An aptly named episode, given how I feel about it. It had the fanfic feel that a lot of episodes by writers new to a series can have. The thematic freight was not as layered as I expect of Criminal Minds, and far too carefully spelled out. Stuff that should have been handled by implication and analogy was spelled out in excruciating detail (Reid's backstory: we don't need to be told, guys. We remember. All it takes is a hint. Actually, if anything, I wish the episode had done more with Morgan's backstory--he's got some trigger issues wrapped up in all this, too.)
Also, I think the narrative was crippled by overcleverness, the obvious withholding of information which put the focus on a surprise reveal that really wasn't, and some painfully heavyhanded directorial choices.
However, kudos to the writing team for tackling male rape and doing it more or less in exactly the manner they handle it when the victims are women. And it's always nice to see the Reid and Morgan sibling dynamic at play. The cop of the week was another CM special--older, nonwhite, and female: a trifecta! And Garcia is still the captain of my heart.
And there are some really nice moments sandwiched in there--It was very, very close to being a very good episode, I think, but they played it too broadly and wasted too much energy on the Surprise! which wasn't, so much.
Oh, painful cold open is painful. I don't buy the psychiatrist as such, though I love the actress and I love that she's a bit androgynous.
The rape scene is really well done, though.
"I'm your boss and you'll be whatever I want you to be."
JJ's blouse looks a porn nurse's uniform.
"He's sending a message."
Reid's back to the uncombed unwashed hair and the terrible gray cardigan. Must have gotten dumped. *vbg*
Reid and JJ talking about drunk college students for the win.
And this is a totally awesome Garcia scene. "Also, there is no way to determine the exact time of 'secretion'." Garcia airquotes! yay!
"We need to check every guest whether they were on the books or not."
"The rest of you, there's your new home."
Hey, Reid shook her hand. Decisively.
And Reid spots the clue.
Green screen. Drink!
There's some nice subtext in Morgan holding a gun on an imagined rape victim. I sort of wish the episode had done more with that.
Reid in his Chucks cracks me up.
"How long before you can close your eyes without it being there?"
"I'm afraid I still don't know."
Reid, you need to get some treatment for that PTSD, man. I hear EMDR is very effective.
"What if it was both?"
That is so a man in a dress. Stew lyrics aside.
"Not surprising, because it's like one of the least reported crimes on the books."
Rossi, yelling at people. It's what he does.
"Doesn't really look like the dominant partner type."
"I really want to help you out, but you're going to have to do a lot better than that."
"I just got off with Garcia." The sound you hear is a thousand fangirls squeeing.
"Did Adam get what he deserved?"
Nice transition from Amanda stubbing out the cigarette the fade into Adam's silhouette.
"Guys like you and me, we're not exactly the fighting type." Oh, I dunno, Spencer. You do pretty well when the chips are down.
Bitchy Reid is bitchy.
And bitchy Hotch is offended by inept cops.
"How is that possible?"
Okay, eye contact thing is totally overplayed.
Adam also suffers Dark Eye Syndrome.
"If Adam isn't our unsub, he has all the makings to become one someday." Sure, and so do Reid, Hotch, and Morgan. *g*
And Reid cracks the case. "He doesn't make eye contact."
Flashbulb memory, drink.
Hotch yelling for medics, Hotch and Prentiss with blood on their hands. Drink! Drink! Drink!
JJ on a raid! And Reid puts his gun away, a la Gideon.
"I can take it." Is that a refrain yet? I think it is.
The mirror shot is nice. And the squinty conversation on the rooftop.
"I don't see that as much of a win." Well, of course not. It's mid-season. Nobody wins.
"I should have." Drink! Nice that he's forthcoming about Tobias. And yes, confirmation that the team knows about Tobias drugging him--not that they could have missed it. Although technically, Tobias drugged him; Charles tortured him. /fangirl nitpick
Could Reid's gun be more phallic in that last shot? 0.0
Sometimes the monsters do win. Especially in mid-season!
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Comments
Reid's Chucks baffle me. That is all. It's like he deliberated long and hard before deciding to buy one cool thing to wear because, statistically, Chucks are timeless.
Reid has dress sense. It's just not like our Earth dress sense. He has some gorgeous clothes (the knitted silk scarf, the velvet jackets) but they never quite fit. He kind of obviously buys them at Goodwill because he likes them as art objects, not because he's thinking about how they will make him look.
I bet the Chucks are just a sign of Doctor Who fandom.
Edited at 2009-04-09 02:46 pm (UTC)
And yet another young UNSUB who looks creepily like Dr. Reid. How many skinny boys with hazel eyes, cleft chins, pouty lips, and terrifying cheekbones does Hollywood HAVE, anyway? Do they ship them in from the Baltic nations? Where do they COME FROM?
