Criminal Minds Fandom Overview - Update
Hello fanfiction trawlers! I'm blythechild and I'll be driving the van for Criminal Minds this month before this comm goes dark in the New Year :(
The van hasn't stopped by the B.A.U. at Quantico for regular writing goodness in 3 years and the (most excellent, comprehensive, and pretty) fandom primer hasn't been updated since 2007. thepouncer did a great job back then so go check it out if you want show info or helpful fandom links - I'm not going to rehash the content of that post here.
This blurb pretty much sums up the show's essence: Criminal Minds is ostensibly a procedural drama about a team of FBI profilers and their weekly quests to catch serial killers or rapists or other baddies. But under the surface, it's all about the mental and psychological toll the exposure to violence takes on our dedicated Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) agents. They face the worst of humanity, and witness the harm that maladjusted psyches can cause every day on the job. Their personal lives and peace of mind become a casualty of their dedication, and occasionally office politics makes everything that much more difficult.
- Taken from the original fandom overview.
A lot has happened in 5 years and I feel that a little update is required.
Updates:
Series lead, Jason Gideon, left abruptly after a series of emotional traumas including the murder of his girlfriend. He has never returned although is mentioned in passing often by other team members, most notably, Reid.
Gideon was replaced by David Rossi who was Gideon's contemporary in the original B.A.U. though there is little love lost between them. Rossi's entry into the existing team was initially rocky due to his penchant for solo work but he quickly slotted himself in as the 'elder statesman' of the group and is often referred to as one of the team's "parents" alongside Aaron Hotchner. Over the course of the past 5 years, Rossi has revealed his love of expensive cars and shoes, his womanizing history, his lingering Vietnam scars, mob ties from his days in the New Jersey police department, and the death of his infant son. His first wife, Carolyn, commits suicide in season 7 after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Aaron (Hotch) Hotchner has had a rough 5 years. At the end of season 4 he was attacked by serial killer George Foyet (played by C. Thomas Howell) and seriously wounded. After the attack he stepped down as unit supervisor, giving temporary authority to Derek Morgan. Already separated (and then eventually divorced) from his wife, Haley, George Foyet appears again at the end of season 5 and murders her while she is on the phone with Hotch. Hotch arrives in time to save his son, Jack, but ends up murdering Foyet. After an appropriate period of reflection (by tv standards anyway), Hotch returns as the team's SSAC because now he has good reason for all of the scowling he does. In season 7, the show's writing team gave him a girlfriend, Beth Clemmons, perhaps out of pity for all of the crap that they've put him through.
J.J. Jareau left the series briefly in season 4 to have her baby, Henry, whose father is the long-suffering stealth boyfriend Will LaMontagne introduced in season 2. Her position was filled by Agent Jordan Todd from Counter Terrorism, but she couldn't handle the emotional fallout from the Unit's cases and returned to her original position. In season 6, J.J. gets poached from the Unit to work at the Department of Defense against her will (and for reasons that make very little sense other than the show was asked to reduce costs which led to weird casting issues). She briefly reappeared to play a part in the Valhalla case, in which she helped Emily Prentiss fake her own death. She returned to the Unit in Season 7 inexplicably secretive, a fully-fledged (and deadpan) profiler, and with mysterious Jet Li fighting skills. At the end of season 7 she finally married Will.
Emily Prentiss's Interpol past catches up with her in season 6 and she is seriously wounded by Irish arms dealer, Ian Doyle, whom she entrapped years earlier while pretending to be his girlfriend. Doyle escapes and threatens the lives of her teammates, so Prentiss fakes her death to take the focus off them. J.J. and Hotch are complicit in this. She returns in season 7 (Ian Doyle is killed during the episode), but finds that she no longer fits at the B.A.U. She takes a station chief position with Interpol at the end of season 7 and moves to London. Paget Brewster, who portrayed Prentiss, has confirmed that she will appear in one episode of the current season (9).
Prentiss is replaced by Alex Blake (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn), an expert linguist from Georgetown University. She has prior friendly connections to Dr. Reid, and not-so-friendly ones to Erin Strauss, who set back her career at the Bureau by throwing her under the bus for a case. She is married to a doctor, James, who is always conveniently absent working with Doctors Without Borders, thus ensuring that she fits in perfectly with everyone else on the team with a defective personal life.
