Criminal Minds spoiler thread for Criminal Minds episode "Lo-Fi" starring Joe Mantegna, Thomas Gibson, Paget Brewster, Shemar Moore, A.J. Cook, Matthew Gray Gubler, and Kirsten Vangsness. Written by Chris Mundy. Directed by Glenn Kershaw.
***Beware- Comments on this thread will contain spoilers***
***This is the original spoiler thread for the episode. Feel free to post any new thoughts about it here.***
221 comments:
1 – 200 of 221 Newer› Newest»This week was longer than A YEAR....
I'm so jealous of all you guys getting to see the finale tonight. I've to wait until tomorrow morning before I can DL it! It's gonna take all my strength not to read anything you guys posted about it until I can watch it!!!! Well I hope you all enjoy it!!!
...and I'm afraid the next three months will be longer than A CENTURY!
Deidre, think to all those fans out of US that will have to wait A YEAR to see the third season...
It would be SO GREAT if they could download the eps from internet LEGALLY paying a fee.
i am wateing for this one.i read so mamy thing about this one.i can hardly waite.
I can't wait to see tonight's ep and at the same time, I don't want to see it because I know it will be a long time before we get new ones. And a cliffhanger...how will we make it through the summer??
Does anyone know how many times you can watch a DVD before it stops working?
Ed, you are wonderful beyond words!
Thank you for taking time to come chat with us last night. You have been so, so good to us fans - giving us a phenominal season, listening and RESPONDING to our feedback and concerns, allowing wonderful chats with writers (and MGG!,)keeping us in the loop on important matters, giving us cookies to delight us, and so much more. Oh my gosh...you have won our hearts and unending devotion! I think we would follow you anywhere!
I hope you have a wonderful summer and can find a little time (at least!) to rest.
We'll be here eagerly awaiting CM's return!
Please give everyone our love and thanks for an awesome season!!
OMG, I can't wait till tomorrow!
How I would love to be in the States now!!!!
I'm soo jealous! :-)
Thank you Ed and all the cast and crew for a wonderful season.
Hope everybody has a great summer and will come back to work fully rested.
We fans appreciate all your great work.
Love,
Renate
I can't wait to see the episode tonight--and Debbie, I am right with you wondering if you can wear out a DVD!
Ed, thank you so much for joining us last night. You really are the best producer/writer in the business and we so appreciate your taking the time to talk with us for awhile.
We are so excited for tonight's episode and next season and I am sure you are gleefully rubbing your hands together at the thought of all of us coming up with conclusions to the cliffhanger!
I cant wait to see it! Wish I could see it early, but I'm back to my later hours at work, and can't see it at the earlier hour on CTV like I have been for the last three weeks. So that means I will be seeing it at the same time as the rest of you! I pray I dont get stuck on a long call!
Thanks to Ed for coming into the chat last night, before the finale today! It was great to chat with you, and learn some great things.
Its been a wonderful year on CM, and I have enjoyed it very much. I cant' wait for the next season! How many days do we have to wait between the season finale and the premiere next season?
Tivo programed...check.
Remote ready...check.
Popcorn...check.
Phone answering machine on...check
"Do not disturb"sign on door...check
Guess I'm ready for tonight's episode!
It's been a real roller coaster of a year and I can't imagine any other exe keeping fans more 'in the loop' than Ed Bernero. Ed, you've been amazing with the respect you've shown the fans. I hope we've succeeded in communicating the incredible respect we all have for you. The sign of a true leader is the ability to surround themselves with highly talented, creative and motivated people, set the standard and direction, then let them do their jobs. You've done that magnificently.
Thanks so much for continuing to keep us up on what's going on and giving us some insight into the workings of Criminal Minds.
Have a great, if too short hiatus. Take some well deserved "recharge" time for yourself. We'll be here waiting 'with bells on' when CM comes back with season 4--and 26 eps!
Phoenix
A huge thank you to Ed for taking the time to chat about the finale and what a rollercoaster season it has been. A super-duper, humongous kudos to you and your team for rolling with the punches and still putting out a fantastic season 3!!!! Thanks for displaying such amazing grace under pressure and coming through with wonderful stories and much beloved characters. Good luck for season 4 which should be a piece of cake compared what you all went through.Sorry that I will not be at tonight's chat right after the East Coast airing. This is the ONE episode I cannot see spoilers so I can really enjoy the cliffhanger.
Thanks for the ride!!!!!!
I'm so excited about the episode tonight!
Ed thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us! We appreciate it more than words can say! Thank you so much for all of the hard work you put into making the show the incredible thing that it is!
