30 days of CM take two: day 6
Day 6 - favourite couple
Hotch and Elle
Aww come on, you guys had any doubt?
Honorable canon mention: Kevin and Garcia, because they are adorable nerdy geek love and haters can get over to the far left rn. Honorable fanon mention: Emily/JJ because JJ clearly wants to have kids with Em.
I was going to go with canon couples for this one and for day 8 because I'm more interested in geeking out over canon than fanon, but I couldn't resist. Mostly because I don't believe H/E is entirely fanon. I don't claim their relationship was romantic during her time on the show, but I do think it was intrinsically woven into both of their narratives and affected them profoundly (especially Hotch).There is such a beautiful symmetry to this couple--their arcs, the essence of who they are--and they just make sense.
Elle's personality and narrative arc (as we will see in the second half of this essay) closely and quite eerily mirrors that of Hotch. I have described her on more than one occasion as "the girl version of Hotch" because she essentially is. While Elle is more action-oriented and impulsive than Hotch, she does share his characteristic stoicism and consummate professionalism. But for both of them, their work is more than a job. It's a mission. We learn this early on about Elle--her dedication suggests her motives are personal as well as professional, as I described in the Elle essay for day one. And it is her devotion to this mission, to upholding justice, that eventually necessitates her exit from the narrative. She loses herself to the mission because by then, she is the mission. She can't stay in a line of work that prevents that. The law isn't on her side. The law failed to protect her (on more than on occasion, particularly if we believe, as it said on her casting side, that she was raped and the attacker never caught), and it failed to keep a rapist off the streets. Her sense of justice remains intact; it is her faith in the law--in what she does, what Hotch does--to uphold it that is shaken. Hotch, however, still retains that faith, and Elle is his first sacrifice to that faith--just as Hotch is her first sacrifice to the mission. He could have protected a colleague and friend, but he can't, because it would be a betrayal to his sense of justice. Just as she has to sacrifice her job, and her friendships with colleagues, to retain her freedom and to find the mission again.
It takes until season three for Hotch to finally reach the same point in his dedication to the mission that Elle had reached almost a season ago (perhaps more). Elle is a major part of this arc (which I describe in greater detail in my Hotch meta for day 2). Her departure--her loss--in many ways springboarded the character arc that would come to define Hotch--sacrifice. He sacrifices a valued colleague and friend, he sacrifices his marriage, he sacrifices his personal happiness. Much like Elle did during "Aftermath," he descends into a similar place of darkness and moral ambiguity as his obsession with Foyet grows between "Omnivore" and "100." And like Elle, the darkness overtakes him in the form of violence (beating Foyet to death). Unlike Elle, however, the narrative gives us a chance to see the aftermath (pun not intended). We see him ascend from the darkness into the light--or at least, we see that he is able to keep the darkness at bay enough to resume his place as team leader and to go on. And unlike Elle, Hotch possesses a crucial anchor to his humanity, a link that keeps the darkness from overcoming him--and that link is Jack. This is not to imply that Elle lacks the strength of character to find the mission again without that link, but as I said, we are deprived a chance to see this. Naturally, the fandom decides to think the worst of her, but that is neither here nor there. My point being, if there is anyone to be that link for Elle, that person is Hotch.
The connection between them becomes evident as early as "Won't Get Fooled Again." After a harrowing encounter with a suspect, he expresses concern over her welfare, despite it being obvious that she is a very competent and capable agent. Over the course of the season, Hotch adopts a role as caretaker and mentor figure to her. And Elle lets him--an interesting contrast to her behavior in the pilot, in which she is eager to prove to Morgan and to Gideon that she can take care of herself. The scene in WGFA is mirrored in "A Real Rain", when it is Elle who approaches Hotch after he is forced to shoot a suspect in a failed hostage negotiation attempt. Although we do not hear their dialogue, she is shown speaking to him for quite a while, and when Reid tries to approach them, they're clearly more focused on each other than on him. In "Unfinished Business" Elle comes to Hotch for advice on balancing her professional and personal life--a scene that establishes the parallels between them and is particularly eerie to watch in light of what happens to them.
