Criminal Minds Analysis: Profile The Show

[kikismom]

I would not like it as a "campy" blast from the past, but I like the idea of a dream...I really just want to see how pure profiling would work without the current technogoodies. Perhaps Penelope would have a dream, provoked by a conversation on the plane...they would still be their own selves, they would still relate to each other the same, but having to stop a killer without dna, looking up stuff on the computer, etc.

  In the Holmes case, police didn't know all these people were even missing because they had all gone to the Chicaco World's Fair, and the killer put their luggage on the return trains to their various home towns so it was assumed they left Chicago alive and something happened on the way home. The killer also faked his own death by leaving a dead man's body with his own accessories, in the building he set with explosives and they didn't have dental records much less DNA.  Even a modern day sleuth was able to find 2 previous child victims from that time by comparing old maps and boarding houses records against the modern built neighborhoods, and dig up a trunk with children's bodies.

I would like them to be themselves, but like Life On Mars...in her dream they would be like "The Alienist", but have to conceal that they were 2014 BAU and stop a killer with nothing but profiling and their wits and experience of killers, and like a bad dream it could be very panicky, but still point out that it isn't just the tech stuff that catches killers, it takes the knowledge they have of personalities, statements, Behavioural Analysis that really counts.

There might be a bit of humor in a funny-scary way because they'd also have to change/hide some of their own behaviour, realizing in a way that they would be socially profiled as suspicious if, for instance, the women were too "forward", or the investigators asked questions that were normal now but inappropriate back then ("So this is where she lived, can we look at her bedroom?", or "Did he have an axe or hatchet or carry a knife or gun?"  "Of course, everyone does Sir! What's wrong with that?")

Maybe Reid or Rossi would have the dream, with their memories of cases, and in the end the dream would elucidate something they had missed paying attention to in a current case where computer/lab stuff had provided no help and they were stumped. Go back to pure Behavioural Analysis!

[zannej]

I could totally see Reid having a Sherlock Holmes type dream. It would be sad, but they could even bring back Maeve in the dream to help with the case or to be a surviving victim.

Or maybe Reid could be writing a fictional story and we could see it play out-- but then, it would have to be a very clever story.

 

I just remembered some of the episodes of ST:TNG where the team went to the past and had to try to conceal that they were from the future.

 

Nice points about everyone carrying a weapon. LOL. It would be nice to see JJ actually have to step back and not be so forward for a change. Reid would probably get called a "sissy" for being so mild mannered.

 

I haven't seen Life on Mars or the Alienist.

 

It would also be interesting to see the team go to a place without technology-- say an Amish community-- and have to try to solve a case without computers and such. It would be interesting if they had to dress up as Amish people to fit in and not attract too much attention. Reid could have fun with the lack of technology. 

 

I do sort of wish that they would remember that Reid has a degree in engineering and that he would know about certain technologies (and like them). Making him a technophobe didn't really make too much sense, but he doesn't have to be a pure technophobe. He could just dislike new computers but still find the mechanics behind them fascinating. I admit that I'd like to see someone with filthy hands grab Reid's hand and shake it and then the team can watch him trying to stay cool while they know he's freaking out on the inside.

Whenever he refuses a handshake, I can't help but picture him thinking of this:

[Danielg342]

Or maybe a campfire story, where Rossi tells Henry and Jack about the first ever profiling case, in Ancient Rome. I think it'd be amusing seeing them running around in togas, with Hotch having to battle wits with Cicero and Reid helping crack the case by knowing the significance of someone wearing sandals vs someone being barefoot, among other quirks.

[mstaken]

So many awesomely creative ideas here! Any chance we can get CM to replace their current writing staff with Previously.TV posters? ;) 

 

What do you guys want to see---and not want to see--for the show's you-know-it's-coming-eventually finale?

[kikismom]

Some great ideas! (And yes, Reid would be called a sissy on the prairie. But in Ancient Greece, he'd be Coolest Guy In the Room.)

