Fandom Primer: Criminal Minds
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.
The show is in its third season on CBS (Wednesdays at nine p.m. EST), and is a consistent ratings winner, so if you decide to get involved, you should have material for quite a while. The first two seasons are out on DVD in the U.S. and I believe elsewhere in the world. In light of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, I'm waiting to purchase the second season in hopes that those who put pen to paper will get more than four cents from me for the entire season.
One warning: the show deals with graphic violence, and although it's often more implied than explicitly shown, and prone to subverting clichés, it can still be difficult to watch. They consistently address disturbing themes and behaviors, the type of things that cause nightmares. I'm very glad I have a TiVo and caught up on DVD, because it meant I could skip scenes that would otherwise have stopped my viewing cold.
In this primer, I'm going to focus mainly on the characters rather than specific episodes, and more on the first two seasons and the very first episodes of the third seasons. It's too early to tell how things might play out; although episodes are mostly self-contained, there are ongoing character and background arcs that allow meaning to shift and deepen over time.
Terminology
Unsub: "unknown subject" aka "the serial criminal we want to find before any more people get hurt".
Quantico: The location of the BAU offices, 30-odd miles southwest of Washington DC. The show seems to believe that Quantico is sited on Bolling Air Force Base, given that one team member beat ambulances to a hotel in downtown DC (local traffic on 95 would make this utterly impossible in real life, no matter what the time). Also, there is no Quantico Metro Station.
Jet: The fiscally improbable transport of the BAU team to cases around the country (I've worked in government offices in DC. No jet, no way). "Wheels up" is used to indicate departure time.
Main Characters
The regular characters are the heart of the show - without them, it would be just another procedural. But with them, surface impressions are slowly unpeeled and the layers underneath revealed in fascinating glimpses of damage and strength.
[screencaps taken from The Oracle of Quantico, maintained by slash_girl]
Jason Gideon
Played by Mandy Patinkin, who departed the series in a well-publicized runner before the third season began filming. Gideon was set up in the pilot as the lead character, although Hotch is the actual head of this particular BAU team. Gideon has loads of experience divining the motivations behind violent crimes, and has seen his co-workers pay the cost for his decisions often enough to find it difficult to bear. Prior to the series, on the hunt for a serial arsonist, Gideon sent his team into a warehouse known to be wired to explode. He miscalculated, and they died, sending him into a "major depressive episode" (aka nervous breakdown). One thread of the character is his continuing guilt whenever harm comes to his team; Gideon has to justify his decisions to himself in order to function.
Key Episodes: 1x01 Extreme Aggressor, 1x03 Won't Get Fooled Again, 1x14 Riding the Lightning, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x10 Lessons Learned, 2x13 No Way Out, 2x23 No Way Out II, 3x01 Doubt, 3x02 In Birth and Death.
Hobbies: bird-watching, gourmet cooking, baiting suspects into angry revelations, ignoring his grown son Stephen.
Dislikes: religion as excuse for violence, parents not taking proper care of their children, attempts by others to shirk responsibility.
Commonly paired with: Hotch, Reid, JJ.
David Rossi
Gideon's replacement, who joined the series in the sixth episode of the third season. Played by Joe Mantegna, Rossi was an original member of the BAU who retired to cash in on book contracts and lecture tours then came back for unknown reasons. Somewhat hilariously, he was introduced hunting ducks - a clear indicator that Gideon's bird-loving ways would no longer be welcome. Thus far, Rossi's been an abrasive presence in the BAU, unused to current procedures and unable to fit into the team structure comfortably. He pushes the established characters in way that's revealing new facets to their personalities. He's got some sort of personal quest related to his previous cases, but we don't know much about it, or him, yet.
Key Episodes: too soon to tell.
Hobbies: stroking a mysterious ID bracelet meaningfully, challenging others, bird hunting.
Dislikes: common courtesy, this newfangled technology nonsense, sharing information.
Commonly paired with: nobody as yet.
Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner
Played by Thomas Gibson, Hotch is the official leader of the BAU team (there are apparently other teams, but we haven't met them yet). Hotch's demeanor is serious and he's all business on the job (always wearing dark suits), but his actions reveal a deep well of compassion and loyalty to his team members. Hotch's background as revealed on the show is problematic, since his previous job experience is supposed to include: law school, SWAT team, a stint as a prosecutor, security checks for the State Department, and time in an FBI field office in Seattle. Compare this career path to his supposed age and it's hard to see when he had the time for it all. He's married to Haley (see below), with whom he has a young son named Jack, and is often torn between his work and family obligations. Hotch has a younger brother named Sean (played by Eric Johnson of Flash Gordon "fame"), and has alluded to a troubled childhood that may or may not have featured an abusive father who died of a heart attack. Or cancer. Or may have been a step-father. We're not sure. His mother's family is moneyed Virginia gentry.
