. Last I saw they're on the fourth episode. I don't know if they've already picked the woman who'll be his new love interest and just have yet to reveal her, or if they're currently looking for her. If it's the former, that will be a little more manageable, but if it's the latter, even if she does wind up being the woman Reid ultimately settles down with, six episodes won't be much time to develop and show that. 

So yeah. Who knows what's going to happen going forward. I too like Reid/JJ, so I think, since they have decided to go there in having those two address their feelings, it would just make more sense to focus on that going forward, and not complicate things even further. But if Reid does find somebody new and things become serious between them, I hope they can still find a way to bring some closure to everything with Reid and JJ that doesn't feel like some kind of "Just kidding" sort of scenario. 

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I was wondering the same thing myself. Especially considering the mention of a time jump when season 15 starts. She could already be divorced by then. 

We were likely going to see some kind of pining/heartache either way next season, whether it'd be Reid longing for a married JJ or JJ longing for Reid as he starts dating somebody new. But yeah, since we've already got the messiness with Will and JJ to deal with, I do agree that it would seem rather pointless to bring in a new woman to add to the heartache and messiness as a stall tactic of sorts.

It's the only theory that would really make sense, though, especially since they're already well into filming the final season. Last I saw they're on the fourth episode. I don't know if they've already picked the woman who'll be his new love interest and just have yet to reveal her, or if they're currently looking for her. If it's the former, that will be a little more manageable, but if it's the latter, even if she does wind up being the woman Reid ultimately settles down with, six episodes won't be much time to develop and show that. 

So yeah. Who knows what's going to happen going forward. I too like Reid/JJ, so I think, since they have decided to go there in having those two address their feelings, it would just make more sense to focus on that going forward, and not complicate things even further. But if Reid does find somebody new and things become serious between them, I hope they can still find a way to bring some closure to everything with Reid and JJ that doesn't feel like some kind of "Just kidding" sort of scenario. 

Despite myself, I can't help but feel a tiny bit of hope that all this nonsense created about thinking/implying that the bit about Reid gaining a "significant love interest" is just a clever (yet terribly obvious) way to cover the impending JJ/Reid.  And people are just mentally imagining said love interest to be a brand new character.

I just find it a bit odd that they are supposedly at least 4 episodes in to filming the new season and there has been no spoilery mention or BTS leaks of a new female character around, especially in scenes with Reid.

Talk about 'worst case scenarios', if they bring in this 'new LI' and they only allow brief moments in a couple/few of the last 5 episodes of the series?  Or knowing this creative staff, its only in the very end (a flash forward) at the end of 5.10 [the finale].  Hell, I'm prepared to accept the fact it'll probably be 'pre-manufactured';  IE his mom's new caretaker, after he decides to bring her back to live in-home with him.

Edited February 15, 2019 by iRarelyWatchTV36

[Danielg342]

Best case scenario for Reid/JJ is this:

Reid and JJ have a discussion about JJ's declaration. JJ hasn't told Will about it and asks Reid if she should. Reid tells her not to. Reid also confesses that he loves her too but knows things just wouldn't work if they pursued a romance, because they've both built too much in their lives that a romance between the two would just destroy all that.

JJ realizes he's right because she still loves Will a lot and doesn't want to destroy her family. Then she turns to Reid and notes that he doesn't have a family of his own, to which he says he's still building the foundation to get there.

We then get to Reid's final scene. He's at a restaurant, he's sitting by himself waiting for his guest. It's then that we meet his love interest for the first time, and he greets her by telling her that "Alex told me about you", implying it's a blind date and that he still talks with Blake. She sits down, they start talking and the scene ends with them in conversation, with perhaps some laughter showing that they're both having a good time.

Then the scene ends and we're left to our own conclusions about whether or  not it would have worked.

[SSA Emily Prentiss]

Cat Adams ? Oh no ! I like Reid enough to not want him to end up with a psychopath of that sort. 

[Danielg342]

1 hour ago, SSA Emily Prentiss said:

Cat Adams ? Oh no ! I like Reid enough to not want him to end up with a psychopath of that sort. 

I agree. Though I would watch a series where Reid and Cat go toe to toe together and try to outwit each other, with their sexual tension driving their interactions. It would be a twisted version of "opposites attract", with the "good" side trying to rectify their love and keep from going to the bad side.

