All alone with my memory
Hmm, what does the title mean? Shouldn’t it be In Memoriam? Never mind.
Okay, so Uncle Daniel was a big old red herring. Shame. But I was still right on neither William nor Diana being murderers, so not completely wrong.
Didn’t like the JJ bits all that much. I liked the “girl chat” but the “going into labour at work” thing is a wee bit of a cliché. Glad they didn’t have her panting and groaning in the bullpen, but she really should have been to some antenatal classes. Contractions every ten minutes? Honey, it’s your first baby. You have hours to go. There’s really no need for the drama and rush to the hospital - no wonder Henry didn’t put in an appearance for 15 hours. Plus, I know the show likes to emphasis the team as a family, and most of the time that works for me, but 3 people leave work to take a colleague to the hospital? And then are the first visitors and the only option for godparents? I can well believe that Reid has no other friends outside of work, but not JJ or Will.
Mind you, JJ was looking pretty good for 15 hours of labour. Maybe it is all different in TV land. But as an ending for an episode with this level of angst and anger, it felt too neat.
But there were lots of this that I did like. MGG was excellent as angry, just-holding-in-the-emotions Reid. His nerves and inability to speak when at the reception in his father’s firm were very believable and that first scene in his father’s office crackled with only just contained fury. He doesn’t stop being angry with William all the way through until he realises that he misinterpreted his memories and I suspect that once he gets back, there is going to be some real rage for him to deal with. He didn’t resolve the issue of abandonment with his father and I can’t see that going away.
Knowing that his dad was so close and was watching him online from a distance but never once made contact is going to hurt so much more than him skipping off into the sunset without a backwards glance. Interesting that the memory he can’t bear is his father trying to comfort and reassure him.
What’s also interesting is Diana’s response to William. She was abandoned too but she’s not angry. She speaks of him very positively and the two of them seem close in that final scene with Reid. I’ll have to rewatch, but I seem to remember them being physically very close and William reaching out to comfort her, but neither of them reaching out towards their son.
Jane Lynch was brilliant, again, and the way that Diana moves between states of being was very well done. Reid might want to have a talk with her doctor though and think about where she is - using chemical restraint as a first option when a patient is agitated might not be something he is comfortable with. And the sight of his mother losing control like that and being sedated is something he is never going to get used to.
Interesting that it was Morgan and Rossi who stayed with him and Morgan’s point about there being some rocks you don’t look under is a valid one. Reid is going to have to live with his decisions and there is a question of who actually benefited from all of this. The concept of vigilante parents is certainly unpleasant and I don’t think there was any actual proof that this was Riley’s killer. No wonder Diana didn’t want to remember this. (Although what was four year old Spencer doing out on his own anyway?)
Mini!Reid was certainly cute and the photo of him and Diana that she is looking at in the hospital was gorgeous. I can imagine that he was particularly inept at baseball and it’s interesting that his dad persists with what fathers and sons are “supposed” to do. I think Mom or Dad said at one point that he didn’t know what to do with Reid and that’s going to add to Reid’s distress - your father leaves and doesn’t come back because you are too difficult to parent. Ouch.
I think if Hotch had been there, he might have stopped Reid, or at least restrained him a little. I wonder if Reid really thinks that his father is the killer or if Morgan’s observation that he wants to nail him for something is nearer to the truth. I also wondered why Morgan and Rossi went along with it - to protect him or even because on some level, William deserved some sort of torment. (made me think of Gene Hunt from Life on Mars - “I never fitted anyone up who didn’t deserve it”).
All in all, it was pretty good and I suspect I will enjoy a rewatch. I know there are often complaints about CM turning into the Spencer Reid show but to be honest, with a character that is so fascinating, it must be a writer's dream got explore him a little more from time to time.
Okay, so Uncle Daniel was a big old red herring. Shame. But I was still right on neither William nor Diana being murderers, so not completely wrong.
Didn’t like the JJ bits all that much. I liked the “girl chat” but the “going into labour at work” thing is a wee bit of a cliché. Glad they didn’t have her panting and groaning in the bullpen, but she really should have been to some antenatal classes. Contractions every ten minutes? Honey, it’s your first baby. You have hours to go. There’s really no need for the drama and rush to the hospital - no wonder Henry didn’t put in an appearance for 15 hours. Plus, I know the show likes to emphasis the team as a family, and most of the time that works for me, but 3 people leave work to take a colleague to the hospital? And then are the first visitors and the only option for godparents? I can well believe that Reid has no other friends outside of work, but not JJ or Will.
Mind you, JJ was looking pretty good for 15 hours of labour. Maybe it is all different in TV land. But as an ending for an episode with this level of angst and anger, it felt too neat.
But there were lots of this that I did like. MGG was excellent as angry, just-holding-in-the-emotions Reid. His nerves and inability to speak when at the reception in his father’s firm were very believable and that first scene in his father’s office crackled with only just contained fury. He doesn’t stop being angry with William all the way through until he realises that he misinterpreted his memories and I suspect that once he gets back, there is going to be some real rage for him to deal with. He didn’t resolve the issue of abandonment with his father and I can’t see that going away.
Knowing that his dad was so close and was watching him online from a distance but never once made contact is going to hurt so much more than him skipping off into the sunset without a backwards glance. Interesting that the memory he can’t bear is his father trying to comfort and reassure him.
What’s also interesting is Diana’s response to William. She was abandoned too but she’s not angry. She speaks of him very positively and the two of them seem close in that final scene with Reid. I’ll have to rewatch, but I seem to remember them being physically very close and William reaching out to comfort her, but neither of them reaching out towards their son.
Jane Lynch was brilliant, again, and the way that Diana moves between states of being was very well done. Reid might want to have a talk with her doctor though and think about where she is - using chemical restraint as a first option when a patient is agitated might not be something he is comfortable with. And the sight of his mother losing control like that and being sedated is something he is never going to get used to.
Interesting that it was Morgan and Rossi who stayed with him and Morgan’s point about there being some rocks you don’t look under is a valid one. Reid is going to have to live with his decisions and there is a question of who actually benefited from all of this. The concept of vigilante parents is certainly unpleasant and I don’t think there was any actual proof that this was Riley’s killer. No wonder Diana didn’t want to remember this. (Although what was four year old Spencer doing out on his own anyway?)
Mini!Reid was certainly cute and the photo of him and Diana that she is looking at in the hospital was gorgeous. I can imagine that he was particularly inept at baseball and it’s interesting that his dad persists with what fathers and sons are “supposed” to do. I think Mom or Dad said at one point that he didn’t know what to do with Reid and that’s going to add to Reid’s distress - your father leaves and doesn’t come back because you are too difficult to parent. Ouch.
I think if Hotch had been there, he might have stopped Reid, or at least restrained him a little. I wonder if Reid really thinks that his father is the killer or if Morgan’s observation that he wants to nail him for something is nearer to the truth. I also wondered why Morgan and Rossi went along with it - to protect him or even because on some level, William deserved some sort of torment. (made me think of Gene Hunt from Life on Mars - “I never fitted anyone up who didn’t deserve it”).
All in all, it was pretty good and I suspect I will enjoy a rewatch. I know there are often complaints about CM turning into the Spencer Reid show but to be honest, with a character that is so fascinating, it must be a writer's dream got explore him a little more from time to time.