Sunday, March 18, 2007

CRIMINAL MINDS: LETS DISCUSS THE CHARACTER JASON GIDEON. ANY THOUGHTS?


Lets discuss Criminal Minds character Jason Gideon portrayed by Mandy Patinkin. Any thoughts? :)

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is interesting how much we don’t know about him. In Blood Hungry he says he is working on a list of items he wants to accomplish in life. He ends up on crutches after skydiving. Hotch asks him about calling his estranged son, which he does after Hotch leaves. We don’t know what is behind the estrangement, why he wears the wedding ring (s) though he is divorced or what is behind the Super Bowl day visits to the Smithsonian.

Jason Gideon is intense. We have heard persistent references to the incident in Boston. At first (season 1) it appeared he was much more cautious in his decision making, possibly as a result of that incident. He seems lately to be more driven and confident, or at least willing to take chances. His intensity seems to remain high at all times while working. The only time he lets down his guard is when he is enjoying music or art or other activities away from the job.

I am guessing that MP is the same way as his character.

Elizabeth Bear said...

Do we know that Gideon is divorced? Much like Hotch's ambition, I think we've seen other people assuming he's divorced, but I don't think he's ever said so.

I think there have been hints that he's widowed.

Anonymous said...

Gideon's intensity toward every single action, is captivating. His pensivness is a beautiful contrast to all the other characters and it is exactly what you'd want to expect a profiler to be.
His gauging of every situation is how I want to be if I ever get as far as being a detective.

lisaw918 said...

If I were an FBI agent in training, Gideon is the mentor I'd want. He helps without taking over, he offers guidelines without seeming patronizing, he knows what's what and he cuts off his own doubts before they have time to eat him up. He constantly tells himself that he 'did his job,' that even though something like Elle's shooting or Reid's almost-death might seem to be the result of his actions, that he did the right thing and he can't let the doubt take hold. And considering the passion and violence with which he empathizes, this is really impressive. He's a very strong character, even when he needs a time-out because he just can't take it anymore. He knows what he needs, and he doesn't let the nightmares destroy him. The Boston incident seems to be the only thing that has ever taken root and overthrown these reasoning powers; I think there's more to this mystery than we have been told. It probably has to do with the fact that, in that instance, he didn't "do his job." He didn't do the right thing; he did exactly the wrong thing. He was outwitted by a monster. And it makes sense that this would be his Achilles heel, because he places his faith in the profile every time. In "Fisher King," when everyone else is wrapped up in the quest, he calls them all back to earth and brings them back to the profile, to the victimology. So when that advantage over the darkness fails, it's his funeral, too. Which is why I adore "Won't Get Fooled Again." He's digging his way out of his grave back into the light; it's his redemption, and it's the moment when he really rejoins the team, with all his confidence restored. The doubts that come afterwards are surmountable.

What I would hate about being Gideon's protégé, though, is the fact that you practically have to mount an archaeological dig to get a little praise out of the guy. Because he's "doing his job," he basically assumes that that's what everyone else is, and should be, doing, too. (He tells Prentiss not to thank him for taking her along to Gitmo -- it's not a favor, it's a job.) Hotch is the one who goes around telling people they did a good job.

I think Gideon's wife is dead. It seems to me that very few men wear their wedding rings after getting divorced, although I'm not sure. Also, he's completely unwilling to discuss her, even with Sarah Jean, when she mentions the ring. All he says is: "I'm not married." And possibly, this might also explain his estrangement from his son, if the son blames him for not keeping his mother safe. After all, Gideon is an FBI agent, he does that for a living, but if he couldn't save his own wife, that might have created a divide that might still be overcome, since the telephone conversation he has at the end of "Blood Hungry" seems to be pretty civil.

I have to admit, the biggest reason why I love Gideon is Mandy Patinkin; if it were someone else in the role, I'm not sure I'd be so captivated. But it isn't, and I am :D

Anonymous said...