If they did an Amish/Witness type episode, JJ would get "a shunning" in the first five minutes for being so, ahem, assertive.

Just think about how much the team depends on their cell phones. They would be constantly reaching reflexively, it could be a running gag. Zannej, the bit about Reid shaking hands with someone filthy reminds me of a Monk episode where Monk is hanging on to the edge of a cliff and the only person nearby who can reach out his hands to save him is a guy with leprosy :-D!

Maybe Rossi could tell fireside story about the Abraham Lincoln murder mystery, and Reid has a dream where they try to stop it.

Imagine if they could figure out who a serial killer was, and how to catch him/her, but they'd have to tell the authorities of the era in a way they would be believed. Could get sticky!

[kikismom]

Danielg342:  I could so enjoy an Ancient Rome scenario, where the murderer wants to shut them up because they have some strange ability to figure out his guilt, and they get sold as slaves for the Coliseum like Gladiator, and Reid is completely losing it like he did with passing his firearms test, and Hotch and Morgan (who would make a great gladiator) all figure a way to protect Reid and stay alive and stay together.

Or maybe an LA Confidential episode, with the Black Dahlia killer and dirty cops and a young Marilyn Monroe and just a lot of stuff they know how what direction it's going but there's some huge surprise secret linking everything that no one in present-day knows about. (Not to mention how badly I would crave seeing ALL of them in those fashions and back-drops---SIGH!--but they would have to bring Prentiss back; she would be such a fab femme fatale like Lauren Bacall with Bogart's private eye in The Big Sleep.

[zannej]

I've heard that there was a cop who claimed that his father was the one who murdered the Black Dahlia. Said he murdered other women too. I don't know if they ever found any proof though.

[mstaken]

So how would you guys rank the team members from your personal favorite to your personal least favorite? Current AND former team members, so our candidates are: Reid, Hotch, Garcia, Morgan, JJ, Elle, Emily, Gideon, Rossi and Blake. No ties allowed---well, unless you REALLY can't help yourself :) Oh, and I guess we should include poor Seaver as well, right?! 

[idiotwaltz]

1. Emily

2. Rossi

3. Elle

4. Reid

5. Hotch

6. JJ (pre-S6)

7. Morgan

8. Blake

9. Garcia

10. Gideon

11. JJ (post-S6)

Sorry, I just don't care about Seaver enough to include her.

[Old Dog]

1. Reid

Hotch

Rossi

Blake

Emily

Pre Season 6 JJ

Morgan

Garcia - although I kind of want to split her as well as lately she is often a complete caricature but redeemed herself a bit in Demons.

Elle

Gideon

Seaver - though I think this was badly done and there was potential

The JJ clone who replaced JJ at the end of Season 6.

[ForeverAlone]

Some modifications after some more thought:

 

1. Reid

2. Hotch

3. Emily

4. Elle

5. Gideon

6. Alex

7. Penelope

8. Morgan

9. Rossi

10. Jordan (I'm being mean here, because it is more of a diss to JJ, but she annoys me enough these days to place her below her replacement that existed only to show how perfect JJ was at her job, and how apparently no one else (except the non-FBI agent Penelope that is) can do her job well). 

11. JJ

12. Ashley

Edited May 26, 2014 by ForeverAlone

[mstaken]

I love reading everyone's answers! What I love a lot less is trying to compose my own list because, ugh, this is ridiculously difficult!

 

Idiotwaltz, for some reason I thought you'd rank Reid lower! Have those of us who love Reid started to brainwash you? ;)

 

It's funny, because while I totally understand why people are counting pre-departure/post-departure JJ as two different characters (heh), for me her character was never well-established to begin with, so the difference---while evident---isn't THAT pronounced. Oddly enough, I'm tempted to distinguish S1 Hotch from Rest of the Series Hotch :) Whenever I rewatch, I'm surprised all over again by how much more vibrant and charismatic the character was for me in S1. 

