Without giving away any spoilers, without getting in to the episode, (or the last two, which I have yet to comment about) and without any further ado, I must present Rick Dunkle with the LBJ Extra Inch Award for that episode.
I feel like this episode will get a lot of controversy based on the topic but I dug this episode. I liked that JJ and Blake were working together and against that awful re-wiring school for boys who like guys. I also thought it had a unique twist near the end with the father and the prostitute. I am happy to see more Blake and can't wait for next week that involves the team v. the replicator. Ohhh this season is getting good. 9/10
Hot da**! We've got two super eps back to back. It all starts with the writing, and we all know that Erica and Rick can bring the house. My re-watch of "Hit & Run" last nite on ION proved that. Super fantastic team episode. Rick did every one of the cast/characters justice. I love kick-butt and now kick doors JJ!! JJ and Blake getting their "revenge" at the end was well done and Larry filmed it brilliantly. And this Hotch girl got another Hotchalanche!! It was a very controversial subject to tackle and Rick handled it very well. No gore, and seeing the unsub early made sense this time. 9.5/10 on the Rockie scale!
Very good episode from Rick Dunkle. Difficult subject matter, someone sexual orientation and can it be changed without destroying who the person really is. Rick answers this question by using the unsub who tells his father when finally confronting him by telling him how broken he is now.
Love that this episode had no gore just good old great writing, tension. The last scene with JJ and Blake and the local police raiding the center was scary. Scary because there are such place that do exist.
This episode had lots of very good scene starting with Blake teaching. Nice scene that show us Blake the teacher.
Another fav scene was Reid trying to explain the use of the watch and how poor Morgan seems all lost only to have Reid admit he had no idea what it all means!
Favorite scene was with hotch at the prison. Missed Hotch the profiler who can with just a few stares and well choosen words could destroyed someone! Love when the cild molester tells Hotch as he is about to leave ' what about my deal?' Hotch 'We never had a deal'. No Hotch never makes deals!
Heartbreaking scene was when the unsub, as a teen, confronted his father, must have taken lost of courrage to do so, and told him he loved another boy only to have his dad arrange for him to meet someone who would 'help' him. Poor kid, having to deal with his father rejection of who he really is.
The very ewww scene came with the poor teen being forced to have sex with the cild molester in front of his dad and when he cannot his dad unbuckle's his belt and shows him how to do it....if that didn't screw up the poor teen the stay at the center sure did!
Love that Morgan was able to convince the unsub not to kill himself but to testify against those running the center. Best way to take his revenge and to help others.
Last but not least, the last scene was all about the season long unsub! That scene was settings up the upcoming episodes and what an ending! We saw what looks like a body with Hotch picture on it! Very ominous message there! Also we see the unsub looking at a video from Blake teaching session and we realise the bastard was in the classroom! will so rewatch tonight to see if I can spot him!
So cannot wait for next week episode!
Very well done Mr. Dunkle! I'll give you a 9.0/10 !
Sadly for the first time that I can ever recall a brand new CM episode has gotten below 11 million viewers.This troubles me greatly and I hope it's not the start of an unfortunate trend regarding CM's ratings.
I'm not saying it deserved those ratings.I personally thought it was a decent episode.Maybe there are some factors involved that I'm not aware of just yet. I do know it's probably going to have over 11 million viewers once the dvr viewing is factored in.While I think those are important it's the live ratings that matter the most.
I sincerely hope these ratings are going to be a cause of great concern for the network and the people running this show.
Sadly CM has already lost around 2 or 3 million viewers.Yes the show can get 14 to 15 million viewers once the dvr viewers are factored in,but at one time the show was getting those kinds of numbers just with the live viewers alone, before the dvr viewers were even factored in.
And I don't buy the excuse that it's getting older bc NCIS is at least 2 years older and it's still getting monster ratings.
Ok I admit I'm probably worrying too much and overreacting a bit,but I just can't help myself. I really love this show and I'm very concerned about it's future.
I can't comment on the whole ratings thing and how they work - way too much maths for me :)But for a show that seems to be consistently ignored by it's broadcaster with regards to anything resembling promotion, I would say it still continues to pack a punch. It seems to me that CM is treated like something that is taped, and some random guys job is to press play at 9pm on Wednesday night (unless there is some crap reality show on), or they decide to take weeks off, then on, then off and then randomly drop it back into the schedule. I have seen people in the US on forums, FB etc, who had no idea that new episodes were on, if it was repeats etc - total confusion. There disdain for the show was made evident I think, by the recent treatment of TG's directorial debut. So, after a long hiatus, we have the lead actor, a very well known and very popular actor, stepping behind the camera and nothing. The episode will be shown on the same network in the same week that that network will have had its single biggest audience viewing an event - The Superbowl, and according to my US friends, every single CBS show with the exception of CM, had some sort of advertisement or promo during the Superbowl. What an insult to the cast, crew and fans (all over the world). I could go on and on, but am getting progressively angrier :(((( PULL YOUR FINGER OUT CBS
About the ratings. Yes, this is the first time that CM got under an 11 million viewers and it got a 2.6 in the 18-49 years old demo. All this is a series low. Why is that? It isn't just one factor but many;
1- Yes age. I know NCIS defy that rule but to every rules there are exceptions and NCIS is the exception here. Every show as the age loses viewers because of cast changes, writers leaving, changes in format, changing in storylines etc...CM is not immune to that.
2- DVR usage is much higher now than ever before. Last season CM had about 2.5 million viewers watching via DVR, this season over 3.5 million. Last season CM had 5 episodes that barely hit the over 11 million viewers live. Average DVR from last season was 15.8 million viewers this season 15.2 million viewers. So the drop is not that big. The problem is live but every shows but NCIS have trouble this season with live viewing, almost all shows are down which is understandable as more people watch via DVR, streaming etc...btw Les Moonves who is in charge of CBS is trying to have the DVR numbers for L+7 days viewing be the new measurement for ratings. Why is that? Simply because this is how now people watch TV. Here is an article about Moonves talking about how overnight ratings ( live viewing) are no longer telling the story when it comes to TV viewing http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/les-moonves-cbs-overnight-ratings/
3- Promotion. CBS is not promoting CM at all. They had their big weekend with the super bowl and CM had no promo or mention at all. This season, more often than not the only promo CM gets is one video promo shown 30 minutes before a new episode. Compare this to NCIS or any other shows on CBS, you get at least one promo during primetime on every night. Yesterday during CM we had three promo for Person of Interest, Elementary and a new show Golden Boy, all that during CM while CM had nothing this week and not even a promo last week after The Big Bang Theory rerun that was in CM spot. Without a bit of support from CBS to at least let the CM fans knows when CM is back then no surprises CM had low ratings. Also, hectic scheduling. CM is on for two weeks then off then it is on for another two weeks and after next week for 4 weeks off then back on! Difficult to know when CM is on unless you have a DVR!
4- Changes to the show. CM had lots of changes going in recent years. Cast leaving and coming back and leaving again. Writers focusing too much on the unsubs and not enough on the team and by focusing I don't mean focusing on the team's lives outside the BAU but simply showing enough of the team doing profiling, working cases. When the guest actors/actresses get more screen time then the team then you know the writers have lost focus. Less profiling, we fans have asked to have more but instead the writers have shifted the profiling to the unsubs telling us why they did things, showing us how they did it instead of the team figuring things out it was the unsubs who told/showed us. A focus on more gore. Since season 6, less this season, the writers have decided to make the show more gory. Yes, gore works on other shows but with CM it is more about what they let us imagine more than what they are showing.
