Criminal Minds Unpopular Opinions

[missmycat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=ldDpr02g-TM 

 

 

Posting this here because I think we all could use a good laugh.

[Knittzu]

LOL missmycat! I love it! Thank you so much.

[missmycat]

You guys are very welcomed. Oh and Sweet, I am going to have to think a bit about your marriage proposal. First I need to know where you plan on taking me for our honeymoon. And should we ever divorce I want custody of all the CM dvds except season 6, 7 and 9 which of course was the season of JJ 

[missmycat]

I would, of course, take you anywhere you want to go. And I totally would NOT hide the DVDs so you couldn't take them, so you're PERFECTLY safe just leaving them out!

Well okay than I guess I will accept your marriage proposal. However I'm going to want a nice long engagement period just so's I can be sure I made the right decision.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Edited October 22, 2014 by missmycat

[missmycat]

Good, good. Meanwhile, shared custody of DVDs. Particularly Reid-centric episodes. I mean, not that I like those or anything. I'm assuming you don't, so I'm sparing you. 

 

Hotch, yes. Say what you will about the character Morgan, but Shemar is some very pretty eye candy.

Well now aren't you being a thoughtful fiancee' trying to spare me like that. But I would just feel terrible if you had to bare the burden of those Reid episodes all by yourself.

[amensisterfriend]

The Hotch of (most of) seasons 1-4 is really compelling and layered and crushable to me. My UO is that I love that Hotch just as much as Reid. I agree that they've dropped the ball tremendously with this character. I also hold the UO that the S5 melodrama with Hayley dying was, in retrospect, a big mistake---it seemed to announce the last of the show's more subtle depth in favor of OMGShockValue!  and made an already somber character so relentlessly flat and depressed that he became a little less lovable and fascinating even to someone who once loved him as much as I did. My related unpopular opinion here is that I never find myself wanting to rewatch the understandably popular 100 :) 

 

And if loving Rossi is unpopular, I don't want to be popular! I love his snarkiness and general charisma. I agree that they could and should do more with him, but whenever I rewatch I notice that he adds more to my enjoyment of most episodes than I'd realized and love the way he plays off most of the other characters and actors. I even find Morgan somewhat tolerable when he's around Rossi, and at this point I really don't enjoy Morgan with anyone else. 

[normasm]

Amen, asf! I love Rossi, too! No one can do snark followed by wisdom like he can. I do want to see him in a different role, where he's not running around after unsubs, but I don't want him to go anywhere.

 

I also agree about the shock value taking over a bit after 100 (and then a lot). 

[dusang]

Just to combine UOs -- I love the scene where Rossi vows to get Hotch home in time for his (first?) date with Beth.

[dusang]

It's also a little hard for me to like Hotch as much, since I'm learning more and more about TG's personal stuff and not liking it. Just as a woman, you know? I really thought he was better than that. 

 

Dare I ask?  I've generally avoided real stories about the cast; although I did hear about his catfishing embarrassment.

[normasm]

I'm not pretending to know what goes on inside TG, but the catfishing thing, so embarrassing, could happen to almost anyone who goes on social media, and especially stars are targets for this kind of thing. It doesn't even have to be erotomania, just *assholes* who want to "out" and/or shame someone in the public eye. When I saw that tape, I felt dirty, because he was obviously speaking to a person directly and secretly, and he was separated from his wife, from what has been determined. So, that? Embarrassing, yes, proof of scumbaggery? Not even close.

 

As for his manager's suit, it sounded from the get-go like exaggeration designed to preserve outrage for the trial. I'm not saying TG is an angel, I'm just saying this other guy sounds like a D-bag who has lost his mealticket. 

 

I totally understand the sinking feeling when someone you like turns out to have feet of clay; I've been waiting for something bad to turn up on MGG, who seems like a good guy; but these are people, and none of us other people judging them are any less human or open to messing up. We're just less scrutinized.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Yeah, the catfishing thing. I don't know. I think he sells himself as a certain type of guy, so I was kind of bummed to find out he can be a bit sleazy. I guess I need to let it go. The DUI on top of it didn't help, but maybe I just need to realize he's in the throes of his disease and cut him some slack. The video was kind of sad and depressing.

 

I do hope the stories of him being mean to his co-workers are bogus. I'll reserve judgment on those, since they were made by someone out for money.