 

Okay, enough stalling...

 

1. Reid

2. Rossi (Yeah, I'm surprising myself with this pick as well---I just keep falling more and more in love with him, probably due in no small part to my love for the actor!)

3. Emily

4. Elle

5. Hotch 

6. Gideon 

7. Garcia 

8. Blake

9. Seaver (seriously, as much as I dislike S6 as a whole, I actually kind of liked Seaver. *ducks* I felt like she had potential, if only because I think Rachel Nichols is a far better actress than AJ Cook!)

10. Morgan  (It's funny that he's ranking so relatively low here so far, as the few CM fans I know in 'real life' would all probably put him at or near the very top of their lists!)

11. JJ --- (Though the great thing about her being such a cold, flat cipher is that she can be interpreted and written in a variety of different ways for fanfic purposes---so, er, thanks, CM writers?! ;)

[zannej]

Let's see..

1. Reid

2. Hotch

3. Prentiss

4. Blake

5. Rossi

6. Elle

7. Morgan

8. Garcia (post season 5-- pre-season 5 she would probably rank before Blake)

9. Gideon

10. Seaver

11. JJ (post season 6-- she would rank between Prentiss and Blake for pre-season 6)

 

I was tempted to stick Sergio in after Rossi...

 

It's weird how things have changed. I used to like Morgan better than Elle and at one point in time, Reid and Garcia were my top 2 favorites.

Edited May 26, 2014 by zannej

[mstaken]

I was tempted to stick Sergio in after Rossi...

 

Hee!!! We posted at about the same time, so I almost missed out on this awesomeness...yes, feel free to include the eminently lovable Sergio ;) 

[ForeverAlone]

While in general I like pre season 7 JJ better than the current version (but that is mainly because there was just too much damn screen time for her in season nine and she is not a compelling enough character in my opinion to warrant it), I always thought JJ was the most expendable of the main characters. I honestly don't think her departure messed with the show that much, except that it made way for Ashley. *Boo Hiss* I felt Emily's departure much more, because I felt Emily (and Elle) added more to the show and the team in general and were just more interesting characters for me. 

Edited May 26, 2014 by ForeverAlone

[mstaken]

While in general I like pre season 7 JJ better than the current version (but that is mainly because there was just too much damn screen time for her in season nine and she is not a compelling enough character in my opinion to warrant it), I always thought JJ was the most expendable of the main characters. I honestly don't think her departure messed with the show that much,

 

and

 

felt Emily's departure much more, because I felt Emily (and Elle) added more to the show and the team in general and were just more interesting characters for me.

 

YES. This. :) 

[idiotwaltz]

 

Idiotwaltz, for some reason I thought you'd rank Reid lower! Have those of us who love Reid started to brainwash you? ;)

 

Hey now, I just said I didn't care for him, not that I actively dislike him, unlike some characters :P   *looks at Ninja!JJ*  

 

As a whole, I tend to like the Reid eps more than Morgan eps and even the Hotch eps, so that accounts for his No. 4 status. Morgan would've ranked lower but I recently rewatched Empty Planet and his kindness to the professor made me like him a little better. Just a teensy bit. 

 

Poor Blake is way down there because I don't remember enough about the last two seasons to have an actual opinion on her. At least she ranks above Garcia, whom I wish would just shut up, and Gideon the drama queen? 

[mstaken]

Here's another one: Your five personal favorite and five least favorite intra-team dynamics/relationships :) Once again, both current and former team members are eligible! (Examples: Gideon/Reid, Morgan/Garcia, Rossi/Seaver etc.)

[Old Dog]

Faves:-

Hotch/Reid

Rossi/Hotch

Rossi/Reid

Blake/Reid

Emily/Morgan - I surprised myself with this one but I think they were a great team - the exact opposite of Morgan with new JJ.

