Reaction post: Criminal Minds 05x07, "The Performer"
And now to try this liveblogging thing that all the kids are doing these days. Though it seems a little less lively, when you're watching the episode several hours after everyone else. But I digress.
Preemptively: If this episode does not capitalize on Prentiss's dark and unsinister past as a goth chick, I may cry. Or throw popcorn, whichever.
• Here's where I reveal my total ignorance of most contemporary music: I am much amused that this guy is got up in the Dramatic Make-Up of the Undead™ to sing what sounds to me like a rather peppy number that, with adjusted lyrics, would make a mellow yet spirited addition to "Legally Blond: The Musical."
• LOL DRY ICE. I will never be able to not associate dry ice with chubby kindergarteners got up in their first tutus doing Swan Lake. Chiefly because I was one of them.
• LOL PYROTECHNICS OF GREAT DRAMA.
• LOL SUDDEN SLOW-MO OF GREAT SUBTLETY. I love when CM does that. ♥
• OMG it is a fractured mirror. I wonder if this is a visual metaphor for something.
• Niiiice corset. *deep as a mud puddle*
• Blunt force trauma, homicide method of champions and an estimated 33% of female serial killers. Awful lot of bother, but gets the job done.
• O HAI REID. Are you barely in this one, too?
• Annnnnd it's time for this week's dramatic replay of previous footage with added post-production lighting effects and new splicing. Roll titles.
• Reid is giving the quote! Does this mean that he will actually be in this one to a substantial degree, or does it mean that someone is throwing MGG a bone?
• It's Morgan. In a suit. I do feel this is worth noting, yes.
• It's Reid! On the jet! Being in the episode! Getting teased! Getting teased by JJ! JJ really is the best at teasing, because she looks so very harmless. Aw, poor Prentiss, out of the loop. BUT exchanging Glances of Camaraderie with Rossi.
• OH REID. YOU GIVE US OUR INFODUMPS WITH SUCH HAPPINESS AND RELISH. ♥
• Shout-out to Prentiss's fashion choices in high school, courtesy of Garcia! ILU, Garcia.
• Annnd Rossi is our Designated Snarker this evening, I see. Further Looks with Prentiss.
• Bahhhh. Reid is telling us that vampirists are coveters, but he is not going to explain why. :( I wish to know why. Even if it is made-up armchair psychobabble with no useful citation.
• Rock star in his undies treads the line between fan service and FanDisservice.
• Nice job introducing reasonable ambiguity as to the unsub's identity: Dante-guy's memory gap can be attributed to either a dissociative disorder or drug use; base profile of vampirists as furnished by Reid appears to make either Dante or the briefly introduced goth guy from the first act a viable suspect.
• Morgan, you have a nice voice.
• I suspect I should see the screaming band fans and realize that they're acting a bit silly, but mainly I see the screaming band fans and realize, "I would totally cast aside all dignity like that if Sviatoslav Richter were landing on my roof in a chopper." But he is dead, and can't. :(
• DRY ICE IN THE CHOPPER. BRB, loling forever. (I ♥ you, show.)
• Reid! Being in this one! Being in it some more! Also needing a haircut. If Gideon were here, Gideon would make him get a haircut.
• Prentiss and Rossi! Sneaking into a house in the dark together! Wait, no, they are not sneaking, because it is the crime scene; Rossi is just looking furtive for no apparent reason.
• Meagre BACKGROUND DETAILS ON PRENTISS! \o/
• PRENTISS JUST CALLED GARCIA "THE SEXIEST HACKER ON THE PLANET." Why had this combination not occurred to me before? I would like some porn now, pls.
• Although, why would they need Garcia to hack anything? Just use her persistent login on her computer.
• As someone with firsthand experience with depression, I should not feel this way, but Dante's suicidal emo cracks me up. Or maybe it's Dante's acting doing that. To be fair, it's got to be harder to act under makeup that effectively acts as a mask.
• Do people seriously just take off with rock stars like that? Stupid question; it's a party, of course they do.
• Hotch: "Once an unsub like this gets started… it only gets worse." Yes, Hotch, we know. We know, because that's the story for every unsub. They really should have more truly disorganized unsubs-then there would actually be some suspense over the "how well will this week's boogeyman keep his shit together and thus evade capture?" factor.
• Garcia (signing off): "I'll see what I can dredge. My love is strong!" As is mine, Garcia. For you. ♥ ♥ ♥
• This is the appointed episode for driving home to the audience that Reid is out of sync with popular culture. In case we forgot over the past five episodes that he was barely in.