Key Episodes: 1x06 LDSK, 1x12 What Fresh Hell, 1x16 The Tribe, 1x19 Machismo, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x02 P911, 2x06 The Boogeyman, 2x10 Lessons Learned, 2x19 Ashes and Dust, 3x02 In Birth and Death, 3x04 Children of the Dark, 3x05 Seven Seconds.
Hobbies: sharp-shooting, grim stares, dedication and honor, smoothing bureaucratic tangles, acceding to his wife's wishes.
Dislikes: political wrangling, being away from his family, people hurting children.
Commonly paired with: Gideon, Reid, Elle, Prentiss, his wife Haley.
Derek Morgan
Played by Shemar Moore, Morgan is a steady presence on the BAU team, always contributing to their success with his knowledge of obsessional crimes and ability to retrace the steps of their unknown subjects. He was raised in Chicago, had a troubled adolescence after the death of his father but left it behind to play football. A second season episode revealed that Morgan was molested as a teenager. Morgan is gorgeous, and knows it. He regularly goes out dancing and easily hooks up with the ladies but doesn't get more deeply involved. Morgan's past career includes significant time working undercover, as well as a stint on the bomb squad, and he often acts as the team muscle (along with Hotch). Morgan flirts regularly with the team computer and technical expert Penelope Garcia, and their phone calls are always adorable. He has a dog named Clooney (who looked to be a golden retriever/Labrador/Irish setter type on infrared imagery). In the episode Empty Planet (2x08), he stayed with a woman who's car was wired to explode, keeping her calm and putting himself at considerable risk until the bomb could be defused.
Key Episodes: 1x04 Plain Sight, 1x21 Secrets and Lies, 2x02 P911, 2x08 Empty Planet, 2x12 Profiler, Profiled, 3x04 Children of the Dark, 3x05 Seven Seconds, 3x08 Lucky, 3x09 Penelope.
Hobbies: tackling suspects and vans, teasing Reid, dancing in clubs, flirting with Garcia.
Dislikes: sexual abuse of children, bureaucracy, sitting still, remaining calm in tense situations.
Commonly paired with: Garcia, Reid.
Dr. Spencer Reid
Played by Matthew Gray Gubler, Reid is the little black dress of Criminal Minds fandom, paired with everyone and everything. He's a young genius who graduated from high school at age 12, has something like three PhDs (as yet unspecified), can read ridiculously fast, and has an eidetic memory from which he tends to quote relevant facts and statistics (or not so relevant, depending). In other hands, Reid could come across as a Marty Stu extraordinaire, but the writers and actor are careful to give him both faults and weaknesses, which makes him one of the more fascinating characters I've encountered. He's shown to be socially awkward at the beginning of the series, although he's gained confidence over time. Physically slight and bad with guns unless it's really no-kidding life or death, Reid is nonetheless ridiculously brave in the face of danger. His mother is a paranoid schizophrenic, institutionalized in his home town of Las Vegas, and Reid fears the disease will eventually strike him.
It's kind of key to his arc from mid-second season onward (and were the first episodes I saw), so I need to mention The Big Game and Revelations (2x14/2x15), where Reid was kidnapped by a serial killer who was entering homes and massacring couples then broadcasting the murders online. The killer dosed Reid with dilaudid ("drugstore heroin" per the show) mixed with hallucinogens, tortured him, and made Reid both choose the killer's next victims and watch the crimes being committed (via webcam). The killer, Tobias Henkel (played by James Van Der Beek of all people), had dissociative identity disorder and Reid had to deal with ever-shifting behavior and personas and constant peril while drugged and in tremendous pain, yet managed to survive. He may or may not have developed a drug addiction in the aftermath of the trauma (the show hasn't addressed it directly, but there have been hints).
Key Episodes: 1x06, LDSK, 1x07 The Fox, 1x09 Derailed, 1x18 Somebody's Watching (kiss in the pool!), 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x11 Sex, Birth, Death, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x18 Jones, 3x02 In Birth and Death, 3x05 Seven Seconds.
Hobbies: spouting facts, geeking out over Star Wars, growing his hair long, wearing mismatching socks, running like a girl, sleight of hand and magic tricks, being crooned over by blondes and crushing on same, eating Rice Krispy Treats.
Dislikes: limits on his behavior, shooting guns, the dark, being teased.
Commonly paired with: everyone and everybody. Really. He's featured in a preponderance of CM fanfiction, so you'll be getting to know him well.
Elle Greenaway
Played by Lola Glaudini, Elle joined the BAU after working with them in Seattle during the first episode. She's an expert in sexual offense crimes and frequently displayed much-needed compassion toward female victims of assault. She grew up in New York City, half Cuban with a police officer father who died on the job. She was shot in the chest by an Unsub toward the end of the first season, and never fully recovered mentally. Early in the second season, Elle returned to the job but found herself overtaken by nerves while investigating a serial rapist. She botched the sting operation her team had set up with local authorities and later went vigilante. Although she was cleared of wrong-doing, she still left the BAU.
