Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that the next new episode won't air until December 2!
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
CRIMINAL MINDS Season 11 - 1108. Awake - Comments Thread
Hope you've enjoyed today's episode, and remember that the next new episode won't air until December 2!
Where was Reid
ReplyDeletewhere was reid this week? i missed the last 10 min of last weeks episode and just learned tonight about garcia witness protection
ReplyDeleteSame here...what the heck happened...
DeleteReid was with his mom in Vegas so he missed this case.
DeleteAnd Reid should also be gone for episodes 9 and 10 as well.
DeleteToo much torture shown. Really the story can be effectively told without graphics. Overall though this might be Kim Harris's best effort to date.
ReplyDeleteThe last few minutes were sad, made me tear.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHe was the lucky one.... MOrgan explains Reid's out with his mother in Las Vegas in the beginning... This episode went from being pretty good to EPIC FAIL... I DO NOT Watch CM for the Power Puff Girls show..... Hotch, Rossi, Morgan went MIA 1/2 through the episode... The ending was ridiculous... that ending scene was actually the 'promo' for this episode which made ZERO sense....
ReplyDeleteOnly Tara, JJ and the female cop were part of the take down... ????
Morgan and Rossi doing the stupid Reid imitation on the plane... and now we haven't even delved into the Dirty Dozen stuff and we apparently have another unsub out there kidnapping and murdering young girls... ????
I'm seriously wondering if I am going to bother watching live anymore...
ANd for god's sake they start the episode with Garcia going into a semi-witness protection and after that... POOF no mention... Nothing... instead we get silly ending with possibly another unsub.
Deletethank you for filling me in on reid MIA
DeleteWhat can I say about this episode...
ReplyDeleteFirst the case. Good one with a grieving father looking for his daughther and lost his mind in the process. The scenes with the unsub was dark, gloomy. Very effective.
Absolutely loved the start of the episode at the BAU! JJ being teased by Morgan. Simple introduction for Lewis to JJ, I liked that. The best scene of the episode was the one with Hotch and Garcia when she was making her list of creature comfort she needed!
After that we had the now standard: Hotch is left at the police station. But the variation this time was first Reid was COMPLETLY missing from the episode...and later Hotch, Rossi and Morgan just went SOMEWHERE and did SOMETHING else while JJ and Lewis did get the unsub....I gues now the guys on the show are just not necessary.
Sorry writers, for this viewer, they are, I watch for Hotch, then Reid then Rossi and yes in that order, they disapear or worse like with Reid, miss an episode completly and no matter how brilliant an episode would be, a HUGE part of my enjoying the episode is gone.
Sadly this episode gets a 5/10 from me and the 5 is mostly because of the scene at the BAU at the start and the last one on the Jet at the end.
I couldn't agree with you more.... This went from good episode to EPIC fail!
DeleteI dread Kim's next upcoming episode...
Sadly Kim got this habit to not write for the guys on the team. This one had me hoping at the start then when Hotch did his now usual disapearing act, it went downhill.
DeleteI would say that I am glad we are having back the old JJ, the one that did care about the victims. No longer the Ninja JJ. I like JJ this season. :)
Honestly, I think this case would have been far more interesting and psychologically compelling if the "twist" at the end had been the actual case. Meaning that if they were tracking the man with the skull tattoo who was abducting and murdering children across a multi-state region, and building the profile (even if they didn't catch him at the end). That ending was actually creepy and spooky. I was glad that Hotch and Tara had that conversation on the plane at the end, because they were actually talking about one of my major questions from that case. How was that girl abducted from a car when her father was in the front seat, even if he was asleep? Didn't he keep the doors locked?
ReplyDeleteBut to get to that interesting ending, I had to watch a case that wasn't that interesting to me, with way too much unsub. I do like delusional killers, but I like interesting delusions, and this killer wasn't interesting and watching one too many sleep deprived hallucinations didn't really excite me.
When we did see the team, it was nice to see them talking through the case, the victims, and such. It is always more interesting to spend more time on the cerebral side of things, though we still had the takedown scene at the end that was written in such a way that required the ladies (girl power takedown activate) to kill the unsub. For the most part (with one major exception, I'll address below), the team interaction was good. We obviously didn't spend too much time on the Dirty Dozen, but for all the pomp made about Penelope being in "witness protection", she basically is in protective custody at the FBI HQ and not allowed to even go home. But whatever. We'll see more of that later.
