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criminalxminds2012-01-09 12:37 pm
ficdirectory.livejournal.com) wrote in criminalxminds2012-01-09 12:37 pm
RoundTable Mondays: Aaron Hotchner
Aaron Hotchner grew up suffering physical abuse at the hands of his workaholic, lawyer father. (Season 1). It's strongly implied that his mother did little to stop the abuse. Hotch has a younger brother named Sean, who is a chef in NYC. Their father survived cancer, but later died of a heart-attack at 47, while Sean was still a child.
Hotch married his high school sweetheart, Haley Brooks, soon after high school, and he worked as a prosecutor for the District Attorney's office. The first case Hotch ever worked with the FBI involved the Boston Reaper, in 1998.
Hotch's son, Jack, was born in 2005. Haley begins to resent all the time Hotch spends at work as early as Season 1. Haley filed for divorce in Season 3. In early Season 4 Hotch suffered acute acoustic trauma and a shrapnel wound to his leg after being too near an explosion. At the end of Season 4, George Foyet (The Reaper) breaks into Hotch's apartment and stabs him 9 times before delivering him to a local hospital, and stealing Haley and Jack's address. Hotch's family is then put into protective custody.
However, in Season 5, The Reaper got to the US Marshall assigned to Hotch's family and tortured him, trying to get him to tell where Haley and Jack were located. He withstood everything that Foyet had, according to fellow agent, Spencer Reid, but The Reaper used the Marshall's cell phone to contact Haley. He posed as someone with Witness Protection and told her that Hotch had been killed and her location had been compromised. Unaware that Hotch was alive, and she was speaking with a killer, Haley lets Foyet in. She gets in contact with Hotch and they have a final conversation. Hotch is able to issue a code to Jack telling him to "work the case", and Jack was able to hide in the house. Haley was (possibly) shot and also stabbed.
Hotch arrived to find her body and fought Foyet to keep him from locating Jack. Hotch ends up beating Foyet to death to keep this from occurring. He takes custody of Jack, and Haley's sister, Jessica, takes care of Jack when Hotch is away on a case.
In Season 6, he is reluctant to allow Erin Strauss to promote fellow FBI teammate Jennifer Jareau, against JJ's will. Hotch promises he will work on getting her back. In her absence, Hotch takes over part of her job as media liaison, despite his busy schedule. When co-worker, Emily Prentiss is threatened by an international criminal, Hotch makes the decision to bring JJ in to help find Emily. When it's clear that she will not be safe, Hotch and JJ fake Emily's death and get her out of the country through covert exfiltration. Though he is quite serious, Hotch takes moments to talk to his team and make sure they are coping with the demands of the job, or to discuss a potentially dangerous moment on the field. He and Derek Morgan often discuss the importance of trust between the team, and encourages Morgan to trust the others on the team. He tells Penelope Garcia that he knows when she has to step out of her comfort zone, it's very difficult for her, but that he would not want her to change herself for the job. He makes sure Reid gets respect despite his young age, and reassures him that he does not have to give answers others want to hear, while he is grieving Emily's loss. He also helps Rossi cope with the loss of his first wife in Season 7.
Prior to Season 7, Hotch was working in Pakistan, but came back in time to reaveal to the team that Emily Prentiss is alive. He tells the team it was his decision and any "issues" should be directed at him, and not fellow conspiritor, JJ. Hotch has also been promoted to Section Chief, because the former (Erin Strauss) was dealing with alcoholism and needed to go into treatment after drinking on the job. In what little free time Hotch has, he goes to Jack's school conferences, tries to help him through issues of potential bullying. We learned recently that Hotch is also an athlete and has been training for a triathlon, during which he meets a woman named Beth. Hotch is concerned initially because he only lost Haley two years ago, and it may be too fast. But the episode ends with Hotch smiling.
What is your favorite Aaron Hotchner episode?
Is there a part of Aaron's life that you wish got more focus?
What is Hotch's most striking character trait?
What is your favorite Hotch scene?
