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

[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.

[antoinettemason.livejournal.com]

you've made some good points, but tbh, i think some of this is part of the reason why i wasn't really impressed. ngl, i'm still very pissed about how aj was treated, but that wasn't the fault of rachel nichols or the other cast members (or the writers), so i was open to seeing how things played out. i do think the character has potential and i like the idea of seeing the perspective of the unsub's family, but i think my problem is that i didn't feel like i'd had enough time to connect with the character, so i didn't really feel the impact that i should have felt at the end of the episode. it was just too rushed to me.

i think if tonight's episode had been the third in the three-episode arc that nichols was originally hired for, i would have felt more of a gut punch during the montage because i would have had more time to get to know and care about ashley. or maybe if this ep had been a two-parter, it would have had more impact for me. as it was, i was just rather "meh" about the character and the episode, and i didn't want to be because i thought it did have potential to be something more.

that said, i'm still open to liking the character. it's just that she didn't reach out and grab me soon enough for this episode to really wow me.

[a_blackpanther]

Wow, interesting perspective on some of the things that went on in this ep. Putting it like that makes me see her a bit differently and like her a bit more than i already did.

[westmoon.livejournal.com]

<3