Have you locked all of your doors and windows?

[a_blackpanther]

 This is the discussion post for Episode 6x10 - "What Happens at Home". Watch out for SPOILERS in the comments.

Comments

[jupisan.livejournal.com]

the opening credit song is different or its just me, it just sounds different than it was?

The new girl, I love the actress but her character just wasnt believable to me but ill give her a chance if she appears again.

Cant wait for next week's episode, the unsub of the week is one of my fave actors of all time and I love it that he is an unsub. :D

[shutterspeed.livejournal.com]

It has a new ~guitar riff since the third episode, aka when AJ left.

[tryxkittie.livejournal.com]

I mean, I really wanted to give her a chance. It's the kind of character that could go really horribly unless the writing and acting (and her personality) are stellar and it just wasn't. She felt super subdued, boring and flat. I like her relationship with Rossi, but her interactions with Reid felt super awkward (and not in a cute way but more of a '....?' way). And all the self-indulgent slow-mo montaging and whining at the end...COULD have been touching if the actor/scene with the dad was really that emotional. I get that it was supposed to be...and it COULD have been a really powerful scene, but it just came off as stilted. The dad was killing it, but NuJJ was, again, like she was on Prozac, super subdued in everything, barely any emotion.

And I mean, if that was what her character was supposed to be like then I'd be all for it, but then nobody seemed to notice how flatline she was. Or cared. It was so weird.

Even if you throw out the whole controversy with AJ, the writers really should have invested more in trying to take JJ somewhere. And I don't buy the 'they couldn't really take her anywhere else' argument. If you're a writer, you can do anything with a character and keep developing them so long as your creative and talented enough - and if you CARE. They obviously didn't.

[poeticpathetic.livejournal.com]

I think it's not really fair to blame JJ's exit on the writers and more on whoever is in charge of the money circulating that show. The girls getting booted has been and always will be about money, who they didn't want to pay anymore and who they thought was the weakest link in terms of character and story. Let's face it, JJ wasn't a very thoroughly developed character. Not like Prentiss after Demonology, not like Morgan after Profiler, Profiled, not like Hotch after 100 or Reid after all of seasons 3 and 4. Rossi's the only other one I thought maybe lacked the character development, but Joe Mantegna's the "big name" on the show. I'm not saying it's RIGHT that they axed AJ. I'm saying that if you expect any more from network shows that are in need of cash at times, then you need to reacquaint yourself with how shows work behind the scenes with producers, casts and salaries.

[diemme.livejournal.com]

YES! The writing for her character seemed all over the place - at first she's tough and a bit scrappy, doing training exercises with a concussion and being open about who she is to the team. But by the end of the episode she's pale, passive and deflated. I really expected her to flop into Hotch's arms after the shooting.

[liliaeth]

Actually, I loved the whole subdued emotionaless attitude she had in that scene. Because it felt real. Growing up with a psychopath, she would probably have learned not to show too much emotions.

[drunkencarousal.livejournal.com]

So Rachel Nichols plays a young FBI (potential) profiler, who relies on a unique tortured past to provide insight and manages to get held hostage within her first episode. Is Tim Minear going to be getting royalties?

And as for the Reid/Ashley business, if I had faith in the CM writers' ability to consistently create strong female characters (http://www.overthinkingit.com/2008/08/18/why-strong-female-characters-are-bad-for-women/), I'd be fine with it. But I don't. Besides, there's only room for one woobie on this show, and it'll always be Reid, serial killer daddy issues or not.

On a non-new girl note...

[diemme.livejournal.com]

Did Hotch feel "back" in this episode or was it just me? I loved the "Makes you feel old? No" banter with Rossi.

[invaderk.livejournal.com]

Hmm!

Well. I do not know what to think of this girl. I actually do like her personality, and I think she's mildly interesting (and also really good at crying). AND I am of course game for any situation in which Reid FINALLY GETS SOME. Although I don't know if I want her to be around JUST so Reid can get some.

However, you cannot deny that she was 0% helpful with this case. Her suggestions did not help with narrowing down the list, she did not help them find the UnSub (besides the part where they guessed it was him and then found she was missing), and she put the entire team in danger by breaking Hotch's rules. I'm not mad, and it's clear that this was just her into, but still. Totally unhelpful. xD

The jury's still out for me. I mean, I didn't like Emily for a looong time, and now I love her. And aside from looking a lot like JJ, I really have nothing against her. *shrug*

OH AND ONE MORE THING. This is just me being proud of myself, so... apologies in advance. But I FINALLY beat the writers to the punch on something! Life = complete

"See that guy?" Reid begins, pointing at the man from the other booth while shoving his face so close to Morgan's that he gets a fresh wave of alcohol-breath every time Boy Genius opens his mouth. "He was wrong."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, he—I told him, I was tellin' him, they never actually say 'beam me up, Scotty' in the original series. Not in the whole thing. Can you believe that, Derek?"

