Criminal Minds Spoiler Thread for "True Night" written and directed by Ed Bernero and guest starring Frankie Muniz. Criminal Minds quote and song info for this episode will be in a separate post below after the episode has aired. :)
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***This is the original spoiler thread for the episode. Please add any additional comments about the episode here.****
122 comments:
Can't wait for tonights ep. hope they incude some fallout from last weeks ep and don't completely ignore everything that happened
same here. I know it's hollyweird and time flies by, but surely they will at least refer to what happened to Garcia.
Can't wait to watch it...hopefully I'll be able to see it tomorrow morning....if not it will be early hours of Friday morning!!!
I don't particularly care about this guest but the story sounds pomising.
3 1/2 hours and counting....
They've got to make some sort of reference to it. Knowing Garcia, she'll come back to work too soon for her own good.
Is this the place to register for the chat? I hope to make it, but I'm not feeling totally well today. Please send me the new password, if there is one, so I'll have the option.
Love the Jazz in the beginning. What is the song?
Okay. Amimation. That's different.
So the wolf is a person. What is he doing? Living out his drawing? This looks like it is going to be a good one. Here come the commercials. Yuk.
Poor Garcia. Her office is not the way she left it. She freaked out. Morgan is hanging close to her and she is still really nervous. I am so glad that they are showing that she has safety issues. Loved hearing her call Kevin Lynch cute. She is so cute.
"I'm working on something new"
Would seem that way. The guy is wacko nuts. I think Johnny has a probbbleeem!
The level of violence is off the charts-Morgan
I'm having a hard time following the episode so far. It seems like two different stories.
It will probably get real good soon. I'm just missing something. Please do a recap someone.
Awww. Morgan and Garcia. Too sweet. I'm glad they addressed something right away.
Malcolm grew up psycho!
not to be debbie downer, but i dont like this epi at all so far. i dont like the animation sequences, the wierd drooling wolf, or the story line. oh well, cant like every ep, right?
I feel bad for poor Johnny. He had such a good life and then he went pyscho. That poor guy
Is Vicky real?
THIS IS CONFUSING....
this episode is such a downgrade compared to the last few.
i don't know if there'll be some big revelation in the end... but i'm not feeling the lack of focus on the team or the animation/wolf... thing.
Oh my lord, this episode is the most boring one ever!
Garcia is a fan of the unsub and poor thing can't fix her chair.
They are trying to convince him that he is a killer. It does seem like he doesn't know he is doing it.
Interesting episode.
While I can appreciate their attempt to do something different, that was... painful. Ouch.
Rossi was nice to Prentiss. I liked that scene.
Garcia and Morgan are so great together.
How cute is the team at the end? Moragn and Reid and JJ all teasing each other. Rossi was good with Prentiss and Morgan is a doll with Garcia. I felt so bad for poor Johnny. Having to watch the person you love die. The ending was just so sad. Totally creepy episode. The last picture almost made me hurl. Gripping, terrifying and just teh right amount of cute. This one so gets a high score. 9.6, excellent job to the writers and cast and everyone.
Aww...more Garcia and Morgan. They are going to be so much closer I think after what has happened. Love it.
Very interesting episode. Totally different perspective and style of show. I really enjoyed it personally. CM once again keeps us on our toes by continually presenting new and unique ideas.
I really felt for the unsub. It's a case where I truly, honestly felt for him and sympathized with his situation.
Awesome Garia/Morgan Moments and a few good morgan/reid moments there too! Nice homage to frank miller's style and very different.
Loved it!
True Night was different than the usual CM, but it makes a different point.
Most of the unsubs choose to "be evil". They may have been abused or had a horrible childhood, but eventually, as adults, we have to make our own decisions and be accountable for them. Frank, as an example, was intelligent and knew exactly what he was doing. While all unsubs, on some level (as Rossi pointed out) have some degree of illness, most of the CM stories have not dealt with the true, 'sudden onset' psychosis.
Part of the reason this episode is "so disturbing" is because it leaves us with the feeling (as it did with Emily) that this could happen to any of us.
Now we know what Reid lives with every day....
this epi was sad but at the same time very bloody!! loved it and I really like the playfulness qith each other JJ AND REID AND MORGAN AND MORGAN AND GARCIA LOVED IT!
O another thing wheres the chat being held tonight?
This episode was just NOT good for me. I am a huge comic book fan and I still couldn't get involved. The lines were so beyond lame I could barely sit through it. All the scenes between this guy and his girlfriend were laughable. I couldn't believe any of it. Therefore I couldn't enjoy it. The guest stars(the agent and Muniz)weren't on top of their game for a CM episode.
Rossi basically "knowing" the unsub just from him asking some questions at a crime scene. I doubt it. Standing across the street staring at his apartment. Gimme a break. Rossi in general is pretty "gimme a break" but I'm not a hater.
This new Morgan/Garcia love affair is not one I'm going to enjoy. The spanking comment was not appropriate. He is over compensating and I'm ready for that to be over.
I usually love Ed's episodes but this one just didn't do it for me. I won't call it awful by any means, it just wasn't that good.
Lee :(
Oh I forgot to add that one thing I DID like was the visual effects. The Frank Miller style design was a really neat change. So kudos for that. I think the entire episode was probably "good on paper" but didn't follow through onto television.
Lee
It was an okay ep, but I think it would of been better without Frankie Muniz. And with more appearances from the actual cast.
Visual effects were outstanding... unfortunately I didn't care. This was really lackluster and predictable. Frankie Muniz is a good actor, but this was like, 30 minutes of Muniz and 10 minutes of the regular cast. Does this episode indicate that the cast members need some extra vacation time? Because I can't imagine it took them long to shoot this one.
I've never disliked a CM episode before ... this is a new feeling. I don't like it! Make it stop!
p.s. - Did Hotch even have a line?
Different. Not a style I would want to see every week. I like sympathetic unsubs but our cast were props in this episode and that is not cool with me.
Had me fooled, I thought there really was another unsub and the artist was having visions or something. Good episode and guest star was very good.