Edited at 2009-04-09 02:45 pm (UTC)
Who was that playing the cop of the week? She was really familiar, and I kept thinking Sesame Street.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005173/
The psychiatrist is Michael Hyatt, who is a she-Michael.
Edited at 2009-04-09 02:53 pm (UTC)
Maybe it's just lj being twitchy again. I really hope they didn't lose all your recaps. D:
(Oh, on Reid or MGG being allergic to latex, in S1 Reid wears latex gloves, so it must be a character quirk the costume people came up with.)
Actually, the fact that he wears latex gloves in S1 and then not later--and I notice lately EVERYBODY in scenes with Reid is wearing nitrile--suggests to me that MGG *did* develop a latex allergy. Which is actually fairly common--it's an exposure allergy, like nickel. The more you touch it, the worse the reaction gets.
gain) worked on several levels for me.
Also, Rossi's anger management issues wound up directed at the wrong target... again. Where's my bucket? I seem to have misfiled it...
I'm glad they did reference Revelations - although I felt that the conversation on the roof still shows that while Morgan hears you, he doesn't always listen. He seemed reminiscent of Gideon in that scene.
I did think Reid's comment about the prescription was out of character. Like seriously. Although thinking back to other things he's said that seemed out of character--such as his snark about Jane in "No Way Out," it occurs to me that that could, in fact, come out of the same defensiveness that leads him to get up in people's faces some times when they really don't deserve it, and he doesn't even believe what he's saying.
And your recap sort of answers my "What the heck is up with Reid's holster position?" :)
I think his arms may just be too long in comparison to his torso for him to draw easily from the hip.
I love Tim Roth, but he's so much better than the material....
I do agree that the Reid identifying with Adam/kicking himself for not seeing the DID was a little much, but it was a nice examination of Reid's progress or lack there of. He needs PTSD counseling, yes, but on this show? Everybody does.
P.S. Do we ever see Reid using/kicking? I'm watching the show on three different timelines* and I'm curious.
*First season via Internet, second/third on A&E, and current season
It was a bit obvious about the Reid/Adam parallel, but it still worked. Heck, it was like Reid was looking in a mirror half the time(in his scenes with Adam). The directing in this episode wasn't exceptional, but it fit in with the rest of the CM episodes (in an almost studied way).
"If Adam isn't our unsub, he has all the makings to become one someday." Sure, and so do Reid, Hotch, and Morgan. And so does Emily, because i still don't think we knoow everything about her past. And so did Nathan Harris (it'd be nice to find out what happened to him).
Plus the whole briefing scene felt was way to obvious- they're profilers talking to each other. They don't need to explain this stuff to each other- it only fits when they're talking to local cops/the media/other people who conceivably won't already know this information. Just a bit clumsy compared to other episodes :(
I did think Jason Rathbone did a great job as the unsub. I still wonder if Rossi knows about Reid and Henkel- I had hoped once it was revealed that Adam had MPD that we would get at least a throw away to confirm that Rossi (and Prentiss for that matter) knew or not.
Thanks for the recap :D
MKK
MKK
MKK
Which makes me wonder if that's intentionally written in as an understood character issue, or just something that's developed over the seasons.
And I would guess, yes, that's exactly what they're doing--these guys have trigger issues, and they act like people with trigger issues. (Actually, one thing I thought was missing from this ep was Morgan acting on HIS trigger issues, because hello. And wouldn't it have been fun to have him and Reid triggering all over the place at each other and Mom and Emily trying to keep their minds on the job?)
but that whoever it was they got for the UNSUB was wonderful.
Was a Sparklepire.
No, really.
Kid can act.
I think he got some good stuff for his reel, I tell you what.
On the other hand, I have a show that remembers these things, two seasons later. I'll just keep thinking about that.
(Would you believe that this is the only icon I have left from Revelations? I just got rid of "God's will" a few weeks ago.)
And yeah, what you said. Which is another reason it felt like fanfic, I think. Or like Not My Show. Do something new with it, guys!
Since people round here seem to have such good memory, and pay so much attention to Reid's accessories... what ever happened to the messenger bag? It wasn't there in this ep. Was it just missing this ep, or has it been gone longer?
8^S
8^P
There was something I thought was interesting at the end of the episode, with Morgan and Reid talking on the roof - Morgan states explicitly what happened to Reid, but Reid just says "those things". I haven't been able to decide whether he doesn't think it bears repeating, still isn't able to talk about it beyond the basics, or a mixture of the two.
And hello!