Key Episodes: 1x01 Extreme Aggressor, 1x04 The Tommy Killer, 1x09 Derailed, 1x17 A Real Rain, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x02 P911, 2x05 Aftermath, 2x06 The Boogeyman.
Hobbies: snarky observations, tropical vacations, dream visitations with family.
Dislikes: rapists, lack of a personal life.
Commonly paired with: Hotch, in what little fanfiction I've seen featuring her.
Emily Prentiss
Played by Paget Brewster, Prentiss is the daughter of an ambassador (played by Kate Jackson! Go Charlie's Angels!) who joined the BAU mid-second season after Elle left. She grew up as part of the diplomatic circuit, spent considerable time in the Middle East, and can read and speak Arabic. There were suggestions that Prentiss' appointment to the BAU was either due to nepotism or part of a scheme to discredit Hotch. Prentiss rose above all that, however, and is now a valued member of the team. Although at first she was outfitted in staid skirt suits, she's been rocking tight jeans and t-shirts lately, and has shown considerable courage to go with her good looks and smarts.
Key Episodes: 2x09 The Last Word, 2x10 Lessons Learned, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x20 Honor Among Thieves, 2x21 Open Season, 3x02 In Birth and Death.
Hobbies: reading Kurt Vonnegut novels, speaking with wide-eyed flair, compartmentalizing better than most, wearing sleek clothes suitable for action.
Dislikes: politics (with considerable venom), dating disappointment.
Commonly paired with: Hotch, Reid, JJ.
Jennifer "JJ" Jareau
Played by A.J. Cook, JJ acts as the team's liaison with the media and local police agencies, and chooses many of the cases the team investigates. She grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was a soccer player who parlayed her athletic prowess into a college scholarship. She's said she doesn't want to be a profiler, but has more than proved herself capable of handling violence in the field. JJ was with Reid when he was abducted by Tobias Henkel and had a scary encounter with vicious dogs that's left her more than a little canine-shy. JJ tends to be the one who talks to victim's families and brings bad news. Her blonde good looks mean local authorities often underestimate her, and JJ's deft at manipulating their expectations to her team's benefit. In one case, she didn't hesitate to shoot and kill a suspect who had her team cornered.
Key Episodes: 1x17 A Real Rain, 2x03 The Perfect Storm, 2x07 North Mammon, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x18 Jones, 2x22 Legacy, 3x05 Seven Seconds.
Hobbies: getting credulous co-workers to believe tall tales, having gorgeous hair, facilitating social interactions.
Dislikes: dogs, um.
Commonly paired with: Reid (who had a canonical crush on JJ), Gideon, Prentiss.
Penelope Garcia
Played by Kirsten Vangsness, Garcia is the team's computer expert and data wrangler extraordinaire at BAU Headquarters in Quantico, VA. She calls herself a "tech kitten" and pairs her impressive research and information management skills with flirty clothes and dyed hair. I adore her. She and Morgan banter over the phone with pet names and extravagant compliments almost every episode. Garcia doesn't want to know too much about the nature of the violence committed by unsubs, although she's a whiz at correlating random facts and coming up with suspect lists. She's down to earth but can get nervous when faced with disapproval from Gideon or Hotch, and she's done some not entirely approved things with her computer access. We recently learned that her parents are hippies and she started off her career as a hacker who was recruited in the spirit of "better with us than against us."
Key Episodes: 1x11 Blood Hungry, 1x21 Secrets and Lies, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2,2x08 Empty Planet, 2x11 Sex, Birth, Death, 2x12 Profiler, Profiled, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x23 No Way Out II, 3x02 In Birth and Death, 3x06 About Face, 3x08 Lucky, 3x09 Penelope.
Hobbies: demonstrating her total awesomeness behind the keyboard, drinking coffee, flirting with Morgan, playing online games, blogging, acquiring ever more fabulous retro outfits and accessories.
Dislikes: embarrassing herself over the phone, blood and gore, losing to hackers.
Commonly paired with: Morgan, mainly.
Other Characters Referenced in Fanfiction
[Selected photos available in this gallery.]
Haley Hotchner: Hotch's wife and mother of his son, played by Meredith Monroe. Haley is complicated, because at times she's been very understanding of the demands of Hotch's career, but then she starts issuing ultimatums about him leaving the BAU. Sometimes demonized by fans for lack of support and perceived manipulation, I think it's worth noting that we viewers only see her when the show wants to introduce tension for Hotch to deal with. Lacking a window into more normal times, Haley becomes a plot element for badness instead of a fully-fleshed out character.
Adrian Bale: Bomber and arsonist responsible for the death of Gideon's team in Boston, pre-series. Played by Tim Kelleher.
Max Ryan: Retired profiler from 1x15 Unfinished Business. Gideon's mentor. Played by Geoffrey Pierson.