It is in "The Fisher King" that Hotch's protectiveness toward Elle, his caring for her, becomes most evident. When he comes to Jamaica to negotiate her release, the first thing he does is offer her his coat--restoring her dignity as well as her freedom. Later on, it is he who watches out for her health and well-being by sending her home. Ironically, this caring gesture puts her in even more danger. He hovers at the hospital, only leaving when Gideon sends him away, and as soon as the case is solved, he goes to Elle's home to clean the blood off her walls. He could've easily sent a peon to do it, but it's important that he do it himself--perhaps out of guilt, but more likely because he is deeply in tune with what kind of person Elle is (a person much like himself). He knows how important her agency is to her, her need to feel in control of her own destiny, and he wipes away the evidence of the time that control was taken from her. He does it himself because he has taken responsibility for her, for the fact that he inadvertently put her in harm's way--no matter how irrational that feeling is.
But Hotch and Elle's relationship also has a lighter side. Aside from Garcia, whose main function in season one is comic relief, Elle is the character who most often cracks Hotch's professional facade. In "Won't Get Fooled Again," she teases him about being a former nerd; he merely looks at her and as soon as he looks away she and JJ exchange a smirk. In "Machismo," she smirks affectionately at him when their contact explains the concept of "machismo" (something we know Hotch possesses in spades); his expression remains deadpan. During the much-loved Chinese restaurant scene in "A Real Rain," it is she who lightens up their heavy conversation, remarking that they're talking about profiling even when they're not actually profiling. And it is Hotch, of all people, who cracks a joke and asks her a personal question (this exchange that is quite flirtatious as well). Elle's willingness to tease and flirt with the boss show a certain moxie on a personal as well as a professional level, along with a desire to extend their professional relationship into friendship. It is a desire that Hotch reciprocates.
Like Hotch, Elle is also a character whose absence of emotion should not be equated with absence of feeling. She is not the type to wear her emotions on her sleeve, but they do inform her actions as does her hesitance to overtly display them. During that final scene of "Unfinished Business," the undercurrent of restraint in Hotch and Elle's conversation is significant--in fact, this restraint characterizes nearly all of their encounters, save for the more lighthearted ones described above. Their dialogue is sparse and seemingly simplistic, but the intensity with which the actors deliver those lines, the tension that radiates between them, is as important, perhaps more so, than what is actually being said. This intensity will reveal itself again in Elle and Hotch's scenes in the season two episodes "Aftermath" and "The Boogeyman" in which the dialogue forms only a small part of what is really going on in those scenes. They will be discussed at length on day 26; for now, they're here to illustrate the point that Elle, like Hotch, is not a character who doesn't feel, but one who feels too deeply.
Hotch and Elle's relationship is definitely a tragic one, not so much in what happens to them, but in the fact that we are never given a chance to see their story come full circle. She never has a chance to fully see the ways that she has affected him; we have no idea if she knows what happened to him (I would guess not; otherwise she would have reached out to him, and tptb clearly did not want to pay Lola for a guest spot, or maybe she was busy doing Persons Unknown, or they never even thought of it, the explanation I am most partial to). It wouldn't matter that they spent three years apart--in fact, it's necessary, something that needs to happen for this ship to be what it is. It's an endgame kind of pairing that needs that distance, that time apart for these characters to grow and evolve on their own before they can meet again. The groundwork has already been laid. For now, they're off in their own corners while he fights the good fight and she takes some time out to reflect and find the mission again, and when the time is right, they will find their way back to each other. And who better to understand these two people than the other--these people who have sacrificed everything for the mission, who are the mission, who can never be anything else? Who better to fight alongside the other?