This episode does get MAJOR points deducted for its treatment of Reid though. I always knew that, AT BEST, this would be Reid lite, just because I knew Matthew wasn't around for most of the filming window. But once we had the exit story last episode, I fully expected him not to be there at all. And I was right. At the very beginning Morgan had his explanatory line that Reid was with his mother, and she was doing better. I figured that would be the last we would hear about him for this episode. But no, we got another Reid reference at the end. At first I was amazed that he was getting mentioned TWICE in his absence, but that amazement quickly turned to anger at Morgan and Rossi. It would have been one thing if they were just respectfully quoting Reid and his discussion on sleep, like they took it seriously. But nope, both Morgan and Rossi had to bust out their mocking Reid voices. Whether it was simply to make fun of Reid when he was not there, or bore JJ to sleep with their talk about Reid, neither sat well with me. He wasn't even there to defend himself, and it just felt like an unnecessary cheap shot. I am already pissed that there will be no Reid for three straight episodes, only for him to be more comic relief fodder, and now when he is not even around to snark back.
The mocking of his knowledge, his voice, his facial expressions and even his hand gestures went all through me. I'm still angry about it. These people are his friends? Let the writers attempt that with any other character. It would never pass the table read. Despicable.
Delete"Asleep," more like it. Rest in peace, Reid-less CM.
ReplyDeleteAmen to that.
DeleteI second. . . .third that!
DeleteI thought this episode was great! The JJ scenes were so cute and when she was sleeping in the elevator and Morgan was guessing that she and Will were getting it on last night haha. I loved her relationship with Lewis.. I'm actually really starting to like Lewis I think she may be my fav "emily replacement" so far! I loved the end to and found it funny that them impersonating Reid put JJ to sleep (I'm sure Jeid fans loved that!)
ReplyDeleteI felt so bad for this unsub!!! But I hated him at the same time! how is that possible? I was so upset when he died but I hated him so much (obviously) for what he was doing! Overall I loved this episode and that beginning bit with Garcia writing down the things she needs had me cracking up! Since JJ has been back everything has felt back to normal. the family is together again and I couldn't be happier. I hope the team stays like this!
I thought the Morgan/Rossi impersonating Reid like the did was a HUGE insult to Reid...
DeleteI hate that this writer seemed to forget the guys on the team in the 2nd 1/2... I do NOT watch CM for the Power Puff Girls....
Plainly "the family" isn't back together again since Reid is missing for 3 episodes! And while I haven't watched the episode, and don't intend to, I have seen a clip of the scene on the jet at the end. Some family! I found the mockery of Reid very poor - very Mean Girls. It's one thing to josh with a friend face to face but mockery behind their back??? Mean and juvenile.
DeleteVery true Mary, "SOME " family! What is this, a show featuring mature adults wih a very important job or a middle school sitcom ? !?!?!
DeleteWell said, Autumnanberleaves! OMG. Your name is soo long. LOL
DeleteFor an episode about sleep deprivation it certainly was a snoozefest. It was so uninteresting I spent a lot of time wondering why Garcia had Sergio. It was another standard UnSub show. We had to wait for the team to catch up with their slow profiling.
ReplyDeleteI didn't miss Reid like I didn't miss JJ in the first six episodes because I knew the actors weren't going to be there. It happens on every tv show at one point or another. But it is a whole different thing when the character is there and they just go poof and disappear. Hotch, Morgan and Rossi sure did that a lot of that in this episode. They must have been off catching up on their sleep.
I'm not a fan of the boys club when it just the guys (that includes JJ because to me she is just now the female version of Morgan) and that is pretty much the whole season so far, but I'm also not a fan the all girls club. The guys disappeared and let JJ and Tara to do the work and go on the arrest. Again they go in with no back up except for the the other female agent. And instead of going for the head shot couldn't they have shot out the tires or blocked the car in and talking him down?
I didn't like the opening and ending team scenes. Morgan sounding completely clueless to motherhood especially when he witnessed how hard it was when JJ returned from having Henry. I also thought it mean of Rossi and Morgan to ridicule Reid like that. They could have simply quoted him without making fun of his mannerisms and speech. But I will admit I smiled a little when Garcia kept pulling the pad back every time Hotch reached for it.
This episode was a fail for me.
To start off, I wasn't expecting much given that this was a Kim Harrison written episode. IMO she has failed so many times recently, I just can't have a high expectation.