Unmoved, Morgan responds, "Really, Reid? I had no idea."

"Yeah. It's a common misseption," Reid slurs matter-of-factly.

[liliaeth]

However, you cannot deny that she was 0% helpful with this case. Her suggestions did not help with narrowing down the list, she did not help them find the UnSub (besides the part where they guessed it was him and then found she was missing), and she put the entire team in danger by breaking Hotch's rules. I'm not mad, and it's clear that this was just her into, but still. Totally unhelpful. xD

Which is actually what convinced me that she isn't a Mary Sue, if she were, she would have solved the problem. She would have been essential to getting the bad guy and probably save the other team members while she was doing so and thus instantly earning her spot on the team.

Just compare this ep, to the one with the spin off cast. Now those people came off as a bunch of Mary Sues that got way too much attention spent on them.

[the-gubette.livejournal.com]

As for Reid, I have to say I was very disappointed with the writers' in their decision to say that Reid got a pass on most of the Academy requirements. I have a feeling they were doing this in an attempt to explain why the new cadet will ~miraculously become part of the team, but to me, it diminished Reid's character and just made him even more of a Gary Stu than he already was.

I've always thought that despite Reid's shortcomings regarding marksmanship and physicality, at least he completed Academy. By definitively taking that away from him, and from us, I feel like they've minimized him.

FBI Academy is not about strength, but endurance. The fact that the FBI had bend several rules to let Reid in upsets me, because I feel it discounts his character. Given what he has gone through in the seasons that we've known him, we know he has the endurance. Why state now that he got a pass (besides as a lead-in for the new character)? I just feel like it was a disservice to him.

[antoinettemason.livejournal.com]

YES. this bothered me badly.

[bc-girl.livejournal.com]

This.

[jay-kateel.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I can't stand the new girl... She's so withdrawn.

[westmoon.livejournal.com]

I don't dislike Ashley. I did cringe at the over the top praise she got at the beginning, and was actually afraid that they'd have her solve the case all by herself (hullo, Wesley Crusher).

And I'm not gonna lie - I think they need to figure out how to write her, because she's over-the-top emotional right now, and I have to wonder why she went into the academy if dealing with serial killers is going to give her flashbacks on a regular basis.

But you know, I'm open to her. I liked her scenes with Rossi and Prentiss, and honestly had no problem with Garcia teasing Reid, because his reaction was priceless. She'll definitely shake up the mix and the team dynamic, and hopefully in a good way. I just really really do not want them to neglect the rest of the team as they develop her character.

[sodoesrachael.livejournal.com]

I think most people have gone to bed by now, but I'm gonna pop back in a expand my earlier thought on how and why I was impressed by tonight's episode.

I loved the idea of showing the perspective of the family of the unsub. We usually get a glimpse of the families of victims in their grief, but the grief of the family of the unsub is generally glossed over, but it's not any less. Can you imagine the idea of finding out someone you lived with your whole life was killing people in their spare time? Personally, I'd probably kill myself with "what ifs," 'what if I had realized what was happening?' 'what if I'd done something?' 'what if I'd been able to save those people?' It's a very heavy thought, and I like the fact that the show finally touched upon it.

I particularly loved the scene towards the end, where the little girl was being helped into the police car by Rossi, and Sievers could just see herself in that same exact position, so many years ago, and finally allowed herself to grieve for the life she lost. In a way, her father killed more than just his victims with his life choices, and you can tell that Ashley Sievers had spent most of her life avoiding that reality. Then it's forced upon her, and she can finally come to terms with it. Eventually.

I love her talk with Rossi on the plane, too, about how she knows she should hate her father for what he's done, but can't. That's also a heavy thought. For the first about what, 15? years of her life, the man was nothing more to her than her father. Her protector, the man responsible for her. From what she said, he was a loving, caring father, and to try to reconcile that with a man who brutally murdered 25 women? That would be nearly impossible for most people. It tears her up inside, you can tell, as it would most people. Me for sure.

The thing I really loved about this episode was the psychology of it, which is what I love about the show in general, so this episode made me really happy. There are a lot of deep issues and ideas presented here, which is why I'm glad Ashley Sievers will be returning for more episodes. That said, this episode could easily stand on it's own, and it would be no great loss if she didn't come back. But I think her character has a lot of potential; she's got a lot she thinks she has to prove, like some other characters on the show I could mention, so I think she could be a good asset to the team and fit in nicely. Plus, Reid thinks she's pretty. ;)

One more thing I need to say, and if people get their panties in a bunch, so what:

JJ is gone. She. Is. Gone. Forever. Never to return. Does it suck? Sure. But everyone needs to get over it and move on. You'll never enjoy the show again if you're just focusing on the fact that every actress they bring on, be they blonde or brunette or green skinned, is not AJ Cook. She's gone. SHE'S moved on, so you should too.