All this put together may explain why the ratings are down. Mind you the ONLY ratings that really matter, the C3 ( commercials viewed within three days of airing) are very good. CM averages a 2.9 that is second only to NCIS 3.3. CM is, as of the first ten weeks of the this season CBS number # 2 drama when it comes to the C3 numbers.
I would be VERY surprised if CM doesn't get a renewal for a season 9. What stand between seasons 9 as more to do with cast signing new contracts than with ratings.
CMRT, it's me again, the anonymous who was complaining about the lack of promotion for CM. I agree also with all your other points. Another thing I was wondering about in relation to this particular episode - I just read an interesting (and scathing) review of last nights episode on iMdb. I wonder if people were aware of the story line or theme of this episode and did not tune in, because they may have certain views on homosexuality, or religion etc. Both are pretty hot topics and I'm just wondering if this might have had a bearing. Have a read of he review on iMdb and you will see what I mean. It's fairly obvious that this reviewer, IMO at least, had some moral issue with homosexuality, or maybe I am just making assumptions. But views are subjective - we had a very strange set of tweets sent to Rick Dunkle earlier, calling him a homophobe. Their assertion of how this episode had played out, was so far of the field, it was funny.
Saw the tweets to Rick and this could have some play in the bad ratings but that would imply people knew before hand about the episode and frankly there was zero promo either from CBS or by interviews, spoilers, scoops etc...also, the half hour ratings saw no lost in viewers CM had a 2.6 and 2.7 demo at the half hour went from 10.71 million viewers to 10.77 million viewers. So small increase.
Although there was as usual not a hint of promo for this episode, I do remember either a spoiler, or something on one of the gossip sites, some months back, which mentioned that CM would be doing an episode about these camps. It might have been around the time that there was some real life news about a camp closed or banned. Anyway, don't know if the name of the episode was given at the time, but when I saw the description of this episode a few days ago, I remembered. So, I wonder if this give a 'heads up' to the various moral objectors.
Found it - Eonline 21st November 2012. Someone asked for a scoop on CM, here's what it said.
"Criminal Minds is planning an episode that revolves around a conversion camp. For those of you not in the know, conversion camps are organizations that believe they can change young people's sexual orientation from gay to straight. In the episode, we'll meet a man in his late 20s who was sent by his father to a conversion camp and is now paying dearly for his dad's actions."
Anonymous said.... "I can't comment on the whole ratings thing"
I suppose that it's possible many people had no idea a new CM episode was on and that certainly would've been a factor.
As for the network's despicable treatment of CM.You are certainly not going to get an argument from me. I have found the treatment of CM by that network to be just appalling at times. I know I happened to mention the monster ratings that NCIS happens to have,yet I do wonder if the shows ratings would be that good if CBS treated it the way they've treated CM.
Just look at the way they treated the original CM when the wanted to do a spin off from it and compare it to the way they've done spin off for their other CBS shows.The difference was like night and day.
Instead of wanting the spin off to resemble the original CM as much as possible they tried to make changes so the original would resemble the spin off more. That's right these so called Einsteins who ran the network some how thought it was a brilliant idea to take the original CM,which was bonifide hit and change it so it would have more of a resemblance to it's spin off,a show that had yet to air.
It's the reason we lost are ladies and had to endure that horrid Seaver creature and as far as I'm concerned the show still hasn't recovered from the butchery done to it by CBS.
Yes we got our ladies back,but with Paget it was short lived now she is gone again and this time it's for good.And yes I know that this time it was her choice to leave,but I'm also pretty sure she'd still be with us if CBS hadn't pulled the crap that they did.
However I don't blame Jeanne for any of this,even though I really miss Emily,I do like Alex and I'll continue to like her,so long as she continues to treat Reid decently.
And then there's JJ,she'd probably still be the media liaison,instead of a profiler if CBS hadn't fired AJ Cook in the first place.
I'm sorry I know many people will disagree with me but I do not like this new and not so improved JJ. She was never a favorite of mine,but I was fond of her and I really missed her when we lost her. So I sent CBS a bunch of angry feedback and I also signed online petitions demanding the return of her and Paget. When I learned we'd be getting our JJ back I was thrilled. Sadly I no longer feel that way. Now the only reason I'm even remotely happy to have the character of JJ back is bc it made Matthew really happy to have AJ back as part of the cast.
I do think maybe a lot of people missed this one because they didn't know it was on.
The lack of promotion is very annoying. I agree that the show gets crap treatment from the network.
I wonder if any of the lack of promotion is because of the somewhat recent scandal crap over Mandy making scathing comments and then that little boy who murdered his neo-nazi father lying and claiming an episode of CM inspired him to kill him. CBS made no attempt to refute any of the comments or point out the alleged episode the boy referenced did not exist. There was no such plot. Is any of this to do with the publicist? It's odd because Vernon Cheek seems to like CM and has tweeted about it and visited the set and such, but when it comes to offline stuff, it doesn't make it to the screen.
CMRT, I completely agree about the way the show has changed. I actually thought seeing the killer's father unzip and go to the prostitute was too much. It wasn't necessary. Hell, we didn't need to see the kid with the prostitute either. We already got the information that he was basically raped by her.
Some people said they felt the show was too heavy-handed in the anti-homophobia thing. I was surprised that it was less heavy-handed than I'd expected. It wasn't necessarily condemning the religious views so much as it condemned the methods used by that group of people. I think it was very clear that it was just one group and that not all of the camps did that to people.
I'm glad Rossi got to contribute in this one.
I was a bit confused as to why Reid had to write things down when he can do math in his head. He could easily have just noted by how much the watches were off and then approximated time of death and realized a specific time was set all in his head-- but I realize it was an example of "cheating" for the audience to let us see that he was thinking. They don't seem to have the budget for the CG stuff anymore.
This one sort of reminded me of a movie or program you would see on Lifetime- but with better production and acting. The killer (I can't call him an unsub because he was revealed fairly early-- but he wasn't quite as over the top enough to earn the "villain" title) was an actor I've seen before but couldn't place. I liked his friend Mitch. I actually felt for both of them and I did feel that a lot of the reactions were more realistic-- but I still felt like I wasn't watching CM and that I was getting snippets of two different shows that were spliced together. Does that make sense?
I wish they would have focused a lot more on the team profiling.
Count me in with the group not pleased with "new" JJ. I think they are trying to make her what they wanted Seaver to be in some regards.
The scene at the end was somewhat marred by the music. I didn't like it at all. I felt it was a poor choice and just didn't fit.
I really wish CBS would stop treating CM like the red-headed stepchild and actually do some promoting.
My brain is scattered right now so I hope what I said made sense.
Also, on the polls for the episodes, is it possible to have more options? Like, a "good" option? Because sometimes I don't think it is great but I think it is better than OK. And below Hmm there are sometimes ones where I want to Unsee it because it was so bad.
I just don't see a "new" JJ at all. This is the same JJ we had in seasons 1-5 but as a full profiler instead of a liaison/quasi profiler and with a little more screen time. It's the same serious, professional and tough agent and the compassionate and caring person that she ever was and although I loved liaison JJ, profiler JJ is an improvement just by being able to participate in the investigations more! And all this talk about the supposedly badass JJ is so highly exaggerated. In the last 39 episodes since she came back she had 2 fight scenes (and one door kick) and that really does not negate the essence of the character or even sets a new trend. All it shows is that JJ can get physical when the situation demands it and I really see nothing wrong or unrealistic about it.
Anyway I believed she really, really SHINED in those last 2 episodes and I hope to see much more of profiler JJ until the end of the season.
Here in Broken her indignation on behalf of these children in the camps was radiating from her and it was very tangible. And I really liked the fact that we had JJ and Alex do their own thing while the boys were somewhere else. It was about time they let these 2 female characters really work together and interact.
