S12.E22: Red Light

[Aethera]

Quote

Derek Morgan brings the BAU a lead in the case against serial killer and escaped convict Mr. Scratch.

 

[Guest]

I moved all of the spoilers and speculation to the Spoilers & Speculation thread. 

Please wait until after the episode airs to talk about this episode in this thread.

Thanks.

[secnarf]

22 minutes ago, secnarf said:

Wow. I go to work and then this is what I come back to - three pages of the most confusing speculation ever :P

I get it now...

I wish I didn't.

Though I did like the scene between Reid and JJ when Reid is figuring everything out. And that the baby isn't his. That would have been the ultimate jumping the shark.

For a second at the end I thought Reid's mom wouldn't recognize him.

Of course Cat and Lindsay are a couple *rolls eyes*. Just continuing from where 'A Good Husband' left off.

Not convinced that Scratch would have reached out to Morgan but at least it was somewhat plausible as to how he was brought back into the story.

[Droogie]

Well, I'm exhausted.  Great finale.  

[Fashionista7]

 HOLY....SHIT!!!!

I GIVE AN A...+!

A FOR REID (GOT TURNED ON WHEN HE THREATENED TO KILL CAT)

AND THE + FOR THE RETURN OF MORGAN!!!

WHAT...A...CLIFFHANGERS!!!!!

SUCKS WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER!!!

[ReidFan]

Everyone, put away the pitchforks :)

it's not Reid's baby.

[Fashionista7]

1 minute ago, ReidFan said:

Everyone, put away the pitchforks :)

it's not Reid's baby.

 

 

[secnarf]

Wait that was the finale?!

I thought there was one more episode. I hate cliffhangers! But they wouldn't dare kill off a team member, so I suppose it'll be fine. I gotta say though, I don't like the idea of extending the Scratch story into another season. He is too much like Pelant on Bones, and that is never a good thing.

[CrimeFan12]

That was an awesome episode to wrap up an excellent season.  It's going to be a long summer.  Well done.

[Hotchgirl18]

7 minutes ago, Fashionista7 said:

 HOLY....SHIT!!!!

I GIVE AN A...+!

A FOR REID (GOT TURNED ON WHEN HE THREATENED TO KILL CAT)

AND THE + FOR THE RETURN OF MORGAN!!!

WHAT...A...CLIFFHANGERS!!!!!

SUCKS WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER!!!

So what do I have to do to get Reid to do that to me? Lol. 

[Nothingsurprisesme]

Great show with the back and forth between Cat and Reid.  Love when the show relies on mind games versus the violence and big fight scenes to take down the bad guys.  To me, it goes back to the core of the show.

Wished we had gotten to see a Reid/Morgan reunion on camera.  Not exactly a big fan of that cliffhanger ending because it just doesn't see original.

I wonder how Reid is going to be worked into the 1st show since he hasn't been reinstated yet and I would assume they would pick up from where this show left off.

MGG was awesome in this episode. I think he showed every emotion there is.

Will say this, there is fabulous chemistry between  Cat and him.

[MMC]

12 minutes ago, Fashionista7 said:

 HOLY....SHIT!!!!

I GIVE AN A...+!

A FOR REID (GOT TURNED ON WHEN HE THREATENED TO KILL CAT)

AND THE + FOR THE RETURN OF MORGAN!!!

WHAT...A...CLIFFHANGERS!!!!!

SUCKS WE HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE END OF SEPTEMBER!!!

I personally would have rather seen an actual scene between Morgan and Reid. But I suppose I should be grateful that they at least let us in on the fact that Morgan was going to visit and check up on his little brother. Other than that complaint I pretty much loved this episode.

Edited May 11, 2017 by MMC

[roamyn]

I'm gonna have to watch again.  I didn't get a lot of the Reid/Cat, Reid working it out stuff.  Just went too fast.

My guess is that they'll kill off Alvez (if any), just because of how Morgan (!) said something to Garcia.

Only downer of the episode was no Reid/Morgan reunion, unless we have to wait for next season for that, too.

Edited May 11, 2017 by roamyn

[Danielg342]

By the way, I got the ball rolling on the S13 thread in case we want to speculate on the cliffhangers we were left with.

I gotta say...wow. Really wow. Amazing wow. Well, the last ten minutes were kind of a drag.

...but, I really think CM produced one heck of an episode. Maybe even a bellwether episode. Maybe even the bellwether episode. I always wondered if CM could ever hit its peak...this was it.

Wow. I'm at a loss for words.

When I get over the high of this episode, I may have more to say. I probably will.