I am too ill to stay online and join the chat tonight, I hope you all have fun.
Lociloco
I have to assume they paid a lot of money for Muniz and wanted to make sure they got their money's worth. That can be the only rational explanation for this.
As I said to my sister, the episode wasn't poorly done, but when you're expecting an episode of Criminal Minds and instead get "Criminal Cartoonist"? It's a disappointment.
CM has been successful with the format of the show as it has been--I see no need for such a radical departure.
I had absolutely no interest in the cartoonist and his story being the focus and I figured out what happened the first time they showed him asking his gf to marry him. This was a very formulaic episode with far too many gimmicks.
What little we saw of the team tonight was too choppy and a lot of time they didn't seem quite...right. Like they were out of phase with the rest of the episode or something. Can't really explain it.
I did like the Garcia/Morgan stuff, and the Morgan/Reid headslap, too. Reid's the younger brother and yeah, spouting his facts all the time, they're gonna want to shut him up once in a while.
And, yet again, denied any Hotch/Reid scenes. I'm really getting rather sick of the lack.
This ep was better done than the ep which shall not be named, however, I was just as bored by this one as that. Usually, Ed gives us a great ep but this time--not so much.
Oh, okay--one other saving grace. Hotch in kevlar.
I wasn't feeling this one at all during the 1st 30-40 minutes. The girl and the whole..."oh, I don't know what to say on my voice mail...oh"! Whatever, just say your name and tell them to leave a message. Ugh! LOL! I missed the team and them working together figuring out who the unsub is. Frankie Muniz (sp?) still looks like a little jr. high school kid compared to the lady, even with his really bad scruffy facial hair. I didn't like how the show was almost all scenes of Frankie. I enjoy the guests that they have, but I wanna see more of the BAU team. The story was confusing, but it was heartfelt. I didn't feel bad for the people who were murdered at all. It's horrible what they did to him and his girl, and she was pregnant too! So sad. I can totally see how he would go nuts and go on a murderous rampage. If someone murdered and tortured my love in front of me, I'd go insane too.
Anyhoo, I did absolutely love all of Reid's scenes. I will never get tired of Reid spouting off facts and such. He's like the annoying little brother. At the beginning, when he says "excedingly unlikely" was so great and the Morgan slap on the head at the end was funny. Please give us more of those fun, Morgan/Reid scenes!
I also enjoyed the Morgan/Garcia scenes. They're just wonderful together.
This wasn't my favorite episode, but it did have great WRITING and a great story, it's just hard to cram everything in 40 minutes I think. This episode definately made you think.
Style was an interesting change. Not enough Hotch. Not enough Rossi. Too much Garcia. Did not like the spanking reference with Garcia/Morgan. Frankie Muniz, in his way, was as good as Tobias in Revelation, and just as sympathetic a character. Too much guest star, however, takes away from regular cast.
-Dee
P.S. Thank you, Shemar! ;)
I love how they are exploring new ways of bringing the stories to us. This was so different, so daring. Requiring us to stretch and be a bit flexible. I liked it very much for that. The attack scenes made me feel that I was inside the comic book action as it was happening. The scenes inside Johnny's head during the psychotic breaks were dizzying and what I would imagine happening to a tortured mind.
Rossi showed his softer side. I liked it and I like him. He's spicing things up.
Loved the Reid parts. He's so incredibly adorable...or adorkable if you prefer. I love that he's spilling out facts again.
and Hotch...so poignant at the end. They handle the subtleties so well on this show.
Different episode - but excellent in its own way.
This style is okay for the very occasional episode but not one I'd like to see us adopt.
I was tired of Malcolm in the Middle in the Middle of the episode. I wanted to hack him up after that point.
Garcia and Morgan are pure love. Liked what little we saw of Rossi tonight. Was Hotch in the episode. I may have blinked!
I forgot to add something else. I absolutely hated the look of the team in the SUV. Why is the picture so distorted. I REALLY DON'T LIKE THAT. Please, don't shoot any more scenes like that. It totally didn't fit with the rest of the show. It's like someone was filming it with their crapy hand held camera.
I think what I didn't like was that there was no profiling in this episode. The entire episode focused completely on the killer. The music was good.
This is the first episode of CM that I didn't sit on the couch and devote an hour of my life to. Why? Because I was bored. I knew what the whole story was, about 10 minutes or so into it. There was no suspense at all.
I watch a show about profilers to watch them profile. I have been more and more unhappy with knowing who the unsub is from the get-go. I enjoy the suspense and the process of trying to discover who the killer is.
I did enjoy the small moments with Garcia/Morgan and Morgan/Reid.
And I don't mind the writers trying new things, but this season has been too much of new things, and less and less of what I like about CM to begin with. That would be the "family" of the profilers, and their stuggles to stop killers and have some sort of life outside of work.
They didn't show a preview for next week. Was this our last new episode until the stike is resolved?
WOW this was real different. I really enjoyed it. It was also very disturbing cause like Emily said could we all go that way if what happened to him happend to us.
Also I absolutely squeeed over all the little moments like Garcia and Morgan that was just sooo cute. Then the little bro big bro moments between Reid and Morgan and the last one with Reid/Morgan/JJ on the plane was priceless.
Ok Muniz was a surprising good unsub. I felt sorry for him and completely freaked out by him too.
WoW the writers at CM seriously out did themselves tonight. PTB give them everything they want!!!!
Jen
Repeat next week!
I missed our cast. That is my only real complaint. Where was the team? I know that this was a ratings ploy for sweeps and I am sure the ratings will be awesome but this type of episode is just not for me.
It was too too much. I kept thinking it would settle down and find a pace but it never did. It was a long hour. Sorry. I hate that I didn't like it but I just didn't.
I got up half way threw the episode and got my knitting. I haven't done that since the episode we do not name. I don't like special effects like that. Sorry too that I can't be more positive but I just feel like I watched some other tv series and by the way to whoever said that ratings are going to be great. That is no reason to create a whole new show.
Where they hinting that Hotch is going to snap?