 

Least faves:-

New JJ/Morgan

Post season 4 Morgan/Garcia

Seaver/Reid

Gideon/Morgan

JJ/Hotch

Edited May 26, 2014 by Old Dog

[ForeverAlone]

FAVES:

Reid/Hotch

Reid/Morgan

Reid/Emily

Reid/Elle

Reid/Alex

LEAST FAVES:

Reid/Ashley

Morgan/post season 4 Penelope

Alex/JJ

Reid/JJ

Morgan/JJ

[mstaken]

Favorites (in no particular order!)

 

Gideon/Reid---still in many ways the show's richest, most developed intra-team relationship IMO

EarlyHotch/Reid

Emily/Rossi

Reid/Rossi (I know we haven't seen much of it, but I love what we do see!)

Elle/Reid

 

Runner up: Gideon/Hotch 

 

Wish very much we could have seen: Emily/Elle, Rossi/Elle! 

 

Always like more than I'd expect to: Rossi/Morgan, Emily/Hotch 

 

Least Favorites (also in no particular order!):

 

Morgan/JJ (Their scenes are absolutely deadly for me---dull, unpleasant, forced and utterly fast-forward worthy!)

JJ/Blake (*yawn*)

Hotch/Morgan 

Post-S4 Garcia/Morgan (ugh---don't get me started!)

Elle/JJ 

[Wilowy]

Favorite:

Reid/JJ

Reid/Morgan

Reid/Hotch

Rossi/Blake (It was the only dynamic for Rossi that never seemed forced, to me)

Everyone else is pretty much equally loved in my eyes.

 

Least Favorite:

Anyone with Seaver

 

Oh and I forgot my ranking of favorite characters!

Reid 

JJ

Hotch

Elle

All the rest of our regulars I love about the same. 

 

Then there's miss "bottom of the list" again:

Seaver

[mstaken]

Rossi/Blake (It was the only dynamic for Rossi that never seemed forced, to me)

 

Heh---I'm kind of the opposite in that JM/Rossi magically makes nearly every scene more entertaining to me and nearly every character he interacts with more likable. I have no idea how or why, but he does! I do, though, totally see a forced dynamic between Rossi/Hotch. The scenes where they're lightly teasing each other or quietly, subtly offering to help each other out are great, but when they've tried to suddenly make Rossi overly earnest, giving Hotch pep talks and using vaguely self-help-y jargon, it just feels so cringe-inducing and out of character for me. 

 

So what other bests/worsts should we do?! Funniest moments? Moments that made you tear up? Best/worst hair and outfits? ;) 

[Wilowy]

Yes! Funniest AND Weepiest, both! 

[SSAHotchner]

1. Hotch

2. Reid

3. Prentiss

4. JJ (seasons 1-6)

5. Garcia (seasons 1-5)

6. Rossi

7. Elle

8. Morgan

9. Gideon

10. Jordan Todd

11. Blake

Morgan, Garcia and JJ from the past couple of seasons would all be at the bottom of my list. I hated Seaver so she does not get on my list at all. And currently Anderson and Gina would be ahead of Morgan, Garcia and JJ, too.

 

 

[missmycat]

Reid

 

 

 

 

 

 

Morgan 

Garcia

JJ 

 

 

Well that is as far as I can go. I've never been good at making these kinds of list. All I know is that Reid is my absolute favorite character.

And at the moment JJ is my least favorite character.Once upon a time Morgan would have been higher up on my list.

Sadly though, thanks to EM and her writers, he is no longer one of my favorites,although I am still somewhat fond of him.  

[zannej]

I just watched "In Heat" on ION earlier and was struck by the many team moments and the interesting nuances. There were some things about the episode that sort of bugged me, but nothing major.

 

They divided the time fairly well. I thought it was funny that the female detective said she wasn't good with names and said something about "the skinny kid and Derek" and how Ross and Prentiss both keyed in on her remember "Derek". 