John Blackwolf: Consultant on Native American culture from 1x16 The Tribe. Dismissive of the white world imposed on his people, politically active, he had a charged relationship with Hotch that managed to invoke massive amounts of testosterone and raise hopes of glorious protector slash. Played by Gregory Cruz.
Lila Archer: Blonde Hollywood starlet threatened in 1x18 Somebody's Watching. She takes a liking to Reid and flirts with him relentlessly even as she deals with a world going to pieces because of a stalker. There's a delightful scene in a pool that involves kissing. Played by Amber Heard.
Nathan Harris: Troubled teenager who has violent fantasies and approaches Reid for help in 2x11 Sex, Birth, Death. He may or may not grow up to be a serial killer one day. Played with hollow eyed desperation and hero-worship by Anton Yelchin.
Carl Buford: The man who helped Derek Morgan leave his juvenile offenses behind, then abused his position of trust as a youth center leader to sexually molest Derek. Continued pattern for many years with other troubled boys until 2x12 Profiler, Profiled. Played by Julius Tennon.
Frank: Prolific serial killer and sociopath who matches wits against Gideon in 2x13 No Way Out and 2x23 No Way Out II. Magnetic, remorseless, manipulative, and vicious, he leaves a lasting legacy of doubt. Played by Keith Carradine.
Tobias Henkel: Utterly messed up by religious fanatic father, he splinters his psyche upon his father's death and takes up a mission to cleanse the world of those who commit sins according to the Bible. Raphael was the killer, certain of the righteousness of his actions. Tobias cleaned up after Raphael's violence and was cowed by his father. Drug addict, computer technician, posted video of his killings to the internet in 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations. Tortured Reid. Played by James Van Der Beek (yes, Dawson. I didn't recognize him) in a riveting performance.
William LaMontagne Jr.: Police detective in New Orleans who calls in BAU to help with a case then proceeds to flirt with JJ. Featured in 2x18 Jones, played by Josh Stewart.
Ethan: Classmate and competitor of Reid's, Ethan also aspired to join the FBI but dropped out to run a jazz bar in New Orleans. I really wish there were more stories featuring Ethan and Reid, because the allusions to drug and alcohol addiction and personal demons flowed fast and furious during 2x18 Jones, and would lend themselves to desperate, fumbling sex. Played by Rhys Coiro, aka director Billy Walsh from Entourage and photographer Vincent Bianci from Ugly Betty and Sean Hillenger from Day 7 of 24 (he gets around).
Erin Strauss: aka Evil Supervisor. She had it in for Hotch for undisclosed reasons, although there's speculation that she wanted to remove him from contention for future promotions within the FBI. Tried to get Prentiss to act as informant. Failed. Recurring from the end of the second season through the beginning of the third. Played by Jayne Atkinson.
Did I forget anybody major? Or miss your favorite character point in the descriptions? Additions welcome *g*
Online Resources
General
IMdB page
Episode guides at TV.com
Episode guides at the cleverly-named EpGuides
newbieguide entry on Criminal Minds (comprehensive listing of LJ communities)
bau_inbox - the fandom newsletter
criminalxminds - the major LJ-based community, for episode discussion, character discussion, fanfiction posting, icons, etc. etc.
cm_squee
Graphics, Icons, Screencaps
picturethecrime
bau_icontest
The Oracle of Quantico - screencaps of every episode, in galleries or zipped for easy downloading
Fanfiction communities
bau_fic
cm_slash
cm_het
cm_femslash
morgan_garcia
jj_reid
Fanfiction archives
The Wonderful World of Makebelieve
Criminal Minds on Fanfiction.net - there's a lot of dross, but some good stuff can be found if you're willing to wade through.
If you know of any others, please let me know! I'm kind of desperate for a Criminal Minds archive with flexible search options.
(the above lists are not all-inclusive - the Newbie Guide goes into more detail about Criminal Minds fandom on LiveJournal.)
Other
The series was, I believe, based on a book, but my google-fu was weak and I couldn’t find the title or author(s). Recently, The New Yorker published an article by Malcolm Gladwell, who casts a skeptical eye on the art and science of profiling. The cases he examined were familiar to me, as most had been fictionalized on Criminal Minds.
[ETA: CM fandom tends to use ratings like "FRAO" and "FRM" instead of "NC-17" or "R". I have no clue why. If you're curious about what they mean, or can never keep them straight, check here for guidelines.]
If you're feeling inspired by this primer, and have CM stories you love, volunteer to recommend for a month! If we get enough, CM can enter the regular rotation of fandoms featured throughout the year on crack_van, and you can get a hit of BAU goodness whenever you want. But it depends on your participation!
[with thanks to Wikipedia, IMdB, and a whole lot of the online resources listed up there, as well as shetiger and spike21 for looking this over and making sure I wasn't too insane.]
