Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that next week we'll have the SEASON FINALE!
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
CRIMINAL MINDS Season 10 - 1022. Protection - Comments Thread
Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that next week we'll have the SEASON FINALE!
This episode was just BAD...
ReplyDeleteF rating from me..
Complete and utter snooze-fest from beginning to end. When will the PTB get that JJ and Morgan do not carry the show?
ReplyDeleteI want my hour back.
I want my brain cells back... Think I would rather have the chest pains I was having earlier... *sigh*...
DeleteI never expected something this awful from Virgil.. Very disappointed.. and next week doesn't look promising either.
I say amen to both of you. I couldn't stay interested enough in the show to really care. I knew we got the unsub almost immediately; we got to see JJ and Morgan run; and I tuned out right after that. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the unsub shot his gun a lot.
DeleteOh my god! Welcome to the UnSub show. After two great episodes the show takes a major step back on this one. The team was hardly even there and there was almost no profiling. It was an good idea that could have been done in an entirely different way that would have made it intriguing.
ReplyDeleteWe got to see more of the older JJ: more compassionate and doing a press conference. But she was still in too many scenes. Hotch and Rossi disappeared in the last twenty minutes of the show never to be seen again participating in the case. Garcia was a little over the top. You would think after ten years she would be use to see bloody photos. The scene of Morgan and JJ running together was not needed. Everything said during it could have easily been handled on the jet. And where the heck was the SWAT team. They knew this guy was unloading the entire magazine into his victims. Wouldn't it had made more sense to have the guys with the protection go in instead of three agents. The only thing that was funny is how they were trying to hide AJ Cook's pregnancy. Everyone carries their go bag in front of their stomach.
All around it was a horrible episode.
*cracks knuckles* Where do I start? With this really unlike Criminal Minds episode? Or the garbage I just took from the writer Virgil Williams on Twitter?
ReplyDeleteI'll start with the episode. It was too much unsub. Period. Why the writers do not understand that CORE Criminal Minds fans do no like that after 10 years is completely beyond me. And don't get me wrong: sometimes I do get why they do that. And I'll stand up for the writer when others don't like the episode. But this was basically "watch a mentally ill being, now off his meds, devolving". That does not make for good TV; for less a well scripted, scare the hell out of me Criminal Minds episode.
Rockie's grade is an F.
To the Twitter incident. This is an open letter to Virgil Williams.
I have supported on more than once occasion on Twitter and have HIGHLY praised the episodes you've written that I have thoroughly enjoyed. I think back to "Route 66" and I tweeted you that I was as anxious for that episode as I was for "100". You tweeted back "No pressure": I told you after the episode you delivered big time. And you did man.
But remember this Virgil: I'm one of the paying customers out here in the big world. And social media has given me, like everyone else, a voice. What you did, copying my tweet and then slamming it was unprofessional. If there's enough of us "paying customers" that don't come around, aka don't watch the show b/c of bad episodes, you, your fellow writers, and the absolutely wonderful CM crew do not have jobs.
BRAVO ROCKY!!!!! BRAVO!!!!!!!!
DeleteI saw Virgil's tweet, and it was only later realized it was directed at you and was shocked. You didn't say anything that was not true, or hell, even direct your complaint to Virgil directly. He definitely would not like what I've been saying on other forums about his writing of this episode.
Deletei guess virgill has a very bad temper, and he doesn't like fans that has their own opinions he is not my favorite writer i ljust like from him : profiling 101 route 66, and some scenes from rabid.
DeleteWell, said, Rocky. You've always been the biggest cheerleader around, so to have a writer diss YOU because he doesn't want to hear anything but glowing praise is ridiculous and UNPROFESSIONAL. Grow up, man!
DeleteLadies and gentlemen: the return of "The JJ and Morgan Show"! Holy frakk this episode was God awful I don't think there was one scene that JJ wasn't present. Like someone said JJ and Morgan DO NOT carry the show. It was boring, I started surfing the web. Hotch and Rossi disappeared early, and in some scenes Reid was just standing by, he seemed to not be needed. A total fail, was this a copy of Season 6's 'With Friends Like These'? (I think that was the name).