 

All of the team members got to contribute well. Even the drama with JJ and Will was well done. It played in to the case and it showed that JJ had conflicting emotions and that she ran away from things so she wouldn't get hurt. It showed she was human. I love how Prentiss kept egging her on while pretending to not know. I actually felt bad for poor Will because he was grieving over his friend AND pretty much getting dumped by JJ. I really miss the Rossi/Prentiss dynamic. They worked so well together. I also liked how Prentiss, Morgan, and Reid reacted to JJ finally letting it be known publicly that she was dating Will. I will say a minor nitpick was that Reid asked if it was always so hot and then said something like "what, its been like a year?" as if he didn't know these things. He would have known. LOL. But that wasn't enough to ruin it for me.

[Wilowy]

I love that if Erin had to die, she died in Aaron's arms. 

 

I just watched it again and am feeling emotional about it. It was done so truthfully and accurately re: how people go. Just suddenly and senselessly and there's nothing anyone can do. :(

[ForeverAlone]

Now that season nine is done, what are your updated season rankings? Mine are:

Season Four

Season Two

Season One

Season Three

Season Seven

Season Five

Season Eight

Season Six

Season Nine

Yep, I think season nine was the worst season of the series so far. Here is hoping they rally for season 10.

[mstaken]

Now that season nine is done, what are your updated season rankings? Mine are:

 

Heh---I think we just did these last week or so...which makes it time for a new one, since mine change with ridiculous frequency :) Plus, I'm always glad to see someone else who shares my fondness for S7! 

 

Season 4

Season 1 (S2 and S4 swap places the most often for reasons I've already rambled about!)

Season 3

Season 2

Season 7 (Though lately I'd even be tempted to move S7 above S2....*bows head in shame*)

Season 5

Season 9

Season 6

Season 8 

 

I hate Season 8. A lot of CM episodes/seasons I was initially meh on improved a lot upon rewatch for me, but somehow S8 has gotten even worse. 

Edited May 27, 2014 by mstaken

[Old Dog]

1. Season 4

Season 1

Season 3

Season 2

Season 5

Season 6

Season 8

Season 7

Season 9 - Season 9 would have been right up there in sixth place had it not been ruined by having JJ all over it and by the worst episode ever made which cast its blight over the whole season - for me anyway!

[ForeverAlone]

Don't feel embarrassed about liking season seven. I remember when I got the DVDs and binge rewatched the series, I was amazed at how much better it was than I remembered when I watched the show on a weekly basis. Sure there are some turkeys in that season, but I can say that about even my beloved seasons. But some of my favorite episodes are in season seven, which is why I rank it as high as I do. 

 

I've been selectively rewatching early episodes, and I really do appreciate the darker, more serious, more adult tone of the episodes. It was in everything from the production values to the stories to the ways the characters acted. It's why I can appreciate a character like Gideon. He may have been a drama queen, but he brought a gravitas to the line of work. It's harder to quantify, but the more recent seasons just sort of have a candy-coated sheen to them, from the cheesy personal interactions to the serious dearth of psychological insight and intelligent profiling. 

[mstaken]

But some of my favorite episodes are in season seven, which is why I rank it as high as I do.

 

Same here! Which were your favorites? 

 

This, of course, brings to me to the question of what everyone's 5-10 favorite post-S5 episodes are :) 

[ForeverAlone]

Top Post Season Five episodes 

 

True Genius

Unknown Subject

Heathridge Manor

Zugzwang

All That Remains

The Company

The Lesson

Out of the Light

Corazon

The Edge of Winter

Alchemy

Remembrance of Things Past

Rabid

Blood Relations

Middle Man

 

So broken down by season

 

Season Six- 4 (but I place the season so low, because I hated the cast chaos, the introduction of Ashley, and Emily super spy)

Season Seven- 4 (and I LOVE these four, and I like more episodes)