The show is in its third season on CBS (Wednesdays at nine p.m. EST), and is a consistent ratings winner, so if you decide to get involved, you should have material for quite a while. The first two seasons are out on DVD in the U.S. and I believe elsewhere in the world. In light of the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, I'm waiting to purchase the second season in hopes that those who put pen to paper will get more than four cents from me for the entire season.
One warning: the show deals with graphic violence, and although it's often more implied than explicitly shown, and prone to subverting clichés, it can still be difficult to watch. They consistently address disturbing themes and behaviors, the type of things that cause nightmares. I'm very glad I have a TiVo and caught up on DVD, because it meant I could skip scenes that would otherwise have stopped my viewing cold.
In this primer, I'm going to focus mainly on the characters rather than specific episodes, and more on the first two seasons and the very first episodes of the third seasons. It's too early to tell how things might play out; although episodes are mostly self-contained, there are ongoing character and background arcs that allow meaning to shift and deepen over time.
Terminology
Unsub: "unknown subject" aka "the serial criminal we want to find before any more people get hurt".
Quantico: The location of the BAU offices, 30-odd miles southwest of Washington DC. The show seems to believe that Quantico is sited on Bolling Air Force Base, given that one team member beat ambulances to a hotel in downtown DC (local traffic on 95 would make this utterly impossible in real life, no matter what the time). Also, there is no Quantico Metro Station.
Jet: The fiscally improbable transport of the BAU team to cases around the country (I've worked in government offices in DC. No jet, no way). "Wheels up" is used to indicate departure time.
Main Characters
The regular characters are the heart of the show - without them, it would be just another procedural. But with them, surface impressions are slowly unpeeled and the layers underneath revealed in fascinating glimpses of damage and strength.
[screencaps taken from The Oracle of Quantico, maintained by slash_girl]
Jason Gideon
Played by Mandy Patinkin, who departed the series in a well-publicized runner before the third season began filming. Gideon was set up in the pilot as the lead character, although Hotch is the actual head of this particular BAU team. Gideon has loads of experience divining the motivations behind violent crimes, and has seen his co-workers pay the cost for his decisions often enough to find it difficult to bear. Prior to the series, on the hunt for a serial arsonist, Gideon sent his team into a warehouse known to be wired to explode. He miscalculated, and they died, sending him into a "major depressive episode" (aka nervous breakdown). One thread of the character is his continuing guilt whenever harm comes to his team; Gideon has to justify his decisions to himself in order to function.
Key Episodes: 1x01 Extreme Aggressor, 1x03 Won't Get Fooled Again, 1x14 Riding the Lightning, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x10 Lessons Learned, 2x13 No Way Out, 2x23 No Way Out II, 3x01 Doubt, 3x02 In Birth and Death.
Hobbies: bird-watching, gourmet cooking, baiting suspects into angry revelations, ignoring his grown son Stephen.
Dislikes: religion as excuse for violence, parents not taking proper care of their children, attempts by others to shirk responsibility.
Commonly paired with: Hotch, Reid, JJ.
David Rossi
Gideon's replacement, who joined the series in the sixth episode of the third season. Played by Joe Mantegna, Rossi was an original member of the BAU who retired to cash in on book contracts and lecture tours then came back for unknown reasons. Somewhat hilariously, he was introduced hunting ducks - a clear indicator that Gideon's bird-loving ways would no longer be welcome. Thus far, Rossi's been an abrasive presence in the BAU, unused to current procedures and unable to fit into the team structure comfortably. He pushes the established characters in way that's revealing new facets to their personalities. He's got some sort of personal quest related to his previous cases, but we don't know much about it, or him, yet.
Key Episodes: too soon to tell.
Hobbies: stroking a mysterious ID bracelet meaningfully, challenging others, bird hunting.
Dislikes: common courtesy, this newfangled technology nonsense, sharing information.
Commonly paired with: nobody as yet.
Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner
Played by Thomas Gibson, Hotch is the official leader of the BAU team (there are apparently other teams, but we haven't met them yet). Hotch's demeanor is serious and he's all business on the job (always wearing dark suits), but his actions reveal a deep well of compassion and loyalty to his team members. Hotch's background as revealed on the show is problematic, since his previous job experience is supposed to include: law school, SWAT team, a stint as a prosecutor, security checks for the State Department, and time in an FBI field office in Seattle. Compare this career path to his supposed age and it's hard to see when he had the time for it all. He's married to Haley (see below), with whom he has a young son named Jack, and is often torn between his work and family obligations. Hotch has a younger brother named Sean (played by Eric Johnson of Flash Gordon "fame"), and has alluded to a troubled childhood that may or may not have featured an abusive father who died of a heart attack. Or cancer. Or may have been a step-father. We're not sure. His mother's family is moneyed Virginia gentry.
