Random Hotch ramblings
... And now for another couple of random questions. I blame the fact that we didn't have a new CM episode this week, so I was forced to re-watch my tape of "The Tribe." And, while the ep has some great Hotch background exposition, it raises several interesting questions about the Hotchner family.
First, just exactly how old is Hotch, anyway? When I first started watching I had him pegged at late thirties or early forties, less because he looked that old than because that's the age I think he acts. He has a presence, a confidence, that I don't see often in people who are, say, 33. But everyone I talk to in RL about this show insists he must be in his early thirties. Haley Hotchner looks like she's about that age, for one thing, and forty is pretty old to have a twenty-five-year-old brother. Though I suppose it could happen. But seriously, I think early thirties is too young for him to have done everything he's supposed to have done in his life. Figure he was 25, minimum, when he got out of law school, with another 5 years or so for him to have gotten fed up with being too late in the crime cycle in the DA's office to make a difference (ref "Poison"). I'm pretty sure the FBI puts you on probation for 2 years as a new agent, which makes him like 32 when he achieves the same status as, say, Reid. But Hotch is a senior agent, and while I don't know how long it takes to work your way up to that I figure it's at *least* 5 or 6 years, and probably more. Which puts him right back at my original estimate of somewhere between 37 and 43. *Sigh* And where, along the way in all this, did he have the time or inclination to do a stint in SWAT, which he referenced in "LDSK"? I'm very confused. Anyone have any insights?
Second, did he or did he not have an abused childhood? He implies in "Natural Born Killer" that that was what led him to grow up to catch criminals. But in "The Tribe," he not only says that he became a lawyer because his father was one, he and Sean both speak affectionately about their father. So, probably I'm jumping to conclusions here -- I just assumed before that it was their father who was abusive, when it could very well have been their mother, or a stepfather or uncle or anyone else, for that matter. Theories, anyone? I'm really hoping the writers will explain all this more thoroughly in the future, and that they're not just playing fast and loose with character backgrounds.
Well. Despite the questions raised, "The Tribe" certainly cleared up one thing about Hotch. The man knows how to use a police baton. Guh. :)
First, just exactly how old is Hotch, anyway? When I first started watching I had him pegged at late thirties or early forties, less because he looked that old than because that's the age I think he acts. He has a presence, a confidence, that I don't see often in people who are, say, 33. But everyone I talk to in RL about this show insists he must be in his early thirties. Haley Hotchner looks like she's about that age, for one thing, and forty is pretty old to have a twenty-five-year-old brother. Though I suppose it could happen. But seriously, I think early thirties is too young for him to have done everything he's supposed to have done in his life. Figure he was 25, minimum, when he got out of law school, with another 5 years or so for him to have gotten fed up with being too late in the crime cycle in the DA's office to make a difference (ref "Poison"). I'm pretty sure the FBI puts you on probation for 2 years as a new agent, which makes him like 32 when he achieves the same status as, say, Reid. But Hotch is a senior agent, and while I don't know how long it takes to work your way up to that I figure it's at *least* 5 or 6 years, and probably more. Which puts him right back at my original estimate of somewhere between 37 and 43. *Sigh* And where, along the way in all this, did he have the time or inclination to do a stint in SWAT, which he referenced in "LDSK"? I'm very confused. Anyone have any insights?
Second, did he or did he not have an abused childhood? He implies in "Natural Born Killer" that that was what led him to grow up to catch criminals. But in "The Tribe," he not only says that he became a lawyer because his father was one, he and Sean both speak affectionately about their father. So, probably I'm jumping to conclusions here -- I just assumed before that it was their father who was abusive, when it could very well have been their mother, or a stepfather or uncle or anyone else, for that matter. Theories, anyone? I'm really hoping the writers will explain all this more thoroughly in the future, and that they're not just playing fast and loose with character backgrounds.
Well. Despite the questions raised, "The Tribe" certainly cleared up one thing about Hotch. The man knows how to use a police baton. Guh. :)