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, TERRIBLE episode. 0/10.
It was not a copy of 'with friends like these'. It was a copy of 'normal' from season 4, which, by the way, was zillion times better than this 'thing'
DeleteYay Rocky! Virgil Williams was inexcusably rude and a wee bit overly sensitive given the minor nature or your tweet. With the good comes the bad and you would think that would already be a lesson learned. The sycophants are rushing in to fix his wounds.
ReplyDeleterockhotch31,
ReplyDeleteAbout the episode, it is also beyond me that the writers do not get that we want to see the team work the case not watch the unsub show. If they want to write so badly and focus so much on the unsubs why not pitch a new show idea to CBS called 'Unsubs' and be done with it?
The only saving grace of this episode was the actor playing the unsub, yes way too much of him but at least the actor was very good.
As for Virgil Williams reply to you, saw it and it was uncalled for. Writers should read comments and learn from it, learn what the fans like and do not like without being snippy about it.
Fans will praise the episodes when they are good, look at the very postive reactions for 'Mr. Scratch. and they will voice their displeasure when an episode is not up to THEIR expectations.
Thank you all for the support! It is very much greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteAnd why I like to hang out around here. :D
Meh......... we only bite a little........... 'well Sesqy bites a little harder but we forgive her'.. LOL
DeleteI like to think of them as little love nips. I spend a lot of time around cats.
DeleteI expected this to be a bridging episode, and I also didn't have high or low expectations; as much as "Mr. Scratch" was a tough act to follow, I figured that Virgil Williams was up to the task. Apparently, I was wrong. I'm not taking anything away from Virgil's writing ... this is pretty weird, I must admit. Last week, Breen Frazier blew us all away (with the help of Matthew) and now Virgil seems to have disappointed many (my optimistic self being an exception, but everyone has a right to their opinion), especially my friend Rocky. I feel your pain. Every now and then, the writers like to take the show in a different direction, and although I enjoyed tonight's episode, I can see why a lot of people didn't.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I'm disappointed that AJ's pregnancy hasn't been written in, but JLH's has. I could understand if both were, but it just seems unnecessary since I'm not sure if JLH is even coming back next season. Also, there was no exploration of the mental chaos with which Hotch was left to cope at the end of the previous episode, and there was a lot more unsub than I understand people generally like to see on the show. Tawnia McKiernan's unique directing abilities could've been used in the way which was used to hide the unsub's face in "The Black Queen" until the time was right.
Other than that, albeit those are some major points, I can see what Virgil was going for with this one, however I do understand why it didn't go over so well with a lot of fans. As for myself, I thought it was a solid episode, though it was no "Lockdown," it still had that emotionally heavy, twisted, Virgil Vibe to it. My favorite parts were that the unsub's schizophrenia was waaay worse than it appeared, Reid's genius was used throughout the entire episode (sure, he didn't talk to the unsub in the stand-off, but at least he was there!) ample use of Reid seems to be a staple in Virgil's writing and that's something I love. The best part of the episode was, by far, the last 10 minutes. They brought back the exact same van, and creepy woman, from the end of "X."
Although this episode wasn't the most popular, I can take that for what it is; I still loved it, and it was still an episode of Criminal Minds, therefore 44 minutes of the best entertainment on television. I'm gonna keep the glass half full on this one; next week's episode, our Season 10 Finale, "The Hunt," is (co-)written by a 20 year veteran of the Bureau and a veteran of the BAU itself, the one and only Jim Clemente, and directed by the superior Glenn Kershaw. It will also expose the lowest form of life on this planet in what I expect to be the classic Criminal Minds delivery. Cannot wait to see it! Proud of you for standin your ground Rocky; although I don't agree or disagree, way to stand your ground!
LONG LIVE CM!!!
Thank you my friend. And I totally accept your opinion that is your right to express. I appreciate your take of the episode. We, for once, agree to respectfully disagree.
DeleteJust like it should be.
AJ's pregnancy will be written in. I assume its revealed next week because EM said in an interview there's a "sweet" moment where JJ tells Reid she's pregnant. This guarantee's its already been written
DeleteHello everyone, I'm Jessica from Costa Rica, and I am not good at English, I am using a translator, so please excuse my errors.