They were looking at Hotch when they spoke of going from normal to crazy in 6 months.
I hate to do this to everyone else -- but my DVR puttered out halfway through so I missed the second half of the episode -- Can someone fill me in?
Johnny was the killer. That gang that he killed had (this was implied) raped and killed his pregnant girlfriend. Oh, they had made him watch. He didn't even realize he had been killing.
Did it make anyone else wonder why her phone was still charged? I realize it could still have service, if he is a bit insane and doesn't comprehend she is dead, or he is just holding on, he could still be paying the bill every month. But taking the time to charge it every few days? I just doubt it. When it rang in the box my whole family literally yelled out loud "R U Kidding me!?"
Lee
I didn't really like the epidsode either. I was bored with all of the animation scenes.
LOVED Garcia and Morgan interaction. I REALLY hope they continue to develop that relationship into a romantic one!!
Morgan/Reid/JJ were cute.
There were good parts in the episode. The team interactions were limited but very good. The unsub was easy to pity. The special effects were cool.
It was just too off the norm for me. Lets strike it up to trying something new that some of us didn't like and some of us did.
I think there was way too much blood in this episode. It seemed that the producers were trying to use shock value to cover up an otherwise mediocre storyline.
An episode like this really makes me think about Patinkin's MonacoRevue comments on the excessive violence in CM and whether we are really numbing ourselves to these horrific murders
I'm odd man out because I liked it. I thought it was a bold change from the normal episode and I found it interesting.
Shouldn't Garcia have some kind of scar, an entry wound, from the huge bullet that went through her chest?
I loved this episode. It may be one of my favorites.
The way Johnny kept calling Vicky's phone just to hear her voice so he could remember the good times was very moving. I felt great empathy for him. He was leading such a psychotic and frustrated life and didn't even realize it.
The line between sane and insane does seem to be very small.
Ellen Hollman & and Frankie Muniz used to work together. I realized it right away. Loved the episode. I like special effects and the bits with Garcia and Morgan were nice but no coupling please.
I am guessing that subconsciously he was seeking revenge on the people that killed his fiancee and that did make him a sad creature to watch. I felt very sorry for him. It certainly moved Prentiss. She was awesome with Rossi discussing how he wasn't a bad person (the unsub).
I think they were trying to do an episode that focused on the unsub's point of view. We saw more of the unsub in this episode than any other CM episode ever.
I'm going to stand away from the growing crowd and say I loved the episode. The Frank Miller-esque sequences were awesome to watch. Seeing things from the unsub's POV was different, but it gave you the idea of what was going through his mind and it also made you sympathetic to what he was going through. I am willing to sacrifice an hour of tagging along with the team to try something new, especially the way it was carried off...but I am a big graphic novel fan. The scenes between Morgan and Garcia stood out, as did the scene in the plane which was both funny (Morgan & Garcia, Morgan & Reid, Reid & JJ) and sad (Prentiss & Rossi). I just really liked the way this episode was put together and I commend Ed for giving us something a little off the beaten path to look at.
I'm very pleased with this ep. Rossi was well-behaved, Morgan and Reid were marvelous, and I think it's super interesting to get an ep from the UnSub's point of view.
Also, did they blow the entire season's post-production budget on this ep?
I like that the show takes risks and shakes the format up. It keeps it from being repetitive.
Also, I am a sucker for the movie homage eps, especially the deconstructive ones, and one that manages to reference Sin City *and* The Crow, while pointing out the issues with the classic comic-book trope of the traumatized vigilante.
Yes, in the really real world, the Batman is a man in a psychotic break.
I have seen reference before to the episode that must not be named.
Please, please, please tell me which one engenders so much hate. You don't have to describe why. But will someone please satisfy my curiosity? Thanks.
Oh, and is it just me, or is Reid creepily and inappropriately cheerful?
Walking through life in a Klonopin haze, Spencer? Or just dissociating like mad?
The cinematography was top notch in this episode. The empathy felt by the whole team towards this man was impressive. Morgan acknowledging that the guy was sick and Prentiss being so moved by his circumstance. I loved the episode. I like when we shake it up and try new things.
Elizabeth Bear: Reid was totally dissociating because when you speak of madness and sanity he always looks away. Too close to home for him I think.
Anonymous,
You asked about a joke some of us make sometimes speaking about the episode that "shall not be named". If you have been watching CM from the beginning and you can't answer the question then why would you ever want us to ruin that for you.
I have mixed emotions about the episode. I liked the fade ins and the special effects. I liked bonding to the unsub and seeing his madness. I wish the episode had included more of our characters.
wilma,
That's a cop-out, not an answer.
The editing department worked overtime on this episode what with all the quick cuts and fade ins.
If I don't compare it to the last four or five fantastic episodes we have had then I liked it. I think I was coming off the double hitter of Lucky/Penelope and probably nothing was going to top that!
Nice job by Muniz. He pulled a Dawson!
Okie Dokie! Seems like someone wants to discuss Honor Among Thieves or as some of us call it, the episode that never happened.
Now moving on. I didn't dislike or like this episode. I watched it and went and started a load of laundry. I didn't want to talk about it so I didn't join the chat. I didn't hate it. It just was okay in my eyes. I will rewatch it.
After watching this week's episode twice now, I am a bit calmed down. But I have to say, after the turmoil of this season, I am really looking forward to (and getting a little anxious for) episodes that return to some semblance of normalcy... and show us the stories of the profilers. "True Night" was a good experiment, and it really done well, but I'd like to see the team/family again...
I thank the writers that on one hand, they are still maintaining the dynamics of the group, particularly where Reid is concerned (his lovable dorkness and his interactions with Morgan). I just would like to see a little more of that now.
(especially Reid... I want to know how he's doing since his Season 2 crises and Gideon's leaving)
I'm ambivalent, on the one hand I liked that we saw things from the unsub eyes, Muniz did a good job. On the other hand I didn't like the comic book stuff, not that it wasn't well done but I'm not a fan of comic books so it didn’t hold my interest. Also, there was far too less of the team and that I didn’t like.