I can't wait til the fall and the return of CM already!
I’m so excited.
I can’t even believe it’s Wednesday already.
I couldn’t make it to the chat yesterday because I forgot to request the password, so I hope it was a great one, hope you got all your questions answered and would like to thank Ed Bernero for being such a grounded and respectful show runner. We all love this show and are very proud of it.
I hope we are not losing any characters permanently. I think we have suffered enough this season. But don’t get me wrong, it has been an amazing season. Can’t wait for the DVD. And on that note, lets have Thomas Gibson commenting on at least one episode and if you could also have Kristen and Shemar doing one together, I know it would kill.
Hey, how about a post just with suggestions of what we would love to have as Extras?
Although something came up last minute preventing my joining chat, I want to thank Ed for taking time to be with everyone else and for all the wonderful communication he has given CM fans!!!!!!!
Thank all you special guests from past chats....hope everyone enjoys the break before you start again for the fourth season!!!!!! You all are incredible and while we drive ourselves mad after tonights cliffhanger, know your loyal and devoted fans will be there, tuned in to the new season (we'll be wearing out our dvds of past episodes, pining for your return).
Thank you again, Jill and Stacy for all you do for us!!!! Your hard work and communication:)
Now I will go set my VCR for tonight's episode and wait with anticipation for our season finale.
It will be a looooooooooong summer!
I looked up Lo-Fi on wikipedia and here is what it says. I wonder if this is a clue of sorts. ?
Low fidelity or lo-fi describes a sound recording which contains technical flaws such as distortion, hum, or background noise, or limited frequency response. The term "low-fidelity" is used in contrast to the audiophile term high fidelity or "hi-fi", which refers to stereo equipment that very accurately reproduces music without harmonic distortion or unwanted frequency emphasis or resonance.
In digital audio, the term "lo-fi" usually refers to an audio file with a lower bit rate or sampling rate, and thus a lower sound quality. Such audio files may be offered on the internet because of their smaller file sizes and hence shorter download times. The term "lo-fi" has come to be used figuratively in other contexts, by analogy with lo-fi audio, usually to mean "low-tech," since the audio concept of fidelity is not applicable.
Just a quick note while WAITING>>>>>>. Yes. You can loose everything on your DVR. Mine just died one night. No warning. Nothing. And not that old... only a couple of years.....And yes I lost a bunch of my favorite CM's....:(
You guys are so lucky getting to see this. I'm in the UK and don't know when I'll get to see it.
Enjoy!!!
Ed,
Thanks so much for taking the time to take part in the chat yesterday. I would love to have been there but I promised my boss that I'd be in at 8am this morning. I'll know in future not to promise such things. Lol!!
9 more minutes here!
Great finale with a shocking ending, probably one of the best episodes I've seen. Can't wait to see what happens next season.
OMG. I thought it started a little slow, but I can't beleive they left us with that for the entire summer. I just hope that they've left Reid, Penelope, and JJ alone this time.
I think if they do kill off someone, it'll hopefully be Rossi. Can't picture the show without any of the other's, especially Morgan, Reid, Hotchner and Penelope.
Lets do the math. The standard actors' contract is one year with a two year option.
Kirsten: She signed on as a regular in season two. So she lives.
Joe: He just signed a contract this season. So he lives.
Paget: She signed on in season two so she is still under contract next year. So she lives.
AJ is preggers and even Les M. isn't killing off a pregnant lady. So she lives.
Matthew, Thomas and Shemar should be negotiating contracts for season four. One of them must die because whoever was in that vehicle isn't coming out. They are bits and pieces like Frank and the train in NWO-2.
Ed must be trying to kill us.
I am waiting with baited breath for the new ep. I finally just got season 2 so at least that will keep me company for a little while over the very, very long summer break. Love the photo Jill. Did anyone else notice that on Hotch's I.D. badge photo that he is actually smiling?
We have had too many near misses. I hate to say it but this time somebody needs to die. Elle lived and Penelope. Reid lived through being tortured and drugged. Can't keep playing the danger card unless you are actually going to kill off someone.
This is going to be a very long summer. Worse than FK. With Fk we could follow the clues and try to solve it ourselves. Beautiful writing but Chris Mundy should not have tortured us this way.
It was a great cliffhanger! Hate to have to wait so long to know more! I wont spoil anything, but this case is not gonna resolve soon!
Prentiss lives. If you watch the CBS promo you can clearly see her running towards the explosion.
What about the other 5???????
Is Ed and all handing out valium lollypops this summer???
So baby daddy is in the picture for the long run. I like that. It feels right.
My usual rambling...
