A plane crash? Seriously?!

[a_blackpanther]

This is the discussion post for Episode 10x03 - "A Thousand Suns". Watch out for SPOILERS in the comments.

Comments

[periantari.livejournal.com]

Very interesting episode so far...

[periantari.livejournal.com]

I think this was the best episode so far because it's a departure from the crazy chopping up limbs and masochistic killers that we have seen. I think it's an interesting and scary idea that someone could gain control of a plane like that and crash it. It's highly unlikely in real life to do it but this episode was highly well paced and exciting. I love Reid explaining how a plane would crash. The last scene with the plane was very scary!!

[full-metal-ox.livejournal.com]

. I love Reid explaining how a plane would crash.

Hello, Savant-Cam! It's been a while since we've seen you!

[blythechild.livejournal.com]

LOL! "Savant Cam"... Nice one ;)

[ruralstar.livejournal.com]

I've been really enjoying this season so far. The stories have been tight, the characters 'in character', and the violence in context. I think Kate is a great addition to the crew. I am aware of JLH previous work, but I never watched any of it so I had no specific expectations. I think she fits in well. Her camaraderie with the crew feels genuine as opposed to Blake who remained on the outside IMO for her entire two years.

As for the realistic nature of this episode's plot...It's a bit far-fetched but not as much as we all might think. Society is heavily dependent on electronics and when you consider that hackers have gotten into such secure networks as the Pentagon...yeah, think twice the next time you have to fly.

Favorite scenes were definitely Reid explaining the plane crash and his candid conversation with Kate. I love that Reid is finally opening up a bit about Maeve. It shows that he is healing, and that he is learning to trust people as he doesn't really know Kate. The writers made a good choice by giving Kate a past early on, making her human in a way Blake wasn't.

I'm looking forward to a rewatch.

[blythechild.livejournal.com]

Well, this one was refreshing in that there weren't any gruesome torture sequences or screaming-victims-moments-before-they-die kinda interludes.

Yeah. But POTUS, the Joint Chiefs, the Attorney General, the NSA, Homeland Security, and some other official types made a conference call to laugh about this one. I'm sorry - I hate being negative about something I love - but the story was ridiculous. The UnSub was motivated by a bad date and a massive misinterpretation of Robert Oppenheimer's entire career? I suppose that there doesn't have to be a good reason for an act of terrorism, but it makes for slightly perplexing tv. Also, any sitting president who ordered a commercial airliner shot down (and the call would come from him in the Situation Room, not some security agency worker bee on the ground) would find his personal belongings in trash bags on the White House lawn by morning.

Okay, so what was good about the episode? Kate continues to be a good fit, and I'm happy to see that her backstory was filled in sooner rather than later (I wondered who that kid was in the first episode). The Reid-plane walk through was nice to see - those scenes are always fan pleasers even though I'm sure that they are expensive to create. And seeing Kate and Reid bond a little was pleasant and in character (at least on Reid's part). Other than that, I think that this episode falls squarely in the 'meh' column: loved the character development and a case based on something OTHER than a serial killer, but hated the flimsy motivation and the obvious implausibility of what happened.

[meepalicious.livejournal.com]

The UnSub was motivated by a bad date and a massive misinterpretation of Robert Oppenheimer's entire career?

This wasn't just stupid, it was tired. I mean, come on. I'm getting real tired of these unsubs motivated by hatred of women - their mother was a prostitute or abandoned them, they couldn't get a date, a girl made fun of them… There have been real life examples of this, like what happened at École Polytechnique, but I'd like to see a little creativity from the writing team, here.

I think I'm extra grumpy because this week's Special Victims Unit unsub had basically the same motivation. It's getting old. I don't expect much better from Special Victims Unit any more, but I'd like to see Criminal Minds step up their game.

[blythechild.livejournal.com]

I feel ya. The FBI actually just released a 5 year study this week that looked into the demographics and motivations of killers, and it's depressing that it confirms that victims of murder are overwhelmingly female (70+%) and that the motivation for most murders is sexual in nature (a whopping 80% of cases in the study). So, there's a statistical basis for what the writers are producing on this show, but it's creatively predictable and an argument can be made that reflecting reality can also influence these trends by making them seem 'expected'.

I guess that I'm just hoping for more unexpected stories considering that this is a TV show.

[philstar22.livejournal.com]

Could somebody possibly tell me who the ultimate unsub was?

I'm massively terrified of planes, and it took two minutes for me to realize I should not be watching this episode. I would like to know who did it, though, and also if there are any non-case related interesting stuff that happened with the characters.

Thanks

[meepalicious.livejournal.com]

blythechild explained it pretty well: The UnSub was motivated by a bad date and a massive misinterpretation of Robert Oppenheimer's entire career?

This wasn't a very character-driven episode, so you didn't miss much on that front… We got a little backstory for Kate. Her sister and her brother-in-law died on 9/11 at the Pentagon and left a daughter. She's raising their daughter, who is now 13 or so.

[philstar22.livejournal.com]

Thanks. So I didn't miss much then. Good to know, going to stick with not watching.

[nyxe-hxt.livejournal.com]

I didn't even finish watching this episode. It openned a wounded heart must say :(