 

I googled "Thomas Gibson catfishing" because I hadn't heard about this, but it sounds like the equivalent of the hacker scandal, where nude photos of several actresses were hacked from the Cloud and then made public on the internet. Therefore, I'm hesitant to judge Thomas. I have no idea if he's an alcoholic or not, if he, like Nicholas Brendon, has that particular disease. I do know about internet stalking, though, and how easy it is for weirdos to glom onto you.

[dusang]

No worries SweetTooth -- sometimes I try to set myself on the high road and remember that I don't actually know these people* and it's not fair for me to make value judgments on them.  And then I read some random tweet and spiral into years-long grudges (coughlenadunhamcoughcough) so... you do you.

 

*by which I mean, celebrities generally

Edited October 23, 2014 by dusang

[Knittzu]

I didn't realize he was separated from his wife either, SweetTooth. I thought his wife and kids were inside the house while he made that video and was grossed out.

[alexvillage]

Not sure if this is an unpopular opinion, it is partly a peeve 

The episode that Emily is cleared by the psych and Hotch is given the report. I thought it was terrible that there were so many details that would not be in a report, even - or specially - to the boss. It could have been sent in a different way, not mentioning her mother, but just saying relationships in general, not mentioning a name of a boyfriend. TV writers never heard about HIPPA, I guess.

I also don't like that Hotch seems to say that Emily is overcompensating when she was actually being a friend or mocking her for giving him parental tips when he actually listened to her and followed her suggestion.

[zannej]

I agree with you on that, alexvillage. It was a complete violation of Emily's privacy for any of that to be related to Hotch. The only stuff Hotch would be privy to was whether or not Emily was deemed fit for duty.

[LolaRuns]

I definitely miss the days when Rossi was a more defined character/had a more defined character arc. I was a big fan of Gideon and was very skeptical when they brought Rossi in, but imo his role in the first 2 seasons he was in was excellent. It makes me sad that they toned him down a lot and those "1 backstory episode a season" stuff really doesn't impress me.

[alexvillage]

I will post this here even though I am not sure abut the "popularity" of my opinion. It is a very personal thing to me, so forgive me the rant

 

Before I began watching this show, I would occasionally see a promo about it and I resisted because I thought it would be too dark. Eventually I caught up and the first seasons were definitely darker, in the sense that they would go "into the minds" of the unsub. I could suspend my disbelief for a omen or two, and enjoy the idea of the show and, for the most part, everything about it.

This was supposed to be a serial killer show, about the mind of a serial killer. Then they began to lump serial killers and people who might be mentally ill together and that annoys me.

First, most mentally ill people do not commit such premeditated crimes. Yes, some do, but by the shows representation it looks like a lot of them do. Second, serial killers are psychopaths. They don't have empathy or show remorse. I know psychopaths would be considered mentally ill, but I am seeing them apart as a way to exemplify the empathy. 

A lot of the episodes, even good ones, used PTSD, Depression, Dissociative Personality Disorder for the unsub. 

I unrealistically wish the writers would be able to show us what goes on the minds of the unsubs instead of gruesome details of the crimes. I think we could extrapolate about some famous ones, what they thought, how the act, and use the many facets to make the reasoning for the criminal to act.

If this makes sense at all

[normasm]

It definitely makes sense, alexvillage, and I agree it's a bit too glib lately. Reid used to always draw a distinction between certain mental illnesses, or ASD even, and causation of the psycopathy behind serial killing, or the other crimes they handle.

[JMO]

Alexvillage, you make several good points.

 It's one thing to say that people who are mentally ill are more prone to serial killing (NOT true), and another to say that serial killers are more prone to carrying a diagnosis of mental illness.  They are two separate statistics.  The show, I think, tries to portray that there is often some degree of mental illness that drives the actions of the perpetrators of the crimes.  Like you, I hope that the audience doesn't take away the message that they should be fearful of the mentally ill.

 

But you also point out an opportunity.  The show is there for 'entertainment' (the writing of that phrase makes me nervous about what I've come to consider entertainment---heading for some Little House on the Prairie right after this), but there's no reason it can't also be educational.  If the general public learns to take better notice of certain traits or behaviors associated with dangerous psychopathy (and even sociopathy, although that's much harder for the public to see), they might be able to help prevent a second or third, or tenth, death at the hands of the same killer.  Because, let's face it, most police forces don't have access to Garcia and her computers, and they need real eyes and ears in the community to contribute to solving crimes. 