Key Episodes: 1x06 LDSK, 1x12 What Fresh Hell, 1x16 The Tribe, 1x19 Machismo, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x02 P911, 2x06 The Boogeyman, 2x10 Lessons Learned, 2x19 Ashes and Dust, 3x02 In Birth and Death, 3x04 Children of the Dark, 3x05 Seven Seconds.
Hobbies: sharp-shooting, grim stares, dedication and honor, smoothing bureaucratic tangles, acceding to his wife's wishes.
Dislikes: political wrangling, being away from his family, people hurting children.
Commonly paired with: Gideon, Reid, Elle, Prentiss, his wife Haley.
Derek Morgan
Played by Shemar Moore, Morgan is a steady presence on the BAU team, always contributing to their success with his knowledge of obsessional crimes and ability to retrace the steps of their unknown subjects. He was raised in Chicago, had a troubled adolescence after the death of his father but left it behind to play football. A second season episode revealed that Morgan was molested as a teenager. Morgan is gorgeous, and knows it. He regularly goes out dancing and easily hooks up with the ladies but doesn't get more deeply involved. Morgan's past career includes significant time working undercover, as well as a stint on the bomb squad, and he often acts as the team muscle (along with Hotch). Morgan flirts regularly with the team computer and technical expert Penelope Garcia, and their phone calls are always adorable. He has a dog named Clooney (who looked to be a golden retriever/Labrador/Irish setter type on infrared imagery). In the episode Empty Planet (2x08), he stayed with a woman who's car was wired to explode, keeping her calm and putting himself at considerable risk until the bomb could be defused.
Key Episodes: 1x04 Plain Sight, 1x21 Secrets and Lies, 2x02 P911, 2x08 Empty Planet, 2x12 Profiler, Profiled, 3x04 Children of the Dark, 3x05 Seven Seconds, 3x08 Lucky, 3x09 Penelope.
Hobbies: tackling suspects and vans, teasing Reid, dancing in clubs, flirting with Garcia.
Dislikes: sexual abuse of children, bureaucracy, sitting still, remaining calm in tense situations.
Commonly paired with: Garcia, Reid.
Dr. Spencer Reid
Played by Matthew Gray Gubler, Reid is the little black dress of Criminal Minds fandom, paired with everyone and everything. He's a young genius who graduated from high school at age 12, has something like three PhDs (as yet unspecified), can read ridiculously fast, and has an eidetic memory from which he tends to quote relevant facts and statistics (or not so relevant, depending). In other hands, Reid could come across as a Marty Stu extraordinaire, but the writers and actor are careful to give him both faults and weaknesses, which makes him one of the more fascinating characters I've encountered. He's shown to be socially awkward at the beginning of the series, although he's gained confidence over time. Physically slight and bad with guns unless it's really no-kidding life or death, Reid is nonetheless ridiculously brave in the face of danger. His mother is a paranoid schizophrenic, institutionalized in his home town of Las Vegas, and Reid fears the disease will eventually strike him.
It's kind of key to his arc from mid-second season onward (and were the first episodes I saw), so I need to mention The Big Game and Revelations (2x14/2x15), where Reid was kidnapped by a serial killer who was entering homes and massacring couples then broadcasting the murders online. The killer dosed Reid with dilaudid ("drugstore heroin" per the show) mixed with hallucinogens, tortured him, and made Reid both choose the killer's next victims and watch the crimes being committed (via webcam). The killer, Tobias Henkel (played by James Van Der Beek of all people), had dissociative identity disorder and Reid had to deal with ever-shifting behavior and personas and constant peril while drugged and in tremendous pain, yet managed to survive. He may or may not have developed a drug addiction in the aftermath of the trauma (the show hasn't addressed it directly, but there have been hints).
Key Episodes: 1x06, LDSK, 1x07 The Fox, 1x09 Derailed, 1x18 Somebody's Watching (kiss in the pool!), 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x11 Sex, Birth, Death, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x18 Jones, 3x02 In Birth and Death, 3x05 Seven Seconds.
Hobbies: spouting facts, geeking out over Star Wars, growing his hair long, wearing mismatching socks, running like a girl, sleight of hand and magic tricks, being crooned over by blondes and crushing on same, eating Rice Krispy Treats.
Dislikes: limits on his behavior, shooting guns, the dark, being teased.
Commonly paired with: everyone and everybody. Really. He's featured in a preponderance of CM fanfiction, so you'll be getting to know him well.
Elle Greenaway
Played by Lola Glaudini, Elle joined the BAU after working with them in Seattle during the first episode. She's an expert in sexual offense crimes and frequently displayed much-needed compassion toward female victims of assault. She grew up in New York City, half Cuban with a police officer father who died on the job. She was shot in the chest by an Unsub toward the end of the first season, and never fully recovered mentally. Early in the second season, Elle returned to the job but found herself overtaken by nerves while investigating a serial rapist. She botched the sting operation her team had set up with local authorities and later went vigilante. Although she was cleared of wrong-doing, she still left the BAU.