Overall I think it was a pretty good episode. It was the kind of episode that the unsub screen time was effective (without overshadowing the team’s efforts) and I really liked the contrast between the unsub and his friend who had the same horrible experience as Paul yet not any homicidal tendencies at all.
Also GO HOTCH. He didn’t have that much screen time but that one scene at the prison was gold.
One last note, I had no problem with the Muse song at the end, I thought it fitted just fine and it even helped the scene not become too corny, but I also loved the Black Keys song in the beginning. Any scene with Lonely Boy in it is so much better!
after seeing more rating numbers, it is obvious either people didn't know CM was on or there was some preemption in one of the 25 big markets. usually at 9pm the HH numbers are around 12 yesterday they were at a 10. That mean less homes were watching CBS at 9pm but at 10 pm they had the usual 12.
'Also, on the polls for the episodes, is it possible to have more options? Like, a "good" option? Because sometimes I don't think it is great but I think it is better than OK. And below Hmm there are sometimes ones where I want to Unsee it because it was so bad.'
We will make changes to our poll for next week episode as you and other have asked for this.
I rarely post on blogs but I also a long-term, die-hard CM fan who feels that the eroding viewership has more to do with program quality than promotion. The latter is like a factor too, but the show was always a bit of an underdog yet successful anyway. I feel as though the show lost its mojo after Season 5 and hasn't recovered. I agree wholeheartedly with the person above who said that the excessive gore has been unwelcome, and the writing, IMHO, far below the quality of the past. The story-lines have been less sophisticated and less believable, and many of the guest stars sub-par. This week's episode was somewhat better, but for me equated to one of the weaker eps of seasons past. Hotch's role has diminished; Morgan's lack nuance, Reid's become too juvenile (better since he's been grieving), Garcia has become a parody and JJ too much of a bad-ass...it's like they are all stock versions of their former richly developed characters. I like JT but it will take time for her to build the chemistry with the rest of the team, which Paget had in spades. There also seems to be a lack of commitment on the part of everyone involved in the show to maintain continuity...the characters' back-stories are full of inconsistencies...which is just careless and annoying to long-term fans who have developed a real attachment to these characters. If CM can get better, more diligent researchers and writers, and better guest stars, it could recover its earlier quality easily. It might take longer to get, its lost viewers back but at least it would have a better chance of maintaining the viewership it has.
'I rarely post on blogs but I also a long-term, die-hard CM fan who feels that the eroding viewership has more to do with program quality than promotion.'
It is never just one thing but many that will bring a show down. Promotion is important especially when a show been off for two weeks and it comes back. The die hard fans will know CM was back but not the casual viewers.
I do agree with you about the quality since season 5 and Hotch's diminishing role. As CMRT noted, the writers have shifted the profiling to the unsubs telling us about them. Before it was the team that work things, told us who did it and why, now we have the unsub going around with a camera and talking to us and telling us why they kill. Why then have a BAU team? The writers should get that we watch each week to see the team work the case, they are the one who keep us watching not the guest star of the week.
Broken was much better as the whole team was involved but since end of season 5 the writers have pushed the unsub at the forefront and left the team in the background except for the odd episode focusing on one of the character.
Hopefully the Replicator storyline will get the team at the forefront and all the focus will be on them as it should be!
I agree with the anonymous 5 up from here. I don't think JJ has changed a dramatic amount and the last two episodes have highlighted how awesome JJ is. I think her transition could have been dealt better, we could have seen her struggle with her decision to change roles or see her utilise her media skills as a speciality. Also I like that she can hold her own in the field, we've seen that she knows how to use a gun, but I would have liked to hear her say why she got extra training because surely they all would get the same the martial arts training (minus Garcia) if they wanted to. JJ is getting more to do and I love that, I always thought she was underused and the writers seem to be going in a great direction with her, I just hope they remember her as a comforter and professional For me, the show has been improving lately. I don't miss Prentiss, but she was never a favourite, I thought she was great in season 2 but the spy arc turned me off the character.
Thank you, Bri, for pointing out that the unsubs and their motives now tend to be revealed in many other ways than the BAU team's profiling. That has made the show seem like more of a standard police procedural, and therefore no longer distinctive in that respect. It was also very moving to see how understanding the unsubs...getting into their "criminal minds" affected the team. That hasn't been given much if any play recently and I really miss that.
The fact that CM episodes air one day early in Canada this season is probably also a very important contributing factor in the drop of the ratings. If people weren't able to watch CM on Canadian TV channels or their websites, the ratings would be just as high as they were the previous seasons.
By Erica Messer's own admission, JJ has changed. She said JJ was coming back "leaner and meaner". I don't know about the leaner-- never noticed her weight-- but she did come back meaner. Not in a good way though. Her supposed friendship with Reid was not believable and she no longer seemed to be as compassionate and warm. She has her moments, but season 7 JJ was rather cold a lot of the time. The fight scenes were not believable either. The way they were done was just bad and hokey. I actually feel that JJ's character was diminished by becoming a full profiler because it took away her unique position in the BAU. Before she left, she did participate in the profiling and even said that part of her job involved profiling. But the writers for some reason decided that they wanted more of Garcia and it wasn't enough that she had the unique position of being the technical analyst, they now have her presenting cases. It doesn't work for me though. I miss JJ doing that. I also miss JJ using her skills as a media liaison. I think that if the writers had actually put their minds to it, they could have come up with some good stories for her that utilized her skills and experience. I think just about every character has been stripped of their unique skills and talents over the years. When was the last time we saw Morgan's unique expertise used? (and I don't mean tackling people or kicking down doors). The dialog for the profilers has become so generic that it is interchangeable and lacks personality. Even Reid is no longer the only fact-spouter. Remember when the writers said that JJ would turn to Reid for information on profiling since she was the newbie and then they turned around and kept having her one-up him by being right while he was wrong? They had to dumb Reid down to make her look better. I really wish they would go back and ask themselves about the unique skillsets and personalities and try to use them again the way they were used in the first 4 seasons. There are still times when they show individual personalities, but not often. Part of that is because they are so busy showing the villains that they don't have time for it. Having too many profilers now also complicates matters. I know it is too late, but its a pity they can't send Garcia back to her office, have JJ present the cases, and let each team member show their personalities and unique skills. JJ can still be athletic and a bit physical, but she doesn't have to roundhouse kick anyone.
Did anyone else notice that they said Morgan is a black belt in Judo yet we never see him use Judo moves. And JJ's fighting techniques are vastly different. If he trained her, why wouldn't he ever use some of the moves she uses?
And they need more believable fight choreography for JJ if they want it to be believable. AJ is in great shape, but she is no Scarlet Johanson and can't pull off the Black Widow moves believably.
Good point about the Canadian airing possibly reducing the number of viewers on Wednesdays.
Bravo Zannej,Bravo.You are spot on with everything you've said about these characters.
I ultimately lay the blame at what has happened to our show and the characters we loved so much at the feet of the CBS executives.
Thanks to them,CM lost most of the earlier and better writers.The writers who understood the concept of the show and who also understood the uniqueness of each character and what they bought to the table.
I can understand the writers not wanting to use a character's expertise in every episode,but they ceased using them all together.
I wonder how many people watching the show today even know that Morgan is their expert on bombs and obsessional crimes.
And then there's Reid,when was the last time they made use of his eidetic memory or his speed reading abilities. I read comments all the time from people regarding Blake's linguistic abilities. And it's obvious from what they're saying,they've got no idea that Reid is one also.
I think another problem with these writers,is they did not create our beloved characters or give them their background,but the unsub is their creation.And they are so damn proud of their creation they just want to show it off. These writers remind me of an annoying parent who thinks that their kid(unsub) is so damn great and that everybody else is going to be as enamored with the kid(unsub)as they are.
