"Honor Among Thieves" Discussion Post.

[laguera25.livejournal.com]

Here is the discussion post for tonight's episode. Squee and critique to your hearts' content, but no flaming. Remember, spoilers may be present in the comments.

Comments

[mugging-hipster.livejournal.com]

ah the russian mob!

wasn't one of the best episodes, but i so knew right from the beginning that natalya was in on the whole thing.

also, one thing i didn't get ... so, natalya's "boyfriend" kidnapped her father? why? i mean, like, did she want to kill him? maybe i missed that part or something, but i don't understand why she would have her own father kidnapped ....

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

She said she was tired of being in the shadow of her dead brothers.. blah, blah, sob story, blah. So she gets her father kidnapped. She has major angst issues, I guess.

[mugging-hipster.livejournal.com]

that's such a lame reason to get her father kidnapped.
XD
o well.
thanks!

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

So, first of all, can I say that Reid + over sized sunglasses = ♥

But anyway, so I liked the episode tonight. But, then again, when do I not?
Um, I really liked the Prentiss and her mother interaction. I think every single episode makes me like her more and more.
Also, did anyway notice that there seemed to be some history with Hotch and Mom Prentiss? I mean, I know (or I think I know, correct me if I'm making this up and don't realize it) that Hotch worked for EP's mom before the BAU, but it seemed like if so, there would be more interaction between them. Instead, they were really formal with each other and put EP in the middle "Tell Agent Hotchner this." "Tell Ambassador Prentiss that." Maybe there's something we don't know there? Or maybe I'm making this up/seeing things that aren't there.
I dunno. It wasn't my favorite episode or anything, but I really did like it. Bit of a cliche ending, and some minor filming mistakes I caught on to, but oh well. It was still good.

Also, this made me just laugh. I couldn't help but notice that Morgan could not only tell that Natalya's shoes were designer knock offs, but also what designer they were a knock off of. This is why I'm a slash fan, I suppose. =)

[tsiankiio.livejournal.com]

I also got the impression that Hotch and Mama Prentiss were not speaking directly to each other for a reason, though what reason, I'm not yet ready to speculate.

Morgan being the fake fashion expert also cracked me up, though I was thinking off his sisters :)

[shawngf.livejournal.com]

This is probably a kick off from an earlier script. In one of the early drafts for DISTRESS, presumably before the Reid drug story was written, there's a whole scene between Morgan and Reid about Morgan's shoes and how his sister gave them to him and he likes looking stylish etc. The whole convo is a follow-up to him having been sent into the sewer by Gideon.

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

Could be, actually. I always forget he has sisters. Lol =)

[tsiankiio.livejournal.com]

Actually, I really liked what we saw of his family in Profiler, Profiled, so I tend to twig on things that relate to them.

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

I liked what we saw of his family a lot too actually. Usually, though, I'll think about his mom and sort of just forget about his sisters, because I think I liked what we saw of his mom more.

[alicedear.livejournal.com]

The Russian mob = so much win.

But my favorite thing was the interaction with Prentiss and her mom. The first seen had a wonderful feel of Mom showing up and being flashy and Prentiss just really wanting her to not try and get, um, special treatment. There was a great feeling of 'Moooom, you're *embarrassing* me!'

But I love the Prentiss. At first she came on as such a Mary-Sue, it's lovely to have them showing us she's kind of a foot-in-mouth nerd who bickers with her mom like me.

Also, THE RUSSIAN MOB. *fails a little* *runs back into lurkdom*

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

Yea, I really like them giving some characterization to Prentiss.
I agree, the first scene really did seem like Prentiss wanted her gone, because she's worked hard to prove that she's not here, because of her parents.

[alicedear.livejournal.com]

There's definitely a strong sense, throughout the last couple episodes, that Prentiss knows she looks like she's a rich, connected kid skating in, and is desperate to prove she isn't. During the first scene she kept shooting these glances at Hotch like 'Is this OK? I didn't bring her here I'm not trying to overstep my bounds. Please don't eat me'.

Which is, I think, very relate-able and makes me kinda of want to love Emily, um, a lot.

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

Which is, I think, very relate-able and makes me kinda of want to love Emily, um, a lot.