They open with the killing in NYC, then Hotch gets a phone call says he's still at the office--it's night. But waits til morning to call the team in?? *confused*
JJ on phone to the Great Cajun Mumbler (TM dragonladyk), they're planning a weekend together to go shopping. *gag* Hotch tells her there's a case, she says it didn't come across her desk, he says he was contacted personally.
Loved Garcia getting on the plane and Morgan and Prentiss teasing her. There's discussion of a case. Hotch says he knows Joyner, she's Brit/Amer citizen was a big shot at SYard and he'd liased with her when she was at SYard.
When the team walks in and Joyner walks out? She looks like Haley, JJ even says she looks just like Haley. (I think it's a cheap plot device--Hotch is only attarted to women who look like Haley. I think it's stupid.)
NY cops don't much like Joyner. Old NYC worked the Son of Sam case; doesn't have much use for profilers. Oh, yeah, old cop hears Reid rambling off information. "I see you brought your own computer".
Younger cop (Cooper) a bit later says to Prentiss: Profile me. She says "It's never going to happen"; he makes some comment about the case being in trouble. Hee. shot down.
Loved Garcia in with the NYC comp tech--who doesn't quite know what to make of Garcia but she seems nice. Garcia likes her system. And when she's telling the tech girl to make the place her own and starts unpacking her toys and stuff from her bag. The tech girl says it's not regulation and Garcia says that it's good there's no one else there (or words to that affect). Then she introduces tech girl to a Super Fox--and gets the girl to bring Morgan up on the camera. *hee*
At the scene where the tarot card was left, Morgan makes a comment to Hotch about how Joyner is running things. Apparently, her job is on the line and Morgan is at the top of the list to replace. (So much for Strauss' "None of you will ever leave the BAU". HA!) Oh, and Hotch is familiar with Tarot symbolism. (Thank you, Chris Mundy.)
They notice that the killer behaved differently after the subway shooting and then the Tarot shooting. Garcia analysed the film--one guy is taller than the other. They think they've got a killing pair, now.
The team and Joyner are talking about what to do the next day--Morgan wants the team at some of the major subway platforms, Joyner says no, she wants them giving the profile. Morgan argues and Hotch tells him it's not his place...Morgan's pissed.
They arrive at the hotel--GCM (Will) is there, and JJ is forced to tell everyone she's preggers, then GCM says he's asked JJ to marry him. She wasn't happy he told that...Hotch starts to walk away, JJ goes after him and he says "You could have told me." Some gag inducing stuff with JJ/GCM... He wants her to go back to DC, says that when a female cop gets pregnant she stays off the street. JJ says they've both got unusual jobs, asks if he's gonna give up his job, etc. (I can't wait til this story line is over...)
Garcia and tech girl see another murder--the cops aren't there--it was one of the platforms Morgan had suggested they watch.
Back at the office, Morgan is pissed. He says they could've been there, etc, etc, Hotch tells him it's not Morgan's place to be having this discussion. Finally says that instead of the case, all Hotch's focus is on her (joyner, and he's right). Hotch tells him to take a walk.
Rossi finds Morgan in the bar--talks to him. This was a really good Rossi/Morgan scene. Morgan realises he overstepped but felt that Hotch was taking her side...Rossi says there are no sides and asks if Morgan's thinking about taking the job. Morgan says it'd be nice to be in charge, but Rossi reminds him about the politics and such. Morgan says the BAU wears people out. "look at Gideon" (omg, they mentioned he who shalll not be named...); how he just walked away, how Hotch hasn't cracked a smile in a year and has to take a personal day to visit his son. Morgan looks at Rossi and how many times have you been married. Rossi gets his point but promises that if he ever sees Morgan slipping he'll pull him out--I think they're gonna have a good friendship.
Rossi and Morgan meet up with Hotch and Joyner in her office--Morgan starts to apologise, but Joyner says he speaks his mind and she respects that.
Now Joyner wants them out on the street. Prentiss is with the younger cop, Cooper--unsub shoots someone at an ATM--P & C give chase. Unsub stops in an alley, when Cooper comes around the corner, he shoots him--Prentiss shoots the unsub.
Rossi and Reid were reviewing the profile--this shooter is different again from the other two. Reid asks what profile ROssi'd come up with if it was taken out of context...they rush off to do things...*G*
Everyone's at the scene and Prentiss is saying that it's weird, it's like the unsub just waited, wanted to be shot.
They realise that this isn't seril killing, but terrorism. The group is using the shootings to see what emergency responses would be like. Garcia discovers that they hacked the camera system but only did it one camera at a time, so each owuld have to be checked, as opposed to system wide, which would be noticed.