What really galled me is when I found out (and I admit I don't know how accurate this is)we lost these writers bc CBS insisted on taking the money out of CM's budget in order to make Fake CM and that was also why they messed with our cast.
Now did they do that to their other CBS shows when it came to their spin offs.I don't think so. It's to me be far the most blatant example of CBS not giving a rat's ass about CM.
Respectfully zannej I disagree with you re JJ 100%!
Sorry for the long rant ahead but JJ is my favorite character and I need to get this stuff of my chest.
First of all E. Messer’s "leaner and meaner" statement is just a figure of speech and not to be taken literally. All I took from the statement was that JJ will have a stronger presence and that’s just what we got.
I know a lot of people thought that JJ was cold since day one and that just baffles me. And that extends to the last 2 seasons too, where I can pinpoint many scenes and episodes where her warm and compassionate side shines through very clearly. But JJ always was, after Hotch of course, maybe the most professional,no nonsense and confident agent in the team and that side of her came to the front even more with her role as a profiler. But that most certainly does not make JJ cold or unfeeling or Hotch a robot for that matter.
As for her friendship with Reid I never saw anything to refute it. They always had a brother – sister vibe to them and that continued. I know people are mad at her for supposedly rolling her eyes and cutting off poor Reid but all I see is just sisterly teasing without any malicious vibes from her. I also see her reaction as plain exasperation from Reid’s uncontrollable rumblings, a habit that might have been endearing in the beginning but in time got old really fast. I know that for me as a viewer Reid’s rumblings and immaturity have become extremely tiresome.
And really when did they dump down Reid to make JJ look better and kept having her one-up him by being right while he was wrong? That statement baffles me too. I don’t remember a single case where there was an either or situation that implied that one was wrong and another right. In all the cases they all express opinions and make guesses on the evidence at hand without any implication that someone has to be right but they all contribute to build the profile. Except if JJ isn’t allowed to talk or express opinions in front of Reid and he alone has the right to solve all the cases by himself. And I am glad they didn’t make JJ refer to Reid constantly. Even if JJ is a new profiler, she is not a rookie, inexperienced agent who needs advice all the time. She not only acted as a liaison but also actively participated in all the investigations (and even profiled on the side) with this very team for almost 7 years before she became a profiler, it wouldn’t make sense for such an experienced agent to be unsure in what she does. In the first few episodes of s7 we saw her have some questions and be a little apprehensive and that was more than enough.
As for her 2 fight scenes, especially the one in “Run”, I found them very nicely choreographed and more than believably and expertly executed by AJ.
Lastly I have to say the only aspect of JJ as a liaison that I miss is her picking and presenting the cases because Garcia really sucks at it! But the way the show was (de)constructed in s6 the liaison role became totally unnecessary, so if JJ came back as a liaison it would have been a demotion to the character. Plus in the past (in the good old days) the writers really failed both AJ and JJ by pretty much forgetting about her character mid episode in most cases (after the case presentation and introduction to the locals) and they rarely highlighted her function within the team or devoted any serious storyline to her and that made JJ seem unnecessary to the network and led to her firing. So JJ the profiler is an advancement and IMO they are doing a fine job with it.
I agree with you to some extent especially with who JJ is and how her becoming a profiler was developed. I think the writers are finally getting the hang of JJ and I hope they manage to create a unique role for JJ (and get back to the unique roles of other members of the team).
I love the character of JJ and I want more background and character development because JJ could be so essential if the writers continue n the path they've started.
I also agree with you on Reid, I thought they were going in a completely different direction with him during the addiction storyline (make him grow up a little) but he's continually the kicked puppy. Part of the reason I dislike Seaver so much was because every episode I saw she was on the verge of tears. I know this makes me seem unempathetic, but the reason I like JJ and Hotch is, because as you say, they're the most professional. Sal
IIRC, the budget cut to CM that resulted in the firings of the witers was not about the spinoff. The money for the spinoff would have come from different coffers so to speak. They get sponsors and such for each thing and people who work in the industry have told me that they don't take money from one show to put in to another show.
Some speculated that the firings were part of Les Moonves retaliating because of the writer's strike earlier on. I have no idea on that one.
I can't say what was going through the minds of the CBS executives when they made their decisions-- although I'm pretty sure bottom line dollar signs were part of it.
A few examples of JJ one-upping Reid-- in the one with the crippled villain, Reid suggests the wrong person as the accomplice and JJ figures out its the parents (but that one is understandable- but it as an example of her being right when Reid was wrong); in another episode Reid is trying to figure out a pattern and JJ somehow figures out that the pattern represents a heart-- which really didn't make sense to me that anyone would see a heart, but whatever, it was in the script (that one wasn't a big deal either-- even though Reid is the one who usually spots patterns); then there's the one where they were examining the hair of a victim and Reid thinks the girl deliberately had her hair cut that way and JJ said it must have been cut by the unsub. That last one really bugged me because Reid has been shown to notice things about hair in the past and it IS something he would have picked up on. So to me it felt like they were making him miss things or be wrong in order to have her be better or prove that she was great. I felt they were overcompensating to try to show us that she really belonged. It was a bit like Seaver and the obstacle course crap.
I have to agree about it being annoying that Seaver was constantly on the verge of tears.
Reid actually matured quite a bit in the first four seasons but then midway through season 5 the writers really lost their grasp of the character. Sometimes he was even less mature than he was in season 1. It just got inconsistent and strange. The way the rest of the characters acted toward him was strange as well and the sense of camaraderie and family was lost.
JJ's reactions to Reid used to be somewhat playful. Sometimes they weren't and she was rude the way a big sister might be, but it got beyond that in season 5 and onward-- and it wasn't just JJ treating him like that.
But when JJ came back in season 7 there was just something off about her. She was not as sympathetic to her team mates and there was a distance.
Are you saying it would be a demotion for JJ to go back to delivering the profile or a demotion for Garcia? I could see them having Garcia say "looking at all of this gore is really upsetting me, I can't take it anymore" and having JJ go back to that. I wish.. But I know they want to have an excuse to use more Garcia. They've carved out a niche for her that guarantees screentime and contribution.
Meanwhile characters like Rossi are somewhat forgotten.
I do wish they had used JJ as the media liaison more and not just forgotten about her.
I still think there are too many profilers and not enough time for each to shine because of the focus on the villains.
I agree that I do think it is sort of the case of the writers wanting people to see their products (the villains) and be impressed.
I don't think JJ was always the most professional. I actually thought Prentiss was. I did like her snarky attitude when she dealt with reporters though.
Hotch actually has become more like somewhat of a mindless drone for awhile and the writers weren't giving Thomas much to work with.
A person can still be very professional but not come off as having no personality.
Anyway, I guess it is an agree to disagree situation on the JJ front.
May I take a moment to applaud this blog and all posters for two things: 1) everyone is clearly devoted to CM, and offers criticisms out of concern for it, and 2) everyone has maintained such a respectful tone toward one another despite differences of opinion!
Respectful opinions, and constructive disagreement is welcomed, but insulting/foul-mouthed, malicious, or just plain disrespectful comments towards anyone are not, and will be removed.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.
Without giving away any spoilers, without getting in to the episode, (or the last two, which I have yet to comment about) and without any further ado, I must present Rick Dunkle with the LBJ Extra Inch Award for that episode.
ReplyDeletehttp://youtu.be/S3GT9UN7nDo (NSFW)
Well done, sir! Well done!