 

 

[Knittzu]

This was supposed to be a serial killer show, about the mind of a serial killer. Then they began to lump serial killers and people who might be mentally ill together and that annoys me. First, most mentally ill people do not commit such premeditated crimes. Yes, some do, but by the shows representation it looks like a lot of them do.

 

 

Yes, so much this. It's actually rare for mentally ill people to commit violent acts. They are overwhelming the VICTIMS of violence, not the perpetrators. But I mostly shrug it aside people this show is set in an AU that includes an endless stream of serial killers with unlimited financial resources, years to plot out their elaborate crimes, unsubs who are are women about a quarter of the time, etc. (Can you imagine actually living in this sort of world? I'd never leave my house, which would be enclosed by electric fences, barred windows, attack dogs, etc. I certainly wouldn't be jogging alone in the dark!)

 

It really only rankles me when they have characters pipe up with nonsense like "could the ten-year-old autistic child be the unsub?" -- and not a single other profiler even bats an eye at the stupid.

[LolaRuns]

IMO the earliest seasons seemed to have a strong moral compass about not glorifying the killers and not being exploitative with the gore. It seemed to have a real respect for the victims and not just portray them as gore vehicles or just brush them aside while focusing on how "fascinating" and interesting the killers are. A while in that vision seems to have gotten lost (for me personally it started around the Mitch Pileggi/Frankie Muniz episodes and it has gotten just more and more schlocky over time).

[missmycat]

I will post this here even though I am not sure abut the "popularity" of my opinion. It is a very personal thing to me, so forgive me the rant

 

Before I began watching this show, I would occasionally see a promo about it and I resisted because I thought it would be too dark. Eventually I caught up and the first seasons were definitely darker, in the sense that they would go "into the minds" of the unsub. I could suspend my disbelief for a omen or two, and enjoy the idea of the show and, for the most part, everything about it.

This was supposed to be a serial killer show, about the mind of a serial killer. Then they began to lump serial killers and people who might be mentally ill together and that annoys me.

First, most mentally ill people do not commit such premeditated crimes. Yes, some do, but by the shows representation it looks like a lot of them do. Second, serial killers are psychopaths. They don't have empathy or show remorse. I know psychopaths would be considered mentally ill, but I am seeing them apart as a way to exemplify the empathy. 

A lot of the episodes, even good ones, used PTSD, Depression, Dissociative Personality Disorder for the unsub. 

I unrealistically wish the writers would be able to show us what goes on the minds of the unsubs instead of gruesome details of the crimes. I think we could extrapolate about some famous ones, what they thought, how the act, and use the many facets to make the reasoning for the criminal to act.

If this makes sense at all

I totally agree with this.Once upon a time unsubs like Roy in "Distress, Tobias in "Revelations", Samantha in "The Uncanny Valley" and even Owen in "Elephants Memory" were the exception to the rule.The team mostly dealt with psychopaths like Frank(can't remember his last name) Arnold Fox and George Foyet aka the Reaper.

 

And then you have the victims themselves. In the earlier seasons they were killed simply because the psychopath got some sort of sick pleasure out of it.Yes, we had Samantha, the mentally ill unsub trying to use those unfortunate women to replace though dolls she had lost. Stuff like that however wasn't the norm but rather the exception. 

 

However,todays episodes where people are becoming victims because their bodies are being used for fertilizer,their blood is being used to paint with or they are being made into human puppets seem to be the norm rather than the exception.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I totally agree with this.Once upon a time unsubs like Roy in "Distress, Tobias in "Revelations", Samantha in "The Uncanny Valley" and even Owen in "Elephants Memory" were the exception to the rule.The team mostly dealt with psychopaths like Frank(can't remember his last name) Arnold Fox and George Foyet aka the Reaper.

 

Frank's last name was Breitkopf, and while he did kinda-sorta have a connection with his eventual victim, Jane Hanratty, that was mostly because Jane was too broken to be fixed after he first abducted her. It was never made clear if she was actually mentally ill or not, but there very very clearly (IMO) some issues with her emotional state.

 

Edited to add: Omnivore is on ION right now, and Foyet just made the call to Hotch, offering him the same deal he made with Shaughnessy. When Hotch says, "I'm the guy that hunts guys like you", Foyet says, "There are no guys like me." Was he the "worst" UnSub the show ever dealt with?