[JMO]

Overall, I thought it was good, and I enjoyed it.  The pacing wasn’t as badly crammed as I expected, so I was glad of that.  However, I wish they hadn’t chosen to present so much of the Reid/Cat interaction in the alternate reality.  For me, it detracted from the tension.  It would have been one thing to see an emotionally and physically exhausted Reid having to dig deep and pull out all the stops.  Instead we saw his debonair self exchanging witty and flirtatious conversation with the beautifully made up Cat.  Just took me out of it, for each of those scenes.  When they returned to real-life Reid, I was drawn in, intrigued, and on the edge of my seat.  And then we were back on the dance floor. 

I was disappointed not to get a Morgan/Reid scene, even if I was supposed to imagine one taking place after the fact.  If Shemar had been coming back, it might have been a nice set up for Morgan and Reid to have to rescue the others at the start of next season.

Having just been burned by assuming Reid’s tormentor was Scratch, I was more than a little bit surprised that they fell right back into it with the fake Garcia text.  Learning curve, anyone?

So, not perfect, for me.  But head and shoulders above the finales of the past five or six seasons.  And they only blew up one thing.

Edited to add:  The 'Watch me' line---I so hope that is not used as an excuse not to explore the fallout for Reid next season.

Edited May 11, 2017 by JMO

[Reghan]

Loved it!

But seriously with that cliffhanger? Season 4 finale much? Anyone else's mind go straight to that?

[Hotchgirl18]

3 minutes ago, Nothingsurprisesme said:

Great show with the back and forth between Cat and Reid.  Love when the show relies on mind games versus the violence and big fight scenes to take down the bad guys.  To me, it goes back to the core of the show.

Wished we had gotten to see a Reid/Morgan reunion on camera.  Not exactly a big fan of that cliffhanger ending because it just doesn't see original.

I wonder how Reid is going to be worked into the 1st show since he hasn't been reinstated yet and I would assume they would pick up from where this show left off.

MGG was awesome in this episode. I think he showed every emotion there is.

Will say this, there is fabulous chemistry between  Cat and him.

It was better than I thought. Of course, dark angry Reid helped a bunch! It wasn't as I feared with all Morgan and the Reid story being pushed to the backburner. It was good. I hate to say it. But I was getting into it. 

I knew there was something fishy about that guard. 

[Willowy]

So much honest emotion! Not a dry eye in our house! Our heroes triumph, old love is generous and rich in making room for the new friends, and a full-on humdinger of a cliffhanger! SO. VERY. GOOD.

Reid's "Watch me." is my very next t-shirt. And the very moment when I lost it completely.

[Nothingsurprisesme]

Hotchgirl18, I agree that dark angry Reid was awesome!! Hopefully we can see more of it in the upcoming season (directed at unsubs of course)?. But he has also earned a living, breathing love interest, too!

I am glad that the connection with the guard was addressed.  So much in that episode that I will definitely need to watch again.

[Hotchgirl18]

3 minutes ago, Nothingsurprisesme said:

Hotchgirl18, I agree that dark angry Reid was awesome!! Hopefully we can see more of it in the upcoming season (directed at unsubs of course)?. But he has also earned a living, breathing love interest, too!

I am glad that the connection with the guard was addressed.  So much in that episode that I will definitely need to watch again.

Every red blooded female is jealous of Aubrey Plaza! Lol. I am one of those. Lol. His acting was phenomenal. Hopefully we'll see more of it too. Oh, and it can be directed at me anytime! *cue flying pigs* Oink. Oink. ?

[ReidFan]

and without having to go into it and use up screentime, they pretty much explained why Reid was left in gen pop, why he saved Reid's ass that first night and I still think he was in Calvin's pocket.

I'm still really sick and found a lot of this episode difficult to hear, and because of game 7, I was upstairs on the without-closed-captioning tv. I'll wanna see it again to better hear/read what transpired but overall I really really liked this one. Harry, Matthew, Paget and everyone else who said it would blow our minds was right.

I cannot *wait* to screencap this one. He looked soooooo good in that fantasy sequence. And if she wasn't a baddie, man, Aubrey Plaza woulda made the perfect love interest for Reid. They freakin' sizzle on screen together.

Edited May 11, 2017 by ReidFan

[alihart41]

MGG and Aubrey are really great together. I can totally see them going for Round 3 eventually. I don't know if the fantasy sequence was necessary, but they both looked hot as hell.

Morgan's beard looked weird, but it was nice to see him back. Bummed we didn't actually see him bring Reid and Diana breakfast.

[CrimeFan12]

So glad it wasn't Derek charging in to save the day.  The amount of time we saw him (and according to Matthew and Paget, his gnome beard..lol) was fine with me and we may see more of him in the season opener (fingers crossed).  And now we know why the team hasn't had much contact with him.  Sounds like he might have moved back to Chicago.  He definitely not living in DC since he said he was flying back.

[Willowy]

Yeah, would it have hurt to have an over-the-credits scene of Morgan bringing them chicken&waffles? That IS my only gripe. I loved this episode so, so much. I'm still feeling the effects. I imagine I will be for some bit of time yet.

