criminalxminds | Intro and a Question

Name: Anestazcia
Age: 19
Location: U.S. of A.
Favorite TV Show: Criminal Minds
Other Shows Watched: Ghost Whisper, Bones, Frindge, House, Gossip Girl, Castle, Say Yes to the Dress, and more.
Favorite Quote: "One need not be a chamber to be haunted, one need not to be a house. The brain has corridors surpassing material place," ~ Emily Dickinson.
Favorite Color: Silver
If I was a criminal, I'd be...: Matthew Gray Gubler's stalker. Just kidding of course. ;)

'ello!

I would like to say this community is amazing and the people here are really cool. I've been watching [stalking--I have an issue with stalking ;) lol] this community for a long while now and it always makes me happy when I read the discussion posts and see the talents presented here...(i.e. icons...) I always smile when there is a new post. And after finally getting the nerve (I'm horrible self-conscious) I thought I would introduce myself and bring up a question I had about the timeline of the show.

I'm sorry if this question has been asked; I went through the tags and didn't spot it. If I missed it could someone direct me to it please?

I'm writing a fanfiction story and would like to stay as faithful to the show as possible. Is there an established timeline for the show? I've been doing some math and I have come up with vast years, dates, etc...Does anyone have any theories about when the show takes place? Like what years each season takes place? I've spent so much time trying to figure this out and decided I should come here to the experts. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

And, I'm not a natural English speaker so I apologize in advance.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Welcome to the comm!

To answer your question... some people have tried to piece together a time line of the series based on things that characters do and say, and apparent seasons/holidays. I'm sure that somebody somewhere has a link, though I unfortunately do not.

The result is usually a consensus that this show is a black hole time disaster.

Each season roughly amounts to a year, supposedly. If that were true, however, then there are times when the Team might have five cases in one month!

Sorry I couldn't be of more help, but I'm sure somebody will be along with a link. :) Welcome again!

I was thinking the same thing because each season's finale/premier follows without time passage, but Halloween happened on time this season. So either the Season 5 finale occurred sometime in late summer, or several months passed between the finale/premier and Halloween.

I tend to believe there is more time between cases than is presented in TV time. Kind of like fairy land: one week here is one month in Criminal Mindsland!

Oh, and welcome!

One thing this show is horrible at is maintaining a coherent timeline. There's a lot of leeway because we don't know how much time passes between cases. I'd say you would do best with picking one set of stated dates and sticking with them.

Also, hello! Would you mind telling us what your story is about? :)

Thank you for the welcome. :D

Black hole time disaster sums up everything nicely. Thank you for the input! :)

Thanks for the welcome.

Fiary land is certainly credible lol. In my head I usually say one week here is a new month there too.

Hi! I've posted the story on fanfiction; it's called Earworms and it should be under the name luneress.
I've posted several chapters but I'm taking a break to rewrite and try to organize things, namely the timeline lol. But it's about Reid meeting and beginning a relationship with a woman. It's about their relationship and the team is there throughout the story. It also includes several cases. The main one being where a case goes from bad to worse and threatens everyone's happienes. Sorry, bad at summaries. X(

I want to pick a set of dates but I also want to be as close to the show's timeline as possible. I'm so nitpicky about being as loyal as I can that it's very hindering.

Thank you!!

Hi! ::waves::

Because the canon timeline is a black hole disaster of the first order, I usually kind of fudge my way through it. I try to use cases from the show to anchor whatever I'm writing (which usually takes place in the off-time, that is to say all the time we don't see happening on TV), and correlate the cases to seasons.

I guess what I'm saying is that there's a certain plasticity to the canon's timeline, and that this can be a wonderful thing.

::waves back:: hi!

Thank you for being so positive! I hadn't looked at absence of a timeline in a good way. Using the cases from the show is a smart idea; I don't know why I didn't come up with that myself lol.

Thank you very much! :D

No problem. :-)

I know they've indicated in a couple of seasons that time passed between the season opener and the second episode. They did that with the Foyet arc (42 days I think?) and they did it back in season 2 with the Fisher King eps. I don't remember offhand what it was, but from Fisher King Part 2 to the next episode or the third episode, they said how long Elle had been off work, and she was just coming back.

But it's still a crazy mess timewise. LOL

I recall the times they mention time passing, primarily because of the times they don't. I haven't [ETA] rewatched "To Hell/And Back" because...pigs eating people and bizarre Hannibal reference as a result, but I don't remember if any mention was made of, say, how long Reid recovered from being Anthraxinated. One would assume some time had passed...

Or I could be obsessing over the wrong things and should just get to writing my damn Morgan/Reid!

Edited 2010-11-17 04:24 (UTC)

Hey! Welcome to the land of the obsessives! High fives from another Matthew stalker. ;D As far as time-line is concerned, each season is approximately a year, though the cliffhanger finales warp time at the beginning of every season. The show premiered in 2006 so that's generally when it's assumed to take place. Unfortunately, as many here have already stated, this show's time-line and continuity errors are egregious. (Don't even bother to try and make sense of Hotch's backstory, it'll turn your brain to scrambled egg). Fudging works pretty well since for the most part your guesses will be just as good as the rest of ours. :)

Thanks!!
I think it was 4 months between Fisher King Part 2 and Elle's return.
Crazy mess is an understatement haha. :D

Hi!! High five indeed!! lol :D.
Thank you! I was thinking that each season was approximately a year. Everyone's backstory is a little off I think lol. Thank you again!!

*waves back* hello!
Sometimes I forget about how the fashion plays a role with the seasons. Your logic makes absolute sense!! Thank you very much. :D

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