This.


I've been growing increasingly sympathetic towards Reyes since his little encounter with Hope, but this is the first time I truly felt pain for him.

Ohh, Stephen. 

This is so very, very true and self-evident at the same time. It's also why we love and fear them and their tricksy ways.

^{*crawls back under the 'Not Worrying, Honest' bench*}

Ugh, that teaser at the start of the episode is no throw-away tone-setter. *


Could we be seeing the first evidence of a second-stage Gamma here?

^{*hurries off to the Not Freaking The Hell Out bench*}

(*) Of course, with these PTB, I'm now worrying just what even more horrible hint this is distraction for. 

This, precisely.

With the addendum of "Oh" said over and over again, in a plethora of differing intonations and meanings.

And a small 'Eee!' for having spotted one of the extras without checking the source first.

Two warm fuzzy extras in a row. My suspicious side is whispering that this is going to be A Very Rough Episode Indeed^TM.

[/relurks]

Noted, shall firmly put it on my 'Don't Bother' list.


That's pretty much a given, seeing as I didn't see any CM until after I had read all of S1 and at least most of S2 SU. And don't worry that I'm seeing the BAU and the WTF as interchangeable in any way, I just see some correlations between the two shows. (Perhaps it would be better to say that certain individuals on each team share certain personality traits.) Really, Hotch is the self-sacrificing type, which is more like Esther than Reyes. Reyes deliberately, and knowingly, risks/sacrifices other people, which is where my take on him being an asshole comes in, even if it turns out it is for the greater good. CM has the advantage of actual faces and voices to go with the characters, SU lets us see inside their heads, which are both awesome in their own way. And if Scully is at all like Frost to you, Bear, we have been watching vastly different shows. o.O


Even, or especially, when there aren't any.


Can't argue or disagree with that. But I felt he was still bearing a load of guilt for having done so, which makes him at least a human asshole.


I agree. Gideon never seems to do so deliberately, though, he just seems to be so tightly focused on his goal that he never stops to consider the risks and costs for others. Until he is forced to by Frank, at which point he throws a hissy fit, takes his bat and ball, and goes home. Simplifying, I know, and not in a flattering way for Jason. Jason, to me, is a very impressive and very human character, like the rest of the BAU. (Morgan to a lesser extent, especially in the earlier season.)

But Jason is very difficult to like. So was Elle, in some ways. ^IMO


Ahh, but does Chaz 'run like a girl'? I kinda picture him more running like a demented daddy-long-legs. (Legs, knees and elbows flailing all over the place and the very antithesis of graceful, but covers ground damn fast regardless.)

An hell no I don't see SU as CM fanfic. (More t'other way around, really.) ^{*very tongue-in-cheek*}

Piece of cake. Just put it on the ground and lower the steps for him. He does it all the time. 


Really? Not having seen any season 5 yet, IIRC he's only shown up (in person) once, and then he wasn't even vaguely in The Relative's league. (Of course, he's been constantly present in the background as a major influence on Spencer's Mother, who's a major influence on him...)


Who said anything about a one to one comparison? The influence is there, was really my only point. And certainly CM, as awesome (and, occasionally, problematic,) as it can be, is equally obviously note the only influence. (Although all the influences are awesome, I'm sure.)

I never saw Gideon as an asshole myself, more someone who was broken almost to the point of idiot-savant. Which implies the questions: What caused him to break that way? (Seems to have been before the explosion and his hiatus from the BAU) and What was he like before he broke? (Probably an utter asshole.)

I do think the writers have done a much better job with Emily and Rossi, making them much likeable and functional, without having them lack in scars or character flaws.

(Personally, I think that Reyes is much more Not!Hotch than Not!Gideon, given he's totally aware of how and why he's manipulating people, but he does have the asshole bit down solid.)

Not having seen any NCIS I can't comment on any similarities that may or may not be present. Feel free to convince me I'm a philistine and should make good my lack post-haste. 

Seconded!

She is, but she's also Not-Elle. After all, Elle is the one that killed an unarmed UNSUB, no?

Hmm...

That's Not-Elle and Not-Gideon (functionally) out of the team, so, who's going to be not-Prentiss and Not-Rossi?

*ponders*

(And as for the betrayal bit, I'm choosing to view that as a piscean of a decidedly scarlet hue unless/until further evidence arises.)

(Eep!eepeepeepeepeep!!!Eeeeeeeeep!EEP!!)

 

This.


And most definitely this. Ay!

That's our tricksy PTB, all right. Spend ages lingering on the sharp, pointy, dagger on the mantel-place, only to then smack you in the back of the head with the wrench that's been visibly sitting next to it all along. ECR: awed, puzzled, pleased and exasperated all at once.

I think it's perhaps more "Chaz would never intentionally harm an innocent, unless he felt it was absolutely necessary."


For myself, I read that as something that was going through SubwayGuy's head at that moment. Which was horrible enough, but ohh, so much worse if it should have been a memory... 

And I had tears in my eyes at least twice, reading this episode, the first time was the moment of bonding between Danny and the grandmother, about not being able to protect against everything, and the other was during the endings. I don't remember if it was Sol's wishing he was/had fallen for Mehitabel, or Nikki's aching loneliness, the import she placed in the PJs, or her call to her dad.

Actually, both those endings made my heart ache again, just now, skimming over them to find Mehitabel's name. 

Pish-posh! You don't fry a Unicorn, for heaven's sake!

You roast it, having with appropriate dry rub. 


Oh, sure, tease me some more about how wonderful the food is...