ReplyDeleteSo given that, I was pleasantly surprised at this episode. There was some excellent profiling and Garcia's magic computer only gave answers to the parameters the team gave her. Did the episode in the 2nd half leak into Kim's usual persona of just writing the unsub; yes. And did the guys basically disappear? Yes again. I didn't like it either. But for me, the case part still had a lot of merits that I usually don't see with a Kim written episode. It threw a curve at me which I enjoy and Kim usually doesn't do, so brownie points on that. And while I missed the guys, go girls! Female agents are just as capable as their male counterparts. Plus Kim has always written the female characters better than the male characters so this wasn't a shock either. She's probably taking over the "political statement" mantlepiece from JSB.
To the jet scene at the end. *puts on battle helmet and Kevlar to dodge the tomatoes from the Reid fans* I laughed through the Rosssi and Morgan doing Reid imitations scene. My deepest apologies to the Reid fans, but that is my opinion. And why I laughed the most was how miserably they both failed at it. However, I do believe it was an attempt to get JJ to fall asleep; not to show disrespect to Reid.
As to the Hotch and Tara scene, while it did raise a new potential case, it raised one that has been presented before with the same type of circumstances of being an HSKD case. Remember the end of the "Solitary Man" (S5)? That episode opened the door for another potential case as well. And it was never followed up on. In my world, the point is there are a lot of scary people out there that do horrendous things and we don't know about them.
Rockie's grade: B- And if the guys had not disappeared, the grade would be higher.
The mocking of Reid wasn't humorous. It was emblematic of the past few seasons. The scene was reflective of middle-school behavior, which is pretty much the level at which the show is being written these days. Would any other character have been treated the same way?
DeleteWell said Rockie!!! We agree on many of the same things with this episode! I think, with the ending, that Kim knows that there wont be another case opened but just wanted to showcase the never-ending cycle that this turn of events can form. It had a nice, spooky effect for me.
DeleteI, too, was very pleasantly surprised at how cerebral and profiling-heavy some of the dialogue was, that is, for a Kim Harrison episode.Also, the directing was awesome! Christoph Schrewe should continue to sporadically direct for CM. Read my review - I wrote it before reading yours, which is why our reviews are similar - and let me know what you think in a reply. :) long live CM.. and Rockie!
I have to respectfully disagree with you. The mocking (and yes, it was mocking), was mean and not needed. I don't think anyone would stand for their favorite character to be mocked and anyone would probably see it that way had it been their favorite.
DeleteAgree with you, it was mocking and mean. Didn't like that scene at all.
DeleteThat scene seemed to come right out of Mean Girls! I found it insulting and infantile...NOT what elite FBI agents would do... Thank the Gods that Hotch and Tara Lewis weren't involved with that...
DeleteAlso, they could have kept the whole "there's always more out there" and given us more of what was going on with Garcia....
Where was the "concern" from Morgan about all this... Where was the informing the team what was happening. Obviously they know about it. Why not explain what's going to happen. She can't go back to her apartment so where is she going to go? Is she going to stay at the BAU, or Quantico??? Is she moving into an academy dorm? Did Anderson get her things? Where was Hotch, or Rossi or JJ asking her on the numerous phone calls 'how are you holding up?".... Too much missed for this episode to even crack the 5/10 barrier for me.
The cluelessness of the show actually promoting that scene on social media is astounding.
DeleteThey've tainted the characters of Rossi and Morgan for the purpose of gratuitously mocking the absent Reid, thereby thumbing their noses at fans of all three.
Just My Opinion, if I could like your oost, it would have a thousand likes by it. I so agree!
DeleteMy personal taste...I didn't like the episode because there was too much violence for me. And then, I didn't like the episode because there was too much JJ and Lewis; it seemed to me that once again, when JJ could be shaken awake, that she was beginning to run the show again, possibly because Hotch was no longer around to lead. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but JJ decided that it was time to give the profile, and the team proceeded to each give a one-sentence profile. That part of the episode was a 4/10 for me.
ReplyDeleteBut, I think the episode could have been really good because the story premise was good had it had less graphic violence, and the JJ/Lewis scenes had been spread out among the rest of the team a little better. I'm also one of those readers who prefers to wait awhile to find out who the unsub is, and I checked the time tonight when we got our first glimpse of Mr. Car Dumpsite Man and it was 20 minutes into the episode. I couldn't focus on the plot of the story for trying to see when they're going to let Hotch and Rossi show up again. It just seems that the entire show is off center and has been for awhile.
