Reid spoilers from EW

[klutzy-girl.livejournal.com]

Criminal Minds scoop, please! — Rosie

There’s much more to the story about Dr. Reid’s headaches…except you won’t find out until next season, according to EP Erica Messer. “That’s something that we’re talking to Matthew [Gray Gubler] about and the writers are all trying to figure out what stories we’ve dropped. Honestly, that storyline, that whole idea behind that, started before we lost A.J. [Cook] and Paget [Brewster]. There was a chance that we were fearing to lose Matthew just because of contract negotiations, and that storyline kind of got implanted and then never truly paid off in this season, but we want to sort of conclude that next season. That’s the plan.” Thank goodness the Gubler told me he’s all set for next season and exited about it. Can you imagine a Gube-less CM? Hells to the no! This team is magic!

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Comments

[e-rousset.livejournal.com]

Yes Ed. Bernero was right, the format of the show couldn't follow Reid being addicted.
But from Ed. Bernero's words, he himself acknowledged that the idea wasn't well thought out to begin with and that they had to rectify things("It was something we thought on a drawing board was a better idea than it became").

Reid's change of attitude is impressive between those two episodes. I don't think he simply toned down his attitude. His whole demeanor is different and if some viewers weren't aware they would never know something was different with Reid.
Like Bernero said "I think we just kind of...he got better".

But I'm glad they let Reid get better that quickly.

And I agree with you, I don't think Gideon did much. Actually I think he did nothing. Apparently Reid had to help himself, which like you said isn't out of character for the team.
But from time to time I like to think his friend Ethan helped him (or at least tried to).

[westmoon.livejournal.com]

I agree that he seemed to change pretty radically between Jones and Ashes and Dust, but then that's pretty symptomatic of the show as a whole - to move things along quickly and leave it up to the viewers to figure out what happened behind the scenes. And I'm mostly fine with that, because in earlier years we did get those subtle hints throughout that told us how the characters were coping, and we could create those missing moments on our own.

But the dreadful anvil-like writing of the last two years, dropped storylines and some of the ridiculous OOC moments have pretty much made it impossible for us to keep doing that.

As much as I loved the earlier writers (and I would give anything to see them return), I do think they dropped the ball on the personal impact of Reid's addiction and PTSD, because frankly Morgan and Gideon's talks with him focused more on his work than him as an individual. Honestly, Morgan's line that this would make him a better profiler enrages me every time I watch that scene - that's not what Reid's looking for or needs at that point. So for me, the thought of his team members watching him struggle, but not coming forward to help him in any practical way, makes me roll my eyes when they talk about them all being a family.

Even given all that, I could live with those scenes, because the writing was so much better in the past, and there were enough small moments that showed they were keeping their character arcs consistent. And honestly, I like my characters being imperfect and not always doing the right thing. I don't want them to be perfect, I want them to be human.

Unfortunately I don't trust the current crew to do anything meaningful with Reid's headaches. The fact that they're just now trying to "figure out" all the stories they've dropped doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence.

[x-forgetromeo.livejournal.com]

Honestly, Morgan's line that this would make him a better profiler enrages me every time I watch that scene - that's not what Reid's looking for or needs at that point.

I think that's the point, though. That scene closely mirrors Elle's conversation with Reid in "Aftermath"--it just showed both of them how utterly alone they were in their situations. Aftermath!Reid and Morgan don't get it--they haven't been through the same sort of thing--and Elle / F&L!Reid both kind of smile and go through the motions while they're just getting that no one understands what they're going through.

So for me, the thought of his team members watching him struggle, but not coming forward to help him in any practical way, makes me roll my eyes when they talk about them all being a family.

They do this *a lot*, though. They did it again with Elle (their two trauma arcs are very, very closely paralleled). They're pretty shit at looking out for each other when someone isn't in immediate, life-threatening danger. It happens enough that it's *in-character* for them to not look at things on that personal level. I always thought it was intentional--the people who are supposed to know everything about behaviour don't apply that to each other.

And yeah, the current staff of one-off writers is just...ugh. I don't honestly trust them to do much of anything with the headaches. I think they've basically slaughtered Reid's characterization this season, though (oh look at me I'm a wide-eyed innocent oh was that a rhetorical question hey I'm going to be Matthew Gray Gubler instead of Reid in this slasher film voice-over is that cool yeah yeah absolutely of course of course).

[westmoon.livejournal.com]

Yes! That's what does make those scenes work for me - that Morgan's talk with Reid so closely mirrored Reid's talk with Elle. That they recognize the signs, mean well with what they're saying, but they just don't get it. Because they can't. So yeah, on one level I want to smack Morgan upside the head for his blindness and other instances where this happens, I understand where it's coming from - and I like the subtle way they do it. The team worrying about Hotch in season five and not knowing what to say or do. Only Reid and Morgan seeing that something's wrong with Prentiss in season six. The characters can frustrate me, but at the end of the day I can still love them despite those moments.

On a side note - it's those very parallels that keep me hooked and wanting more.

And Gideon. I love Gideon. But he should have known better. Seeing him exchange concerned glances with Hotch while Reid slowly implodes before their eyes, and then snap at Prentiss for showing concern, really drives home his past history of screwing up and having others pay the price. But at least it's consistent with his character.

I guess what really ticks me off is to hear the showrunners talk about how they're always there for each other (and even have the characters repeat lines to that effect). Just once I'd like to see them treat them like the flawed adults they are and say hey (paraphrasing your words) - they're doing the best they can, but despite their best intentions and their skills, they often miss what's staring them in the face and screw up when it comes to helping each other. I often feel like I'm watching one show and hear the showrunners describe something completely different.

So when I read what they have to say about season seven, and look at the current state of what we've been asked to buy about Garcia being an actress, Hotch having time to be a soccer coach, and Reid reverting back to some naive nerd stereotype (ugh, don't get me started), I get very afraid.

I'm going to stop now. I'm looking over what I've typed, and I realize my conflicted feelings about the show are affecting my ability to express myself coherently!