As much as last week episode was about the team coming together to find who shot Garcia, this episode felt like them being apart almost not involved in the case but the end was great. I love when we get a glimpse into the characters soul.
I understand that the creative people behind CM were trying to do something different and I'm willing to sit down and watch one of those effort once a season but no more. I watch CM for the profilers, who they are, why they do this job, how it affects them. This show is supposed to be about profiling not about who or why the unsub became a monster.
Frank Miller was certainly all over this episode. I liked the episode. I don'd mind when the show tries something new. It doesn't always work out but I think it did tonight. My only concern is that Ed put in a cookie that is freaking me out. The camera went straight to Hotch when Rossi and Prentiss were talking. That is a clue to a new storyline and it is freaky.
I really liked this ep. I liked the whole special effect scenes. I know it sampled from the movie Sin City, even though I've never seen the movie. But I like the whole black, white and some color scenes.
Now as for the storyline, It was very interesting to figure out what was wrong with him. I thought he was going to be schizophrenic. I never knew someone could go off the deep end to the point of killing like that. I felt sorry for him.
The only thing that I missed was how they figured him to be the unsub. It like they skip a part. I mean if they had show the media report by JJ, that would have helped. That is how they found out right?
As far as Morgan and Garcia, Morgan and Reid. I liked both. I like Morgan with Reid better tonight than Garcia. Or a least Morgan/Garcia at the beginning. For some reason the way he articulate some of his words is funny to me. Like when he says "Stop" it just funny to me. I like when he being tough better. Although, when he said "you know I love you, right" to Garcia last week was so sincere. I liked that. Still a big Shemar fan. And the spanking thing is fine with me. That actually a common theme with friends. I would expect that kind of talk.
The show was good but you all are right when you say that there was not enough of the team.
"Malcolm grows up psycho"
With his mother no surprise there.
Morgan and Garcia part in the beginning when he didn't want to leave her. I loved that. I believe I post before about how touchy Garcia is about her office, tonights epi. was another case in point.
I am little mad at Morgan for smacking Reid. Nobody touches Reid.
I did think it was funny when JJ threatened to ground them. Also, everyone seems to be less tollerent of Reid's ramblings. He's been like this for years folks, what gives? Why now? You'd think that they'd be glad that he was back to his old self. Ok enough about Reid.
Morgan redeemed himself a little by helping our girl Penny with her chair, but only a little.
I felt bad for this unsub having his girl and his baby taken from him, and to be made to watch while they did God knows what. Rossi meeting the unsub at the crime scene: you can tell that he thought something was off with this guy even before his agent showed up and he got all weird. I like Rossi.
*Angel ducks from the flying objects and nasty glares* He is intelligent,intuitive, straight forward, take no bull, and the job done, but even he seemed genuinely sympathetic to the unsub's plight.
Sympathy is not something we are use to seeing from him.
All in all good epi., but not great. Sorry.
I was hoping to see Kevin Lynch but alas that did not happen.
I think the fading scenes and the animated feeling was mirroring Johnny's total break from reality. Reid is in total denial. If anyone was close to the end on a daily basis it is Reid and he just blocked it out and kept on moving.
"Life's a hell of a thing to happen to a person."
Great quote!
Oh one more thing Morgan was just asking for it with the spanking reference. They should have had a come back from Garcia.
My boyfriend and I loved it. He loves comic books so he was engrossed in that part of it. I liked watching him fall apart and then finding out why it happened. Daring new kind of format. Nice for a change. Now we need another more CMish episode but I did like this.
I thought the episode was ok. Life is about taking risks and trying new things. Sometimes they work out, sometimes they don't. If the show didn't try new things, how would it grow and continue to develop?
I just don't think Frankie Muniz was right for the role. Was his character supposed to be young? He still looks like he's in high school. And he and his girlfriend did NOT look like they belonged together. She looked like she would be with an athlete or something.
Anonymous said...
Shouldn't Garcia have some kind of scar, an entry wound, from the huge bullet that went through her chest?
The bullet went in around the shoulder and then went into the abdomen so the scars are there just under her clothes. Conveniently.
Rayna and Marsha,
I don't think the ending scene with Hotch was implying that he was going to snap are something, but more to the point of Rossi's quote.
"Life is a hell of a thing to happen to a person." Hotch is in hell right now because of his family situation, because of life.
this one was very different. i like the garcia and morgan min. and reid and morgan and j.j. moments. going to watch this one again later to see if i might like it better.
i watch this show to see a good psycolocical drama and thats what this was .
well done.
I'm torn. Part of me liked it because I am a huge Frank Miller fan, and I loved the artwork. I thought Frankie Muniz was great, and I loved the team interactions.
But I really want my team back, and I really, really, really want to see some classic CM storytelling.
Variety is good, but I'm getting a variety overload right now.
I'm actually relieved to come and find that other fans weren't thrilled with this episode, too. I hate to admit it, but about twenty minute in, I ... changed the channel.
Way too much Johnny and not nearly enough team. And I knew from the first flashback that the girlfriend was horribly dead.
I thought the new style and cinematography was interesting to a point, but it very quickly interfered with the story-telling. It might have been really impressive on hi-def on a big-screen TV, but on mine it was just kind of making me seasick.
And also, I have a personal bias against stories -- any stories -- about the angst of being a writer. My agent's a leach, limos give me headaches, my fans are all losers ... yeah, yeah, go get a night job loading trucks and tell me about your angst. The only person who ever told this story well was Stephen King in "Misery" -- the ultimate "You think you're a tortured writer now? I got your torture right here!" It sounds like it got to be a pretty interesting episode after all that, but ... 20 minutes of Johnny's angst? I was gone.
Sorry!
well..... a few nice Reid moments! In fact, I have to say the good Doctor was looking mighty fine and he can spout facts at me anytime he wants!
A change to have a storyline from the Unsub's POV, though I did find it a little bit tedious at times - longwinded! I guess we're too used to the usual formula that the show has, and this being so very different to that has stirred things up a bit.