[idiotwaltz]

I was totally being sarcastic when I suggested a Cat/Reid pairing upthread. I wouldn’t mind if Cat did show up or got a mention in the finale. Aubrey P’s the only guest star in the last few seasons that has left an impression on me. 

[Fashionista7]

Check it: https://tvline.com/2019/02/20/criminal-minds-final-season-15-rachael-leigh-cook-reid-love-interest/

[K42]

Found this: https://criminalmindsfans.com/exclusive-ed-bernero-shares-his-take-on-criminal-minds-legacy-and-future/

[Morlock]

On 1/22/2019 at 11:45 AM, kismac said:

Rossi retires, Reid marries and JJ is the new "wheel's up" chickadee. And Garcia is fired for years of sexual harrassment and other unprofessional behavior! 😉

Oh yes please. I have always found her character to be so annoying. It seems every crime show has to have an Abby from NCIS type character in it. Abby kind of worked, Garcia is just plain annoying. I don't see anything she does as that special that anyone else couldn't do. 

"OK baby doll, let me use the FBI's internet clearance to search for this address for you!" because of course the other geniuses on the team can't do that themselves. 

Maybe in the last ep she is walking across the road, wearing stupid style shoes she can't balance in, laden down with shopping bags full of nerdy crap. She loses balance falls over and a truck runs over her?

[Hotchgirl18]

15 minutes ago, Morlock said:

Oh yes please. I have always found her character to be so annoying. It seems every crime show has to have an Abby from NCIS type character in it. Abby kind of worked, Garcia is just plain annoying. I don't see anything she does as that special that anyone else couldn't do. 

"OK baby doll, let me use the FBI's internet clearance to search for this address for you!" because of course the other geniuses on the team can't do that themselves. 

Maybe in the last ep she is walking across the road, wearing stupid style shoes she can't balance in, laden down with shopping bags full of nerdy crap. She loses balance falls over and a truck runs over her?

I'd rather have Prentiss or JJ run over by the truck. 

[Morlock]

6 minutes ago, Hotchgirl18 said:

I'd rather have Prentiss or JJ run over by the truck. 

I used to like Prentiss but I found it depended on what she was wearing. To be honest if I really think about it this cast of characters are some of the dullest in any TV show ever. I can see you will disagree with me on at least one though 🙂 

On another note maybe Shemar Moore needs to return and explain why he chose a demotion to go to a SWAT team? I couldn't resist...

Edited February 25, 2019 by Morlock

[Hotchgirl18]

On 2/24/2019 at 10:23 PM, Morlock said:

I used to like Prentiss but I found it depended on what she was wearing. To be honest if I really think about it this cast of characters are some of the dullest in any TV show ever. I can see you will disagree with me on at least one though 🙂 

On another note maybe Shemar Moore needs to return and explain why he chose a demotion to go to a SWAT team? I couldn't resist...

I liked Prentiss before she became UC. 

[Morlock]

4 hours ago, Hotchgirl18 said:

I liked Prentiss before she became UC. 

UC? 

[Mislav]

1 hour ago, Morlock said:

UC? 

Unit chief, I assume.

[Hotchgirl18]

12 hours ago, Mislav said:

Unit chief, I assume.

Yes

[Danielg342]

Since I noticed that- somehow- the topic for S14E13, "The Chameleon", had been wiped out from these boards, I figured I would revive it- but, with a bit of a twist.

Episode 14.13 introduced a new character, Everett Lynch, someone that BAU agent David Rossi dubbed "The Chameleon" because of his ability to change his appearance- as well as his lurid habit of cutting off his victim's faces and collecting them as "trophies". Reports have suggested that the hunt for Lynch will at least occupy a lot of time in the final 15th season, which will likely see Lynch get arrested in the finale. We're not yet sure if every episode will be about the hunt for Lynch or if it'll be a background event for most of the season, but, make no mistake, Lynch will be the show's final "Big Bad."

Because I figure he'll be a character who will feature prominently in S15, I figure he deserves a thread where we can talk about him and his story, which would largely include discussing Episode 14.13.

So, what have you Primetimers? Is The Chameleon a worthy adversary for the show's finale? Sound off below.

EDIT- In case you were wondering, "changeling" is an intentional Star Trek reference because this show has hired so many former Trek actors in the past, like Jonathan Frakes ("Uncanny Valley") and Tim Russ ("To A Better Place").