Edited October 26, 2014 by Cobalt Stargazer

[zannej]

I think under Ed Bernero's control, they were reminded to not dehumanize the victims. The victims were always supposed to be sympathetic and the team had rules to follow. I think Ed's cop nature was coming in there and it really did help set the tone for the show. There was a level of respect for law enforcement and the job they were doing.

 

After he left, they decided that they didn't have to stick to those same rules and sometimes the victims were made in to villains. But I think they just wanted more and more bizarre and unrealistic killers that the writers seemed to think were "interesting" and they lost their way. I sort of miss the "run of the mill" type killers where the team had to profile and figure out who it was and how to draw them out.

 

I sort of want to see them do a take on something from the Suzie Jaeger case where she was kidnapped from her tent while camping with her parents and a year later David G. Meirhofer called the mother to brag-- but profilers had given her a heads up. It was the mother who really confused him and made him feel guilty by talking to him. He went from gloating to sobbing and begging her permission to hang up. He was mentally ill but he was also very clever-- he tapped in to a phone pole to call so he couldn't be traced. IIRC, he had also butchered his ex-girlfriend and had her cut up in his fridge labeled as deer meat. That is a real life case of something very disturbing and bizarre and you wouldn't even have to see any of the violence to be creeped out by it.

[LolaRuns]

It's an unfortunate aspect of the format that everything has to be tied up so neatly that means that nearly all the time they end up with a spree killer/escalating killer. They go somewhere, don't know the solution immediately so another murder has to happen so they can gain additional information or for there to be more pressure to ask fast rather than having something with realistic cooling off periods.

Which is why I personally wouldn't mind them being branch out more into intentionally other types of cases, like consulting with terrorist situations, or that thing with the plane a few episodes ago, or more things like trying assess guilt/insanity/motive/the location of other victims for somebody who already got caught.

What I personally would always have loved to see is them having a more board room psychopath/white collar type case once (where there isn't a flesh and blood body necessarily or where that at least isn't the focus). Or consult on some sort of organized crime case where for example they try to pick out which member to target for an undercover operation or something like that. Or an episode where rather than the usual "we have to solve this case before time runs out" have an episode where they consult on several, more long running cases at once.

Edited October 27, 2014 by LolaRuns

[idiotwaltz]

 

I sort of want to see them do a take on something from the Suzie Jaeger case where she was kidnapped from her tent while camping with her parents and a year later David G. Meirhofer called the mother to brag-- but profilers had given her a heads up. It was the mother who really confused him and made him feel guilty by talking to him. He went from gloating to sobbing and begging her permission to hang up. He was mentally ill but he was also very clever-- he tapped in to a phone pole to call so he couldn't be traced. IIRC, he had also butchered his ex-girlfriend and had her cut up in his fridge labeled as deer meat. That is a real life case of something very disturbing and bizarre and you wouldn't even have to see any of the violence to be creeped out by it.

 

That would make a great episode. It would be similar to how they coached the mother in The Instincts to react to the kidnapper's call, but I can see how this can be drawn out into a full-length episode. I'm not sure I would trust any of the current writers to do this justice though. 

 

 

Or an episode where rather than the usual "we have to solve this case before time runs out" have an episode where they consult on several, more long running cases at once.

 

I've never understood why they need the entire team to be at every friggin crime these days. In the earlier seasons, we had a couple of episodes where the team split up (Hotch and Reid interviewing Chester Hardwicke while everyone else went to help Rossi battle his demons, Hotch and Rossi interviewing the battered wife who murdered her husband while JJ and the rest tried to find some lady's stalker). I'm not saying the team should be split up every episode, but some variety wouldn't hurt.  

[zannej]

I think sometimes they realized there was a cooling off period and there was at least one case where they knew that period was about to end and it was time to really kick it in to gear. I would actually like to see a case that was ongoing where the cops are just stumped and there is no imminent danger, but they still want to catch the person and call in the BAU. The BAU can examine the evidence, maybe having to bring in their own medical examiners (I believe the FBI has some on the payroll, or uses specific medical examiners from time to time-- and I admit it makes me think of Scully from the X-Files) and then go through the paperwork, re-interview family members, and do some good old fashioned legwork to figure it out and then catch the unsub while he's least expecting it. I'd love to see them bust in while the unsub is sitting around eating cereal or something and not being a threat. I know that may seem boring to some, but it would be nice for a change. Also, I'd like to see the cops make the bust while the team are stuck in traffic and they hear about it and are told they can go home and they shake hands with the cops and leave.

