S13.E21: Mixed Signals / S13.E22: Believer

[ali59]

I loved Matt's reference to the Dyatlov Pass incident from 1959.  It's fascinating!

[Annber03]

2 hours ago, Danielg342 said:

I could get behind a Reid-like killer who matches wits with the Man Genius, but Reid himself becoming a killer?

LMAO, Morgan's words say it all. 

Yeah. Completely agreed. I never want any of these team members to go unsub. As an interesting idea to explore in fanfic? Sure. But...leave it at that.

[Mysteyman]

Making Reid or ANY of the BAU a killler is the very essence of lazy writing.

[R3volver]

5 hours ago, KatsDivision said:

I kinda don't want him to become a killer either but the writers have literally thrown every problem there is out there at Reid. I don't see how he is going to be able to recover from all that's happened to him. It's going to take a lot of effort and consistency for the writers of CM to save him. I don't think the writers are even capable to writing happy experiences for Reid. It's like they deliberately want him to suffer. If the show gets renewed, I really hope they hire better writers. I don't want Reid or the show to end tragically. 

There are many people who have suffered all their lives and never became killers.  I think Reid can go to many dark places, but that's not one of them. It will be interesting to see if and how he recovers from everything.  

[JenJenBosco]

Although I haven't been watching since I found out that Spencer went to prison last year, and this is why:

13 hours ago, KatsDivision said:

The only thing that's going to make sense in episode 300 is if Reid loses it and takes a darker turn. I feel like he might start killing without remorse. Given how much trauma he's had since the show started, I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a criminal. In that last episode, I felt like everything about him screamed "Enough!". He was cold, distant, and even a little insincere. As someone said above, it's like he doesn't fit in anymore. I think that ending was his last straw. I feel like Reid's end is going to be extremely tragic. I literally wouldn't be surprised if Reid quits, commits suicide or becomes a psychopath. 

After Maeve, I had hopes that Spencer could come back and still get to be happy.  Over the course of season 9, I figured that he just needed time, which makes sense given that anyone would need time after that.  In season ten, it seemed like they weren't interested in giving him happiness given the only story line he had was Gideon's death.  Season 11 was the same thing, his mom was getting worse and there was a chance that he could get that illness, too.  

When I found out about the prison, I figured that now, there's only a few options for him before the series ends:

On 4/19/2018 at 1:15 PM, KatsDivision said:

I didn't care for "Mixed Signals" at all. I'm not sure I know how I feel about "Believer". I guess it was just okay. Not so sound cruel, but I truly don't care about what happens to Garcia. I don't hate her or anything. I just don't care about her character.

As for Reid, something felt "off" about him this episode. I don't know if it's the lack of screen time that MGG's been getting this season or if the character is shutting off due to trauma, but everything about him felt off in this episode. Even when he hugged JJ and thanked her for standing by him through everything, it felt very insincere and cold. I feel like if CM gets renewed, we're going to have a psychopathic or a pre-psychopathic Reid on our hands. The writers of CM really need to F**** off MGG's character. They've made him beyond miserable. I wouldn't be surprised if Reid kills himself by the end of the show or becomes a full-blown psychopath. It takes an immense amount of strength to bounce back from the slew of trauma they've been throwning at him since the show started. F**** them. 
 

Previously, there were times when I thought there was a chance that he risked his life so much was because he felt like he had nothing to live for.  I could see him letting himself be killed by unsub, killing himself, or becoming a psychopath.  I just can't see him bouncing back after everything he's been through.  

It's certainly not what I want, but I do understand why he would do it.  And if what everyone has been saying is true about his behavior in this episode, I think the writers might actually be going there with him.  After all, not everyone gets a happy ending.  Elle and Gideon both got partial happy endings.  Everyone else who's left at least had someone else in their lives, but since it's been made clear that Spencer wants a family, kids, and everything else, but it keeps getting denied to him since Maeve.  Prior to that, he seemed perfectly happy on his own.  After that, it's like he had a void in his life, this experience he's had lately between prison, being on probation, and not feeling connected with the team anymore, I can see him just giving up.  

They need to stop beating him up, but at this point, even if they stopped, it might be too late.

[secnarf]

Why did Owen Quinn have his fingerprints burned off?

I kept thinking we had met him before because the name sounded familiar. It's just very similar to Owen Quine, the murder victim in The Silkworm (Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling).

[Danielg342]

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

LMAO, Morgan's words say it all. 

Thanks. :) I always felt it should have become a meme...but it didn't catch on. Maybe it can now.

[K42]

10 hours ago, JenJenBosco said:

Although I haven't been watching since I found out that Spencer went to prison last year, and this is why:

After Maeve, I had hopes that Spencer could come back and still get to be happy.  Over the course of season 9, I figured that he just needed time, which makes sense given that anyone would need time after that.  In season ten, it seemed like they weren't interested in giving him happiness given the only story line he had was Gideon's death.  Season 11 was the same thing, his mom was getting worse and there was a chance that he could get that illness, too.  