Me too. I honestly didn't think I'd like her the first couple of episodes she was in. I thought she'd be like JJ, who I don't hate or dislike, but feel fairly indifferent about, except the occasional scene that I like with her.
Instead, EP is really growing on me. She's relatable and yea, she's the privileged rich kid, but she's trying to prove that she deserves to have gotten where she's at.
I really hope they have more of her and especially go into the relationship she seems (well, except in this ep) to be building with Reid. I like that they bicker like brother and sister and I think that expanding on that relationship would be interesting.

So yea, this episode especially "makes me kinda want to love Emily, um, a lot." =)

[runtling.livejournal.com]

You took the words right out of my mouth about that.
Especially about the Russian mob! ♥ :DDD

[alicedear.livejournal.com]

That is an amazing icon.

[runtling.livejournal.com]

Haha, isn't it?
The art comes from this (http://www.threadless.com/product/383/The_Communist_Party) kick-ass t-shirt. :D

[alicedear.livejournal.com]

...

*goes to raid the couch for money*

[runtling.livejournal.com]

Haha, I had exactly the same reaction when I first saw it. XD

[polgarawolf.livejournal.com]

This episode leaves me wondering how many places Momma Prentiss was stationed and, if she did happened to say something that upset someone in a higher up place, what it was and when.

My first thought was that Hotch seems to be tired of having politicians meddling in his investigations and that I certainly didn't blame him. The excessive formality seemed to be a coping mechanism to keep him from telling the politician where she could shove her rule-breaking case. But he did work for Ambassador Prentiss when Emily was in college, which implies that it was during a time when not many people would've been around to notice if the Ambassador might've said or done something inappropriate that might have upset Agent Hotchner, so . . . open possibilities, mmmmm! Though it was a bit odd to see Prentiss behave so darn normally around her mother. I was expecting, I don't know, a bit more of an obvious flinch response?

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

I was expecting somewhat more of a flinch response too, but I think once Emily realized that her mom wasn't there to check up or do anything that could make it seem like EP got into the BAU, because of her mom, she lightened up. I think EP just realized, 'hey, she's here asking for help on a case. she's not here to check up on me and she's not going to make it seem like I got here only with her help.' and she was a little warmer to her mother after that.

[polgarawolf.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. That could work, given the way the episode ends (with her worried about her mom enough to ask her out to eat, mom's treat, and laugh over it). Prentiss (Emily) is very, very concerned about being accepted by the team as a member of the team who belongs there on her own merits, not because of any behind the scenes politicking. Her relief over not having to worry about the first being brought up might have very well overwhelmed any other of her reflexive flinches . . .

[beatriceeagle.livejournal.com]

No, because I think Prentiss's relations with her parent(s) are strained, but not completely broken. I'm not sure that her mother ever really did anything to her, she just...was cold and distant and somewhat emotionless. So they can act completely normal around other people.

Well, she seems to have been stationed at the very least in Ukraine and the Middle East. Actually, various places in the Middle East.

[(Anonymous)]

I usually find it more interesting when the characters are a bit broken, but can still pull off looking normal. I did get the impression that she was all that cold and emotionless, just extra good at covering it. But they brought in Mama Prentiss and yet we didn't get anything good or any character growth.

[tsiankiio.livejournal.com]

that was me!

[polgarawolf.livejournal.com]

Does she have another parent? No, really, honestly, is there still a Mr. Ambassador in the family? I can't remember anyone really ever referring to her father, off the top of my head.

Former Soviet Union (hey, it could've still been the Soviet Union then, the way the episode was set up) and the Middle East. That strikes me as a very odd combo, personally, and I wonder how the heck she ever made the jump from a Slavic language to Arabic. (No wonder Emily's bad with Russian. Oh, ow, I just made my own head hurt!) Emily's flinch reflex is most often triggered by 1) politics and/or her mother and 2) sex crimes and/or underage prostitutes. The second actually works as a result of a former-Soviet setting as well as the Middle East, oddly enough, but why is shy so flinchy about politics in every blamed episode she's in before this one? Why does mom in every other way but present make her act like someone overcompensating for an old wound???

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

Yea, I was thinking the Russia/Middle East combo was a tad strange myself, but oh well. Possibly, she went to Russia right before Emily left for college or something, so she didn't get a chance to pick up much Russian.
I think she's flinchy over politics, because she's still insecure about her place in the BAU and wonders if she'll get blamed, because she's connected to politicians.

[polgarawolf.livejournal.com]

I'd like to assume the Russian assignment wasn't too terribly long ago, considering that the Ambassador assumed her contacts would still be able to help her, but the family was supposed to've fled to the US before the USSR fell apart and I have a hard time believing they'd go back to work at the embassy after having gone to the trouble to flee the country, so . . . sometime around when Emily went to college is probably a safe bet.