Gideon is the hardest character for me to figure out. I am enjoying reading your posts because it is helping me see him more clearly. I just think he is the saddest and most broken of all of them.

Anonymous said...

We have so few facts about his life outside of the BAU that it is tough to get a handle on him.

Elizabeth said...

I do love Gideon and I think in Season 2 we have seen more of how broken he is. I did like the snippets of the "method in his madness" that we saw in Broken Mirror and The Fox and it would be nice to see some of that more confident, brilliantly unorthodox Gideon again.

He does annoy me sometimes with his emotional distance and how hard he can be on the others. He seems to have pulled back from the father/son relationship he had with Reid in Season 1, lately more interested in what Reid can do, rather than who he is or how he feels. Hotch responds to Reid on a closer emotional level it seems sometimes. But maybe after Boston, Gideon can't afford to become too close to any of his agents anymore.

Mandy Patinkin has a wonderfully expressive face and when Gideon does have moments of tenderness, he shows that beautifully. You just know Gideon has an inner sadness and you have to love him for that.

nebula

Anonymous said...

What I love about Gideon is how he's always thinking about something. He's such a contemplative man and he's always got a very concentrated look on his face, even when a case has been finished.

I do think that he has changed a bit from Season 1 to Season 2, and that his relationships with the team have changed as well. He does a lot less of the heart-to-heart's and more emphasis on "getting the job done".

MP does a fantastic job of portraying the dark and complex Jason Gideon, and his secretive life, all of the things we don't know about him, make him that much more intriguing.

Anonymous said...

I think the Gideon character is a work in progress. I think references have been vague about his past. Just enough to say something but not enough to understand it. We know about the son and Gideon's prejudging that he would not want to talk to his father but yet we see the relief on Gideon's face when he calls and is talking to his son. Vague and too hard to figure out what that means. Also, the woman at his cabin was obviously not his wife or ex-wife. Realizing that anybody would be upset by a head in a box showing up during dinner but a wife or ex would not have freaked that bad. Plus this woman did not understand about the security closet which sounded the alarm. But the woman does make it sound like they have known each other for a very long time and she looked comfortable dancing with him and kissing him. So once again we are left wondering.

I am so grateful reading everyone else's thoughts as someone has already said because I too see Gideon as the biggest mystery.

Anonymous said...

I remember how surprised even Hotchner was when he found out that Gideon also did work for the CIA. I think there is a lot of things we will hear in the future about Gideon.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have an judgements or guesses as to why he does wear the wedding ring?

Elizabeth Bear said...

I think it's two wedding rings, and I think they are both actually MP's. But there have been hints that there are reasons why Gideon wears them, too.

I think he wears them because he's widowed, not divorced. I think there are hints about that in a bunch of episodes--Charm & Harm, What Fresh Hell, and others.

Hotch gets upset about kids in danger. Gideon seems to trigger more about spouses.

Anonymous said...

The scene in Blood Hungry with the list of things he wanted to accomplish before he died actually made me think that he had had a bout of cancer in his past. Maybe they were using Mandy's true life experience on that one. It was just a feeling.

Anonymous said...

Yes I agree it is clearly two wedding bands. I wonder when we will get more of Gideon's history.

lisaw918 said...

As much as I enjoy the little tidbits of Gideon's past that are periodically tossed our way, I'm not pining for any more character history. I think what they're thinking and doing now, and how they react to each other, is so much more interesting and important. You don't need secrets from their pasts to explain these guys; you can get so much more information about the kind of people they're supposed to be from the way they do their jobs, the way they cope with things, the ways in which they relate (or don't relate) to each other. As for the hints about things like the abuse in Hotch's past, you can get clues about it from the horrors that affect him the most (Perfect Storm, Psychodrama). They all have their night terrors, and they surface in little ways that don't need exposition to be powerful and telling.

Anonymous said...