I feel like this episode will get a lot of controversy based on the topic but I dug this episode. I liked that JJ and Blake were working together and against that awful re-wiring school for boys who like guys. I also thought it had a unique twist near the end with the father and the prostitute. I am happy to see more Blake and can't wait for next week that involves the team v. the replicator. Ohhh this season is getting good. 9/10
ReplyDeleteHot da**! We've got two super eps back to back. It all starts with the writing, and we all know that Erica and Rick can bring the house. My re-watch of "Hit & Run" last nite on ION proved that. Super fantastic team episode. Rick did every one of the cast/characters justice. I love kick-butt and now kick doors JJ!! JJ and Blake getting their "revenge" at the end was well done and Larry filmed it brilliantly. And this Hotch girl got another Hotchalanche!! It was a very controversial subject to tackle and Rick handled it very well. No gore, and seeing the unsub early made sense this time. 9.5/10 on the Rockie scale!
ReplyDeleteVery good episode from Rick Dunkle. Difficult subject matter, someone sexual orientation and can it be changed without destroying who the person really is. Rick answers this question by using the unsub who tells his father when finally confronting him by telling him how broken he is now.
ReplyDeleteLove that this episode had no gore just good old great writing, tension. The last scene with JJ and Blake and the local police raiding the center was scary. Scary because there are such place that do exist.
This episode had lots of very good scene starting with Blake teaching. Nice scene that show us Blake the teacher.
Another fav scene was Reid trying to explain the use of the watch and how poor Morgan seems all lost only to have Reid admit he had no idea what it all means!
Favorite scene was with hotch at the prison. Missed Hotch the profiler who can with just a few stares and well choosen words could destroyed someone! Love when the cild molester tells Hotch as he is about to leave ' what about my deal?' Hotch 'We never had a deal'. No Hotch never makes deals!
Heartbreaking scene was when the unsub, as a teen, confronted his father, must have taken lost of courrage to do so, and told him he loved another boy only to have his dad arrange for him to meet someone who would 'help' him. Poor kid, having to deal with his father rejection of who he really is.
The very ewww scene came with the poor teen being forced to have sex with the cild molester in front of his dad and when he cannot his dad unbuckle's his belt and shows him how to do it....if that didn't screw up the poor teen the stay at the center sure did!
Love that Morgan was able to convince the unsub not to kill himself but to testify against those running the center. Best way to take his revenge and to help others.
Last but not least, the last scene was all about the season long unsub! That scene was settings up the upcoming episodes and what an ending! We saw what looks like a body with Hotch picture on it! Very ominous message there! Also we see the unsub looking at a video from Blake teaching session and we realise the bastard was in the classroom! will so rewatch tonight to see if I can spot him!
So cannot wait for next week episode!
Very well done Mr. Dunkle! I'll give you a 9.0/10 !
Great episode- Hats off to Mr.Dunkle-a Fantastic season so far-can't wait to see what happens next week with the teams stalker !!!!!!E.J Jahnes
ReplyDeleteSadly for the first time that I can ever recall a brand new CM episode has gotten below 11 million viewers.This troubles me greatly and I hope it's not the start of an unfortunate trend regarding CM's ratings.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying it deserved those ratings.I personally thought it was a decent episode.Maybe there are some factors involved that I'm not aware of just yet.
I do know it's probably going to have over 11 million viewers once the dvr viewing is factored in.While I think those are important it's the live ratings that matter the most.
I sincerely hope these ratings are going to be a cause of great concern for the network and the people running this show.
Sadly CM has already lost around 2 or 3 million viewers.Yes the show can get 14 to 15 million viewers once the dvr viewers are factored in,but at one time the show was getting those kinds of numbers just with the live viewers alone, before the dvr viewers were even factored in.
And I don't buy the excuse that it's getting older bc NCIS is at least 2 years older and it's still getting monster ratings.
Ok I admit I'm probably worrying too much and overreacting a bit,but I just can't help myself. I really love this show and I'm very concerned about it's future.
I can't comment on the whole ratings thing and how they work - way too much maths for me :)But for a show that seems to be consistently ignored by it's broadcaster with regards to anything resembling promotion, I would say it still continues to pack a punch. It seems to me that CM is treated like something that is taped, and some random guys job is to press play at 9pm on Wednesday night (unless there is some crap reality show on), or they decide to take weeks off, then on, then off and then randomly drop it back into the schedule. I have seen people in the US on forums, FB etc, who had no idea that new episodes were on, if it was repeats etc - total confusion. There disdain for the show was made evident I think, by the recent treatment of TG's directorial debut. So, after a long hiatus, we have the lead actor, a very well known and very popular actor, stepping behind the camera and nothing. The episode will be shown on the same network in the same week that that network will have had its single biggest audience viewing an event - The Superbowl, and according to my US friends, every single CBS show with the exception of CM, had some sort of advertisement or promo during the Superbowl. What an insult to the cast, crew and fans (all over the world). I could go on and on, but am getting progressively angrier :(((( PULL YOUR FINGER OUT CBS
ReplyDeleteTo anonymous,
ReplyDeleteAbout the ratings. Yes, this is the first time that CM got under an 11 million viewers and it got a 2.6 in the 18-49 years old demo. All this is a series low. Why is that? It isn't just one factor but many;
1- Yes age. I know NCIS defy that rule but to every rules there are exceptions and NCIS is the exception here. Every show as the age loses viewers because of cast changes, writers leaving, changes in format, changing in storylines etc...CM is not immune to that.
2- DVR usage is much higher now than ever before. Last season CM had about 2.5 million viewers watching via DVR, this season over 3.5 million. Last season CM had 5 episodes that barely hit the over 11 million viewers live. Average DVR from last season was 15.8 million viewers this season 15.2 million viewers. So the drop is not that big. The problem is live but every shows but NCIS have trouble this season with live viewing, almost all shows are down which is understandable as more people watch via DVR, streaming etc...btw Les Moonves who is in charge of CBS is trying to have the DVR numbers for L+7 days viewing be the new measurement for ratings. Why is that? Simply because this is how now people watch TV. Here is an article about Moonves talking about how overnight ratings ( live viewing) are no longer telling the story when it comes to TV viewing http://www.deadline.com/2012/11/les-moonves-cbs-overnight-ratings/
3- Promotion. CBS is not promoting CM at all. They had their big weekend with the super bowl and CM had no promo or mention at all. This season, more often than not the only promo CM gets is one video promo shown 30 minutes before a new episode. Compare this to NCIS or any other shows on CBS, you get at least one promo during primetime on every night. Yesterday during CM we had three promo for Person of Interest, Elementary and a new show Golden Boy, all that during CM while CM had nothing this week and not even a promo last week after The Big Bang Theory rerun that was in CM spot. Without a bit of support from CBS to at least let the CM fans knows when CM is back then no surprises CM had low ratings. Also, hectic scheduling. CM is on for two weeks then off then it is on for another two weeks and after next week for 4 weeks off then back on! Difficult to know when CM is on unless you have a DVR!
4- Changes to the show. CM had lots of changes going in recent years. Cast leaving and coming back and leaving again. Writers focusing too much on the unsubs and not enough on the team and by focusing I don't mean focusing on the team's lives outside the BAU but simply showing enough of the team doing profiling, working cases. When the guest actors/actresses get more screen time then the team then you know the writers have lost focus. Less profiling, we fans have asked to have more but instead the writers have shifted the profiling to the unsubs telling us why they did things, showing us how they did it instead of the team figuring things out it was the unsubs who told/showed us. A focus on more gore. Since season 6, less this season, the writers have decided to make the show more gory. Yes, gore works on other shows but with CM it is more about what they let us imagine more than what they are showing.
