Very late to the party because I come to you courtesy of the Dreamwidth feed. But... this was Hotch! :-)
What is your favorite Aaron Hotchner episode? 100 is the easy answer, isn't it? Because Gibson hits that one straight out of the park with an absolutely amazing range of emotions. I really like the ep. with the daughter/prostitute, too, just because he's hanging right on the edge and not seeing the unsub right in front of him comes so close to pushing him off.
Is there a part of Aaron's life that you wish got more focus? Rewatching season 1 at the moment, I wish someone would shake Hotch out of his post-Haley funk at the office, so he'd have some fun again. I loved his so-close-but-not-really flirting with Garcia, and the way he'd sometimes laugh with his team. I miss that.
What is Hotch's most striking character trait? Control. At all times. You really get the feeling that he's afraid to slip up, even a little. And now that he has, with Foyet... well. We all saw what happened.
What is your favorite Hotch scene? The Hotchalanche in Tabula Rasa. And getting Reid's message (and the aftermath: "What's my worst quality?") in Revelations. Oh, and washing the blood of Elle's wall. That one just... summed up Hotch in a single frame. I could keep going, since Hotch is my favorite character, but... you get the picture, yes?
What do you think makes Hotch an integral part of the BAU? His solidity. Even when he's falling apart personally, he's the bedrock of the team. I was happy to see Rossi join, because he added some much needed support (not least because he's sneaky about it!), but Hotch is always there, to pick up the team when they need it. And when he falters (Foyet's attack, applying for a transfer, even surrendering team lead to Morgan) the team just doesn't function at full capacity.
For writers, how do you portray Hotch? Are there aspects of his life that are not on the show that you incorporate into your fiction? Do you stick pretty close to what the show portrays with regard to his character? I stick very close to the show in terms of characterization. Or, at least, I try. By the nature of things, I do try to show a lot more of his home-life than the show does, and I like Sean, so... they go in there. Also, my personal fanon is that Hotch and Sean's biological dad beat wee!Hotch. Then Sean was born (there is quite an age-gap between them), and their mom took the boys and walked away. Then she married the lawyer Sean refers to as dad; the one who died of a heart-attack at 47. Hotch is the character I identify with on the show, so writing him is easy. Writing the rest of them? That takes some doing... :-)
For readers, how do you like your Hotch portrayed? Stoic and serious? A family man? Do you prefer him in danger or saving the day? I like my Hotch to ring true. I don't like him being abusive to others. I don't like him to be too sappy and call anyone 'baby' or anything. I don't like him too... I'd say emotional, but that's not quite right. Emotionally demonstrative, I think is a better term.
What do you think makes Hotch tick? A drive, instilled in childhood, to never lose control. And the need to make the world a safer place for the innocents, one crime at a time. I think that was what bugged me most about the argument with Haley, that she clearly didn't understand that he was telling the truth when he said: "This is who I am." That discrepancy in their perception was really what made me okay with her walking out, because if she didn't get that, then there really was no hope.
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Date: Jan. 11th, 2012 09:57 am (UTC)What is your favorite Aaron Hotchner episode? 100 is the easy answer, isn't it? Because Gibson hits that one straight out of the park with an absolutely amazing range of emotions. I really like the ep. with the daughter/prostitute, too, just because he's hanging right on the edge and not seeing the unsub right in front of him comes so close to pushing him off.
Is there a part of Aaron's life that you wish got more focus? Rewatching season 1 at the moment, I wish someone would shake Hotch out of his post-Haley funk at the office, so he'd have some fun again. I loved his so-close-but-not-really flirting with Garcia, and the way he'd sometimes laugh with his team. I miss that.
What is Hotch's most striking character trait? Control. At all times. You really get the feeling that he's afraid to slip up, even a little. And now that he has, with Foyet... well. We all saw what happened.
What is your favorite Hotch scene? The Hotchalanche in Tabula Rasa. And getting Reid's message (and the aftermath: "What's my worst quality?") in Revelations. Oh, and washing the blood of Elle's wall. That one just... summed up Hotch in a single frame. I could keep going, since Hotch is my favorite character, but... you get the picture, yes?
What do you think makes Hotch an integral part of the BAU? His solidity. Even when he's falling apart personally, he's the bedrock of the team. I was happy to see Rossi join, because he added some much needed support (not least because he's sneaky about it!), but Hotch is always there, to pick up the team when they need it. And when he falters (Foyet's attack, applying for a transfer, even surrendering team lead to Morgan) the team just doesn't function at full capacity.
For writers, how do you portray Hotch? Are there aspects of his life that are not on the show that you incorporate into your fiction? Do you stick pretty close to what the show portrays with regard to his character? I stick very close to the show in terms of characterization. Or, at least, I try. By the nature of things, I do try to show a lot more of his home-life than the show does, and I like Sean, so... they go in there. Also, my personal fanon is that Hotch and Sean's biological dad beat wee!Hotch. Then Sean was born (there is quite an age-gap between them), and their mom took the boys and walked away. Then she married the lawyer Sean refers to as dad; the one who died of a heart-attack at 47. Hotch is the character I identify with on the show, so writing him is easy. Writing the rest of them? That takes some doing... :-)
For readers, how do you like your Hotch portrayed? Stoic and serious? A family man? Do you prefer him in danger or saving the day? I like my Hotch to ring true. I don't like him being abusive to others. I don't like him to be too sappy and call anyone 'baby' or anything. I don't like him too... I'd say emotional, but that's not quite right. Emotionally demonstrative, I think is a better term.
What do you think makes Hotch tick? A drive, instilled in childhood, to never lose control. And the need to make the world a safer place for the innocents, one crime at a time. I think that was what bugged me most about the argument with Haley, that she clearly didn't understand that he was telling the truth when he said: "This is who I am." That discrepancy in their perception was really what made me okay with her walking out, because if she didn't get that, then there really was no hope.