• JJ has Reid-management down to a science.
• It is quite nice that somebody finally seems to have noticed that the majority of the action on this show does not, in fact, require walking. The most exciting bits usually consist of characters sitting around and talking, and that's what I love about this show. It occurred to me that nearly the entirety of "Revelations" could have been shot with a MGG who couldn't walk, and that's got to be the most heavily Reid-centric episode we've ever had.
• But then again, my entitled whining is of course entirely motivated by my massive Reid-bias, so.
• PWNED by Garcia. Yes, we are all very glad that she is on our side, Hot Detective.
• Prentiss, it would have been nice to give Morgan a heads-up about bringing Dante in before prompting your boss to whirl round and ask what the hell you're doing. But your occasional crapness with political things is why I ♥ you, so I cannot really complain.
• Jeepus. Fucking hell, that's a lot of reporters. I really like the way they shot this, it feels very real, especially with the addition of Prentiss's sincere-sounding alarm about Rossi facing the jackals alone.
• D'aww, Reid. You can just tell from his face that he's thinking "Oh, shit, this is possibly the first time our profile's ever been this far off and it's all on me. D: "
• Morgan, you keep rocking that suit, bb.
• "My official statement was that I hate Los Angeles." Rossi, I haven't had strong feelings about you one way or another, but you are definitely feathering the nest in my heart a bit this week.
• And we have cunning and calculated interrogation strategy, courtesy of the awesome man in the suit. Morgan, I mean, not Hotch.
• Come to think of it, where is Hotch? We've barely seen him since they first arrived. Ah, well, I suppose they're giving Thomas Gibson a breather before they move on to the Epic Showdown of Epicness and (Hopefully) Closure.
• Oh, there's Hotch.
• Prentiss. Oh, Prentiss. He might not have fallen for it, but given the incredibly short notice, I think she managed that one damned well. And handled the shift in the conversation even better. Increased screentime for Prentiss and Reid = happy Elliptic.
• Reid is somehow walking and talking on his cellphone and manipulating both crutches at the same time. It bugs me that I cannot figure out how he does this. It is like he has had a third arm installed in his back.
• Annnnnnd JJ is suddenly Alone with the Psycho, bringing a nice symmetry to "The Big Game/Revelations." Or something. Is there anybody on this team who hasn't been alone with the psycho, at this point? Not that I disapprove; it may be an overplayed scenario, but I will still be there with my popcorn every time.
• Oh, hey, my female serial-killer statistic actually turned out to be fairly prescient. That so rarely happens to me.
• NICELY PLAYED, AGENT JAREAU. ♥
• This was a nice twist, actually: a stable sociopath manipulates and uses a sick unsub who otherwise would not have had the organization to pull any of it off for very long. Way to subvert their own tendency toward unusually squeaky-clean psychos.
• Okay, Dante-guy's parting emo is still hilarious in a way I cannot define.
• D'aww, JJ. It's okay, Prentiss will take care of you. And Hotch. Hotch is the man with the aspirin. Hotch knows what's important.
• Reid, I love you. But yer "omg it's my fault D:" angst is pastede on yey. Srsly, MGG, what's going on there? That is the glibbest guilt ever. It would be less obvious if we didn't have "Minimal Loss" last season to compare it to, where your guilt and manpain were superb. I bought it there. This time… frankly, no. This felt phoned-in. Then again, the whole scene is kind of compressed. And heavily populated. But still.
• Obligatory Brief Angst About the Issues Raised by the Case onna jet.
• "Just because Charles Manson hijacked it doesn't have to ruin it for the rest of it." Hotch, you are awesomer there in those two seconds than in the course of most of your stoical manpain over the past six episodes.
• And Reid is suddenly pinned as a Beethoven aficionado, despite that he has never even mentioned classical music before this and despite that it has been established his mom apparently raised him on Bob Dylan.
• And he has never read or encountered any reference anywhere to one of the most famous and most-alluded to titles of the 20th century? I call bull-fucking-shit. I'm glad to see the boy get some bloody screentime this week, but I'm sorry: the attempts to portray his awkwardness and out-of-synchness this week have been really, embarrassingly clumsy.
• Heartwarming closing ditty and roll credits.
• Trailer for next week is a smidge cheesy, but it appears to be Prentiss-centric, or at least to have a good Prentiss-quotient, so yay.