[normasm]

I've never understood why they need the entire team to be at every friggin crime these days. In the earlier seasons, we had a couple of episodes where the team split up (Hotch and Reid interviewing Chester Hardwicke while everyone else went to help Rossi battle his demons, Hotch and Rossi interviewing the battered wife who murdered her husband while JJ and the rest tried to find some lady's stalker). I'm not saying the team should be split up every episode, but some variety wouldn't hurt.

Yeah, but if they split up, whichever "team" JJ was on would hijack the entire episode...

 

(I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself)

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Yeah, but if they split up, whichever "team" JJ was on would hijack the entire episode...

 

(I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself)

 

Not to mention completely show up the other "team" simply by virtue of not having JJ on it.

 

(I couldn't resist, either. There, now we're both fibbers. ;-) )

[normasm]

Heck, they wouldn't need the other team, would they? (Especially if Reid was on it…)  XD

[Knittzu]

I've never understood why they need the entire team to be at every friggin crime these days.

 

 

They really don't, though. What we often have is Rossi & Hotch lingering in the office and Reid vanishing while JJ/Morgan/Garcia find the unsub via magic, track him down, kick in his door, and shoot him dead. 

[amensisterfriend]

I will totally agree with the UO opinion that I'd rather see a group of thinkers than gun-toters, since they are supposed to be a group of thinkers.

 

Exactly! That's a huge part of what set this show a bit apart from most procedurals to me. Beyond that, I think it may be unpopular just how very, irrationally bothered I am by how the team members are all so interchangeably awesome in every area with almost NO differentiation in niches, skill sets, specialties, human flaws and even personalities. I absolutely love the show's first four seasons, but even by S2 you could see the show starting to give up on the idea that each member had DIFFERENT perspectives and areas of expertise to contribute. I'd go as far as to say that I think this is the thing CM does worse than almost any other crime show, nearly all of which at least make a decent effort to show different characters filling slightly different roles and lending distinct skills. At least S1 showed Morgan as an obsessional crimes expert with a special knowledge of bombs that others didn't possess, Elle as a sex crimes expert, etc. It just makes the team seem so unrealistic--not to mention kind of dull---that they all offer more or less the same skills to nearly every case.  I can only imagine how quickly a budget cutter would eliminate at least two or three members of the team: "They all fulfill more or less the same exact roles! Do we really need that many people to awkwardly complete one another's sentences while delivering a profile?!"  

[Knittzu]

I can only imagine how quickly a budget cutter would eliminate at least two or three members of the team: "They all fulfill more or less the same exact roles! Do we really need that many people to awkwardly complete one another's sentences while delivering a profile?!"

 

 

Ha! So true! Worse, they make profiling look just super incredibly easy. The team is usually ready to do the awkward presentation about twelve minutes into the episode these days. It never fails to shock me, because it seems like the jet landed 20 minutes ago and suddenly they're all TIME TO GIVE THE PROFILE. Whaaaaat? If it's that easy, every law enforcement agent in the country should be given whatever crash-course JJ took that instantly turned her into a super-profiler. 

[antikking]

SweetTooth, that is the single funniest post I have read ALL year! Perfect!!

[normasm]

There was a Cheerio found at the crime scene? Then he must have been served Cheerios by his mom, and she made him eat them every day, to the point he hated Cheerios, and that made him hate breakfast. If he hated breakfast, he hated diners. If he hated diners, he hated waitresses.. And if he hated waitresses, he hated those little notepads they write the orders on, and that's why he has a problem with authority, because they give orders, and that's why he kills people in authoritative positions.

 

Time to give the profile!

 

Hotch: This unsub

Reid: Will have a distaste for breakfast cereal

Rossi: So when you spot him

JJ: don't offer him Cheerios

 

Garcia, find me people who eat Cheerios and frequent diners.

 

Tap. Tap.

 

Got it! George Smith. He lives at 123 Elm Street. He's there now with his Golden Retriever, Spike, and he's watching Brooklyn Nine Nine.

Oh, god, I'm dying here!!! And it reminds me of Navin Johnson in The Jerk: "He hates these cans!!!"

[zannej]

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but after seen the latest episode I can't help but feel sad because Jack Hotchner is such an ugly kid. I know its not the actor's fault-- that's how he looks... but damn.. For the child of two pretty people on the show, he sure got some ugly genes. I'm hoping that his looks will improve with age...

 

At least his acting seemed a bit better this time though. Maybe because Thomas managed to get a good performance from him. 