Spencer Reid begins experiencing headaches and hallucinations in season 6 and he fears that it may be the onset of mental illness. He takes Prentiss's 'death' the hardest and also does not easily forgive her deception when she returns. In season 8 it is revealed that he has been in contact with a mysterious neurobiologist/geneticist(?) about his headaches. They have developed a relationship, but only speak over the phone as the mystery woman (later identified as Maeve Donovan) has a stalker. Later in the season, when she is kidnapped, Reid reveals her existence to the team who rush to save her. Reid finally meets Maeve face to face only to have her stalker murder her in front of him. Let the angst ticker tape parade commence...
Erin Strauss is revealed to be an alcoholic. When her addiction threatens a case, she takes a leave of absence to get help and Hotch covers for her. She eventually returns and becomes a supportive force to the team. A relationship with David Rossi is briefly alluded to at the end of season 7 and is confirmed at the end of season 8 when Strauss is killed by former F.B.I. agent-turned psycho John Curtis. She was replaced in season 9 by Mateo Cruz (played by Esai Morales).
Other notes:
Agent Ashley Seaver (played by Rachel Nichols) appeared in season 6 as a replacement for J.J. Her most notable features include: having a serial killer as a father, being promoted to the B.A.U. while still training as a cadet at Quantico, and becoming buddies with Rossi. She was "promoted" out of the unit in season 7.
Penelope Garcia's love interest, Kevin, disappears from the series somewhere around season 7, ostensibly because he wants a commitment from her and she doesn't. Ouch.
Derek Morgan gets a girlfriend in season 9. Other than that, he's pretty much the same guy.
The show is currently in it's ninth season and has an unclear future. While it still brings in decent ratings, the writing has become stale and the graphic violence has been increased to entice viewership. Many of the principle actors' contracts expire at the end of the current season and a few have stated that they will not return should the series be renewed.
For more Criminal Minds info, the show's fanwiki site is invaluable.
Should anyone have any fandom links that are not included in thepouncer's original post, please let me know in the comments and I'll update them to this posting for posterity.
Since this is already a long-ish entry, I'll post my first rec in a separate entry ;)
The van hasn't stopped by the B.A.U. at Quantico for regular writing goodness in 3 years and the (most excellent, comprehensive, and pretty) fandom primer hasn't been updated since 2007. thepouncer did a great job back then so go check it out if you want show info or helpful fandom links - I'm not going to rehash the content of that post here.
This blurb pretty much sums up the show's essence: Criminal Minds is ostensibly a procedural drama about a team of FBI profilers and their weekly quests to catch serial killers or rapists or other baddies. But under the surface, it's all about the mental and psychological toll the exposure to violence takes on our dedicated Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) agents. They face the worst of humanity, and witness the harm that maladjusted psyches can cause every day on the job. Their personal lives and peace of mind become a casualty of their dedication, and occasionally office politics makes everything that much more difficult.
- Taken from the original fandom overview.
A lot has happened in 5 years and I feel that a little update is required.
Updates:
Series lead, Jason Gideon, left abruptly after a series of emotional traumas including the murder of his girlfriend. He has never returned although is mentioned in passing often by other team members, most notably, Reid.
Gideon was replaced by David Rossi who was Gideon's contemporary in the original B.A.U. though there is little love lost between them. Rossi's entry into the existing team was initially rocky due to his penchant for solo work but he quickly slotted himself in as the 'elder statesman' of the group and is often referred to as one of the team's "parents" alongside Aaron Hotchner. Over the course of the past 5 years, Rossi has revealed his love of expensive cars and shoes, his womanizing history, his lingering Vietnam scars, mob ties from his days in the New Jersey police department, and the death of his infant son. His first wife, Carolyn, commits suicide in season 7 after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Aaron (Hotch) Hotchner has had a rough 5 years. At the end of season 4 he was attacked by serial killer George Foyet (played by C. Thomas Howell) and seriously wounded. After the attack he stepped down as unit supervisor, giving temporary authority to Derek Morgan. Already separated (and then eventually divorced) from his wife, Haley, George Foyet appears again at the end of season 5 and murders her while she is on the phone with Hotch. Hotch arrives in time to save his son, Jack, but ends up murdering Foyet. After an appropriate period of reflection (by tv standards anyway), Hotch returns as the team's SSAC because now he has good reason for all of the scowling he does. In season 7, the show's writing team gave him a girlfriend, Beth Clemmons, perhaps out of pity for all of the crap that they've put him through.