I love these characters. I love this pairing. And I love my fanon world.
Hotch and Elle
Aww come on, you guys had any doubt?
Honorable canon mention: Kevin and Garcia, because they are adorable nerdy geek love and haters can get over to the far left rn. Honorable fanon mention: Emily/JJ because JJ clearly wants to have kids with Em.
I was going to go with canon couples for this one and for day 8 because I'm more interested in geeking out over canon than fanon, but I couldn't resist. Mostly because I don't believe H/E is entirely fanon. I don't claim their relationship was romantic during her time on the show, but I do think it was intrinsically woven into both of their narratives and affected them profoundly (especially Hotch).There is such a beautiful symmetry to this couple--their arcs, the essence of who they are--and they just make sense.
Elle's personality and narrative arc (as we will see in the second half of this essay) closely and quite eerily mirrors that of Hotch. I have described her on more than one occasion as "the girl version of Hotch" because she essentially is. While Elle is more action-oriented and impulsive than Hotch, she does share his characteristic stoicism and consummate professionalism. But for both of them, their work is more than a job. It's a mission. We learn this early on about Elle--her dedication suggests her motives are personal as well as professional, as I described in the Elle essay for day one. And it is her devotion to this mission, to upholding justice, that eventually necessitates her exit from the narrative. She loses herself to the mission because by then, she is the mission. She can't stay in a line of work that prevents that. The law isn't on her side. The law failed to protect her (on more than on occasion, particularly if we believe, as it said on her casting side, that she was raped and the attacker never caught), and it failed to keep a rapist off the streets. Her sense of justice remains intact; it is her faith in the law--in what she does, what Hotch does--to uphold it that is shaken. Hotch, however, still retains that faith, and Elle is his first sacrifice to that faith--just as Hotch is her first sacrifice to the mission. He could have protected a colleague and friend, but he can't, because it would be a betrayal to his sense of justice. Just as she has to sacrifice her job, and her friendships with colleagues, to retain her freedom and to find the mission again.
It takes until season three for Hotch to finally reach the same point in his dedication to the mission that Elle had reached almost a season ago (perhaps more). Elle is a major part of this arc (which I describe in greater detail in my Hotch meta for day 2). Her departure--her loss--in many ways springboarded the character arc that would come to define Hotch--sacrifice. He sacrifices a valued colleague and friend, he sacrifices his marriage, he sacrifices his personal happiness. Much like Elle did during "Aftermath," he descends into a similar place of darkness and moral ambiguity as his obsession with Foyet grows between "Omnivore" and "100." And like Elle, the darkness overtakes him in the form of violence (beating Foyet to death). Unlike Elle, however, the narrative gives us a chance to see the aftermath (pun not intended). We see him ascend from the darkness into the light--or at least, we see that he is able to keep the darkness at bay enough to resume his place as team leader and to go on. And unlike Elle, Hotch possesses a crucial anchor to his humanity, a link that keeps the darkness from overcoming him--and that link is Jack. This is not to imply that Elle lacks the strength of character to find the mission again without that link, but as I said, we are deprived a chance to see this. Naturally, the fandom decides to think the worst of her, but that is neither here nor there. My point being, if there is anyone to be that link for Elle, that person is Hotch.
The connection between them becomes evident as early as "Won't Get Fooled Again." After a harrowing encounter with a suspect, he expresses concern over her welfare, despite it being obvious that she is a very competent and capable agent. Over the course of the season, Hotch adopts a role as caretaker and mentor figure to her. And Elle lets him--an interesting contrast to her behavior in the pilot, in which she is eager to prove to Morgan and to Gideon that she can take care of herself. The scene in WGFA is mirrored in "A Real Rain", when it is Elle who approaches Hotch after he is forced to shoot a suspect in a failed hostage negotiation attempt. Although we do not hear their dialogue, she is shown speaking to him for quite a while, and when Reid tries to approach them, they're clearly more focused on each other than on him. In "Unfinished Business" Elle comes to Hotch for advice on balancing her professional and personal life--a scene that establishes the parallels between them and is particularly eerie to watch in light of what happens to them.