Loved the Morgan/Garcia and Morgan/Reid. Agree with Slashgirl....not enough Hotch! (did I just say that!?)
Not going to make my top 10 favourite eps, but not my most hated one either.
I guess it cannot be ALWAYS awesome.
I mean they have lots of problems at the moment.It was nearly as good as Honor among thieves...nearly.
Only good point the scenes among the team.
I hope the next one will be at the same level of the previous ones...
sigh.
Okayyy, so i guess I will be amongst the minority in this one. I thought it was fantastic. I was shouting kudos the entire time I was watching. I watched a second time on my time shift, and was equally impressed. I think often times when a show tries to do something different, there are lovers and haters. (I loved the Buffy musical, but other hated it) I have to give credit to the writers, crew and cast for trying to push the limits. The cinematics were incredible, and I loved the storyline. Frankie Muniz was awesome, and our cast held it all together in the afternath of another crisis. It was tight.
There were a lot of subtle things I picked out, and I was wondering if they are lead-ins, or if I'm just being overly critical.
The Garcia/Morgan thing, is adorable, but I'm almost wondering if he's going to get his heart broken for loving her more than she can return with our cute Mr. Lynch in the picture.
And Reid.... did he seem especially caffeneinated? I know he normally sputters facts and it's part of his character, but he seemed especially random, and I wonder if it's starting to spiral as a result of last season, and the leave of G.
I do agree with Lee however, I assumed when he kept calling voicemail that the phone was OFF, as I know with my phone, it the battery is dead, or if it's off, it goes straight to voicemail, but when it rang...I gave a little groan.
LOVED how they tied the quote in at the end. LOVED IT. Different, and the quotes for this episode were of pop culture references, very very fitting, and well played.
The Hotch thing.... Life. His head isn't in the game. He calls, no answer, and his cell is his enemy. I don't think he will snap, but he's going to make a grave error.
Too much foreshadowing in the past few episodes, (Morgan almost getting shot twice, Hotch, Reid's random, Emily's sudden soft side) I have a nasty feeling we're in for a doozy.....
All in all, I give it two thumbs up, a green clover and a purple horseshoe.
Well, I am of two minds about this episode. I can see everybody's complaints about the fact that there was not enough team, and there definitely was not a lot of profiling. It was not a typical CM episode, for sure. And I frankly was a little distracted seeing the unsub as Malcolm. Frankie Muniz is a good actor, but I think it's hard for him to overcome the fact that we watched him grow up on TV.
However, I really did enjoy the storyline. I enjoyed the visuals in the animated parts, even though I am not a comic book fan at all. And I have NEVER felt so sympathetically for an unsub--not even the younger brother in the people-hunting episode. This poor guy had NO idea what he was doing. And frankly, the gang members got exactly what they deserved for what they did to him. NO sympathy there. I was impressed with the way the team treated him, and my heart broke at the very end when he was sitting in that padded cell calling the cell phone over and over. Poor, poor Johnny. And the one thing that is holding true with this episode--just like just about every other CM episode--is that it is haunting me. CM--more than any other show--stays with me and makes me think long after the episode is done. And this one has been on my mind all morning.
sammannthuh said:
I have a nasty feeling we're in for a doozy.
You and me both. For all those same reasons.
Considering the heavy parallels between what Reid went through and what Jonny went through ("They made me watch."--and some of Jonny's dialogue mirrors some of Tobias' dialogue too. Jonny says, "I couldn't help her," which instantly made me think of Tobias's sad little "We can't be saved.") I think his weird dissociative inappropriate cheerfulness throughout this ep is a clue.
Hello, defense mechanism. Or possibly the Klonopin scrip is kicking in....
Also, Emily's still working on figuring out her moral structure (as she has been since "Open Season") and Hotch is trying to hold it together under amazing pressure. He's lost his wife and child too, after all, and we get that lingering shot of him on the plane, thinking about it.
Also, the scene where the team had to break it to Jonny that he was a monster, and that Vicky was dead after all? Just brutal. Break through the dissociation and make him see what happened all over again.
I think it's pretty cool that the show left us to find the impact on the characters ourselves this ep, with just a few hints.
Uh huh.
(Also, Rossi vastly improved this ep. This Dave can stay.)
i just watch this one for the second time. it was good but very hard to watch. i felt very sorry for the guy. i enjoy the garcia and morgan momants and reid and morgan and jj moments very much.
I think often times when a show tries to do something different, there are lovers and haters.
That's very true. But that's why I love CM so much. They are not afraid to do something different. What keeps me watching is that I never know exactly how an episode will turn out, or what's going to happen the following week. It's the cookie-cutter episodes that turn me off totally. I wouldn't honestly enjoy CM as much if it was the same plot line every week:
- bring in case for week....watch profilers profile....find the guy....happy ending for all.
I'm glad that CM shows us that a lot of the time there IS no happy ending. I like watching the team struggle at times, because it keeps it more real. I like how CM will diverge a bit and show us something totally different, like this episode, where we really are viewing the show through the eyes of the unsub himself.
Not just watching him, but looking at things from his perspective - the gang members being animals, him being a warrior, his rapid devolution into a psychotic break and then flashbacks to normalcy which he used to have. I just loved it, every moment of it. Well, I was very heartstricken and felt strongly for him, so not "that" kind of loving it, but I love, love, love that CM writers are not afraid to go that route. This very type of episode, even though not what I would want for every episode, is precisely what sets CM apart from other shows IMO. Everything in moderation, and not afraid to take a leap of faith.
My opinion is the "they made me watch" had little to do with Reid and a ton more to do with the movie Sin City. In Sin City the "unsub" cuts off a womans hand and then he eats it while she watches, she starts retelling this story and screams "He made me watch, he made me watch!" That is a pivotal moment in that movie when we realize what this unsub is capable of. Since Ed was obviously channeling Frank Miller that is what I thought of.
Lee
I think it's a big risk for shows to go "off formula" like CM did tonight, but I thought they pulled it off brilliantly. Just thinking from the writers, actors, etc POV, I would think that doing something different every once and a while gets the creative juices flowing for them. I did miss the interactions and profiling of the team, but I thought the story from the unsub's POV was great. I don't think the ending was meant to be a surprise or a twist, but it still was effective in showing the devolution of the unsub. I liked it.