That is all.

I kinda love you :D

[0iamthe-goddess.livejournal.com]

I agree completely with EVERYTHING you wrote. Ashley having to confess she doesn't hate her father speech was very heartbreaking. And you make a valid point about why the show is so great; the psychology. The show forces us to deal with hard questions and when they put that on the characters it makes for discussions and realizations.

[amiasha.livejournal.com]

Okay, finally got a chance to watch this episode, and I do have to admit that I think it was the best one this season. It felt like watching CM again, with character jokes, cute relationship moments, and a solid crime plot that wasn't totally obvious from the very beginning.

I found myself pleasantly surprised by Ashley. I think they overdid her intro, like almost everyone did; specifically, the 'better, faster, stronger' sort of thing about her academy training, but whatever. I can overlook it.

I like that she was gentle and insecure, rather than super confident. He presence also let other characters, especially Prentiss and Rossi, really shine. I also like that she made a totally stupid decision, rather than being perfect the whole episode and miraculously solving the case or something like that. I mean, she even failed to talk down the unsub. I kind of like that idea, too, that the group has a new member to watch over and protect and look out for.

Reid and Garcia were adorable, and I was happy to see them being cute together, as they really hadn't had a lot of those moments at all recently. Also, Reid's rambling had been sorely missed. But wtf, where was he on the raid on the house to save Ashley? Are they still leaving him behind? Maybe it has to do with his secret or something (he's the only one asleep on the plane, I noticed) because I hope they didn't just forget about him. Especially since that's unlikely considering he was remembered throughout the rest of the episode.

Anyway, tl;dr: I liked it, and I liked Ashley. Really looking forward to the rest of the season and hoping it stays up to this episode's standard instead of the past episodes of the season so far.

Love this!!

[0iamthe-goddess.livejournal.com]

I agree with your comment. Though they did at first make it seem like Ashley was going to be the perfect agent with that better, faster, stronger comment, they didn't continue with that. Instead, we got this raw, real, and hurting woman that is still dealing with guilt about her father.

Reid sooo needs to be out in the field more. Do the writers not like him or something. I'm almost afraid their going to cut him out of the show he's hardly there anymore. :(

[levylo.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I didn't mind this episode. It could have been a lot worse right? A bit too much story background for Ashley's character but I think that maybe in a few more episodes we will be seeing an improvement on the character. She is new and they want to make her interesting and stand out. I'm going to wait and watch the next episodes to see what happens.

Also, I wouldn't mind if maybe her and Reid kinda start a cute 'I sorta like you, I also sorta like you' thing, just as long as they keep it in small doses, not the main focus of the show and remember about the regulations that the job has. *dating co-workers is a no no* Maybe they date once and that's it. Actually I think a brother and sister relationship between the two would work better and be really sweet. :)
I'm going to try and have high hopes for the future episodes of Criminal Minds. Can't wait for a Hotch centric episode. xD

[brittdavis21.livejournal.com]

So if they are letting JJ and Prentis go because of budget cuts why are they adding another cast member, if that's what Ashley is becoming? Makes no sense to me.

[tragicllyhip.livejournal.com]

they asked Paget to stay, and i guess its been explained a few times, but new girl is most likely a lot cheaper

[eiko82.livejournal.com]

Good episode.

I really wanna like Ashley. She sounds like she could be an interesting character. It was a bit ridiculous how Ashley was portrayed as 'better, faster, stronger' in the beginning. But once she met the rest of the team, I felt that she became more human. I also liked that eventho she gave her input, she wasn't Wonder Woman who magically solved the case.

Having said that, I wanted to freaking SLAP HER SILLY for going out on her own. Hotch had specifically said that she wasn't allowed to make any moves on her own and what does she do? She goes out on her own in the dark to see the victim's family, just to resolve her own daddy/family issues. Not cool, Ashley, not cool. You almost got yourself killed.

I'm curious to see what will happen with her in the next episodes.

[moon-raven2.livejournal.com]

The main problem with this ep was the writing. It was overtly repetitive in more than one spot. Seiver comes to the door and tells the husband how the UNSUB's family would feel, and then once she's in the house she says the EXACT same words again. There was another point later in the episode where the same thing happened, but I can't remember who it was or what was said. That was just lazy, and makes me feel like the writers had this idea for her story, for the plot of the ep, and for her reason for going to his house, but they were too lazy/uninspired to actually flesh it out.

As for Reid/Seiver shipping...we all know it's not going to happen, so there's no point in stressing about it either way. Of course he thinks she's pretty: he thought JJ was pretty, and she's basically a JJ clone. If you think one's pretty, you're gonna like the other.