I also noticed that "the girls" chased the bad guy and very swiftly got things under control. So now, the rest of the team isn't even needed, and they'll probably leave them at home the next time they have to go out of town to solve a case. Gosh, JJ and Lewis...what a team! (Sarcasm rules).
Usually, when it comes to Criminal Minds, I'm always in a glass-half-full state of mind. However, when Kimberly Ann Harrison is listed as the writer, it usually becomes more difficult than usual to remain positive. WHYYY oh WHYYY does she INSIST on showing us the unsub RIGHT AWAY! I mean, c'mon, at least wait until after the opening credits! I'll bet she had a hay-day writing this one though since Reid wasn't in it. That's the only time I ever have something negative to say.
ReplyDeleteThis is a side note, but before I forget, Christoph Schrewe did a great job directing and I'd love to see him direct for a different writer in the future. Now don't get me wrong, I am one of the biggest Reid fans ever, but I know that Morgan and Rossi were just being silly; at this point, after having known him for - in Morgan's case, 11 years; in Rossi's case, roughly 8 years - I am positive that they genuinely care about him, and they highly respect his vast intellect. I think they just find his delivery of facts to be humorous. To my surprise, this episode turned out ALMOST as good as it could possibly be without Reid in it. (I factored that out of the episode, because Matthew needed to be absent in real life and any episode without Reid would obviously suffer due to that absence.) This episode, was well directed, and I enjoyed the level of profiling and cerebral dialogue, which is a surprise in a KH episode.
Kim Harrison, who I'm sure is a nice person, needs to write for another show (the Walking dead would be better for her, or maybe "Orange is the new Black") and they need to bring back anybody from season 4 or just have their other writers write more (..cough.. Jim Clemente or Sharon Lee Watson.. cough). She has a completely different grip on this show than the other writers. Yes, it is a tenuous grip, but she can bring some unexpectedly creative and gripping storytelling. Tonight was a good example. She may not know the characters as well as the others, but still knew them well enough to keep me entertained tonight.
A solid episode, yes; but still the season's weakest. The first act was the best, especially the dialogue with Hotch and Garcia, and other highlights were the interactions between JJ and Tara Lewis. I'd say we're gonna have a more toned-down JJ this year (fingers crossed). Anyway, we have a week between episodes now, then 2 consecutive, then the new year. I'm pretty happy so far, good twists and turns this season, genuine effort on the part of the writers and staff altogether, given the fact that alot has changed staff-wise (mainly Stacey Beneville taking over for Ian Foster Woolf as Unit Production Manager... she's doing a great job). We (or at least I) have Beyond Borders to look forward to, and the possible awesomeness it can bring to the ratings of our mothership CM. Hopes are high, Sharon is up for the next episode and we have the extremely talented Diana Valentine behind the camera for what sounds like a rollercoaster of crime-drama entertainment. I give this episode a 8/10, not including the Reid absence. If you include the Reid absence, its a 6.75/10. LONG LIVE SPENCER, DIANA & WILLIAM REID and
LONG LIVE CM!!!!!
Epic fail of an episode. The case was boring and I'm not a fan of the all girls club (to be honest, I'd MUCH rather have the all boys club). Reid missing was annoying but the last straw was the mockery of him by two people who are supposedly family to him and having JJ being bored to sleep by it was the dung topping on the kiddie.
ReplyDeleteMUDPIE not kiddie, were odd autocorrect
ReplyDeleteKIm Harrison is not a goodwriter for CM drama. She don't like the guys of CM so, she must work for another drama. We'll don't miss her.
ReplyDeleteThis was a fail on several points: First and foremost, Reid was not there. In past seasons, especially the first 5, he was written as an essential part of a team of elite profilers. Now he is expendable, because Garcia can always consult Wikipedia.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Reid was ridiculed, behind his back, no less.
Third, there was that "givin' th' profile" lineup of all the agents, which heavily implied that they didn't need Reid because the whole team is here. Fine, but they didn't really do any profiling; they were just spitballing, as someone has said. Not only that, they came to the wrong conclusion, the wrong unsub, and they shot the man dead when it was entirely unnecessary. The perfect, Reidless team actually let the precipitating unsub go!
I know that, historically, Kim can't write for Reid, but now she can't seem to write any profiling either. This was all torture porn and unsubs. And what was that, sending sleep-deprived JJ and Tara out solo to take out the (wrong) unsub??!