I hated it. I really dislike saying that because CM is the only show I watch...I'm an obsessed fan! Anyway, I hated not seeing out team together and putting all their ideas together to figure the case out. It was too much of the unsub and I've never into cartoons or animation. Enough with the fags, growling, and claws. Please!
That said, I did like the basic storyline, just not the way it portrayed/written. It really could have been a 30 minute episode cuz I started losing interst at 15 minutes and started saying " come on show something different..Bring the team and let me see them figure this out."
I loved the Garcia/Morgan moments, Reid rambling, Rossi at the end being sensative, & JJ telling the "boys" to behave.
I wanted to see Hotch and there was only a couple quick frames with him. I am so worried the the rumors are correct and he is leaving this Season. I don't want to see him go!!!!!!!!!!!! Therefore, I don't want to see the pain he portrays so well. It's killing me!!
Sorry for all my nagative coments, but I gotta be honest.
Bonnie T.
I'm in the minority because I loved it and thought it was awesome. It was magnificent. The visuals were incredible. The story was solid and intriguing. I was thrilled with it from beginning to end.
All the poor man had left was a voice mail and all Reid had of Gideon was a letter. They all knew that he was a good man that simply broke apart and each one of them has something in their lifes that weighs on them so they get it. Our BAU members are all so damaged. They understand damage.
Rossi made a believer out of me last night. If he keeps being so nice to the other team members then I am going to really going to be glad that he came aboard.
The opening music was "Harlem Nocturne", cmposed in 1939 by Earle Hagen, and, these days, probably most closely associated with the "Mike Hammer" noir series.
Frank Miller ruled the night. Interesting concept last night. I thought it was fresh and while we didn't see the team as much as usual in this one almost everything in it tied back to one or more of the team. Being broken, PTSD, etc. Garcia having the quote was a great tie-in imho. I loved it.
Wow, who knew cute little Frankie Muniz could play a killer! I've seen sushi that looked scarier than him and yet I thought he was effective as a vigilante on a psychopathic break.
This episode was not a typical episode with the emphasis on the unsub. The look was different,too as a homage to graphic novels with a shoutout to Frank Miller at the end. I have to applaud them for doing something different. It's okay to deviate for one episode for a little variety. This episode can be known as the one that looked like a comic book.
The team didn't have much to do but befuddle the local cops and wait for someone to phone in the identity of the unsub. Reid is becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of the team. Between the snaps and slaps from Morgan and Rossi and JJ cutting him off, he doesn't get any respect. Awwwwww, he can recite an entire quantum physics textbook and I would still be agog! :)
-I think often times when a show tries to do something different, there are lovers and haters.-
Very true. I think it is always a good idea to try new things. You never know what is going to work with an audience if you aren't willing to put yourself out there and risk it.
I would imagine that it takes a great deal of thought and guts to write and produce something for a third year show that is totally unlike anything the audience has seen before. This episode was certainly a real gamble. Personally I think it was well done and an episode that I will rewatch many times in the future.
I didn't like Muniz as the usub. That is my only glitch with the episode. It isn't that I don't think he did a good job but he has too long a history as Malcolm. If they had used an unknown I think the episode would have been more effective. It took at least the first two segments to accept him as Johny and not Malcolm.
I give the episode itself an A with an A+ for creativity.
J.J. has some serious game!
I really thought this was the worst episode ever. Even worse than the russian mob story.
I did not like the guest star. Or the fact we got what 10 minutes tops with our profilers. This format may have worked if they had done something similar in first or second season and then done it again. But not in the third season and not for the first time.
I also for the first time can say I didn't like Reid. He needed to shut up. He's taking the I know everything to far, and needs to learn when to give less information and not more. Part of the reason is ok it was cute and quirky in the first season. But it kept going and going. I fear this will after awhile make viewers turned off to him. It is me. Do something new with him or give him a new approach to giving the information. Or hell give him an interogation. Hell I'd run from him to just like JJ did at the end on the plane.
Garcia and Morgan were cute and it calls back to him helping her repair her computer at the end of fisher king 2.
Hotch I'm going to assume is being set up for more bad things happening or he breaks one of the two.
Rossi didn't grate this week.
Now go back to the way its supposed to be our profilers profiling, and less than 10 minutes devoted to actually seeing the unsubs.
I really, really liked this. I like that CM isn't afraid to try something different and for me, this worked. I never watched Malcolm so I had no problems with Muniz as the unsub and thought he did a great job.
The effects and fights were very well done and I also liked the way that it presented LA, getting away from the sunshine and palm trees that we associate with the city.
And I agree on Reid's perkiness - he is far too cheerful at the moment. Nice touch that the camera panned to Hotch after Rossi's remark - I was expecting it to go to Reid.
I don't know how I feel about this one. There needs to be more of the team. As far as people not liking Reid on this one, I think that his actions in this ep was great. He must be struggling with his olny father figure gone, Hotch is in his own world, his team is noticably annoyed with him, and he is always dealing with his own deamons. I wonder if he'll go back to the drugs? He is socially enept, you can't have it all, and I think this ep was a good, but suttle indication that Reid is having issues, and reaching. Hotch is gonna loose it soon, and I can't wait! I though this ep was all over the place, it was visually beautiful, but they didn't mesh the script and story boards well enuff. It was a nice try, and a good plot, but it could have translated better. Oh, well - you can't win them all. This is still by far the best show on TV, keep it comming, and suport the writers!!
Great episode, and the representation of the wolf was a really neat idea. I love when a show makes you think, 'now what does this mean?'.
What's up with Reid suddenly feeling the need to spew out random facts like...ALL the time?! This is a change I'm not so sure I like all that much...we'll see where it goes, I guess.
Frankie Muniz was great as the unsub, yet I had a bit of a hard time believing his story at times because I watch Malcom in the Middle all the time. But he did a really good job, and its nice to see him getting out of the 'kid' mold.