 

I caught flak on another forum for expressing my dislike of Jack so I feel the need to vent here. LOL.

[normasm]

I thought he did better this time, which is a relief. I think he's just growing into his looks. The last shot when he was asleep, he looked quite beautiful, IMO.

[JMO]

 

I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion, but after seen the latest episode I can't help but feel sad because Jack Hotchner is such an ugly kid. I know its not the actor's fault-- that's how he looks... but damn.. For the child of two pretty people on the show, he sure got some ugly genes. I'm hoping that his looks will improve with age...

 

I thought he looked like....Jack.  And just fine. 

 

Zaneej have you seen pics of MGG at the same age?  They are, I think, the human version of 'don't judge a book by its cover'.  It's called 'don't judge the man by his peripubescent self'.  From his own accounts, it sounds like MGG was so judged, and was bullied for it.  And then he responded with the most effective strategy ever---success.  Which is what I wish for Cade Owens.

[SSAHotchner]

It's the age. He was cute as a little kid, but he's at the age now where he's not a cute little guy anymore. It's the awkward stage. I thought he looked better last night than he did the last couple of seasons, and Thomas did manage to get a believable performance out of him unlike that episode last season where Hotch gave the presentation to Jack's class. Cade just stood there like moron with no facial expression whatsoever. Unlike most kids who start out with round faces and chubby cheeks and then their faces elongate, he is becoming rounder and fatter looking, and it's not a very attractive look. It would have been a good time to choose another kid for the part since Cade really doesn't look anything like little Jack anymore. They must figure "why bother?" since they're not sure how long the series will last. I just wonder how they were able to get such sweet, moving performances out of him when he was little but now, when he's actually able to read his own lines, he's more robotic.

[idiotwaltz]

Cade Owens was adorable as a toddler and young child, but he's at the awkward age where his teeth are too big at his face and he hasn't lost his baby fat yet and he's too old to be labelled "cute." I thought he did a decent job in this episode, much better than he did in the last few years. That said, I think we've had enough Jack for the season. Please give us 30 seconds of Henry MAX and call it quits on the team's children. That includes Meg and her tragic backstory. 

 

This is also bringing back unpleasant memories of Ellie Spicer and her awful wig. 

[Knittzu]

That said, I think we've had enough Jack for the season. Please give us 30 seconds of Henry MAX and call it quits on the team's children. That includes Meg and her tragic backstory.

 

 

Agreed. Well, except for the 30 seconds of Henry part -- personally, I think we've had more than enough of the actors' RL children on this show. They are both distracting to me because neither can act and we all know the only reason they're around is their parentage. If this show absolutely MUST have children loitering about every other episode, I'd prefer that they hire trained child actors.

 

But really, I'd prefer the kids just fade into the background. I liked this show much better when they focused almost entirely on the cases and let the family stuff happen off camera.

[idiotwaltz]

Unfortunately 

AJ Cook has posted a picture of herself and Mehkai on Instagram, confirming that Henry will be at least in one scene

. 

 

 

But really, I'd prefer the kids just fade into the background. I liked this show much better when they focused almost entirely on the cases and let the family stuff happen off camera.

 

I agree entirely. In fact, and this will certainly be an UO, I do not give a crap about Memoriam and Reid's issues with his dad and Riley Jenkins, etc. etc. That episode is the one on the DVD I almost always skip and if I do watch it, it's only for Drunk!Prentiss in the very beginning. I did like how the show handled Diana Reid and her schizophrenia but I have no desire to see her again. much as I enjoy Jane Lynch's performance.

 

I did like what little we saw of Ambassador Prentiss and Rossi's ex-wife, Carolyn, but that's because Emily and Rossi are my favorites and I am a self-absorbed hypocrite. 

Edited October 30, 2014 by idiotwaltz

[Knittzu]

In fact, and this will certainly be an UO, I do not give a crap about Memoriam and Reid's issues with his dad and Riley Jenkins, etc. etc.

 

 

I was okay with it because 1) Reid is my favorite character so any focus on him was happy-times for me and 2) it at least attempted to answer my most nagging question about his character. Which is, WHY did Reid join the FBI? That's never made much sense IMO, especially considering that you certainly don't need a genius-level IQ to be a profiler. In fact you apparently need very little education or experience to be one. See: whatever two-week correspondence course JJ took while chasing Bin Laden.