When I found out about the prison, I figured that now, there's only a few options for him before the series ends:

Previously, there were times when I thought there was a chance that he risked his life so much was because he felt like he had nothing to live for.  I could see him letting himself be killed by unsub, killing himself, or becoming a psychopath.  I just can't see him bouncing back after everything he's been through.  

It's certainly not what I want, but I do understand why he would do it.  And if what everyone has been saying is true about his behavior in this episode, I think the writers might actually be going there with him.  After all, not everyone gets a happy ending.  Elle and Gideon both got partial happy endings.  Everyone else who's left at least had someone else in their lives, but since it's been made clear that Spencer wants a family, kids, and everything else, but it keeps getting denied to him since Maeve.  Prior to that, he seemed perfectly happy on his own.  After that, it's like he had a void in his life, this experience he's had lately between prison, being on probation, and not feeling connected with the team anymore, I can see him just giving up.  

They need to stop beating him up, but at this point, even if they stopped, it might be too late.

 

I completely agree with everything you said. 

[K42]

11 hours ago, R3volver said:

There are many people who have suffered all their lives and never became killers.  I think Reid can go to many dark places, but that's not one of them. It will be interesting to see if and how he recovers from everything.  

 

Yeah, but it also depends on the person. Very few people are truly able to bounce back from a series of traumas. Reid has always had a childlike and sensitive quality about him. To see him go through that many horrible experiences is traumatic. Maybe I'm a minority (or just have a bleak outlook on life) but I don't see Reid bouncing back at all. I think he's reaching his breaking point. 

[JMO]

Since this has become a discussion about Reid, I've put my reply in his thread.

[mefein]

Hi all, hope everyone is doing well and have recovered from the finale.

Have really enjoyed reading through everyones comments.  So many interesting views.  I agree with many, others have made me think.  

As for the episodes - not much to say on 'Mixed Signals'.  I glanced at it from time to time while it was on.  I did think that the actor playing the Unsub was a good actor.  I've been fairly critical of alot of the guest actor casting over the last few seasons.  I think the quality of guest casting suffered greatly following the loss of long term casting director Scott David, so this was a nice change.

Everytime he put his hand to his head and that sound came on, I could not help thinking back to 'The Silencer', an Unsub I really did feel sorry for and who was a great actor.

Lewis was interesting but yes it does feel like she is getting all of Reids lines.  This unsub take down really felt like it should have been a Reid takedown.

 

The finale - Positives - really glad to have Reid back and nice to have him front and center.  He looks pretty good too!!

Speaking of looking good - I gotta say, JM deciding to let his hair color natuarally, was the right thing to do.  JM looks very distingushed in this last season.

The finale kept me engaged for most of the time, and I was not quite sure what to make of Quinn (still not sure).  But then CM did what it does so often now.  It went off in 20 different directions when 10 would have been just plenty.  So many episodes over these last few seasons have been so frustratinly convuluted that rather than try to follow along and figure things out, I just give up.  I guess that's on me but really IMO, writing an exciting, intriguing tale, with twists and turns, should not require having to sit with a notepad and pen and having to make diagragms and tables of who is who, what, where, why before having to throw all this out because the writer throws another curve ball.

By 10.53 I wanted them just to get to the end.  I must admit, I thought the scene in the car park was lame and did think, 'baloney' when the chick from VICAP turns out to be the baddie.

Garcia's hands to window....oh Kirsten, really?

I really do not know what to make of it.  It was in my opinion a gamble to end on a cliffhangar and particularly a cliffhangar such as this.  Although I think they will get a 14, its far from a slam dunk. If the unthinkable happened, this would be an awful way to end what was such an iconic series.

If it does come back, whether or not MGG is part of it, either at all or in any sort of meaningful way, is something that I would be much more concerned with.  Of course this could all be clever dealings on behalf of tptb, but when I watched some of Reids interactions, particularly with JJ, I could not help thinking back to a number of seasons ago, when the final scene of the finale was Hotch telling Garcia that he was not sure if he would be coming back (or words to that effect).  

 

Summary - kinda felt less would have been more.  It has left so many openings when there were already way to many openings which needed filling. 

[Annber03]

24 minutes ago, mefein said:

But then CM did what it does so often now.  It went off in 20 different directions when 10 would have been just plenty.  So many episodes over these last few seasons have been so frustratinly convuluted that rather than try to follow along and figure things out, I just give up.  I guess that's on me but really IMO, writing an exciting, intriguing tale, with twists and turns, should not require having to sit with a notepad and pen and having to make diagragms and tables of who is who, what, where, why before having to throw all this out because the writer throws another curve ball.

I can agree with this. I love a good twist, but yeah, sometimes they really do love piling on. I've noticed sometimes, when taking notes for my episode reviews, they can get REALLY crammed up after a while with some episodes, because there's just SO MUCH going on and SO MUCH to get down. Then my handwriting, which is normally good, starts looking all messy :p.