Season Eight- 4 (same amount as the other seasons, but overall I just love these episodes less)

Season Nine- 3 (I personally feel this was the most poorly written season as an aggregate)

[idiotwaltz]

My Top 10 Post-S5 episodes are very Emily-centric, because I'm shallow like that:

 

1. Lauren - I am willing to suspend my disbelief over the Doyle arc for all the awesome acting that Paget does in this episode

2. Valhalla - see above

3. Unknown Subject - "I'm having a bad day" + tight white turtleneck

4. Foundation - interesting case, good rapport between Emily and the daughter of the UNSUB, dark bluish-purplish shirt 

5. Into the Woods - creepy setting, excellent performance from the child actors, UNSUB gets away! 

6. Profiling 101 - creepy UNSUB, different presentation of the case

7. It Takes a Village - only because of Doyle! (Note: points deducted for ugly yellow flowery top ... thing) 

8. Middle Man - victim has my name AND survives (I said I was shallow!), "I might just shoot you myself" 

9. True Genius - for the exchange between Reid and Prentiss. "Do you ever wonder if you lived up to expectations?" "I beat them." 

10. Gabby - the only post S7 episode that I like. It was suspenseful enough and there was actual profiling? And the kid was cute. 

Edited May 27, 2014 by idiotwaltz

[Old Dog]

My top post season 5 episodes:=

 

1. True Genius
2. With Friends like These
3. Alchemy
4. Zugswang
5. Heathridge Manor
6. Final Shot
7. Blood Relations
8. The Lesson
9. Corazon
10. Gabby

 

Honourable mentions to Carbon Copy, The Edge of Winter and Coda.

My list tends to show my Reid love!

Edited May 27, 2014 by Old Dog

[mstaken]

Argh---why do I ask these painfully difficult questions that I can't even figure out how to answer?! The team would totally profile me as a masochist ;)

 

Favorite post-S5: episodes, in chronological order:

 

Into the Woods

Dorado Falls (Yeah...I can't explain it, either! I found the Unsub's disorder fascinating and thought-provoking, loved that Rossi got a lot to do and really adore that final scene between Prentiss and Morgan) 

From Childhood's Hour (I know, I know...stop laughing at me! I adore Rossi/JM, and the stuff about women suffering from depression has a lot of personal resonance for me)

True Genius  (Love the case, love the pacing, love Reid!)

Unknown Subject---A really underrated episode, IMO---extremely well-paced, still somehow suspenseful despite knowing what happens and, as idiotwaltz noted, a few really great Prentiss moments 

Foundation

Heathridge Manor

Profiling 101 

The Edge of Winter 

 

Honorable Mention: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. I don't like the Strauss-as-alcoholic stuff or the forced Morgan/Hotch conflict, but I love that this mystery was actually a mystery and find the culture at military academies oddly fascinating. 

Edited May 27, 2014 by mstaken

[Wilowy]

Yep, I think season nine was the worst season of the series so far. Here is hoping they rally for season 10.

 

Season 9 worse than even 6 for you? Interesting. 

 

I can't possibly rank the seasons fairly today, my mind is all in love with the show. I watched it all day yesterday when I was supposed to be marathoning Band of Brothers. I even dreamed about CM! 

 

Post Season 5 Favorites:

Coda - Reid with Sammy

True Genius - so much good Reid and that blazing smile at the end makes up for a lot of ills. *bonus JJ love*

Foundation - my favorite Clemente-penned episode. I really felt for Angel and the compassion from Morgan and JJ was top-notch. 

The Apprenticeship - The softball game and funny as hell Matthew Lillard. *bonus JJ love*

Magnum Opus - case sucked but so much team love for our bruised baby! *bonus best JJ love evar!*

Carbon Copy - Malarkey! 

Route 66 - Haley. Seeing her again, despite her glibness which annoyed, made it all worth it for me.

Gatekeeper - Reid delivers that baby. *bonus JJ love*

Persuasion - Smarmy Reid!