ReplyDeleteI think there was an excess of JJ in this episode. I love that character, but I think it would have been more logical that Kate to speak with the witness in the SUV because it was she who was closer to her in the beginning of the interview.
I guess there is some affinity of some writers with JJ, as with Messer, but there must be a balance between the participation of each character.
I agree with a previous comment about SWAT, do not understand why there was an excessive role of our team in situations like that, when, in real life, does not happen.
The writers should not lose the central topic of CM: they are profilers, that is the point and what makes different from other CM series. Unfortunately, Virgil forgot this in this episode and broke a streak of excellent episodes of this season.
And I think there was a mistake not to follow up the traumatic experience of Hotch. I felt like in limbo, after the shock of last week, it was like a slap in my face.
Despite all this, I'm looking forward to the season finale, I have confidence in the work of Jim Clemente.
I take to send them a big hug to all of you and tell you that, despite my low English proficiency, always I read your comments with emotion.
Greetings from "Tiquicia" ... ¡Pura vida!
Welcome JessJe, Your English is fine :)
DeleteYes, there was lots of JJ and usually when we get lots of JJ, Hotch, Rossi and Reid dissapear, in this episode only Hotch and Rossi did. Witers should be able to write for all the characters and not just a few, and judging by past episodes Virgil can write for all, in this episode, the unsub and JJ too pretty much all available screentime so not much left for Hotch and Rossi.
About the SWAT, Yes in real life they would use SWAT but in order to make things more interesting they often choose to use the team. I like this, the more the team does the better in my opinion :)
So agree with you about what makes CM different from other shows, the profiling! Some writers think that they can give us more unsub in lieu of profiling. And yes Virgil broke the streak of very good episodes we had in a few weeks.
The big dissapointment was not following up with hotch and what happened in 'Mr.Scratch'. There ending was awesome and I thought we would get a follow up, at the very least an update on Hotch is doing. Nothing.
I too I am looking forward to the season final, Jim Clemente never dissapoint.
thanks you and I hope we will read more comments from you :)
Never posted here before but I always loved reading everyone's comments/thoughts on each CM episode every week. I just wanted to say that what Virgil said to you Rocky was uncalled for especially since you had the right to your opinion and you didn't even tweet him directly. I guess some people can't handle constructive criticism.
ReplyDeleteAnyways about the episode, I knew from the first 2-3 minutes or so I wasn't going to be impressed by this episode. Far too much unsub. Especially with the takedown. It took far too long. It felt like a waste of time especially since midway through the episode I had an inkling that those two females were already dead and were just his delusions.
As a JJ fan I don't mind when she is in a lot of scenes like she was tonight but I rather see an episode with team balance rather than an episode with JJ dominating every scene. I liked that they had her doing a press conference though like she used to and I liked the scene of her in the car with the prostitute.
I was disappointed with the fact that there was no follow up to what happen to Hotch last week but I expected it. Now that I think of it though I can't remember Hotch being in the episode much. But that tends to happens in episodes where JJ and Morgan are featured prominently. Apparently it's either team balance or the JJ and Morgan show.
The last 4 episodes of the show were just brilliant and I hope this one would continue the streak but it was a total miss. I look forward to the season finale though because Jim Clemente wrote it and I always love his episodes.
Astute observations, Christine, I'm glad you're posting.
Deleteagree i like JJ but a i prefere a team balance, for virgill williams is never a team balance. I still love profiling 101, the only ep writen by virgill that i like and maybe rabid (few scenes)
ReplyDeletePart 1 of 3
ReplyDeleteAm I the only person that didn't hate this one? LOL. I didn't love it and it had its problems. It kept me interested-- but then, maybe that was because I was watching it online since I missed the actual airing so I was able to pause it and get popcorn.
First I will discuss the directing: I liked the transitions from crime scene to crime scene photo and then they showed the team at the station. There was at least one time when the camera was behind a person that had a very blurry ear in the way and it really bugged me. It distracted from the shot and I wish they had just moved that person out of the way because that sort of thing just drives me batty. I also noticed that they blurred the face of someone in the background that was being spoken to and then took too long to switch from background blur to foreground blur to focus on the speaker. I think it would have been better if neither had been blurred and both had focus. So there were camera technique issues.