Edited June 29, 2019 by Danielg342

[Danielg342]

Based entirely on Episode 14.13, my reaction to the Chameleon is pretty simple- it's a nice idea but the execution was off.

I mean, a serial killer who constantly changes his appearance would definitely be a worthy adversary for the BAU. He'd probably cause local authorities fits because his constantly changing appearances would mean authorities would all think they're investigating different people. It's very similar to the MO of Ted Bundy, who varied his schtick via his appearance and his ruse to fool authorities, many of whom didn't realize they were investigating the same person.

There were just too many problems with his introduction.

First, I would have preferred to have an actor who's higher profile than Michael Mosley. Nothing against Mosley as an actor- I do think he did a fine job as Lynch- but for CM's "final" criminal, the show really should have gone all out. Preferably I'd love an A-Lister, but I'd be fine with a big TV star.

Personally, I think Simon Baker would have been a great choice. He practically played the character on The Mentalist and, by some metrics at least, was practically a villain on that show. He'd kill it as an actual villain.

(I'll let you decide on the pun)

Secondly, I would have preferred a signature that's less obvious. I get that the show is probably making some kind of allusion or character point with the face stealing, but, in real life, it would remove a lot of the Chameleon's elusiveness. It wouldn't take too long for someone- be it a reporter, a detective or even a layperson- to hear all these reports of women killed with their faces removed and not think it's the same person.

People don't steal faces all that often.

I would have done a criminal who steals items from his victims and uses them to craft his next persona. That would be much harder to figure out and would need someone of David Rossi's calibre to solve. I stress the part that it should be Rossi alone figuring it out because- one, this is Rossi's adversary and his story and two, Rossi's experience should make him the best profiler in the BAU. Period. It's about time he shows that.

Finally- with the most obvious point- is that his first episode wasn't his "true" introduction. His story was told through flashbacks, via Rossi therapeutically talking to his current wife, Krystall, about a case that had bothered him. It was the same storytelling device that was used- to better effect- in Episode 12.02, "Sick Day".

Thing is, "Sick Day" involved JJ being affected by an "impossible decision" where she could only save one child from a burning building. The UnSub got arrested and the case was otherwise resolved- there was really no story except explaining JJ's anguish and suspension from the team.

"Chameleon", instead, was used to introduce a new character as well as provide a character arc for Rossi, intending to be a significant plot development for the entire show.

A "game-changer", if you will.

However, for a game-changer to really work, it's better when the audience experiences the moment when the character(s) do- doing it "after the fact" via flashbacks lessens the impact. The event feels like it's distant, so it lacks the "immediacy" that an "impact" moment should have.

Furthermore, given that it's a moment that we, as an audience, never saw before, it feels like something that's been awkwardly shoehorned into the story. Given that we'd seen Rossi go on cases for weeks and years before we saw the Chameleon and Rossi wasn't seemingly any different on his cases, it feels weird to buy that, all of sudden, we have to buy that Rossi has had to deal with this formidable foe all this time.

It's a classic case of what ails CM of recent vintage- the writers like taking shortcuts. Instead of actually doing the work to create effective "game-changing moments"- such as the effective build for "100", even if part of it might have been planned- the show rushes to the moment and expects us to feel it's impact. It's like the Maeve story- we never did join in Reid's feelings of loss because we never got a chance to meet Maeve and see Reid in love with her.

We can't mourn someone we never knew.

Same thing with the Chameleon- we can't feel the impact he delivered to Rossi because we weren't there when it happened.

Hopefully, as the season progresses and we see more of the Chameleon he'll develop into a character we'll all remember. It just hasn't been a good start.

[Kadama]

Seeing their micro Expressions which is something that humans do even blind people feel them just what you're feeling what's the point of seeing a series that acted FBI actors create Michael expressions which say what you feel at the current moment talk to your actors please thank you.

[Chaos Theory]

I am not going to read through all the posts because all the “I hate JJ”. “I love Reid” posts just depress me and make me hate the show and I am really looking forward to the finale season.  
 

But I did think of something while watching Prodigal Son which is a semi procedural.   But it true of FBI and NCIS.   But Criminal Minds goes out of its way to avoid it.  Whatever group are the main ones are the largely (with some exceptions) the only ones who know what they are doing or who aren’t evil.