Oh, I'm sure that's a given. But she seems to blame politics for the fact that her family is dysfunctional, given earlier comments, so I think there's probably more to it than that.

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

Yea, I guess you're right. Maybe we'll learn a bit more about her aversion to politics in a later episode. Until then, I guess I really can only speculate.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

It might have something to do with her dad. We assume she has a dad....

[polgarawolf.livejournal.com]

I need to doublecheck the blurbs on the upcoming shows and see if there might be anything else this season that focuses more on Prentiss . . .

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

This may be my least favorite episode to date, because I'm disappointed we got Prentiss' mom but didn't actually get much payoff on Prentiss, and none of the other characters seem to have gotten much in the way of arc.

It was nice to see Prentiss trying to walk that fine line between Hotch and her mom, and the scene with Gideon and the thief-in-law was a thing of beauty. I am also amused that Reid's eidetic memory got used in such a very quiet little fashion.

[marykaykare.livejournal.com]

Yes, and there was that moral dilemma thing you're fond of. Only this time it wasn't one of our guys' dilemma.

I liked the thing with the tattoos and Reid too. But what was with his right sleeve being open and loose. That is *not* our neat and tidy Reid. Also, that shot of him in front of the ambulance with JJ where his sleeves were rolled up wasn't actually in the ep.

Not my favorite episode either. Sigh.

MKK

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

No, it's in Doubt.

His sleeves are open and unbuttoned a lot, actually, and often rolled up. I suspect his arms are too long for many shirts. (I have the same problem.)

[scsquidsnaps.livejournal.com]

Also, he's been a little less neat since the whole drug thing. He's gotten loads neater than say, the episode right after his capture, but he's still not completely gone back to his obsessive neatness.
Maybe, because they've had so many reruns on, its harder to notice/remember that he's been like that, I guess.

[wickedandcruel.livejournal.com]

Also, that shot of him in front of the ambulance with JJ where his sleeves were rolled up wasn't actually in the epi

Because that's a pic from next week's episode "Doubt"

[pyrae.livejournal.com]

Disappointing, to say the least. I felt like very little was actually done by our team. Gideon, Reid, and Shemar wandered around doing ****-all (though often being awesome doing it), while Prentiss got so close to developing her relationship with her mother, and ended up doing most of it in thirty seconds at the end without any real build-up. Hotch was virtually absent after his first scene, and I don't think JJ ever showed up at all. Garcia got to do a little bank hacking, but it turned out to be pointless. If the BAU hadn't showed up, the mob would have done what it did anyway--and the leader basically told Gideon he was going to have the renegades killed, and the team did nothing to stop it. Was that supposed to be a commentary on their stance on vigilantes? I couldn't understand why they were content to fly in, amble about, and then leave without having affected a thing. More importantly, I couldn't understand why an episode was made about it.

[wickedandcruel.livejournal.com]

The episode was as boring as the script was to read. No surprises there. I said it was going to be a bad one. I love how some people flat out lied about it.

"brilliant" lol. sure.

It wasn't my favorite either

[canneveremember.livejournal.com]

One thing I noticed is the interaction between Reid and Morgan. What was up with that. He kept calling Morgan "man", and it seemed like he had something better to do - because he had a real defeatest attitude. "We got nothing to go on, man." That was so the anti-Reid talking.

I think that every great show has a throw-away episode now and then, and this was this season's throw-away. The next new episode sounds amazing! I cannot wait!

Any idea what Legacy is going to be about?

[eviljr.livejournal.com]

I just want an icon for the Garcia quote for the Oracle line. *nods*

[unmellow-yellow.livejournal.com]

Was anyone else majorly creeped out by the actress playing Emily's mom? Holy plastic surgery Batman!

[gothkittyn.livejournal.com]

It totally made my night when I saw Kate Jackson playing Prentiss's Mom. You did know she played Sabrina Duncan on Charlie's Angels right? (the original show from the 70's, not the newer movie)

but yeah, the plastic surgery was kinda scary.

[unmellow-yellow.livejournal.com]

Yeah, she was the tallest one, right?

[gothkittyn.livejournal.com]

I think so yeah, the taller brunette.

[sarievenea.livejournal.com]

I so was! She creeped the hell out of me!!! :)