Rabid - terrifying story and I loved the young man they saved.

The Edge of Winter - one of the finest episodes in a long while, and easily the best of season 9, imo. 

[Old Dog]

Gosh Willowy! Route 66?? I hated that so much it is consigned to the same bin of notoriety as the episode that shall not be named! But then. I am a Beth hater but that was only part of it for me. I thought it was very, very contrived and it was too long after Hotch's injuries. I shall feel cheated when I buy my Season 9 dvds as there will be 2 episodes I will never, ever watch again on them.

[Wilowy]

*cheesy smile* Yeah... I know. I just let my heart get all melty for Hotch being able to hold hands with her again. I thought Thomas did an amazing job with those scenes, I really felt how deeply Aaron was moved. PLUS, when I interviewed Doug Aa over the phone, and to hear it in his voice how proud he was of the episode and how emotional it really was for everyone on that particular day, made me see it in a different light. He's just such a big ball of love and really cares about the show and everyone he works with. 

[mstaken]

my mind is all in love with the show. I watched it all day yesterday when I was supposed to be marathoning Band of Brothers. I even dreamed about CM!

 

Hee! Yeah, I'm feeling really enamored (er, some might say obsessed) with the show lately as well. These threads deepen my love for the show, which in turn inspires me to rewatch, which then deepens my attachment to it even further, and...well, you get the gist :) 

 

The Edge of Winter - one of the finest episodes in a long while, and easily the best of season 9, imo.

 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who really liked this one! 

[Wilowy]

Here's the Hanelle interview - we get her directing skill again next season:

 

http://criminalmindsfans.com/exclusive/

[Wilowy]

Cool bts shot from North Mammon. Gets me every time. 

 

[zannej]

When I was commenting in the relationships thread, it occurred to me that one of the things that has changed was the team members actually piping in when others are talking about something or showing that they heard/noticed. One of the things that really made it seem like "family" was the fact that one of them would just sort of butt in at times. Hotch used to do that a bit more.

When JJ and Prentiss were discussing Will being the "last viable donor", Hotch walked up and said "donor for what?" but didn't react when they failed to answer him. I sort of fanwanked that he heard what they were saying before and was giving them a hard time about it by pretending he didn't know.

Also when Hotch piped in about how Morgan accused Reid of knowing everything "last night when he beat you at cards". Or when the team was playing cards all together and Morgan complained about Reid winning. JJ said "he cheats!" and Hotch said "He's from Vegas!" but another time Hotch had to walk away from the card game and told Reid "no peaking!" (or maybe it was "cheating") and Reid immediately looked at Hotch's cards.

These little moments spoke volumes. I would love to see more of these little things brought back to the show. Maybe there can be a conversation that makes Hotch widen his eyes and then shake his head. Or turn and look at the people involved in disbelief. Or even see him and/or Rossi cringing and they can look at each other and decide not to involve themselves in it. Hell, that would be funny if any of the team members did that when listening to a particularly odd conversation.

[mstaken]

This weekend's (admittedly lame!) challenge: Favorite to least favorite DVD covers? Do you have favorite (or least favorite) DVD extras? 

[Wilowy]

I think 3 and 4 are tied for my favorites. No Gideon, and everyone is almost the same size except Garcia is teeny on 3 but that's okay. I like the 'head' graphics on both of those too, and the substantial use of red. I love red. 

[Old Dog]

1. Season 1 = very striking graphically. When you lay them all out, this is the one that really stands out.

Season 2

Season 4

Season 5

Season 3

Season 7

Season 6

Season 8

Season 9

[mstaken]

I love red.

 

It's always been my very favorite color---long before I fell in love with CM :)

 

For some reason, I absolutely love the look of the S2 cover. Next comes S4's cover, though I love S3 and S1's as well. 

 

And I'm always a fan of the blooper reels. 