I really appreciate Criminal Minds because the police aren’t written as Barney Fife.  They were just out of their league and the show actually gave them credit for admitting it. 

[Danielg342]

On 11/12/2019 at 7:31 AM, Chaos Theory said:

I really appreciate Criminal Minds because the police aren’t written as Barney Fife.  They were just out of their league and the show actually gave them credit for admitting it. 

It's a common Hollywood tactic- make the one person the smartest in the room by making everyone else dumb. It's infuriating, to say the least, since many times you wonder how the other characters managed to get their jobs in the first place.

So I agree that CM is great for eschewing this tactic. Elementary, in its prime, was also great in this regard.

For CM, I think the Bernero and Davis years were good in this regard, especially Bernero at his height because he understood best that stories have multiple different angles and he knew how to juggle them all.

Erica Messer...I find she's hit or miss in this regard. While I don't believe any of her episodes have ever featured the cops being shown to be actually inadequate, many times I've seen episodes where I wondered why the local police couldn't solve the crimes themselves. I also think the locals are less active in the stories than they were before- as someone else (I forget who) said on these boards, they're pretty much reduced to "providing coffee and doughnuts for the BAU" and little else. Sometimes, if a cop gets a "personal" story, they will be a participant (like in "Submerged") but it's rare under Messer's tutelage.

[Mislav]

I'm surprised that "Criminal Minds" never did an episode centered around snuff films. I know that they are an urban legend (most of the time, anyway), but it's not like they didn't do much less realistic cases later on. "CSI" did an episode on that, but not "Criminal Minds". There is a great movie about that topic too, "8mm".

[Mislav]

I recently rewatched 3x1 "Doubt". Some fans finds that episode hard to watch, because it is pretty much Gideon's last (he appeared in "Scared to Death", but only briefly, at the end). But it really reminded me of what was so great about Criminal Minds, what made it work, and why later episodes suck so bad.

1) The case, albeit interesting, was fairly straightforward and grounded in reality. The basic plot was explained during the opening scene in a few short lines (college girls being stabbed to death on campus), and the show built it up from there.

2) The team actually used profiling, rather than using random guess work and Garcia's magic computer. And the profiling actually made sense and didn't rely on huge leaps of logic and unlikely assumptions. [The unsub targets a certain type of victims. And he stabs them to death; very violent and personal method of murder. They must be surrogates for someone. There are no defensive wounds on any of the victims. He either subdues them somehow, or they know him from the campus, so he can easily get a drop on them. The murder that happened while the suspect was in custody must have been a copycat, since the perpetrator only emulated the case details that have been revealed to the press. And since the unsub in the first four cases showed remorse, he wouldn't have sent a letter to the police taking credit for the murders.]

3) Garcia was only in a few scenes, and she couldn't just pull up everything with her genius computer skills. She flat-out says that some things will take a while for her to dig up, and some she simply can not access. And when they go to arrest the unsub (who is at work at the time), they ask the campus staff to pull up his scheduled.

4) They actually demistified the profile a bit, pointing out how it is not always accurate and that there can also be more than one person who fits the profile.

5) Great music choice, both in the opening ("Wolf Like Me") and at the end ("Wait").

[Danielg342]

On 10/17/2020 at 4:38 PM, Mislav said:

I'm surprised that "Criminal Minds" never did an episode centered around snuff films. I know that they are an urban legend (most of the time, anyway), but it's not like they didn't do much less realistic cases later on. "CSI" did an episode on that, but not "Criminal Minds". There is a great movie about that topic too, "8mm".

I suppose "A Perfect Storm" could count, as does "Identity" since both UnSubs filmed their crimes. Though neither were strictly about snuff films.

[normasm]

The Internet is Forever could also qualify, because he filmed his murders and posted them on the interwebs

 

[Danielg342]

9 hours ago, normasm said:

The Internet is Forever could also qualify, because he filmed his murders and posted them on the interwebs

 

I thought of that one too. "The Internet is Forever" came out roughly around the same time that "Untraceable" (the movie) did, which had a similar premise.

I suppose the only question would be "does it qualify as a 'snuff film'?" None of the episodes where UnSubs filmed their murders involved creating a conventional theatrical film with an actual story and plot, only with the murders being real.