I wasn't bothered so much by her or even her story (though b/c of the constant repetition in this ep, it got a little heavy-handed) so much as I was bothered by the fact that they got rid of AJ...and are replacing her with an actress who could be her sister. Could they have cast a brunette? A redhead? At least someone with brown eyes! It'd just cold. And ridiculous.

And, Emily should never wear turtlenecks. She looked...stumpy. Open up that neckline, girlfriend!

ETA: I'm not too stressed with the "she's the best on the course" intro for two reasons. 1) she's overcompensating for her past, so of course she's going to push herself to be the best; and 2) it was clearly an homage to Silence of the Lambs. We meet Clarice Starling when she's running the course, and she's called in by Jack Crawford all sweaty and yuck and assigned to Hannibal Lecter. Jack Crawford and Rossi are based on the same RL profiler, so it was basically the exact same scene.

Oh, second ETA: I hated how Morgan started out flirting with her. Not for any rabid fangirl reasons, but just b/c...ok, he can flirt with Emily and Garcia and it's ok: they know him and know that's just how he is. But flirting with a cadet who's consulting with the team?! She could slap him with a sexual harassment suit before you could say "Jack Robinson." It was stupid, irresponsible, and unrealistic. I don't think Morgan would be that unprofessional when meeting a new agent, especially one so young.

[eiko82.livejournal.com]

The main problem with this ep was the writing. It was overtly repetitive in more than one spot. Seiver comes to the door and tells the husband how the UNSUB's family would feel, and then once she's in the house she says the EXACT same words again.

Yeah, that annoyed me too. The whole 'The unsub's family will be sorry for what he did' conversation went on for waaaaaaaaaaaay too long. After a while, I just wanted to scream at Ashley 'Ok, you're sorry. We get it. Now GTFO!!'.

[dannicawebb.livejournal.com]

i didn't even know the new person was coming on today, or until about halfway in that she was supposed to be jj's series-regular-replacement. i wanted to like her. i loved rossi and didn't dislike prentiss from the get-go, and i've never really favored any of the replacements or originals in that way (i love both gideon & rossi and both elle & prentiss). one of my favorite things about cm is that i've never disliked any of the characters.

i want to like her. i don't dislike her as such; i felt she was written badly and she came off flat. what i do dislike is, well, what a lot of others have already said...the fact that reid's experience is diminished to give her an "in." the fact that we barely saw much of the other characters this ep, especially hotch. the fact that she was super-amazing and then super-over-emotional. the fact that i am emotionally invested in all the other characters and have been LONGING for more backstory, but she gets more of a backstory & character development in a single episode than morgan or garcia (or prentiss or jj for that matter) have gotten in five seasons. and i love angsty backstory like nobody's business (one of the initial eeks i had about this episode is that it comes a little too close to an angsty garcia-centric hotch/garcia piece i'm working on)...but i wasn't given enough information about her or a chance to even care about her before her angsty backstory was shoved down my throat.

i don't like anvils. i really don't like anvils out of the middle of nowhere about characters for whom i have no prior attachment or reason to give a shit.

i do, however, love joe mantegna. le sigh.

[dannicawebb.livejournal.com]

and by today, i meant yesterday. just got to watch the ep (i hadn't seen previews or anything).

[shatteredwolf.livejournal.com]

Thoughts on the show now since I've been busy.

I always get all freaked out as hell when someone talks about the BTK killer. Because I was growing up in that area and knew him. So, I freak out badly..

New girl just isn't something for me yet. Maybe she'll grow on me. I don't know.

It took me a good bit to figure out which was the killer. Love that. I sure as hell wouldn't want to live in that place.

Next weeks looks really good.

[amiasha.livejournal.com]

Re: BTK - Really? I never met him myself, but I knew his niece really well; she was my dance teacher. [/slightly offtopic]

And ontopic, yes, I agree that the community was really creepy. Serious stepford vibes plus creepy officers.

[gc-anthem-fan.livejournal.com]

Honestly, I liked the actress but the way they portrayed the character in this episode was poorly done, they focused so much on her background and this "bohoo me" story that I felt it gave her a bad entrance, she should have been a strong character with a backbone, not always pouting about her dad and her past, and how she kept using it was annoying. I'm looking forward though to an episode that doesn't center directly around her so her character can have a real chance.

[scotchsour.livejournal.com]

Disclosure: Haven't watch the episode yet.

Seriously, as long as the edict stands on "No Relationships" on the show, I don't care what happens. I automatically don't care for the show once the romance comes in (ala Remington Steele, Moonlighting, X-Files, Without A Trace), I don't need it as apparently some of you do and since I'm a slasher I know CBS would never give what I want anyway.

Though now that I know who she is, it would of probably gone a long way if they made her a "redhead", just saying.