Ha ha, and JJ's line on the plane was great. Not hard to tell she's the mother figure of the group!
All in all, it was a great episode. The story kept me really interested! :)
On Reid's issues:
I think Reid is merely being himself. His need to spew random facts, not to mention in awkward ways, is part of him! He's always been like that! I am not sure I would equate it to Reid going back to the drugs. But I suppose that is for the writers to determine.
But I think the personal stories - developing and moving along subtly in the background - will eventually explode forward: Hotch's marriage, Morgan's faith, Rossi's secrets, Reid's possible drug addiction and, the elephant in the room, Gideon's absence. Perhaps not all in the same episode, but I highly doubt these things are forgotten.
If the last shot of Hotch in last night's episode was any clue, I'd say something is going to happen soon. (Fingers crossed)
I skipped the chat last night and was close to skipping any commentary on this ep. Now that I see that many of you felt the same as I did, I don’t feel guilty. The only redeeming thing about the episode was the quality of the visual effects. That said there were too many special effects. I thought I was watching Heroes.
With the exception of Lucky (thanks Andrew) the episodes this season have all been “different”. I am over different. Especially if it means the team physically and mentally disappears from the episode. When the team is on screen they are robotic. They spout the same lines as in previous episodes. It was painfully obvious in this one.
I don’t mind different ways of showing an unsub’s illness. I don’t like the trend away from thoughtful multi layered episodes. I would like a return to a balance of unsub, victim and profiler. All three are necessary for profiling to work. All are necessary to tell these stories.
I miss season 2. I knew what to expect from my BAU family. The key word was family.
Maybe the answer to whether this was a good or bad episode is answered by the very strong emotions on both sides. Different does that.
The writers have something planned for Hotchner. That's pretty obvious. J.J.is really spunky the last few episodes. Reid is definately drinking to much coffee and needs to slooow down. Kidding. Love our Reid. Prentiss is becoming so loveable it is amazing and Rossi has lost that new car smell. Garcia is Garcia. The heart of it all. Morgan's issues have issues. We need the sequel to Profiler Profiled and some serious help for our guy.
The episode was amazingly different. The special effects were first rate. The symbolism was perfect. Only flaw was how obvious it was that the girl was already dead but it was probably meant to be that way and I am just not getting it.
It is fine to like or dislike any episode but we don't do nasty on this blog. Take that some place else please. Your comment has been deleted. We respect each other's opinions here whether we agree with them or not.
Dny,
Can you please tell me what I wrote that was inappropriate? I don't want to offend anyone on here and I'm not sure what I did wrong. I was only trying to point out that it wasn't my favorite episode and then support that statement. If I came off as "nasty" I would very much like to apologize to everyone and I definitely want to avoid speaking out of turn again.
Thank you,
Karen G.
Karen,
I deleted two. I'm not sure which one was yours since they were both anonymous. Email me.
displacednewyorker@gmail.com
I liked this episode but I do have a complaint--I think they made Johnny and Vikki way too sympathetic to the point of being sappy. When the gang members came up behind them as he was proposing after he just found out that his girlfriend is pregnant, I thought, "Ok , this is a bit too much." I think the audience would've been just as sympathetic to Johnny's actions if the gang attacked them as they were walking home, without any pregnancy or proposal. Being forced to watch as his girlfriend is raped and killed and then being nearly killed himself would've been enough to convince me that his PTS would lead him to have a psychotic break. Adding the pregnancy and the proposal was just a bit too OTT.
I thought Frankie Muniz did a great job as Johnny and the unsub POV angle was interesting but I would've liked to have seen some BAU profiling interwoven with that by maybe having the team giving the profile over scenes of Johnny exhibiting those characteristics. What team interaction we saw was good but I would've have loved more.
And is it just me or does anyone else think that JJ was uncharacteristicaly short and dismissive of Reid at the end? She's usually the one who just smiles or maybe rolls her eyes when Reid gets in statistic spouting mode. This time, she got up and walked off, which I found odd.
Overall, a good episode but not the strongest one of the season so far.
Ambra I totally agree with you about JJ. I kept watching that part over, not only because her liked her line, but also because it did appear that she was a little short with Reid. However, it could just be our minds playing tricks on us.
Well It certainly was a different one. I'm not sure yet if I like it or not...
On the one hand, there was less profilers/profiling time, though I liked these little moments between team menbers. I even liked Rossi: first time for me!
On the other hand, it was cool to have a different episode. As Reid said in Ufinished Business "repetitive thinking is a death knell for the brain ", so is repetitive viewing, I think.
I liked that we actually got inside the unsub's mind but I would have liked it better if the unsub'story hadn't been too pathetic. We'd feel bad for the guy whose girlfriend was murdered in front of him. But Johnny lost his love and unborn child on the night he found out and proposed... That's waaay too much.
Also as someone already mentionned it: did Hotch ever spoke in this episode?
I feel bad for the guy: we know Hayley left and lives at her sister's, but we don't know much really: are they getting a divorce, trying to work things out (marriage counselor maybe)
Hotch has always been the more balanced menber of the team and I think this was due to his steady family life, and I wonder what will happen to him if he can't get his wife and son back
I think it's gonna come up soon and I'm eagerly waiting for it
If Hotch does snap, can we finally get osme info about his past? Too many insinuations and stuff that don't add up. I want to know!
I would have to go with the majority on this episode, in that I didn’t particularly like it. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the “episode that must not be named” however. LOL! It wasn’t the special effects and the comic book approach that bothered me though. I wouldn’t want them to shoot the series like that on a regular basis, but it was a nice one time change. What bothered me most about this episode was that the actor playing the unsub looked way too young to be a successful book writer, dating that particular girl, or brutally murdering victims in that way, so for me it was totally unbelievable. The storyline was good though and the actor played the character very sympathetically. It’s the first time in a long time that I really felt sorry for an unsub.