This liveblogging brought to you by a long day and a mild case of insomnia.
Preemptively: If this episode does not capitalize on Prentiss's dark and unsinister past as a goth chick, I may cry. Or throw popcorn, whichever.
• Here's where I reveal my total ignorance of most contemporary music: I am much amused that this guy is got up in the Dramatic Make-Up of the Undead™ to sing what sounds to me like a rather peppy number that, with adjusted lyrics, would make a mellow yet spirited addition to "Legally Blond: The Musical."
• LOL DRY ICE. I will never be able to not associate dry ice with chubby kindergarteners got up in their first tutus doing Swan Lake. Chiefly because I was one of them.
• LOL PYROTECHNICS OF GREAT DRAMA.
• LOL SUDDEN SLOW-MO OF GREAT SUBTLETY. I love when CM does that. ♥
• OMG it is a fractured mirror. I wonder if this is a visual metaphor for something.
• Niiiice corset. *deep as a mud puddle*
• Blunt force trauma, homicide method of champions and an estimated 33% of female serial killers. Awful lot of bother, but gets the job done.
• O HAI REID. Are you barely in this one, too?
• Annnnnd it's time for this week's dramatic replay of previous footage with added post-production lighting effects and new splicing. Roll titles.
• Reid is giving the quote! Does this mean that he will actually be in this one to a substantial degree, or does it mean that someone is throwing MGG a bone?
• It's Morgan. In a suit. I do feel this is worth noting, yes.
• It's Reid! On the jet! Being in the episode! Getting teased! Getting teased by JJ! JJ really is the best at teasing, because she looks so very harmless. Aw, poor Prentiss, out of the loop. BUT exchanging Glances of Camaraderie with Rossi.
• OH REID. YOU GIVE US OUR INFODUMPS WITH SUCH HAPPINESS AND RELISH. ♥
• Shout-out to Prentiss's fashion choices in high school, courtesy of Garcia! ILU, Garcia.
• Annnd Rossi is our Designated Snarker this evening, I see. Further Looks with Prentiss.
• Bahhhh. Reid is telling us that vampirists are coveters, but he is not going to explain why. :( I wish to know why. Even if it is made-up armchair psychobabble with no useful citation.
• Rock star in his undies treads the line between fan service and FanDisservice.
• Nice job introducing reasonable ambiguity as to the unsub's identity: Dante-guy's memory gap can be attributed to either a dissociative disorder or drug use; base profile of vampirists as furnished by Reid appears to make either Dante or the briefly introduced goth guy from the first act a viable suspect.
• Morgan, you have a nice voice.
• I suspect I should see the screaming band fans and realize that they're acting a bit silly, but mainly I see the screaming band fans and realize, "I would totally cast aside all dignity like that if Sviatoslav Richter were landing on my roof in a chopper." But he is dead, and can't. :(
• DRY ICE IN THE CHOPPER. BRB, loling forever. (I ♥ you, show.)
• Reid! Being in this one! Being in it some more! Also needing a haircut. If Gideon were here, Gideon would make him get a haircut.
• Prentiss and Rossi! Sneaking into a house in the dark together! Wait, no, they are not sneaking, because it is the crime scene; Rossi is just looking furtive for no apparent reason.
• Meagre BACKGROUND DETAILS ON PRENTISS! \o/
• PRENTISS JUST CALLED GARCIA "THE SEXIEST HACKER ON THE PLANET." Why had this combination not occurred to me before? I would like some porn now, pls.
• Although, why would they need Garcia to hack anything? Just use her persistent login on her computer.
• As someone with firsthand experience with depression, I should not feel this way, but Dante's suicidal emo cracks me up. Or maybe it's Dante's acting doing that. To be fair, it's got to be harder to act under makeup that effectively acts as a mask.
• Do people seriously just take off with rock stars like that? Stupid question; it's a party, of course they do.
• Hotch: "Once an unsub like this gets started… it only gets worse." Yes, Hotch, we know. We know, because that's the story for every unsub. They really should have more truly disorganized unsubs-then there would actually be some suspense over the "how well will this week's boogeyman keep his shit together and thus evade capture?" factor.
• Garcia (signing off): "I'll see what I can dredge. My love is strong!" As is mine, Garcia. For you. ♥ ♥ ♥
• This is the appointed episode for driving home to the audience that Reid is out of sync with popular culture. In case we forgot over the past five episodes that he was barely in.