[Hotchgirl18]

4 minutes ago, alihart41 said:

MGG and Aubrey are really great together. I can totally see them going for Round 3 eventually. I don't know if the fantasy sequence was necessary, but they both looked hot as hell.

Morgan's beard looked weird, but it was nice to see him back. Bummed we didn't actually see him bring Reid and Diana breakfast.

Not so fast. I wanna go for round three. Lol. 

[secnarf]

24 minutes ago, Willowy said:

Reid's "Watch me." is my very next t-shirt. And the very moment when I lost it completely.

I have "Just watch me" on a pin on my work lanyard. It's been something of a catch phrase in Canada for decades.

[MMC]

9 minutes ago, ReidFan said:

and without having to go into it and use up screentime, they pretty much explained why Reid was left in gen pop, why he saved Reid's ass that first night and I still think he was in Calvin's pocket.

I'm still really sick and found a lot of this episode difficult to hear, and because of game 7, I was upstairs on the without-closed-captioning tv. I'll wanna see it again to better hear/read what transpired but overall I really really liked this one. Harry, Matthew, Paget and everyone else who said it would blow our minds was right.

I cannot *wait* to screencap this one. He looked soooooo good in that fantasy sequence. And if she wasn't a baddie, man, Aubrey Plaza woulda made the perfect love interest for Reid. They freakin' sizzle on screen together.

True. However even though we now know why this bastard pulled Reid out of the line up that was slated to go to protective custody and put him in the one that was slated for genpop and why he seemed to be protecting Reid somewhat. It still doesn't explain who it was they actually kept Reid in there. Because there was no damn way that guard would have had the authority to do what he did on his own. And boy did I ever cheer big time when that S.O.B. ended up getting pumped full of lead. 

[Nothingsurprisesme]

15 minutes ago, ReidFan said:

.  .  .

I cannot *wait* to screencap this one. He looked soooooo good in that fantasy sequence. And if she wasn't a baddie, man, Aubrey Plaza woulda made the perfect love interest for Reid. They freakin' sizzle on screen together.

So agree on this.  I'm pretty sure they are really good friends in real life.  So I wonder if that made filming the scene with her sitting on his lap and the dance scene easy or kind of awkward.

Liked his chemistry with Beth R., but he has major chemistry with Aubrey P.

[ReidFan]

Lol!!! Yes!! The father of our current prime minister said it when he wAs in office.  I remember that! And it was also in the realm of showing someone ( in this case, the opposition and just folks that didn't think he'd pull it off ) I think my mom who was a huge Pierre Trudeau fan probably still has the pin 

[Hotchgirl18]

1 minute ago, Nothingsurprisesme said:

So agree on this.  I'm pretty sure they are really good friends in real life.  So I wonder if that made filming the scene with her sitting on his lap and the dance scene easy or kind of awkward.

Liked his chemistry with Beth R., but he has major chemistry with Aubrey P.

So I wonder what filming the slamming against the wall, choking scene was like. 

[Nothingsurprisesme]

Good point that it was never addressed who was helping the guard get info about Reid.  Do you all think that was intentional or sloppy

[ReidFan]

I think Cat was funneling Wilkins info about Reid ( that he was a fed for one)

[Nothingsurprisesme]

2 minutes ago, Hotchgirl18 said:

So I wonder what filming the slamming against the wall, choking scene was like. 

Well, that too!  That was an amazing scene.  The director had to have loved how that scene turned out.

MGG and Aubrey P. play "losing it" and "crazy" very well.

They had better expand his role on the show.  Otherwise such wasted talent.

[Hotchgirl18]

3 minutes ago, Nothingsurprisesme said:

Well, that too!  That was an amazing scene.  The director had to have loved how that scene turned out.

MGG and Aubrey P. play "losing it" and "crazy" very well.

They had better expand his role on the show.  Otherwise such wasted talent.

Wonder what Matthew and Aubrey were doing the whole time of that scene. Lol. 

[Unkempt]

MGG and Aubrey Plaza really do have some great chemistry.  They MADE this episode.

The only thing missing was a Morgan/Reid scene.  That would have been a cherry on top.  I can't complain, though....this episode blew me away. 

[Nothingsurprisesme]

I would have voted for a Morgan/Reid scene rather than a Mr Scratch cliffhanger.  Then from start to finish would have been perfect.

[Willowy]

4 minutes ago, Unkempt said:

MGG and Aubrey Plaza really do have some great chemistry.  They MADE this episode.

The only thing missing was a Morgan/Reid scene.  That would have been a cherry on top.  I can't complain, though....this episode blew me away. 

Agreed, completely.

I think one reason Aubrey has such chemistry with Matthew is because of their real-life connection. They used to pal around quite a bit, and she would go to premieres and other functions with him. Also, Cat sees and acknowledges Reid as an adult, sexual being. That turns up the heat exponentially, even if she isn't "after" him that way? She talks to him that way.