I'm lost. Matthew isn't going to be in the next 3 episodes? Where is my beloved? I hope these episodes are Gracia driven because I am interested in the dirty dozen story line or I might as well wait until January to watch again
ReplyDeleteThis is the most obvious proof of writers bullying and ridiculing Reid that the show has produced to date. I agree with the other commenters. What will it take for the showrunner and writers to understand that they condone bullying, mean girl behavior, backstabbing, and ridiculing of smart people when they do this. There was no context, Reid wasn't even in the episode. Out of the blue, they have two frienemies flat out do this to him. They are not friends, they are not family to Reid. Many young people, particularly girls, watch this show. To have the show condone this, to participate in showcasing this behavior, is such bad modeling. I have had it with this. No other character on this show or any other does this to a main character. CM showrunner and writers are seriously, personally, into this characterization of Reid, love him as a punchline. Reid/Matthew is gone for three episodes. Maybe he is sick to death of this too. Why hang around when this has become his character? I would rather go on vacation too.
ReplyDeleteWillene, I wish this page had a 'like' button. Since it doesn't: LIKE!
DeleteWillene I am pressing my "LIKE" button also!
Delete"Like", Willene, although I'm not likening the situation.
DeleteSame here "like" button pressed
DeleteSo well put, Willene. I completely agree.
ReplyDeleteReid as a punchline..... ? Isn't he the executive director of the show and has been for a number of seasons (not sure how many). My concern is he leaves the show (but would most likely still produce like will peterson or whatever his name was in csi...). I wished they did better with the impressions....and imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery. Lighten up people...it is a show and Reid would have had some sort of a say in the matter. Miss him in the show though....look forward to how quirky, smart and ackward he is.
ReplyDeleteFirst REID is a character so he just cannot produce anything.
DeleteSecond, the actor playing the character Matthew Gray Gubler is NOT an executive anything on CM. He does direct episodes like Joe Mantegna and Thomas Gibson.
Third, if Matthew was to leave CM sure he could still direct episodes, was done on a CBS show call the Good Wife when actor Josh Charles left and came back a few months later to direct an episode.
and yes iimitation is a form of flattery but somehow for me it didn't sound as flaterry but mockery.
Matthew Gray Gubler is NOT Executive producer of Criminal Minds.... Never has been...
ReplyDeleteThis is the most obvious proof of writers bullying and ridiculing Reid that the show has produced to date. I agree with the other commenters. What will it take for the showrunner and writers to understand that they condone bullying, mean girl behavior, backstabbing, and ridiculing of smart people when they do this. There was no context, Reid wasn't even in the episode. Out of the blue, they have two frienemies flat out do this to him. They are not friends, they are not family to Reid. Many young people, particularly girls, watch this show. To have the show condone this, to participate in showcasing this behavior, is such bad modeling. I have had it with this. No other character on this show or any other does this to a main character. CM showrunner and writers are seriously, personally, into this characterization of Reid, love him as a punchline. Reid/Matthew is gone for three episodes. Maybe he is sick to death of this too. Why hang around when this has become his character? I would rather go on vacation too.
ReplyDeleteAmen. I tweeted to KH that it was mean and unnecessary and she "favorited"it among others and then wrote a tweet saying that these tweets have me rolling! I won't post what I am calling her lovely self.
Deletedon't enjoy this episode, Too much Tara and JJ not enought Hotch and Garcia, i miss Reid but he wasn't the pricipal problem for me. Boring
ReplyDeleteOk i thought the episode was amazing ( just like every episode so far) i thought it was a good plot. And i personally thought the plane scene where rossi and morgan were inpersonating reid was funny because we all know that they love him and im pretty sure if reid was there, then he would laugh too! So i personally dont think that it was an insult to reid.
ReplyDeleteTo mock someone's speech and mannerisms behind their back is just mockery and ridicule. In addition, the show has always implied that Reid suffers from Asperger's Syndrome so mockery like this is even more despicable and absolutely does not show any love. It is sadly indicative of the High School mentality that some of the writers bring to their episodes and just show how far the show has been dumbed down. What kind of message does this give to all the teens who watch the show - that it is OK to mock sensitive, intelligent people who have a disability such as Asperger's? I think if they did this to his face Reid would be very hurt.
DeleteI loved that JJ and Tara were the ones to take down the unsub. It showed that Hotch had enough faith in both of them that they could do it without the men. JJ is my favorite and I enjoy every minute that she's onscreen!
ReplyDeleteWay too much Tara and way too much JJ. Tara though, at 6' tall,at least has some believability in being a
ReplyDeleteBadarse.
The absense of Reid is bad.