All this put together may explain why the ratings are down. Mind you the ONLY ratings that really matter, the C3 ( commercials viewed within three days of airing) are very good. CM averages a 2.9 that is second only to NCIS 3.3. CM is, as of the first ten weeks of the this season CBS number # 2 drama when it comes to the C3 numbers.
I would be VERY surprised if CM doesn't get a renewal for a season 9. What stand between seasons 9 as more to do with cast signing new contracts than with ratings.
CMRT, it's me again, the anonymous who was complaining about the lack of promotion for CM. I agree also with all your other points. Another thing I was wondering about in relation to this particular episode - I just read an interesting (and scathing) review of last nights episode on iMdb. I wonder if people were aware of the story line or theme of this episode and did not tune in, because they may have certain views on homosexuality, or religion etc. Both are pretty hot topics and I'm just wondering if this might have had a bearing. Have a read of he review on iMdb and you will see what I mean. It's fairly obvious that this reviewer, IMO at least, had some moral issue with homosexuality, or maybe I am just making assumptions. But views are subjective - we had a very strange set of tweets sent to Rick Dunkle earlier, calling him a homophobe. Their assertion of how this episode had played out, was so far of the field, it was funny.
ReplyDeleteSaw the tweets to Rick and this could have some play in the bad ratings but that would imply people knew before hand about the episode and frankly there was zero promo either from CBS or by interviews, spoilers, scoops etc...also, the half hour ratings saw no lost in viewers CM had a 2.6 and 2.7 demo at the half hour went from 10.71 million viewers to 10.77 million viewers. So small increase.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there was as usual not a hint of promo for this episode, I do remember either a spoiler, or something on one of the gossip sites, some months back, which mentioned that CM would be doing an episode about these camps. It might have been around the time that there was some real life news about a camp closed or banned. Anyway, don't know if the name of the episode was given at the time, but when I saw the description of this episode a few days ago, I remembered. So, I wonder if this give a 'heads up' to the various moral objectors.
ReplyDeleteDidn't remember that, so then yes maybe people decided they will not watch. Some had very intense reaction to this episode.
ReplyDeleteHopefully next week with the episode all about the replicator, ratings will go up!
Found it - Eonline 21st November 2012. Someone asked for a scoop on CM, here's what it said.
ReplyDelete"Criminal Minds is planning an episode that revolves around a conversion camp. For those of you not in the know, conversion camps are organizations that believe they can change young people's sexual orientation from gay to straight. In the episode, we'll meet a man in his late 20s who was sent by his father to a conversion camp and is now paying dearly for his dad's actions."
Anonymous said.... "I can't comment on the whole ratings thing"
ReplyDeleteI suppose that it's possible many people had no idea a new CM episode was on and that certainly would've been a factor.
As for the network's despicable treatment of CM.You are certainly not going to get an argument from me.
I have found the treatment of CM by that network to be just appalling at times.
I know I happened to mention the monster ratings that NCIS happens to have,yet I do wonder if the shows ratings would be that good if CBS treated it the way they've treated CM.
Just look at the way they treated the original CM when the wanted to do a spin off from it and compare it to the way they've done spin off for their other CBS shows.The difference was like night and day.
Instead of wanting the spin off to resemble the original CM as much as possible they tried to make changes so the original would resemble the spin off more.
That's right these so called Einsteins who ran the network some how thought it was a brilliant idea to take the original CM,which was bonifide hit and change it so it would have more of a resemblance to it's spin off,a show that had yet to air.
It's the reason we lost are ladies and had to endure that horrid Seaver creature and as far as I'm concerned the show still hasn't recovered from the butchery done to it by CBS.
Yes we got our ladies back,but with Paget it was short lived now she is gone again and this time it's for good.And yes I know that this time it was her choice to leave,but I'm also pretty sure she'd still be with us if CBS hadn't pulled the crap that they did.
However I don't blame Jeanne for any of this,even though I really miss Emily,I do like Alex and I'll continue to like her,so long as she continues to treat Reid decently.
And then there's JJ,she'd probably still be the media liaison,instead of a profiler if CBS hadn't fired AJ Cook in the first place.
I'm sorry I know many people will disagree with me but I do not like this new and not so improved JJ.
She was never a favorite of mine,but I was fond of her and I really missed her when we lost her.
So I sent CBS a bunch of angry feedback and I also signed online petitions demanding the return of her and Paget.
When I learned we'd be getting our JJ back I was thrilled. Sadly I no longer feel that way.
Now the only reason I'm even remotely happy to have the character of JJ back is bc it made Matthew really happy to have AJ back as part of the cast.
I do think maybe a lot of people missed this one because they didn't know it was on.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of promotion is very annoying. I agree that the show gets crap treatment from the network.
I wonder if any of the lack of promotion is because of the somewhat recent scandal crap over Mandy making scathing comments and then that little boy who murdered his neo-nazi father lying and claiming an episode of CM inspired him to kill him. CBS made no attempt to refute any of the comments or point out the alleged episode the boy referenced did not exist. There was no such plot. Is any of this to do with the publicist? It's odd because Vernon Cheek seems to like CM and has tweeted about it and visited the set and such, but when it comes to offline stuff, it doesn't make it to the screen.
CMRT, I completely agree about the way the show has changed. I actually thought seeing the killer's father unzip and go to the prostitute was too much. It wasn't necessary. Hell, we didn't need to see the kid with the prostitute either. We already got the information that he was basically raped by her.
Some people said they felt the show was too heavy-handed in the anti-homophobia thing. I was surprised that it was less heavy-handed than I'd expected. It wasn't necessarily condemning the religious views so much as it condemned the methods used by that group of people. I think it was very clear that it was just one group and that not all of the camps did that to people.
I'm glad Rossi got to contribute in this one.
I was a bit confused as to why Reid had to write things down when he can do math in his head. He could easily have just noted by how much the watches were off and then approximated time of death and realized a specific time was set all in his head-- but I realize it was an example of "cheating" for the audience to let us see that he was thinking. They don't seem to have the budget for the CG stuff anymore.
This one sort of reminded me of a movie or program you would see on Lifetime- but with better production and acting. The killer (I can't call him an unsub because he was revealed fairly early-- but he wasn't quite as over the top enough to earn the "villain" title) was an actor I've seen before but couldn't place. I liked his friend Mitch. I actually felt for both of them and I did feel that a lot of the reactions were more realistic-- but I still felt like I wasn't watching CM and that I was getting snippets of two different shows that were spliced together. Does that make sense?
I wish they would have focused a lot more on the team profiling.
Count me in with the group not pleased with "new" JJ. I think they are trying to make her what they wanted Seaver to be in some regards.
The scene at the end was somewhat marred by the music. I didn't like it at all. I felt it was a poor choice and just didn't fit.
I really wish CBS would stop treating CM like the red-headed stepchild and actually do some promoting.
My brain is scattered right now so I hope what I said made sense.
Also, on the polls for the episodes, is it possible to have more options? Like, a "good" option? Because sometimes I don't think it is great but I think it is better than OK. And below Hmm there are sometimes ones where I want to Unsee it because it was so bad.
I just don't see a "new" JJ at all. This is the same JJ we had in seasons 1-5 but as a full profiler instead of a liaison/quasi profiler and with a little more screen time. It's the same serious, professional and tough agent and the compassionate and caring person that she ever was and although I loved liaison JJ, profiler JJ is an improvement just by being able to participate in the investigations more!
ReplyDeleteAnd all this talk about the supposedly badass JJ is so highly exaggerated. In the last 39 episodes since she came back she had 2 fight scenes (and one door kick) and that really does not negate the essence of the character or even sets a new trend. All it shows is that JJ can get physical when the situation demands it and I really see nothing wrong or unrealistic about it.