In terms of the acting, I thought that the guest stars all did a great job. I thought everyone was doing fine-- with the exception of Matthew who appeared to be phoning it in during a few scenes (but I don't know if that was him just phoning, or if he'd been given bad direction-- he seemed to be smiling or almost smiling at times that were not appropriate). I'm guessing that some of it arose from lack of certain emotions being scripted or directed. You'd think this would be a stressful case for Reid and that he would have been at least slightly affected by the fact that the unsub inherited mental illness from his mother.
In terms of the story, it was somewhat inconsistent and way too unsub heavy. And despite being so heavy on the unsub, we still didn't find out certain things like exactly when he killed the women or why he would kill the daughter if he seemed to blame the girl's mother instead. And why, if he didn't realize he had killed them, did he bury them in the front yard (without the ground looking too disturbed) and was able to tell the team they were with the flowers. He was just talking to figments of them a few moments before, so why would he know where the bodies were? And why did Reid walk right by the bouquet of flowers and totally miss them so that JJ had to be the one to find them and tell the people to dig there? JJ had already done great in the episode, why the need to have her show Reid up at that particular moment? I would not have been bothered by it if they hadn't had Reid telling the people to dig in the wrong spot to begin with. I know MGG is "blind as a bat" but Reid is supposed to have better vision.
I barely remember Hotch in this episode. I get that Reid was probably light due to Matthew's directing and needing time in post-production, but they could still have given him better quality time if not quantity.
Part 2 of 3
ReplyDeleteThings that confused/bothered me:
*The scene with the JJ and Morgan running took away time from the rest of the team and contributed absolutely nothing to the story.
*How was the unsub able to travel around while being covered in blood and not track blood everywhere, leave fingerprints, or get noticed?
*How did he get his hands on a gun-- and furthermore, how did he get that much ammo? Ammo isn't cheap and if a person goes in and buys large quantities, they draw suspicion. They said he was emptying the clip and the round in the chamber. That means he would have to replace it with a new magazine each time.
*Wouldn't there have been shells? From that many shells, couldn't they possibly have found a fingerprint or two?
*They struck out on the list on Garcia's computer but then somehow thought to look at the adult children of the potential suspect list? Why would they even think to do that? It doesn't make sense
*I know that schizophrenia causes people to hear voices (often the voices shout at them, swear at them, and tell them to kill themselves), but I don't know about actual visual hallucinations. I think that is either very rare or is a different illness entirely.
*This has been done before in different ways in multiple episodes. Derailed: Teddy hallucinated a figment who fed his paranoid delusions to encourage him to take hostages; Normal: the unsub saw figments of his wife mocking him and didn't know that he had killed his family; True Night: the unsub didn't realize he was going out and killing people to enact revenge for the murder of his fiance; Reflections of Desire: the unsub saw a figment of his mother encouraging his crimes; With Friends Like These- the unsub had multiple hallucinated "friends" that told him to kill and he also hallucinated people saying things other than what they were actually saying to him so he was on a killing spree.
*Schizophrenics are far more likely to harm themselves before they harm others and they didn't even mention that in this episode-- it just seemed highly insensitive and somewhat insulting to people with mental illnesses
*Why did the guy ignore the figments if they were telling him to take his meds? It was just somewhat inconsistent.
*Why the hell did they put the folders down open with pictures of the victims alive AND dead? Why not just show them alive first? Generally, the police see if there is recognition before showing the crime scene photos (unless that is all they have). Some people will be freaked out by the blood and not be able to look.
*So, a mentally ill guy offs two innocent women, kills a bunch of people, and is now going to be forced to take medication and live with the knowledge of what he did and the consequences-- and Reid and the team were walking in to the BAU looking a little too glib. Reid was actually smiling a little bit. It's not that I expect them to always be depressed when they have a case like that, but you'd think there would have been a little less mirth.
*Where the hell was Hotch and what was he doing for most of the episode?
*Then there is the awful Meg part. So, Meg thinks its weird and her common sense was tingling to tell her it was a bad idea, but the idiot still goes and gets in the car.