What do you think makes Hotch an integral part of the BAU?
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?
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?
What do you think makes Hotch tick?
Feel free to add any other thoughts about Hotch's character in this post, but keep it respectful, please. Disagreement is part of life, but don't put another person down to make your point.
Hotch married his high school sweetheart, Haley Brooks, soon after high school, and he worked as a prosecutor for the District Attorney's office. The first case Hotch ever worked with the FBI involved the Boston Reaper, in 1998.
Hotch's son, Jack, was born in 2005. Haley begins to resent all the time Hotch spends at work as early as Season 1. Haley filed for divorce in Season 3. In early Season 4 Hotch suffered acute acoustic trauma and a shrapnel wound to his leg after being too near an explosion. At the end of Season 4, George Foyet (The Reaper) breaks into Hotch's apartment and stabs him 9 times before delivering him to a local hospital, and stealing Haley and Jack's address. Hotch's family is then put into protective custody.
However, in Season 5, The Reaper got to the US Marshall assigned to Hotch's family and tortured him, trying to get him to tell where Haley and Jack were located. He withstood everything that Foyet had, according to fellow agent, Spencer Reid, but The Reaper used the Marshall's cell phone to contact Haley. He posed as someone with Witness Protection and told her that Hotch had been killed and her location had been compromised. Unaware that Hotch was alive, and she was speaking with a killer, Haley lets Foyet in. She gets in contact with Hotch and they have a final conversation. Hotch is able to issue a code to Jack telling him to "work the case", and Jack was able to hide in the house. Haley was (possibly) shot and also stabbed.
Hotch arrived to find her body and fought Foyet to keep him from locating Jack. Hotch ends up beating Foyet to death to keep this from occurring. He takes custody of Jack, and Haley's sister, Jessica, takes care of Jack when Hotch is away on a case.
In Season 6, he is reluctant to allow Erin Strauss to promote fellow FBI teammate Jennifer Jareau, against JJ's will. Hotch promises he will work on getting her back. In her absence, Hotch takes over part of her job as media liaison, despite his busy schedule. When co-worker, Emily Prentiss is threatened by an international criminal, Hotch makes the decision to bring JJ in to help find Emily. When it's clear that she will not be safe, Hotch and JJ fake Emily's death and get her out of the country through covert exfiltration. Though he is quite serious, Hotch takes moments to talk to his team and make sure they are coping with the demands of the job, or to discuss a potentially dangerous moment on the field. He and Derek Morgan often discuss the importance of trust between the team, and encourages Morgan to trust the others on the team. He tells Penelope Garcia that he knows when she has to step out of her comfort zone, it's very difficult for her, but that he would not want her to change herself for the job. He makes sure Reid gets respect despite his young age, and reassures him that he does not have to give answers others want to hear, while he is grieving Emily's loss. He also helps Rossi cope with the loss of his first wife in Season 7.
Prior to Season 7, Hotch was working in Pakistan, but came back in time to reaveal to the team that Emily Prentiss is alive. He tells the team it was his decision and any "issues" should be directed at him, and not fellow conspiritor, JJ. Hotch has also been promoted to Section Chief, because the former (Erin Strauss) was dealing with alcoholism and needed to go into treatment after drinking on the job. In what little free time Hotch has, he goes to Jack's school conferences, tries to help him through issues of potential bullying. We learned recently that Hotch is also an athlete and has been training for a triathlon, during which he meets a woman named Beth. Hotch is concerned initially because he only lost Haley two years ago, and it may be too fast. But the episode ends with Hotch smiling.
What is your favorite Aaron Hotchner episode?
Is there a part of Aaron's life that you wish got more focus?
What is Hotch's most striking character trait?
What is your favorite Hotch scene?
What do you think makes Hotch an integral part of the BAU?
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?
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?
What do you think makes Hotch tick?
Feel free to add any other thoughts about Hotch's character in this post, but keep it respectful, please. Disagreement is part of life, but don't put another person down to make your point.