Anyway I believed she really, really SHINED in those last 2 episodes and I hope to see much more of profiler JJ until the end of the season.
Here in Broken her indignation on behalf of these children in the camps was radiating from her and it was very tangible. And I really liked the fact that we had JJ and Alex do their own thing while the boys were somewhere else. It was about time they let these 2 female characters really work together and interact.
Overall I think it was a pretty good episode. It was the kind of episode that the unsub screen time was effective (without overshadowing the team’s efforts) and I really liked the contrast between the unsub and his friend who had the same horrible experience as Paul yet not any homicidal tendencies at all.
Also GO HOTCH. He didn’t have that much screen time but that one scene at the prison was gold.
One last note, I had no problem with the Muse song at the end, I thought it fitted just fine and it even helped the scene not become too corny, but I also loved the Black Keys song in the beginning. Any scene with Lonely Boy in it is so much better!
after seeing more rating numbers, it is obvious either people didn't know CM was on or there was some preemption in one of the 25 big markets. usually at 9pm the HH numbers are around 12 yesterday they were at a 10. That mean less homes were watching CBS at 9pm but at 10 pm they had the usual 12.
ReplyDeletefrom zannej;
ReplyDelete'Also, on the polls for the episodes, is it possible to have more options? Like, a "good" option? Because sometimes I don't think it is great but I think it is better than OK. And below Hmm there are sometimes ones where I want to Unsee it because it was so bad.'
We will make changes to our poll for next week episode as you and other have asked for this.
I rarely post on blogs but I also a long-term, die-hard CM fan who feels that the eroding viewership has more to do with program quality than promotion. The latter is like a factor too, but the show was always a bit of an underdog yet successful anyway. I feel as though the show lost its mojo after Season 5 and hasn't recovered. I agree wholeheartedly with the person above who said that the excessive gore has been unwelcome, and the writing, IMHO, far below the quality of the past. The story-lines have been less sophisticated and less believable, and many of the guest stars sub-par. This week's episode was somewhat better, but for me equated to one of the weaker eps of seasons past. Hotch's role has diminished; Morgan's lack nuance, Reid's become too juvenile (better since he's been grieving), Garcia has become a parody and JJ too much of a bad-ass...it's like they are all stock versions of their former richly developed characters. I like JT but it will take time for her to build the chemistry with the rest of the team, which Paget had in spades. There also seems to be a lack of commitment on the part of everyone involved in the show to maintain continuity...the characters' back-stories are full of inconsistencies...which is just careless and annoying to long-term fans who have developed a real attachment to these characters. If CM can get better, more diligent researchers and writers, and better guest stars, it could recover its earlier quality easily. It might take longer to get, its lost viewers back but at least it would have a better chance of maintaining the viewership it has.
ReplyDelete*Sorry for the typo in my first sentence: I also = I'm also
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDelete'I rarely post on blogs but I also a long-term, die-hard CM fan who feels that the eroding viewership has more to do with program quality than promotion.'
It is never just one thing but many that will bring a show down. Promotion is important especially when a show been off for two weeks and it comes back. The die hard fans will know CM was back but not the casual viewers.
I do agree with you about the quality since season 5 and Hotch's diminishing role. As CMRT noted, the writers have shifted the profiling to the unsubs telling us about them. Before it was the team that work things, told us who did it and why, now we have the unsub going around with a camera and talking to us and telling us why they kill. Why then have a BAU team? The writers should get that we watch each week to see the team work the case, they are the one who keep us watching not the guest star of the week.
Broken was much better as the whole team was involved but since end of season 5 the writers have pushed the unsub at the forefront and left the team in the background except for the odd episode focusing on one of the character.
Hopefully the Replicator storyline will get the team at the forefront and all the focus will be on them as it should be!
I agree with the anonymous 5 up from here. I don't think JJ has changed a dramatic amount and the last two episodes have highlighted how awesome JJ is. I think her transition could have been dealt better, we could have seen her struggle with her decision to change roles or see her utilise her media skills as a speciality. Also I like that she can hold her own in the field, we've seen that she knows how to use a gun, but I would have liked to hear her say why she got extra training because surely they all would get the same the martial arts training (minus Garcia) if they wanted to. JJ is getting more to do and I love that, I always thought she was underused and the writers seem to be going in a great direction with her, I just hope they remember her as a comforter and professional For me, the show has been improving lately. I don't miss Prentiss, but she was never a favourite, I thought she was great in season 2 but the spy arc turned me off the character.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bri, for pointing out that the unsubs and their motives now tend to be revealed in many other ways than the BAU team's profiling. That has made the show seem like more of a standard police procedural, and therefore no longer distinctive in that respect. It was also very moving to see how understanding the unsubs...getting into their "criminal minds" affected the team. That hasn't been given much if any play recently and I really miss that.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that CM episodes air one day early in Canada this season is probably also a very important contributing factor in the drop of the ratings. If people weren't able to watch CM on Canadian TV channels or their websites, the ratings would be just as high as they were the previous seasons.
ReplyDeleteBy Erica Messer's own admission, JJ has changed. She said JJ was coming back "leaner and meaner". I don't know about the leaner-- never noticed her weight-- but she did come back meaner. Not in a good way though. Her supposed friendship with Reid was not believable and she no longer seemed to be as compassionate and warm. She has her moments, but season 7 JJ was rather cold a lot of the time.
ReplyDeleteThe fight scenes were not believable either. The way they were done was just bad and hokey.
I actually feel that JJ's character was diminished by becoming a full profiler because it took away her unique position in the BAU. Before she left, she did participate in the profiling and even said that part of her job involved profiling. But the writers for some reason decided that they wanted more of Garcia and it wasn't enough that she had the unique position of being the technical analyst, they now have her presenting cases. It doesn't work for me though. I miss JJ doing that. I also miss JJ using her skills as a media liaison. I think that if the writers had actually put their minds to it, they could have come up with some good stories for her that utilized her skills and experience.
I think just about every character has been stripped of their unique skills and talents over the years. When was the last time we saw Morgan's unique expertise used? (and I don't mean tackling people or kicking down doors).
The dialog for the profilers has become so generic that it is interchangeable and lacks personality.
Even Reid is no longer the only fact-spouter. Remember when the writers said that JJ would turn to Reid for information on profiling since she was the newbie and then they turned around and kept having her one-up him by being right while he was wrong? They had to dumb Reid down to make her look better.
I really wish they would go back and ask themselves about the unique skillsets and personalities and try to use them again the way they were used in the first 4 seasons.
There are still times when they show individual personalities, but not often. Part of that is because they are so busy showing the villains that they don't have time for it. Having too many profilers now also complicates matters.
I know it is too late, but its a pity they can't send Garcia back to her office, have JJ present the cases, and let each team member show their personalities and unique skills. JJ can still be athletic and a bit physical, but she doesn't have to roundhouse kick anyone.
Did anyone else notice that they said Morgan is a black belt in Judo yet we never see him use Judo moves. And JJ's fighting techniques are vastly different. If he trained her, why wouldn't he ever use some of the moves she uses?
And they need more believable fight choreography for JJ if they want it to be believable. AJ is in great shape, but she is no Scarlet Johanson and can't pull off the Black Widow moves believably.
Good point about the Canadian airing possibly reducing the number of viewers on Wednesdays.
Bravo Zannej,Bravo.You are spot on with everything you've said about these characters.
ReplyDeleteI ultimately lay the blame at what has happened to our show and the characters we loved so much at the feet of the CBS executives.
Thanks to them,CM lost most of the earlier and better writers.The writers who understood the concept of the show and who also understood the uniqueness of each character and what they bought to the table.