*Given Kate's line of work, why the hell does she not have Meg's phone equipped with some sort of tracker to know where she is at all times and have a program on her own phone to see where Meg was? It's not even a matter of trust, its a matter of safety. In her line of work, something like that is essential.
Part 3 of 3
ReplyDeleteThings I liked or understood why they went in that particular direction:
*For once someone other than the team noticed that Kate was pregnant and commented on it. She looked rather ill and I wonder of JLH was actually feeling sick or if that is just a TV trope.
*It made sense for JJ to go pick up the one hooker and talk to her because Kate shouldn't be driving around in her condition, and the hooker was more likely to open up to another woman. JJ mentioning that she had a kid that age made sense because it was a way to help get the woman's trust.
*The actress playing the hooker was believably freaked out when she confessed to seeing the murder
*The actor playing the unsub did a very good job and was a sympathetic character-- he looked familiar. He actually looked like someone from a previous episode but I can't remember which one.
*JJ actually came across as being more sincere and sympathetic instead of cold, mean, and dismissive like she's been in the past few seasons
*I liked the police officers in the episode
*It was cute when the one hooker hit on Reid and Rossi
*I actually liked the "sweetness" guy
*Now, here comes a slightly controversial thing- while I do think Reid is the "go-to" guy when dealing with mental illness and that he should have had more input, it actually made some sense to me that JJ was the one talking to him. He seemed to not trust males and had a problem with men. Hearing a woman's voice seemed to work a little better for some reason because he seemed more fond of women. That said, I wish that Reid had been giving JJ suggestions.
*Reid apparently likes mushrooms on his pizza (and I love mushrooms on pizza).
I'm sure I'll think of more things later, but for now, that was all I could think of.
As for Virgil's behavior on Twitter, it was unprofessional. I get that it can be hard for a person to work hard and put out what they think is a great bit of writing, only to have it poorly received. And I can understand if people were just proverbially $#!++ing on him without giving any constructive feedback (in which case, he should just skip over those and move on), but to call attention to a tweet that showed displeasure (in a humorous manner) to whine about being criticized and try to garner sympathy and get people to back him up, is not just unprofessional, its manipulative and childish. I get that it hurts, but in his line of work, he needs to have a thicker skin and put on his big boy britches to deal with it in a mature and professional manner. And he should also acknowledge that just because someone doesn't like his work in a particular episode doesn't mean they are total idiots and that he should ignore everything they say. If someone has constructive feedback about what worked and what didn't, he should at least consider it.
Sesqui, I liked your review. Clear, concise and well thought out. I do have one question for you concerning the opening scene. Could the fact that Morgan had to call out to JJ (who was running ahead of Morgan) be a sign that her PTSD might be flaring up again? Just food (or a snack) for thought.
DeleteI was also disappointed with this episode. Way to much unsub, way to early exposing him as the unsub, and finally, a take down that seemed contrived, convoluted, and way to long to execute. Yes this was a bad episode. Not as bad as 200, but close.
A while back I asked the question pertaining to whether or not the writers have run out of ideas regarding story lines. I know the show has just come off of two good weeks of episodes, but doesn't it seem like there are fewer and fewer really good stories coming out of the writers room?
Lastly, Virgil owes RockHotch31 a beer after the snarky comment he posted on twitter. Completely unprofessional.
RTF
RoberttheFrost, nice moniker. Honestly, I don't have a clue about why they had the JJ and Morgan running in the woods scene. It just seemed like a waste of time and waste of $ having to go film on location for it. I really hope it has nothing to do with the PTSD, because that story needs to be dead and buried for good.
DeleteI think many of the writers have been out of ideas since season 6- that was when they started ripping off movies, older episodes, and other shows.
Sesquy, Thanks for the Moniker comment. I tried not to over think it. As far as the PTSD is concerned, it never goes away. It lies in the tall weeds like a feral cat. Jumps out at you, and then retreats into your soul. Nasty Business.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
DeleteRoberttheFrost, oh, I know that realistically PTSD can last, but I want the story to be dead because the writers did a horrible job with it. If they could drop stories about Reid's PTSD (and he should have it from multiple different experiences), then they don't need to bring up JJ's PTSD ever again-- not unless they get some better writers who can pull it off believably-- not the way it was done in The Forever People.