I love the fact that he doesn't try to control every little thing, allowing the team to act like one but if they start going off at a tangent, he brings them back on track.
He knows when to step in and when to hold back. He may not give praise often or easily, but at least they know when he does give it, it's been earned and means so much more because of it.(Reid's reaction when Gideon said he was proud of him, for example.)

Anonymous said...

You all have such great insight into the character! Well done!

I don't have much to add, although I do love his character because he is so flawed. At every crime scene he hyperventilates and seems to personalize what happened to the victim. His facial expressions are superb, you can see the agony he is going through in every episode.

Anonymous said...

Out of all the characters, Gideon is the most mysterious which I think adds to the intensity of the role. He comes across as intimidating and a bit short, particularly in the first plane scene with Prentis in "Lessons Learned". When I watch FK1 I still cringe when poor Garcia has to fess up to how the unsub got into her system because of Gideon's reaction to it and then in FK2, the way he stares at her in the scene in the hallway made me uneasy as well. I think he's definitely "adopted" the BAU team as his "family", particularly Reid, because that's where his life seems to be focused; I imagine when the time came to retire, he'd be like his buddy Max and spend the time chasing down "the ones that got away". I'm torn about how much info I want the show to give us--I'd like to know more about him but I still want there to be a sense of mystery about him.

Anonymous said...

he's complex, driven but I kind of find him self-absorbed, even when he "helped" Reid in jones he was like my life sucks too, me me me get over it. He notices things around him and he's catious, but not the most can't think of the word but hes not the niced to others unless it helps him ie taking over Garcias office in season 1 without even knowing who she was.

lisaw918 said...

even when he "helped" Reid in jones he was like my life sucks too, me me me get over it.

Oh boy. Ok, we are not going down this road again. I will only say: I disagree :)


taking over Garcias office in season 1 without even knowing who she was.

Because the work takes over, and to him that's the most important thing. When Gideon asks Hotch why he sent Garcia flowers and signed Gideon's name, Hotch says: "Jason, people need to know that they're important, and sometimes you forget that." It goes back to what I said about Gideon assuming everyone's just doing their job because that's how he sees himself. One of his less attractive traits, and a good reason why he and Hotch run the unit together; those two complement each other so well.

Anonymous said...

In What Fresh Hell when Garcia asks if the photos in the frames in his office are his family he says “sort of”. The photos are of the people he has saved. He was adding a picture of the soccer player to a frame. It seems he has saved a lot, since the pictures cover the side desk. I sense though that there will never be enough of them.

Anonymous said...

Gideon is very complex and no nonsense. He's compassionate, generous, intelligent, experienced, and very knowledgeable. He's one of those co-workers that you would hate to see ever retire because you know a huge amount of knowledge will leave with him.

He's extremely dedicated and cares about the job and the team. What I love about him is that he doesn't toot his own horn. With his background and experience, he could easily be a know-it-all and constantly clash with Hotch to be the leader and to grab all the attention and glory for himself. Instead he chooses to work closely with his teammates and uses their collective talents to get the job done.

I love the way he talked about Morgan in one episode stating that "a man I greatly admire and respect is putting his life on the line". And I love the way he talked to Reid after he deliberately missed the plane to Texas in one episode when Reid really needed someone to listen.

I would love to learn more about his background and his personal life.

Gideon is someone you can learn a lot from just by observing. He's a great person and profiler with a tremendous amount of ability, and the BAU team is very fortunate to have him.

Anonymous said...