I can understand the writers not wanting to use a character's expertise in every episode,but they ceased using them all together.
I wonder how many people watching the show today even know that Morgan is their expert on bombs and obsessional crimes.
And then there's Reid,when was the last time they made use of his eidetic memory or his speed reading abilities.
I read comments all the time from people regarding Blake's linguistic abilities. And it's obvious from what they're saying,they've got no idea that Reid is one also.
I think another problem with these writers,is they did not create our beloved characters or give them their background,but the unsub is their creation.And they are so damn proud of their creation they just want to show it off.
These writers remind me of an annoying parent who thinks that their kid(unsub) is so damn great and that everybody else is going to be as enamored with the kid(unsub)as they are.
What really galled me is when I found out (and I admit I don't know how accurate this is)we lost these writers bc CBS insisted on taking the money out of CM's budget in order to make Fake CM and that was also why they messed with our cast.
Now did they do that to their other CBS shows when it came to their spin offs.I don't think so.
It's to me be far the most blatant example of CBS not giving a rat's ass about CM.
Respectfully zannej I disagree with you re JJ 100%!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the long rant ahead but JJ is my favorite character and I need to get this stuff of my chest.
First of all E. Messer’s "leaner and meaner" statement is just a figure of speech and not to be taken literally. All I took from the statement was that JJ will have a stronger presence and that’s just what we got.
I know a lot of people thought that JJ was cold since day one and that just baffles me. And that extends to the last 2 seasons too, where I can pinpoint many scenes and episodes where her warm and compassionate side shines through very clearly. But JJ always was, after Hotch of course, maybe the most professional,no nonsense and confident agent in the team and that side of her came to the front even more with her role as a profiler. But that most certainly does not make JJ cold or unfeeling or Hotch a robot for that matter.
As for her friendship with Reid I never saw anything to refute it. They always had a brother – sister vibe to them and that continued. I know people are mad at her for supposedly rolling her eyes and cutting off poor Reid but all I see is just sisterly teasing without any malicious vibes from her. I also see her reaction as plain exasperation from Reid’s uncontrollable rumblings, a habit that might have been endearing in the beginning but in time got old really fast. I know that for me as a viewer Reid’s rumblings and immaturity have become extremely tiresome.
And really when did they dump down Reid to make JJ look better and kept having her one-up him by being right while he was wrong? That statement baffles me too. I don’t remember a single case where there was an either or situation that implied that one was wrong and another right. In all the cases they all express opinions and make guesses on the evidence at hand without any implication that someone has to be right but they all contribute to build the profile. Except if JJ isn’t allowed to talk or express opinions in front of Reid and he alone has the right to solve all the cases by himself.
And I am glad they didn’t make JJ refer to Reid constantly. Even if JJ is a new profiler, she is not a rookie, inexperienced agent who needs advice all the time. She not only acted as a liaison but also actively participated in all the investigations (and even profiled on the side) with this very team for almost 7 years before she became a profiler, it wouldn’t make sense for such an experienced agent to be unsure in what she does. In the first few episodes of s7 we saw her have some questions and be a little apprehensive and that was more than enough.
As for her 2 fight scenes, especially the one in “Run”, I found them very nicely choreographed and more than believably and expertly executed by AJ.
Lastly I have to say the only aspect of JJ as a liaison that I miss is her picking and presenting the cases because Garcia really sucks at it! But the way the show was (de)constructed in s6 the liaison role became totally unnecessary, so if JJ came back as a liaison it would have been a demotion to the character.
Plus in the past (in the good old days) the writers really failed both AJ and JJ by pretty much forgetting about her character mid episode in most cases (after the case presentation and introduction to the locals) and they rarely highlighted her function within the team or devoted any serious storyline to her and that made JJ seem unnecessary to the network and led to her firing.
So JJ the profiler is an advancement and IMO they are doing a fine job with it.
I agree with you to some extent especially with who JJ is and how her becoming a profiler was developed. I think the writers are finally getting the hang of JJ and I hope they manage to create a unique role for JJ (and get back to the unique roles of other members of the team).
ReplyDeleteI love the character of JJ and I want more background and character development because JJ could be so essential if the writers continue n the path they've started.
I also agree with you on Reid, I thought they were going in a completely different direction with him during the addiction storyline (make him grow up a little) but he's continually the kicked puppy. Part of the reason I dislike Seaver so much was because every episode I saw she was on the verge of tears. I know this makes me seem unempathetic, but the reason I like JJ and Hotch is, because as you say, they're the most professional. Sal
IIRC, the budget cut to CM that resulted in the firings of the witers was not about the spinoff. The money for the spinoff would have come from different coffers so to speak. They get sponsors and such for each thing and people who work in the industry have told me that they don't take money from one show to put in to another show.
ReplyDeleteSome speculated that the firings were part of Les Moonves retaliating because of the writer's strike earlier on. I have no idea on that one.
I can't say what was going through the minds of the CBS executives when they made their decisions-- although I'm pretty sure bottom line dollar signs were part of it.
A few examples of JJ one-upping Reid-- in the one with the crippled villain, Reid suggests the wrong person as the accomplice and JJ figures out its the parents (but that one is understandable- but it as an example of her being right when Reid was wrong); in another episode Reid is trying to figure out a pattern and JJ somehow figures out that the pattern represents a heart-- which really didn't make sense to me that anyone would see a heart, but whatever, it was in the script (that one wasn't a big deal either-- even though Reid is the one who usually spots patterns); then there's the one where they were examining the hair of a victim and Reid thinks the girl deliberately had her hair cut that way and JJ said it must have been cut by the unsub. That last one really bugged me because Reid has been shown to notice things about hair in the past and it IS something he would have picked up on. So to me it felt like they were making him miss things or be wrong in order to have her be better or prove that she was great. I felt they were overcompensating to try to show us that she really belonged. It was a bit like Seaver and the obstacle course crap.
I have to agree about it being annoying that Seaver was constantly on the verge of tears.
Reid actually matured quite a bit in the first four seasons but then midway through season 5 the writers really lost their grasp of the character. Sometimes he was even less mature than he was in season 1. It just got inconsistent and strange. The way the rest of the characters acted toward him was strange as well and the sense of camaraderie and family was lost.
JJ's reactions to Reid used to be somewhat playful. Sometimes they weren't and she was rude the way a big sister might be, but it got beyond that in season 5 and onward-- and it wasn't just JJ treating him like that.
But when JJ came back in season 7 there was just something off about her. She was not as sympathetic to her team mates and there was a distance.
Are you saying it would be a demotion for JJ to go back to delivering the profile or a demotion for Garcia? I could see them having Garcia say "looking at all of this gore is really upsetting me, I can't take it anymore" and having JJ go back to that. I wish.. But I know they want to have an excuse to use more Garcia. They've carved out a niche for her that guarantees screentime and contribution.
Meanwhile characters like Rossi are somewhat forgotten.
I do wish they had used JJ as the media liaison more and not just forgotten about her.
I still think there are too many profilers and not enough time for each to shine because of the focus on the villains.
I agree that I do think it is sort of the case of the writers wanting people to see their products (the villains) and be impressed.
I don't think JJ was always the most professional. I actually thought Prentiss was. I did like her snarky attitude when she dealt with reporters though.
Hotch actually has become more like somewhat of a mindless drone for awhile and the writers weren't giving Thomas much to work with.
A person can still be very professional but not come off as having no personality.
Anyway, I guess it is an agree to disagree situation on the JJ front.
May I take a moment to applaud this blog and all posters for two things: 1) everyone is clearly devoted to CM, and offers criticisms out of concern for it, and 2) everyone has maintained such a respectful tone toward one another despite differences of opinion!
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