DeleteI tend to think that JJ running ahead of Morgan was not supposed to show that her PTSD is flaring up again, but rather that she is just fitter and faster than Morgan. This show has consistently showed JJ at peak fitness since season seven, and how she is just as good as the fit men around her.
DeleteWell that was pretty boring and predictable. Why do they insist on showing the unsub up front and over most of the episode.There were a couple of times when I thought this could be good - I liked the scenes with the prostitutes. And I could have put up with lots of Morgan and JJ if , as is rumoured, Shemar is possibly leaving and as AJC will be on maternity leave but their scenes were not really all that good although at least JJ seems to have returned to a semblance of her original character. What's with the running together on their down time? I would have thought both would want to be with their significant others in their rare free time. And just where are SWAT these days? Occasionally they pop up in an episode but usually our fearless profilers have to do the SWAT thing, as in this episode. The whole thing felt like a mash up of some previous episodes, so much so that we all knew Patricia and Milena were all in his head from the start. As for the Meg story - meh. Reid did look glorious - but he always does. But Hotch was barely visible and with no sign of fallout from his trauma last week. Nope, this was so underwhelming I have pretty much forgotten it already.
ReplyDeleteAs for Virgil Williams - unprofessional. But most of the writers seem to just want and pander to the suck-ups and do not seem to realise that most "fans" who swoon over their work every week only do so to get a favourite or a retweet. Sycophancy thy name today is Twitter! To get a better flavour of the response to their episodes they should come to sites like this to get some more detailed and constructive criticism.
I'm hovering over an F for this one but there were one or two touches I liked so it's a D minus from me.
I thought we were going to see more of what's going on with hotch? I really don't hope they drop that storyline, that's the best and most exciting storyline we've had all season.. Pretty bad episode, I hoped they would at least give us some "hints" or something that Hotch is not entirely himself after what happened last week,- apparently not.
ReplyDeleteI miss Reid and old JJ... no wait, scratch that- I miss the old writers from the older seasons.
For your information... Ratings for this episode are
ReplyDelete18-34 ----- 0.9
18-49 ------ 1.7
25-54 ------ 2.3
Viewers --- 8,570,000
This episode is THE WORST of the season.... Worse then even Kim Harrison's episodes... Numbers speak VOLUMES.
Hope this doesn't risk CM's renewal.. :(
As I pointed out before and as many of us understand but some may disagree with, AJ Cook and Shemar Moore cannot carry the show. They are great in their supporting roles but belong only in the supporting role station in the show. Neither has the acting ability, the screen presence, nor the charisma to be anything more. I wonder why the showrunner is completely unable to see this. The results are glaring and obvious except to her apparently.
DeleteIt's really sad. If TG does not sign on for next season I am done with CM as a routine viewer.
I don't know why they cannot see what the fans want as it is so simple - let us see the team profiling instead of the unsub from the start, let us see the fan favourites of Reid, Hotch and Rossi properly used instead of disappearing and give us some thoughtful, clever stories with at least some continuity.They did it last week after all!
DeleteI hope the low ratings for this poor episode do not affect the renewal. I suspect the low ratings are because no-one gives a toss about the Meg story and an episode heavy on JJ and Morgan just doesn't swing it.
I hope they don't try to claim that people didn't watch this one because they didn't like last week's. I do know some people who felt that the last one was so good that they didn't want to tarnish it by watching the next two episodes.
DeleteI don't know if one episode having such low ratings would affect renewal though. They will probably at least wait to see how the finale does.
I wonder what Mr. Williams would say if he saw that his episode had the worst ratings. Probably wouldn't feel very good. But I have seen worse episodes. I think that because people are comparing it to the previous one, it just seemed so much worse. If it had come after a Kim Harrison episode, maybe it wouldn't seem quite as bad.
I think it's more likely that some people didnt tun it because we all knew it will feature the kidnapping of the annoying Meg, so really, why bother? This season is over, in terms of the team time. And next week it will be even more about Meg, and that is something I couldn't care less.