Key Episodes: 1x01 Extreme Aggressor, 1x04 The Tommy Killer, 1x09 Derailed, 1x17 A Real Rain, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2, 2x02 P911, 2x05 Aftermath, 2x06 The Boogeyman.
Hobbies: snarky observations, tropical vacations, dream visitations with family.
Dislikes: rapists, lack of a personal life.
Commonly paired with: Hotch, in what little fanfiction I've seen featuring her.
Emily Prentiss
Played by Paget Brewster, Prentiss is the daughter of an ambassador (played by Kate Jackson! Go Charlie's Angels!) who joined the BAU mid-second season after Elle left. She grew up as part of the diplomatic circuit, spent considerable time in the Middle East, and can read and speak Arabic. There were suggestions that Prentiss' appointment to the BAU was either due to nepotism or part of a scheme to discredit Hotch. Prentiss rose above all that, however, and is now a valued member of the team. Although at first she was outfitted in staid skirt suits, she's been rocking tight jeans and t-shirts lately, and has shown considerable courage to go with her good looks and smarts.
Key Episodes: 2x09 The Last Word, 2x10 Lessons Learned, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x20 Honor Among Thieves, 2x21 Open Season, 3x02 In Birth and Death.
Hobbies: reading Kurt Vonnegut novels, speaking with wide-eyed flair, compartmentalizing better than most, wearing sleek clothes suitable for action.
Dislikes: politics (with considerable venom), dating disappointment.
Commonly paired with: Hotch, Reid, JJ.
Jennifer "JJ" Jareau
Played by A.J. Cook, JJ acts as the team's liaison with the media and local police agencies, and chooses many of the cases the team investigates. She grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was a soccer player who parlayed her athletic prowess into a college scholarship. She's said she doesn't want to be a profiler, but has more than proved herself capable of handling violence in the field. JJ was with Reid when he was abducted by Tobias Henkel and had a scary encounter with vicious dogs that's left her more than a little canine-shy. JJ tends to be the one who talks to victim's families and brings bad news. Her blonde good looks mean local authorities often underestimate her, and JJ's deft at manipulating their expectations to her team's benefit. In one case, she didn't hesitate to shoot and kill a suspect who had her team cornered.
Key Episodes: 1x17 A Real Rain, 2x03 The Perfect Storm, 2x07 North Mammon, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x18 Jones, 2x22 Legacy, 3x05 Seven Seconds.
Hobbies: getting credulous co-workers to believe tall tales, having gorgeous hair, facilitating social interactions.
Dislikes: dogs, um.
Commonly paired with: Reid (who had a canonical crush on JJ), Gideon, Prentiss.
Penelope Garcia
Played by Kirsten Vangsness, Garcia is the team's computer expert and data wrangler extraordinaire at BAU Headquarters in Quantico, VA. She calls herself a "tech kitten" and pairs her impressive research and information management skills with flirty clothes and dyed hair. I adore her. She and Morgan banter over the phone with pet names and extravagant compliments almost every episode. Garcia doesn't want to know too much about the nature of the violence committed by unsubs, although she's a whiz at correlating random facts and coming up with suspect lists. She's down to earth but can get nervous when faced with disapproval from Gideon or Hotch, and she's done some not entirely approved things with her computer access. We recently learned that her parents are hippies and she started off her career as a hacker who was recruited in the spirit of "better with us than against us."
Key Episodes: 1x11 Blood Hungry, 1x21 Secrets and Lies, 1x22/2x01 The Fisher King 1 & 2,2x08 Empty Planet, 2x11 Sex, Birth, Death, 2x12 Profiler, Profiled, 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations, 2x23 No Way Out II, 3x02 In Birth and Death, 3x06 About Face, 3x08 Lucky, 3x09 Penelope.
Hobbies: demonstrating her total awesomeness behind the keyboard, drinking coffee, flirting with Morgan, playing online games, blogging, acquiring ever more fabulous retro outfits and accessories.
Dislikes: embarrassing herself over the phone, blood and gore, losing to hackers.
Commonly paired with: Morgan, mainly.
Other Characters Referenced in Fanfiction
[Selected photos available in this gallery.]
Haley Hotchner: Hotch's wife and mother of his son, played by Meredith Monroe. Haley is complicated, because at times she's been very understanding of the demands of Hotch's career, but then she starts issuing ultimatums about him leaving the BAU. Sometimes demonized by fans for lack of support and perceived manipulation, I think it's worth noting that we viewers only see her when the show wants to introduce tension for Hotch to deal with. Lacking a window into more normal times, Haley becomes a plot element for badness instead of a fully-fleshed out character.
Adrian Bale: Bomber and arsonist responsible for the death of Gideon's team in Boston, pre-series. Played by Tim Kelleher.
Max Ryan: Retired profiler from 1x15 Unfinished Business. Gideon's mentor. Played by Geoffrey Pierson.