J.J. Jareau left the series briefly in season 4 to have her baby, Henry, whose father is the long-suffering stealth boyfriend Will LaMontagne introduced in season 2. Her position was filled by Agent Jordan Todd from Counter Terrorism, but she couldn't handle the emotional fallout from the Unit's cases and returned to her original position. In season 6, J.J. gets poached from the Unit to work at the Department of Defense against her will (and for reasons that make very little sense other than the show was asked to reduce costs which led to weird casting issues). She briefly reappeared to play a part in the Valhalla case, in which she helped Emily Prentiss fake her own death. She returned to the Unit in Season 7 inexplicably secretive, a fully-fledged (and deadpan) profiler, and with mysterious Jet Li fighting skills. At the end of season 7 she finally married Will.
Emily Prentiss's Interpol past catches up with her in season 6 and she is seriously wounded by Irish arms dealer, Ian Doyle, whom she entrapped years earlier while pretending to be his girlfriend. Doyle escapes and threatens the lives of her teammates, so Prentiss fakes her death to take the focus off them. J.J. and Hotch are complicit in this. She returns in season 7 (Ian Doyle is killed during the episode), but finds that she no longer fits at the B.A.U. She takes a station chief position with Interpol at the end of season 7 and moves to London. Paget Brewster, who portrayed Prentiss, has confirmed that she will appear in one episode of the current season (9).
Prentiss is replaced by Alex Blake (played by Jeanne Tripplehorn), an expert linguist from Georgetown University. She has prior friendly connections to Dr. Reid, and not-so-friendly ones to Erin Strauss, who set back her career at the Bureau by throwing her under the bus for a case. She is married to a doctor, James, who is always conveniently absent working with Doctors Without Borders, thus ensuring that she fits in perfectly with everyone else on the team with a defective personal life.
Spencer Reid begins experiencing headaches and hallucinations in season 6 and he fears that it may be the onset of mental illness. He takes Prentiss's 'death' the hardest and also does not easily forgive her deception when she returns. In season 8 it is revealed that he has been in contact with a mysterious neurobiologist/geneticist(?) about his headaches. They have developed a relationship, but only speak over the phone as the mystery woman (later identified as Maeve Donovan) has a stalker. Later in the season, when she is kidnapped, Reid reveals her existence to the team who rush to save her. Reid finally meets Maeve face to face only to have her stalker murder her in front of him. Let the angst ticker tape parade commence...
Erin Strauss is revealed to be an alcoholic. When her addiction threatens a case, she takes a leave of absence to get help and Hotch covers for her. She eventually returns and becomes a supportive force to the team. A relationship with David Rossi is briefly alluded to at the end of season 7 and is confirmed at the end of season 8 when Strauss is killed by former F.B.I. agent-turned psycho John Curtis. She was replaced in season 9 by Mateo Cruz (played by Esai Morales).
Other notes:
Agent Ashley Seaver (played by Rachel Nichols) appeared in season 6 as a replacement for J.J. Her most notable features include: having a serial killer as a father, being promoted to the B.A.U. while still training as a cadet at Quantico, and becoming buddies with Rossi. She was "promoted" out of the unit in season 7.
Penelope Garcia's love interest, Kevin, disappears from the series somewhere around season 7, ostensibly because he wants a commitment from her and she doesn't. Ouch.
Derek Morgan gets a girlfriend in season 9. Other than that, he's pretty much the same guy.
The show is currently in it's ninth season and has an unclear future. While it still brings in decent ratings, the writing has become stale and the graphic violence has been increased to entice viewership. Many of the principle actors' contracts expire at the end of the current season and a few have stated that they will not return should the series be renewed.
For more Criminal Minds info, the show's fanwiki site is invaluable.
Should anyone have any fandom links that are not included in thepouncer's original post, please let me know in the comments and I'll update them to this posting for posterity.
Since this is already a long-ish entry, I'll post my first rec in a separate entry ;)