DeleteI don't think one bad episode would keep a show from being renewed if the rest of the season had good numbers. If anything, the numbers should tell the showrunner, et al, that something wasn't right about the makeup of this particular episode: too much JJ/Morgan, not enough Hotch/Rossi/Reid, unsub too prominent and too soon in the episode, not much profiling, something lacking in storyline about Hotch's arc from last week, etc. Many of these things viewers have voiced throughout this season, as well as in seasons past.
ReplyDeleteI think the only thing that will keep this show from being renewed is if Thomas Gibson doesn't ink a new contract, and so far, no one has let even a syllable out about that. I've seen a couple of rumors about it, but as of now, all they are...RUMORS. Even Moonves has stated in the past that if TG doesn't re-sign, the show will be canceled. It doesn't hinge on AJ Cook, Shemar Moore, MGG, or anyone else, it hinges on Thomas Gibson.
I'm putting this episode up there with 200, Rabid and some of the Gideon-inspired episodes on my "do not ever watch again list", and giving it an F. That's bad for me because I can usually find something to like in an episode...but not in this one.
Yikes! Where to begin? Well, many of you have already pointed out all that was awful about this episode. For me, the biggest disappointment was not learning how the previous case affected Hotch or the rest of the team. He was back at work as if nothing had happened and then we barely saw him. As for the running with JJ and Morgan, well, that scene was created because Erica and her staff think that most viewers tune in to Criminal Minds to see AJ and Shemar’s well-toned bodies. Not me. The best thing about this episode is that Reid looked great.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I can understand why the unsub must be shown early on but not nearly as often as these writers choose. That’s just lazy writing. Virgil needs to suck it up. He does not have a great track record. It’s not as if this is the only episode he’s written that sucked. His Twitter response is immature and shameful. The episode was predictable and unimaginative. A few of the online friends I chat with during CM guessed early on that mother and daughter were already dead, like in Normal. Not only was Protection disappointing as a single episode, it’s doubly so leading into the season finale, which also does not interest me in the least. I hope that Jim Clemente will surprise me. I usually enjoy his writing.
More "fridge logic" about the episode. Why was this even a BAU case? Why were the police so inept that they couldn't catch this guy? He was quite disorganized. He killed people in broad daylight and walked around with blood on him. He shot the freaking mailman in his own front yard-- and nobody called the cops? He probably left shells with his fingerprints all over the place. The unsub was sloppy.
ReplyDeleteOne interesting thing that other people caught was that the unsub saw some of the women wearing certain outfits (floral print shirt) but when the bodies were found, they were wearing different clothes. So it was a hint for observant people that he was hallucinating. His mother must have been wearing that outfit when she died or something. But it was still a weak case.
Some notes to Virgil about what many fans do NOT want to see:
1. Unsub revealed early and then taking up most of the screentime in the episode
2. The actual killings (its creepier when the violence is implied)
3. One or two of the team members completely dominating the screentime while others are barely in it at all.
4. Hotch should NEVER be so uninvolved in the episode
5. Dumbing one character down to make another character look smart (ie Reid not noticing the bouquet of flowers and telling the people to dig in the wrong spot while JJ showed him up by finding the bouquet and the right place to dig)
6. Too much reliance on Garcia's "magic computer" to dig up info that would not be accessible or even on the computer. Not all places have medical records online. I am supposed to have mine online, but they never actually uploaded any of my info so its basically just blank.
7. Expendable victims that are almost an afterthought and are not really important and there is no way to sympathize with them.
Things a lot of viewers DO want to see
1. Mystery where we don't know who the unsub is and we learn things as the team learns them and things are sort of through the eyes of the team.
2. The team members actually profiling and using their unique skillsets and experience to contribute to the case.
3. All team members contributing just about equally with nobody looking stupid compared to the others.
4. Competent police that are perhaps overworked and needed help because they lack the manpower and not because they are inept.
5. Victims that are memorable and family members of the victims that help you see the loss and feel for them.
6. In-character behavior from the team members.
Well said Sesqui!
DeleteYes, Sesky!
DeleteWell said. I couldn't have said that as well as you did. Thank you for putting words to my thoughts.