John Blackwolf: Consultant on Native American culture from 1x16 The Tribe. Dismissive of the white world imposed on his people, politically active, he had a charged relationship with Hotch that managed to invoke massive amounts of testosterone and raise hopes of glorious protector slash. Played by Gregory Cruz.
Lila Archer: Blonde Hollywood starlet threatened in 1x18 Somebody's Watching. She takes a liking to Reid and flirts with him relentlessly even as she deals with a world going to pieces because of a stalker. There's a delightful scene in a pool that involves kissing. Played by Amber Heard.
Nathan Harris: Troubled teenager who has violent fantasies and approaches Reid for help in 2x11 Sex, Birth, Death. He may or may not grow up to be a serial killer one day. Played with hollow eyed desperation and hero-worship by Anton Yelchin.
Carl Buford: The man who helped Derek Morgan leave his juvenile offenses behind, then abused his position of trust as a youth center leader to sexually molest Derek. Continued pattern for many years with other troubled boys until 2x12 Profiler, Profiled. Played by Julius Tennon.
Frank: Prolific serial killer and sociopath who matches wits against Gideon in 2x13 No Way Out and 2x23 No Way Out II. Magnetic, remorseless, manipulative, and vicious, he leaves a lasting legacy of doubt. Played by Keith Carradine.
Tobias Henkel: Utterly messed up by religious fanatic father, he splinters his psyche upon his father's death and takes up a mission to cleanse the world of those who commit sins according to the Bible. Raphael was the killer, certain of the righteousness of his actions. Tobias cleaned up after Raphael's violence and was cowed by his father. Drug addict, computer technician, posted video of his killings to the internet in 2x14/2x15 The Big Game and Revelations. Tortured Reid. Played by James Van Der Beek (yes, Dawson. I didn't recognize him) in a riveting performance.
William LaMontagne Jr.: Police detective in New Orleans who calls in BAU to help with a case then proceeds to flirt with JJ. Featured in 2x18 Jones, played by Josh Stewart.
Ethan: Classmate and competitor of Reid's, Ethan also aspired to join the FBI but dropped out to run a jazz bar in New Orleans. I really wish there were more stories featuring Ethan and Reid, because the allusions to drug and alcohol addiction and personal demons flowed fast and furious during 2x18 Jones, and would lend themselves to desperate, fumbling sex. Played by Rhys Coiro, aka director Billy Walsh from Entourage and photographer Vincent Bianci from Ugly Betty and Sean Hillenger from Day 7 of 24 (he gets around).
Erin Strauss: aka Evil Supervisor. She had it in for Hotch for undisclosed reasons, although there's speculation that she wanted to remove him from contention for future promotions within the FBI. Tried to get Prentiss to act as informant. Failed. Recurring from the end of the second season through the beginning of the third. Played by Jayne Atkinson.
Did I forget anybody major? Or miss your favorite character point in the descriptions? Additions welcome *g*
Online Resources
General
IMdB page
Episode guides at TV.com
Episode guides at the cleverly-named EpGuides
newbieguide entry on Criminal Minds (comprehensive listing of LJ communities)
bau_inbox - the fandom newsletter
criminalxminds - the major LJ-based community, for episode discussion, character discussion, fanfiction posting, icons, etc. etc.
cm_squee
Graphics, Icons, Screencaps
picturethecrime
bau_icontest
The Oracle of Quantico - screencaps of every episode, in galleries or zipped for easy downloading
Fanfiction communities
bau_fic
cm_slash
cm_het
cm_femslash
morgan_garcia
jj_reid
Fanfiction archives
The Wonderful World of Makebelieve
Criminal Minds on Fanfiction.net - there's a lot of dross, but some good stuff can be found if you're willing to wade through.
If you know of any others, please let me know! I'm kind of desperate for a Criminal Minds archive with flexible search options.
(the above lists are not all-inclusive - the Newbie Guide goes into more detail about Criminal Minds fandom on LiveJournal.)
Other
The series was, I believe, based on a book, but my google-fu was weak and I couldn’t find the title or author(s). Recently, The New Yorker published an article by Malcolm Gladwell, who casts a skeptical eye on the art and science of profiling. The cases he examined were familiar to me, as most had been fictionalized on Criminal Minds.
[ETA: CM fandom tends to use ratings like "FRAO" and "FRM" instead of "NC-17" or "R". I have no clue why. If you're curious about what they mean, or can never keep them straight, check here for guidelines.]
If you're feeling inspired by this primer, and have CM stories you love, volunteer to recommend for a month! If we get enough, CM can enter the regular rotation of fandoms featured throughout the year on crack_van, and you can get a hit of BAU goodness whenever you want. But it depends on your participation!
[with thanks to Wikipedia, IMdB, and a whole lot of the online resources listed up there, as well as shetiger and spike21 for looking this over and making sure I wasn't too insane.]