Edited May 30, 2014 by mstaken

[SSAHotchner]

Season Rankings:

 

1

4

2

3

5

7

9

6

8

Edited May 30, 2014 by SSAHotchner

[Sharpie66]

Waving "Hi!' to everyone...

 

New poster here, but long-time poster over at TWOP, including several posts in the CM thread. (Same username there as here.)

 

My CM creds: I started watching the summer between S5 and 6, after a bunch of people on a board I was on raved about the show. My first episodes were "Sex, Birth, Death," "The Long Game," and "Revelations," so I became a Reid fanatic immediately. Also, skinny geeks with gorgeous cheekbones are just in my zone!  Soon after that, Ion started with S1, so I started right from the beginning with those eps.

 

Favorite seasons: I keep on switching between Season 3 and 4; S4 for obvious reasons, but S3 had so many great episodes even with all of the problems that Bernero had to deal with (Mandy leaving, writers' strike, then AJ getting pregnant) that I have to give them bonus points for overcoming those issues. S2, S1, and then S5, and then S6-9 all blur into one massive lump of "suck" with only occasional "okay" eps that I have written just about all of those seasons off completely.

 

Favorite eps: so so hard to narrow down!  Hmmm, this is what I can think of offhand:

 

1. Sex, Birth, Death--my first and my favorite to this day. Anton Yelchin was amazing, the hookers were terrific, Hotch gets into a pissing match with a senator, and some great Reid interactions with various team members.

2. The Uncanny Valley--the best overall Reid episode since the entire show is about him and his issues, even though 75% of those issues are never stated and are completely invisible to anyone watching who is not familar with his backstory. As a woman from a family of sewers, I loved how sewing was key to solving the case, as was breaking evil Doctor!Daddy (someone on that other board had confused me by talking about the episode's unsub as being the dad--when I pointed out her mistake, she said that she had forgotten that he was in fact not the unsub!).

3. Seven Seconds--best overall case, even though having the little girl survive was a bit too HEA ending for me (I guess I'm just sick and twisted, but if they had her die, at least that would have agreed with their previously-quoted statistic about the low rate of recovering after CPR). The entire team just shone here (from Hotch getting in the uncle's face, Emily getting in the aunt's, Morgan and Reid double-teaming with the nephew the first time around and then profiling the daughter's bedroom using their own personal traumas while doing so, Reid trying to bond with the nephew the second time around and just creeping him out instead, JJ bonding with the mom, Garcia trying to use the antiquated security system), and casting two actual brothers as the brothers in the show was an excellent choice, since they looked so much alike.

4. Empty Planet--the episode I must watch if it's on tv! I just love it, from the snarky really tall guest lecturer who gets blown up, Gideon and Morgan having a moment at the end, all the Reid stuff throughout, and the great agents from the Seattle office, including the female bomb expert and the Asian COTW.

5. Derailed--probably my favorite S1 episode, mostly because of the terrific performance of the unsub and how Reid connected with him, as well as the rest of the train's passengers.

 

For the best of the worst seasons:

1. Corazon: All the Reid goodness, as well as the great priest/community center guy.

2. True Genius: Yes, Reid, but also as someone who wrote her first school research paper on Leopold and Loeb, I loved that the relationship between the unsub and his best friend was a complete shout-out to those two, and that the one who was based on Loeb (the true psychopath of the pair) was actually the unsub's friend. When I realized that that was where they going, I actually yelled "Hell, yeah!" at the tv.

3. Hanley Waters--Kelli Williams' performance was just amazing.

4. Good Earth--this one is a weird one to like, but since the illness that the unsub was delusionally convinced she and her daughter suffered from, Stevens Johnson Syndrome, nearly killed my mother back in the late 1970s, I have a strange connection with the ep. They actually did a decent job depicting a really minor version of SJS in her imagined reflected appearance (believe me, it gets a lot worse than that--do not look it up online unless you want to be completely grossed out).