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In general, how would you define a Team Mom? And who, if anyone, in the CM team fits the description?
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I think that's one of the great aspects of CM - they challenge gender stereotypes in a beautiful and subtle way.
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And again, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree.
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While I'd agree on Hotch being the team mom, I'm not sure it's necessary to attach a label to him at all, especially if "Team Mom" or "Team Dad" invokes the wrong image within us. For me, there are "Parent-like" qualities in him, and I (gender roles imprinted in me, too), would say there's more Mom than Dad stuff, but really, the qualities he shows are more important than the label.
Characters evolve and change over seven years (THANK GOD!) but that aspect has been a part of Hotch's character from the beginning. Really, the flowers for Garcia were only one piece of the puzzle, also him going to see the burn victim in "Ashes and Dust" was telling (even though Gideon offered to do it). He was the one to hug Reid in Revelations, when Gideon stood back...
I just think he's a very caring man and yes, he does put the team before his family in "In Blood and Name" (to put it simple. I don't think it was as simple, but for the sake of this discussion, we can say it). He certainly is the one who makes sure no one gets lost in the havoc around them (esp. Reid, as he's the youngest team member), he makes sure they're all okay and challenges them about their emotional state at times if they seem to be running the wrong direction, he'll raise a scolding finger if necessary... and they all confide in him. He provides guidance when needed.
What I said about the Mom/Dad Label goes for the Family Label, too, though again, I'm tempted to agree - they are a family, in a way. It just shows in the way they look out for each other, and at least on one occasion, Morgan referred to them as a "kind of family".
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F'rinstance - Reid tended, especially early on, to fill the "damsel in distress" role you would expect one of the women to be in. Elle, when she broke, didn't curl up and cry; she blew the guy away in cold blood, a hyper-aggressive response you might expect from a male. The rape survivor on the team is male. The card-sharp is female. And so on.
To me, the "Team Mom" is more one who fills the role, not necessarily a female. Lemmie quote some bits from tvtropes.org; they say it pretty well:
"is someone to hold this... bunch... together before they kill each other or wander off into the woods.
Not always the leader in action or adventure, but the leader the team needs in everyday life and practical matters. Quells fights, makes sure everyone cleans behind their ears and eats their greens.
Their absence (be it emotional or physical) will most certainly put the team on edge as their ability to function as, well, a team, comes into jeopardy. Thus these instances serve as a reminder of [Mom's] value when the team grows complacent. And by the way? Villains should NOT threaten or harm [Mom]. Ever. [The] family 'will not be pleased' [TV Tropes code for 'Unstoppable Rage'].
Hotch makes excuses for Gideon's lack of manners. Hotch thinks to wash the blood off Elle's wall. Hotch is the emotional center of the team - you can really tell this more by the way the team acts when he's not there. And in "Scared To Death", when Morgan and Reid are briefly stuck in an elevator, their cries of "Hoooootch!" sure sound a lot like "Mooooooooommm!" Hotch sent Garcia flowers because he didn't think it would occur to Gideon to do so - does that sound more Mom or Dad? (Gideon did send a gift, but Hotch was clearly surprised to hear that.)
Gideon, OTOH, is much more self-centered. He hands out praise so seldom that even an approving nod from him causes them to grin like an idiot. He's always come across to me as the gruff mentor rather than the nurturing type.
So, thanks for listening. If you disagree, that's cool. They have menus in restaurants for a reason. Maybe we just see the roles of Moms and Dads differently.
So, I do actually see the Hotch-as-Mom thing in the show, but reading that list, Hotch sounds an awful lot like the dad to Gideon's alcoholic mom, especially the making excuses part. Seriously, Gideon is Meg Ryan from that one movie and Hotch is Andy Garcia. OMG. (Following the movie, Hotch is totally an enabler, at least when it comes to Gideon.)
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This also is directly in proportion to the age/history the character has. His Parent qualities show more often with Reid (and in S6, Seaver) than with Morgan, especially as he matured over the years, or Emily, once she'd been on the team for a while.