Like some others have mentioned, there was also *WAY* too much unsub and not enough team profiling in this episode. I did enjoy the scene at the beginning between Garcia and Morgan, but I still hope they don’t try to turn that relationship into anything too serious. And the spanking comment at the end was incredibly inappropriate.
I enjoyed Reid in this episode a lot and when JJ mentioned how sad it was that the unsub only had the phone message of his girlfriend to hold onto, it made me think about how Reid probably only has the letters from his father and Gideon to hold onto. He certainly changed the subject fast enough, so I’m guessing he was trying not to think of similar issues in his own life that he hasn’t yet dealt with.
I loved the way JJ played the Mom to Morgan and Reid on the plane, however I did not care for the way they pulled just the front of her hair back in this episode. It made it seem like she just jumped out of bed, pulled her hair back and ran out the door.
I also am starting to miss seeing Hotchner. I know he was there, but he didn't get to do much in this episode.
I am already starting to like Rossi a lot. And while I still miss Gideon, Rossi has done a good job of taking Gideon’s place on the team, although every time they do a quote on the show I can’t help but think of Mandy. NONE of the other actors do those quotes justice the way Mandy did.
Why does everyone find the Morgan and Garcia 'spanking' comment so innapropriate
they say things like this all the time! im sure hes even said something along those lines before
and i also third the fact that i wasnt happy with how sharp jj was with reid on the plane... she obviously touched a sore spot... i think she felt he was just being insensitive but she could look furthur into it
the last shot of hotch was omnious...
and as for the episode, it was different, i think they made up for the lack of team by making the team moments extra special
i loved the big/little brother traffic moment at the start with reid and morgan
it wasnt that bad at all, but the garcia two parter was quite a show to follow!
One thing I remembered last night--I wish they had followed up on Rossi's initial impression of Johnny. He obviously realized something was "off" about the guy from the way he was looking him over when Johnny approached him in the alley, even introducing himself and trying to engage him in conversation. If Rossi thought Johnny was just some morbid curiosity seeker, he would've given him the brush-off but he picked up on something and that was never addressed.
Different, not my favorite episode, but I still liked it! One of the more sympathetic unsubs, especially compared to hero homicide guy & cannibal guy from the last couple of episodes. Only why didn't Johnny have more blood on him from what must have been some very messy killing? That kept me guessing until the end, because an unsub in a psychotic break would not be thinking clearly enough to clean up after himself (see what a clever profiler I am becoming lol)-I figured he was too clean to be the unsub, and the bit of blood on his side was from getting hit by the car and was a clever ruse to mislead us. Ach - fooled again!
Gold star to Paget for Emily's sick horrified look at the final victim. I got such an impression from her expression that I actually had to go back and rewind the scene later to convince myself they didn't actually show the body - just the blood and the comic drawing. Once again, twice the gruesome at half the price! Amazing!
Oh yes, I agree the girlfriend being pregnant & the proposal was a little bit much, but I thought she did an awesome job, and gorgeous model girl + teriaki jerky = too funny
Wow, I'm surprised that of the people who disliked this show, so very many consider it a step above the one that is apparently taboo. I thought that episode was 1000 times better than this one.
CM is literally the only show I always watch on TV. I will watch others sproadically, but CM is a 'must watch' week in and week out. And I honestly found no redeeming qualities in this one. The storyline was boring, the little bit of interaction we got between the team seemed contrived, and as a whole it fell incredibly flat for me.
I may watch it once more, just to make sure I didn't miss something decent. But if I come away with the same opinion at that point, I will never waste my time watching this episode again.
Like a lot of people i'm still not 100% sure if i liked or disliked this episode.
After thinking about it it feel like it was the episode that one of the writers on this show had to do eventually. In the real world Batman. I've seen the parallel posted before. So many comic book heroes are essentially this guy, in the real world a serial killer, but in the comic book world the hero.
The social idea of the vigilante really seemed to be an issue here. even one of the local cops made a comment about about what he was doing and it being about time that someone did what he did. It had me thinking a bit about the episode Real Rain also about a vigilante.
If this story line had been in a movie and not an episode of CM it would have been amazing. I feel like the problem here is that to tell this kind of story is that the police trying to catch the vigilante usually are a)stupid, b)corrupt and the vilians or c) secretly liking what the killer is doing and willing to work with him A la batman. To take a more real world look at these kinds of stories, which I feel like this episode did is fascinating, but unsatisfying.
Just my 2cents though
I finally got to see this episode all the way through last night--coming into it halfway through on Wednesday night was very confusing.
This was a very different episode, quite a departure, and very interesting. Very film noir, with the Mickey Spillane music at the beginning. I did like this episode, it was haunting, and really made you feel for Johnny.
The way we got fed the information, in small snippets, each revealing a little more, and not finding out until the end that Johnny had been a victim of a horrific crime and lost his fiance in the process was very dramatic, going in and out of the present time period. I love old black and white movies, and this reminded me of some of them (watched the first of The Thin Man movies this afternoon).
The visual effects were amazing, the wolf; the hooded, faceless vigilante; the flashbacks to a happier time; and finally, Johnny sitting in a corner of his cell, continually re-dialling his fiance's phone to hear her voice. Tragic.
Someone said (or a lot of people said) that this was an extremely bloody episode, but really, what we mostly saw was blood splattered on the walls, not pooling under a victim, more like a Jackson Pollack painting--that's what it reminded me of.
Not our usual CM episode, but a really interesting one, nontheless.
I liked the episode.
I think Reid is actually sounding more like his old self, where he would just spew random facts. Think back to the episodes in S1where Morgan would comment on it. I could also see him trying to make an impression on Rossi, although his social ineptness has it come out by way of rambling.
I enjoy the bantering he and Morgan had in this episode too.
I enjoyed Garcia and Morgan's interaction tonight, like always.
I hope Rossi and Morgan go at it, like they seem to be leaning towards.
I'd like to see more Hotch. I like it when he smiles at Reid's ramblings.
There wasn't a whole lot of the team interacting in this one. I liked the story line, however as someone said, there wasn't a lot of profiling to be done.
i was like totally not liking this epi so i didnt bother to go watch it
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