 

His entire educational background seemed to be leading up to something else. PhDs Chemistry, engineering and mathematics? He clearly could have done anything. I didn't understand why he settled for this crappy job, where he's constantly in danger, being kidnapped, being drugged, watching his girlfriend being murdered, lied to and mocked by his "family," etc. Actually... strike the first paragraph! I still don't understand why he settled for this crappy job that apparently anyone can do. He should be working to cure schizophrenia, not once again wondering if this week's psycho killer might be impotent. 

[SSAHotchner]

I loved The Instincts and Memoriam and the backstory we got on Reid. I like backstory when it's believable and complements the case. The case in The Instincts was one that you could believe would bring Reid's buried childhood memories to the foreground.

 

[dusang]

Agreed. Well, except for the 30 seconds of Henry part -- personally, I think we've had more than enough of the actors' RL children on this show. They are both distracting to me because neither can act and we all know the only reason they're around is their parentage. 

 

Who's the other kid?  (I mean, I know there's Jack & Henry but only Henry is the RL kid, right?)

Edited October 30, 2014 by dusang

[Knittzu]

Sorry, that should have said "Jack" instead of Henry. I get their names mixed up. But regardless! I don't want to see any more of either of them.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

In fact, and this will certainly be an UO, I do not give a crap about Memoriam and Reid's issues with his sperm donor and Riley Jenkins, etc. etc.

 

Fixed that for you, idiotwaltz.. :-)

 

With that said, I would be perfectly happy to forget about William Reid altogether, unless it's to hear that he died or something. I wouldn't mind seeing Diana come back, but for that to happen the writers have to actually give a crap about Reid, and....well....

[zannej]

I actually never found Jack to be cute and never thought the kid was a good actor. There was always something off about the kid and he seemed unusually slow to me. And I even know a kid who is slow, but he still has more of a spark of life than this kid. I know some think its unfair to be so harsh about a child, but I'm being honest about my feelings here. I generally don't like being around children or seeing them on TV though. I can only take kids in small doses. About once a month I drive a friend to another town so they can shop at a grocery store that is not available here and at first they brought their kids but now I have a "no kid" policy because they drove me crazy. I can deal with cats, but not kids. 

 

I didn't think that MGG was all that bad looking as a kid. But maybe its a biased view because he seems like a really nice guy now.

[amensisterfriend]

I actually think Hotch has been every bit as marginalized and sadly underutilized as Reid (which, granted, is saying a lot!). I always surprise myself with just how much I love the Hotch of earlier seasons and how compelling a character I think he was. 

 

I totally understand why people hate Gideon, but despite/because of his melodramatic narcissism, I kind of miss him---he had clear flaws to counterbalance his strengths and such a dynamic personality, both of which are, IMO, lacking in the way today's flatly perfect, interchangeable team is usually written. And for some reason I would have loved to see Rossi and Gideon on the same team, snarking and clashing and maybe eventually arriving at common ground. 

 

Speaking of people with flaws and personality, I still miss Elle. And I would have loved to see her and Emily working together and eventually becoming friends. JJ, Garcia and Morgan can leave ANY time. In fact, I'd have been fine with none of them on the show in the first place. 

 

I actually think Season 3 is underrated---at least by me, who used to rank it as the worst of the series' first four seasons :) I'm always surprised by how good a lot of the episodes are, and the original incarnation of Rossi as a more abrasive lone wolf added an interesting dynamic to the team for me.

 

I know most people are in it solely for the characters and definitely understand that, but as a lifelong mystery fan, I do (did?!) care about the cases and the profiling, and replacing plotting and pacing and anything resembling psychological insight and suspense with relentless torture porn has been just as disappointing to me as the show's characterizations. 

[alexvillage]

amensisterfriend, your opinion is not unpopular with me!

I like Gideon a lot. Maybe it is my liking Mandy, and what he brings to a character. But I like that he was lawed, impossible to please, and caring about his victims, He also had a past, even tough it was not explored much, Mandy was able to bring a lot of humanity to the character, imo.

I also like Elle, mostly after seeing what became of the team. You words "flatly perfect" are, well, perfect.

I love Emily. In a shallow way but also in the way that she did bring some depth to her character. 

Hotch, I am not so sure. I definitely liked him more in earlier seasons, these days he is no more than a line sputter. Says his lines and that's it.

 

Absolutely agree with you that the profiling is lacking, and this is what attracted to the show. Maybe that's why I complain so much!