• JJ has Reid-management down to a science.
• It is quite nice that somebody finally seems to have noticed that the majority of the action on this show does not, in fact, require walking. The most exciting bits usually consist of characters sitting around and talking, and that's what I love about this show. It occurred to me that nearly the entirety of "Revelations" could have been shot with a MGG who couldn't walk, and that's got to be the most heavily Reid-centric episode we've ever had.
• But then again, my entitled whining is of course entirely motivated by my massive Reid-bias, so.
• PWNED by Garcia. Yes, we are all very glad that she is on our side, Hot Detective.
• Prentiss, it would have been nice to give Morgan a heads-up about bringing Dante in before prompting your boss to whirl round and ask what the hell you're doing. But your occasional crapness with political things is why I ♥ you, so I cannot really complain.
• Jeepus. Fucking hell, that's a lot of reporters. I really like the way they shot this, it feels very real, especially with the addition of Prentiss's sincere-sounding alarm about Rossi facing the jackals alone.
• D'aww, Reid. You can just tell from his face that he's thinking "Oh, shit, this is possibly the first time our profile's ever been this far off and it's all on me. D: "
• Morgan, you keep rocking that suit, bb.
• "My official statement was that I hate Los Angeles." Rossi, I haven't had strong feelings about you one way or another, but you are definitely feathering the nest in my heart a bit this week.
• And we have cunning and calculated interrogation strategy, courtesy of the awesome man in the suit. Morgan, I mean, not Hotch.
• Come to think of it, where is Hotch? We've barely seen him since they first arrived. Ah, well, I suppose they're giving Thomas Gibson a breather before they move on to the Epic Showdown of Epicness and (Hopefully) Closure.
• Oh, there's Hotch.
• Prentiss. Oh, Prentiss. He might not have fallen for it, but given the incredibly short notice, I think she managed that one damned well. And handled the shift in the conversation even better. Increased screentime for Prentiss and Reid = happy Elliptic.
• Reid is somehow walking and talking on his cellphone and manipulating both crutches at the same time. It bugs me that I cannot figure out how he does this. It is like he has had a third arm installed in his back.
• Annnnnnd JJ is suddenly Alone with the Psycho, bringing a nice symmetry to "The Big Game/Revelations." Or something. Is there anybody on this team who hasn't been alone with the psycho, at this point? Not that I disapprove; it may be an overplayed scenario, but I will still be there with my popcorn every time.
• Oh, hey, my female serial-killer statistic actually turned out to be fairly prescient. That so rarely happens to me.
• NICELY PLAYED, AGENT JAREAU. ♥
• This was a nice twist, actually: a stable sociopath manipulates and uses a sick unsub who otherwise would not have had the organization to pull any of it off for very long. Way to subvert their own tendency toward unusually squeaky-clean psychos.
• Okay, Dante-guy's parting emo is still hilarious in a way I cannot define.
• D'aww, JJ. It's okay, Prentiss will take care of you. And Hotch. Hotch is the man with the aspirin. Hotch knows what's important.
• Reid, I love you. But yer "omg it's my fault D:" angst is pastede on yey. Srsly, MGG, what's going on there? That is the glibbest guilt ever. It would be less obvious if we didn't have "Minimal Loss" last season to compare it to, where your guilt and manpain were superb. I bought it there. This time… frankly, no. This felt phoned-in. Then again, the whole scene is kind of compressed. And heavily populated. But still.
• Obligatory Brief Angst About the Issues Raised by the Case onna jet.
• "Just because Charles Manson hijacked it doesn't have to ruin it for the rest of it." Hotch, you are awesomer there in those two seconds than in the course of most of your stoical manpain over the past six episodes.
• And Reid is suddenly pinned as a Beethoven aficionado, despite that he has never even mentioned classical music before this and despite that it has been established his mom apparently raised him on Bob Dylan.
• And he has never read or encountered any reference anywhere to one of the most famous and most-alluded to titles of the 20th century? I call bull-fucking-shit. I'm glad to see the boy get some bloody screentime this week, but I'm sorry: the attempts to portray his awkwardness and out-of-synchness this week have been really, embarrassingly clumsy.
• Heartwarming closing ditty and roll credits.
• Trailer for next week is a smidge cheesy, but it appears to be Prentiss-centric, or at least to have a good Prentiss-quotient, so yay.
This liveblogging brought to you by a long day and a mild case of insomnia.