2x09 "The Last Word" / Emily's debute - and victim voices

[gsyh.livejournal.com]

By the time I saw this episode, I started on Season 7 and I know about Prentiss's James Bond days.

Anyone here saw it during the first run though? How weirder was Aaron and Emily's reunion now? He sees the little girl of an old boss (What is she doing here?), she says she's been working in the Midwest in a way that implies she was some sheltered admin clerk, but BAM, she was actually Secret Agent Prentiss! Did she just come into BAU straight from The Cold?

On the introductory crime scenes, two things I like very much
1) Gore aversion: The killer strikes but we don't see the what he sees...Start to Corpse is averted too (where the very present of a corpse is required to 'kick start' the story): The chase begins without the gore, the fact that we knew bad things happened to the women without seeing it, is scary enough, because
2) Both women were given screentime to established with the viewers that they are people, not just fodder for the unsubs. Contrast to to "Remembrance for Things Past" (or as I remember it "Targeted Demographic: Ageing Serial Sex Killers"), where, other than the parents, who was important to the unsub as the target of the phone message, we never saw the victims through anyone's eyes but the unsubs. (and the family can't be counted actually, because they weren't on screen together). Considering Disposable Sex Worker trope, I especially adore the people responsible for the episode, that when we see the second victim, like the first one, we see her as a mother with her kids.

ETA: ...and Emily waiting in Aaron's office in the end, she wasn't desperate to prove herself, she knows what she can do, she was desperate to get back into The Game.

Comments

[a_blackpanther]

Did she just come into BAU straight from The Cold?

Erm, not exactly sure what position she was working at the FBI before The Last Word, however the reason Emily was assigned to the BAU so suddenly and without Hotch's notice is explained a bit better at the end of season 2/early season 3 and I won't spoil it for you.

Criminal Minds has always been very good about humanizing their victims and having victims with agency and who manage to rescue themselves (heck they might have invented this trope). It's one of the things I love most about the show.

Not worried about spoilers

[gsyh.livejournal.com]

I'm watching CM on TV, the current seasons, and the reruns, are scattered from 2-5, I have a general idea of what went down (just don't want episode ending specific spoilers).

I know she was in deep cover with Doyle, I was wondering, was there a period in which Emily was in mid-west doing harmless desk work, or she went straight from gun blazing spy work to door kicking BAU work? Or maybe there was a medical leave period.


...and I wonder again, how well Jason and Emily know each other over the CIA thing.

Re: Not worried about spoilers

[a_blackpanther]

was there a period in which Emily was in mid-west doing harmless desk work, or she went straight from gun blazing spy work to door kicking BAU work?

I don't think they've cleared that up, but this show is notoriously bad with timeline integrity when it comes to the background of the characters.

I don't think Emily and Jason knew each other before the BAU at all. Emily wasn't CIA, she was Interpol before.

Re: Not worried about spoilers

[kgrier.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure Prentiss' timeline has been fudged yet. That is, there's nothing that has been mentioned that would conflict with or negate her timeline as we know it. Of course her post-Doyle days are up for debate, but I imagine she got out of the game when she returned to the States. Interpol probably helped her transition into the FBI with a good cover story and some time in a field office to pad it, and then as soon as she was able, she requested a transfer to the BAU to be in D.C. and near Declan (as mentioned in "Village").

Re: Not worried about spoilers

[amichevole.livejournal.com]

I found they were a little vague on whether she was with the CIA or with Interpol; In Valhalla, Hotch asks if she has any contacts from her Interpol days, but then in Lauren, JJ talks about not being able to get Emily's full CIA history from a friend at Langley. There are a few weird disconnects between episodes in that arc, but I've come to expect that from the show.

Re: Interpol

[gsyh.livejournal.com]

Isn't it actually kinda like the UN? Like, it's an organization where CIA and other countries's counterparts cooperate together?


I just heart Secret Agent Prentiss so much! I hope we get more scenes of her kicking ass on field.