DeleteYes! And not just Virgil. Apparently ALL the writers need to learn this.
Deletei remind you that CIA and FBi etc have acces to online sites to find info..not secrets for them. but .i would like to know how they do it,..not just watching Garcia having the info in a minute.And yes more team contribuiting with their expreriences and skills. But it depends. the sometimes it is interesting watching the unsurb behavior form the start ( sometimes), and Hotch is the chief.
DeleteAnd That is THAT!!!!! There isn't anything else that would remotely come close to this great synopsis of it all... :D :D Way to Go Sesqy!!
ReplyDeleteI actually like JJ and Morgan, just as much as the other main characters. It wasn't the best episode, but I thought it was alright.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest problem I have with JJ and even Garcia is that for two women who pulled the sexist card out during their last negotiations they allow themselves to be objectified like this... Great AJC as a fantastic body... 99% of viewers probably can't relate to being the same way. ANd that's all that running scene was for IMHO, to show off her fantastic body, baby and all... Thank you no... Garcia is just over the top with the sexual inuendo and in the real world she'd be fired in a heart beat... I don't mind her quirkiness. but when all that comes out of her mouth is sexual innuendo....... BLECH..
ReplyDeleteI think the opening scene with Morgan and JJ running and then hearing about the case was an attempt to break up the regular procedure and monotony of hearing them discuss it on the plane. I think if they had wanted to show off AJC's body they would have dressed her in something different that exposed more than just her ankles. I also get the feeling Virgil is most comfortable writing for those two characters based off some of his past episodes.
DeleteThey already showed JJ's body in previous episodes. I remember one shot in which you could see her abs looking as plastic, alla Shemar Moore. They both have been displayed like that, and I guess it's just to attract some viewers. Not my style, at all. And it shouldn't be the show's style neither, given the fact that if you are a member of such an elite team as the BAU your more important weapons are your brains, your knowledge and your experience. Being able to run shouldn't be that relevant in Criminal Minds.
DeleteYeah, there is no way in hell that Garcia would be allowed to continue working for an organization like the FBI with the inappropriate remarks she makes. Even if Morgan is cool with it, if it makes other employees uncomfortable, Hotch would have to tell them to knock it off.
DeleteAlso, for those wondering about the division of screentime, McCatry over at PTV (previouslyTV) which replaced TWOP (Television Without Pity) clocked the screentime of each character.
JJ 16 m and 31 sec
Unsub and victims 14 m and 39 sec
Morgan 12 m and 6 sec
Kate 8 m and 44 sec
Rossi 8 m and 1 sec
Reid 6 m and 41 sec
Hotch 5 m and 10 sec
Garcia 4 m and 25 sec
Meg and Friend 1 m and 31 sec
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It's a shame that Garcia's time was wasted with her being inappropriate. I have to say that most of JJ's time was used fairly well. My only objections were her finding the flowers and one-upping Reid and the jogging scene at the beginning. It took away from the screen time for the entire team. I get they wanted to do something different-- but they could have cut it much shorter and cut to Garcia explaining things to the TEAM on the plane.
Also, I saw that Barb responded to a review on spoilerTV and the reviewer (Laura something) accused anyone who disagreed with her of being "angry" as a way to invalidate their arguments. I wanted to reply, but I don't have an account over there.
I don't have the link right now, but if someone shares it, my comments are that we have every right to complain about Hotch only being in the episode for 5 minutes and not having followthrough-- and, as was already stated here, this story has been done before and done better.
this is a show...inapropiat or no...i like some fun scenes and by the way rossi should be retired, don't forget his age if you want to be strict. garcia has to xplain the things to the team, i would prefere in person...but..she does very often that way.
Deletethis is not a real FBI BAU, this is not a real world this is criminal minds a show
DeleteWriters of fiction are allowed to take all sorts of liberties to create. this is not a documentary. writers aren't profilers or pc analyst.
Real quick before I have to leave for Mom's service... I posted again (sesqy's numbers) on Spoilertv review ( here's the link - http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/05/criminal-minds-protection-review-finale.html)
ReplyDeleteAside from Laura and Angela (whoever they are) the others are pretty much feeling like we are... angry over the episode...