I've probably paid the least attention to Gideon, because he's so quiet, withdrawn. He's definitely a man whose seen too much, but because he's seen too much he can never leave it behind. He'll never be able to quit the BAU because it's not just what he does, it's who he is. He completely understands Max Ryan chasing the one who got away.
He's kind and gentle, but has this capacity to do whatever he has to, to get the job done.
I can't wait to find out why he wears two wedding rings, TV Guide indicated that we'll find out by the end of the season, but we all heard Jill's speach on spoilers, so I'm just hoping, not holding my breath. I know that the pilot was originally filmed with him speaking to his ex-wife on the plane ride home, so I wonder if that storyline is going to come back. I've always gotten the impression that he's divorced, but widowed also makes perfect sense for the character.
Also another bit of trivia, Gideon is Hebrew for mighty warrior, but the character name was originally Jason Donovan, which means dark warrior, it was changed after filming the pilot. I think mighty warrior is much more fitting for the character, he's strong and committed, but somehow even though darkness has touched his soul, he hasn't let it take over.

LoraLee

Anonymous said...

We dont seem to know a lot about him, but he seems to have been through a great deal in his life. It makes him a great at his job. I loved the episode when they were looking for that missing girl (what was it called?) and he found her, and placed her picture on his desk. I also loved the episode where Reid was having problems, and he told him about the girl he saved, who still keeps in contact with them. He obviosly has a sofy spot in his heart for children, which is something I love to see.

Anonymous said...

honestly? he is not my favorite. unlike Hotch, he is not so fantastic at hiding his emotions. this is something I really can't identify with. it's something I really don't understand. that's probably why I have trouble understanding some of the stuff this character does.

jacqui

Anonymous said...

I really love how Hotch and Gideon compliment each other. In Fisher King, Hotch had a feeling Gideon's stomach was upset from being angry and he had just eaten earlier. He could tell Jason needed to pass some gas and probably needed to take a dump so he gave him some time to himself. When Jason returned, he looked a little relieved and Hotch could tell he was alright for the time being.

Anonymous said...

In the above picture our boy Gideon cracks off a nasty one...luckily the young officer's mouth was open.

Anonymous said...

what i love about gideon is his compassion for the victims. he is always soothing them, stroking their hair, holding their hand. if i ever was a victim, i would want him at my side.

Unknown said...

Gideon is a m ysterious soul.Intelligent,profound,with selected tastes,elegant in his apparent personal mismanagement:he can be coarse as nobody else,and delicately exquisite as a few can be.
A pity he is no more in the series!
I had my secret hope of to be able to see him again(perhaps as the Replicator?..If he is so good combatting criminals,one could barely imagine how lethal he could be as a serial killer!!I would love to see this switch motion in his behaviour!)
I absolutely love Gideon,the might warrior,the healer(Jason means healer,as accurately points FRank,in No way out).
Gideon seems to ave appointed Reid as his indiscussed heir...I am wandering what coud Gideon think of the changes in his ex protégé's behaviour...
Gideon's nonchalance before the human stupidity:An imager that will accompany me forever.

Anonymous said...

Man...in the above picture, Gideon is really passing some serious gas. Wow...look at concentration on his face...which will lead to rotten concentrated air...which in turn will lead to a need for concentrated bleach to clean the skid marks concentrated in the seat of his drawers.

Anonymous said...

I've seen many people who say Gideon wasn't their fav or Gideon is not as good as Rossi. Well they can have their opinion but I beg to differ. Gideon was the "Mighty warrior" hands down. If I really get to meet a person like him, emotionally scarred yet concentrating on his job, relentlessly trying to save people. He would be the man I want as an inspiration, a mentor. The confidence he oozes of, the care for his victims. His emotions make him human.

Mandy Patinkin leaving the show was a shock to me. I cried my eyes out. The way he left made me want to hunt him down and ask him why. When I found out that he mentioned that "he was emotionally scarred and didn't like such violence." I have to admit I was so disappointed. Once I was rewatching many 1st and 2nd season Criminal Minds all together like a marathon and guess what I couldn't sleep, my dreams were filled with serial killers. Maybe MP faced something like that.

I love the human side of Gideon, the Charlie Chaplin, the sky diving. So sweet.
I always wished that he would be back on the show but my bad, MP would never return. If only we had a clone of him.

Unknown said...

Does anyone know what watch he wears ive seen a few shots of it and am very curious