It is in "The Fisher King" that Hotch's protectiveness toward Elle, his caring for her, becomes most evident. When he comes to Jamaica to negotiate her release, the first thing he does is offer her his coat--restoring her dignity as well as her freedom. Later on, it is he who watches out for her health and well-being by sending her home. Ironically, this caring gesture puts her in even more danger. He hovers at the hospital, only leaving when Gideon sends him away, and as soon as the case is solved, he goes to Elle's home to clean the blood off her walls. He could've easily sent a peon to do it, but it's important that he do it himself--perhaps out of guilt, but more likely because he is deeply in tune with what kind of person Elle is (a person much like himself). He knows how important her agency is to her, her need to feel in control of her own destiny, and he wipes away the evidence of the time that control was taken from her. He does it himself because he has taken responsibility for her, for the fact that he inadvertently put her in harm's way--no matter how irrational that feeling is.
But Hotch and Elle's relationship also has a lighter side. Aside from Garcia, whose main function in season one is comic relief, Elle is the character who most often cracks Hotch's professional facade. In "Won't Get Fooled Again," she teases him about being a former nerd; he merely looks at her and as soon as he looks away she and JJ exchange a smirk. In "Machismo," she smirks affectionately at him when their contact explains the concept of "machismo" (something we know Hotch possesses in spades); his expression remains deadpan. During the much-loved Chinese restaurant scene in "A Real Rain," it is she who lightens up their heavy conversation, remarking that they're talking about profiling even when they're not actually profiling. And it is Hotch, of all people, who cracks a joke and asks her a personal question (this exchange that is quite flirtatious as well). Elle's willingness to tease and flirt with the boss show a certain moxie on a personal as well as a professional level, along with a desire to extend their professional relationship into friendship. It is a desire that Hotch reciprocates.
Like Hotch, Elle is also a character whose absence of emotion should not be equated with absence of feeling. She is not the type to wear her emotions on her sleeve, but they do inform her actions as does her hesitance to overtly display them. During that final scene of "Unfinished Business," the undercurrent of restraint in Hotch and Elle's conversation is significant--in fact, this restraint characterizes nearly all of their encounters, save for the more lighthearted ones described above. Their dialogue is sparse and seemingly simplistic, but the intensity with which the actors deliver those lines, the tension that radiates between them, is as important, perhaps more so, than what is actually being said. This intensity will reveal itself again in Elle and Hotch's scenes in the season two episodes "Aftermath" and "The Boogeyman" in which the dialogue forms only a small part of what is really going on in those scenes. They will be discussed at length on day 26; for now, they're here to illustrate the point that Elle, like Hotch, is not a character who doesn't feel, but one who feels too deeply.
Hotch and Elle's relationship is definitely a tragic one, not so much in what happens to them, but in the fact that we are never given a chance to see their story come full circle. She never has a chance to fully see the ways that she has affected him; we have no idea if she knows what happened to him (I would guess not; otherwise she would have reached out to him, and tptb clearly did not want to pay Lola for a guest spot, or maybe she was busy doing Persons Unknown, or they never even thought of it, the explanation I am most partial to). It wouldn't matter that they spent three years apart--in fact, it's necessary, something that needs to happen for this ship to be what it is. It's an endgame kind of pairing that needs that distance, that time apart for these characters to grow and evolve on their own before they can meet again. The groundwork has already been laid. For now, they're off in their own corners while he fights the good fight and she takes some time out to reflect and find the mission again, and when the time is right, they will find their way back to each other. And who better to understand these two people than the other--these people who have sacrificed everything for the mission, who are the mission, who can never be anything else? Who better to fight alongside the other?
I love these characters. I love this pairing. And I love my fanon world.