[R3volver]

I can't form the right words right now, but that was such a good episode and the acting was phenomenal.

I can't describe what I felt when Reid said, "Watch me."

[Nothingsurprisesme]

Not that I want Reid punished for it, but I can understand his worry about poisoning the inmates.  Distributing the drugs would have been doing what's necessary to stay alive.  But the poisoning was really vindictive.  

I wonder if that will be addressed again.

[ReidFan]

5 minutes ago, R3volver said:

I can't form the right words right now, but that was such a good episode and the acting was phenomenal.

I can't describe what I felt when Reid said, "Watch me."

I'm watching!!! I'm watching!! 

[Willowy]

10 minutes ago, R3volver said:

I can't form the right words right now, but that was such a good episode and the acting was phenomenal.

I can't describe what I felt when Reid said, "Watch me."

I talked about that on fb, too. Scroll up and you'll see I agree with you 100%.

[ReidFan]

How and where do we go about the "Emmy for MGG" ?

[Unkempt]

MGG and Aubrey deserve all the trophies for this one.

[Willowy]

We take out a full page "For Your Consideration" ad in Variety. 

[ReidFan]

I'm in! Who's gonna head that up and where do I PayPal my contribution?!

Edited May 11, 2017 by ReidFan

[Aethera]

56 minutes ago, Nothingsurprisesme said:

Good point that it was never addressed who was helping the guard get info about Reid.  Do you all think that was intentional or sloppy

I'm guessing it was on purpose, though actually, if they've wrapped up Cat (for now), that wouldn't make sense. Hmm.

I thought MGG was absolutely terrific in this episode, and I agree he and Aubrey Plaza once again had great chemistry. I liked all the scenes with them, and the one with JJ when he figures it out. I really do hope they don't do fallout for him - seeing him so confident and take charge  was great, they should continue with that. It would be cool if the experience, ultimately, made him more assertive and helped him take care of others.

Morgan's interactions with the team felt weird - forced, not natural, with everyone except Garcia at the end. And yes, that is a straight-up gnome beard.  But I thought that was an appropriate amount of him in the episode. 

I too thought of Pelant from Bones tonight (which is what made me stop watching Bones) but I'm hoping they deal with it in 1, or maybe 2, episodes next season and move on. I'm worried the results of the cliffhanger will be a bit predictable, but I won't speculate here, I'll mull a bit and then jump to the speculation thread :)  

Overall, a great end to the season.

[iRarelyWatchTV36]

I really liked this episode, great cliffhanger-y end to the season..... and an amazing twist that the cliffhanger is about the team, but not Reid, after the last 9 episodes going into tonight.  That said, please wrap-up the Scratch crap in S13.  Enough's enough, and its past time to put this running plot line out of its misery.

Oh Cat.  You devious little minx.  So glad she was lying about the baby being Reid's.  That imagined scenario of Lyndsey-as-Maeve extracting Reid's semen to impregnate Cat?  Still shuddering.  I knew that guard was bad news!  Just didn't know exactly how.

Why you do this to me, writers?  The 'Jencer' that actually isn't, but at the same time so totally is!?  That little scene in the elevator (as they left Cat to get back to his mom), when they looked at each other... my fanon personality may or may not have mentally yelled "just kiss each other breathless already!".

I have to take a little bit of a percentage point off the overall score for the episode, though, because they just had to make Morgan a Garvez shipper.  Can't 'ugh!' that bit enough.

[Willowy]

5 hours ago, iRarelyWatchTV36 said:

I

Why you do this to me, writers?  The 'Jencer' that actually isn't, but at the same time so totally is!?  That little scene in the elevator (as they left Cat to get back to his mom), when they looked at each other... my fanon personality may or may not have mentally yelled "just kiss each other breathless already!"

THANK you! While I agree Cat and he have chemistry, it's these two that have been my OTP forever. Please show... someday?

[normasm]

I'm going to watch again (and again) to see things I don't understand very well, but I think this finale was constructed the best way possible. The mother-and-child reunion was the climax, the goodbye from Morgan was nice, and then the cliffy for the team (sans Reid). OK, that part was kinda boring, yes?

As for season 13, I wish we could be certain Reid would have an expanded role in the team and in the show; it needs to be shown that he's struggling with issues, yes, but it also needs to show he has a new determination he didn't have before, one that Cat handed him. "Watch me." I so hope TPTB know that if they show more of this matured Spencer, the fans certainly will watch.
 

[roamyn]

1 hour ago, Willowy said:

THANK you! While I agree Cat and he have chemistry, it's these two that have been my OTP forever. Please show... someday?

I must be the only one who likes Will & JJ.

I don't see why shows have to have romantic partners ala 'Moonlighting'.  This show has done fine not hooking up characters.