Hotch hands out the orders--the group splits up (Oh, JJ went to see the GCM earlier cus he'd sent a letter saying he was heading back to NO and it had his shield in it; Hotch was there, told her to go and then come back, and he congratulated her on the pregnancy).
So, it shows them all getting into their vehciles, and then we get slide in split screens...and cut, in the end, to the SUV going *boom*. My one concern is that if they're putting a member of the team in danger--well, they're gonna be dead, cus that puppy blew the hell up. (And as someone said above...I smell contract negotiations....)
So, now. We wait.
They mentioned Gideon. I almost had a heart attack. I was so shocked. I loved the conversation between Morgan and Rossi. I think Rossi really wanted to give Morgan the benefit of his own experience and he really seemed to care.
Was Gideon a cookie from the writers because I swear I think I almost stopped breathing.
I guess it was their way of saying we finished the season without Gideon and it turned out great.
I just wish there had been some kind of warning. *g*
Exc. episode. I still do not like the Cajun but I think we are stuck with him.
I think Garcia, JJ and Hotch got into the auto. If so they are all dead because nobody is coming out alive from that explosion.
OMG! Just say the episode on CTV...I can't believe CM will leave us on that until the next season opener!
It is going to be one long summer!
Random things: I can't believe Morgan said to Hotch that he was more focus on SSA Joyner than the case! That from the man who was very focus on Det. Lopez in In Heat. At least he did redeemed himself by admitting he was out of line.
The case is very interesting with many unsubs and only towards the end do the team figure out what this is all about.
Now the team knows about JJ being pregnant.
Even if I knew someone would be in the explosion it still came as a shock! How could anyone survive that?!?!
Well, I'll be rewatching that episode alot to try and find out who was in that exploding truck!
Ed and everyone involved in making CM, Cast, Writers, Crew, thanks for a great third season. I can't wait for season four.
Brigitte
Dear Joe, Shemar, Matthew, Thomas, Kirsten, Paget & AJ:
If you haven't already signed a new contract then please do so now. We would like to see you again next season and not your body parts all over the pavement. They have left the door open to axe your character. Please call your agent asap and sign on the line.
Thank you,
A fan who loves you all!
who do you think didn't in the episode??? (think who's contract is up and who didn't renew it??)
i really have no idea cause everyone got in a car
So now we know that Hotch has a "type" of woman that he is attracted to. Okay.
No way anyone lived through that explosion. That SUV is toast. I think it was a red herring. There was more than one SUV. Our guys are fine.
The case was fantastic. I loved the episode. It was like "Lucky". You knew Garcia was going to be shot but you had to see it with your own eyes. We already knew there was going to be an explosion and that everyone's lifes would be up for grabs but you had to watch it to believe it.
Garcia playing nice with tech girl was wonderful. I love when she goes out into the field.
Hotch didn't like not hearing JJ's news from Will and not her. Poor Hotch.
JJ and Will seem happy. Is it summer yet?
Oh my GOD!!!!
I have no other way to discribe my feelings at this point. Awesome episode.....but I can't belive we have to wait a whole summer to see the conclusion to this.
Some ramble now.........
Um, Hotch and Haley dopple-ganger.....NO!!! I don't know if I'm the only one who feels this way but I find it a bit disturbing that they would pair Hotch up with his "wife".....I mean come on we know he misses Haley and all but to pair him up with a look-a-like is insulting to his character. He needs to heal from his divorce and take some time to mend his heart....not just find the most scarily accurate replacement. I wouldn't be surprised if Hotch called her Haley instead of Kate lol! So hopefully the writers are not putting this flirtation into anything else but just a laughable coinsidence!! I think in Hotch is ever going to date again, it should be with someone who is quite the opposite than Haley.....not the same person!! I mean I did like 3 double takes because I thought she was Haley. It made me laugh that JJ noticed! Hotch needs a women who is completly opposite than Haley.....not the same person with a british accent!
Ok, I'm done with that!
I rewatched the ending and this is what I found.......
The car that blew up was at a stop light....so whoever was behind the wheel was already driving. It was an old GMC with no licence plate on the back.
Prentiss got into a chevy at the hospital, so she had already drivin
the vehical there....so its not her.
Garcia got into the passanger side door of what looked like another chevy.....so that leaves an opening to a driver....and we know they wouldn't kill 2 of our BAU members, sooo i don't know who the driver is though??
Hotch is safe (thank god) because he was talking to Haley #2 outside the field office.
Rossi got into an older GMC......hmmm but I don't think its Rossi because seriously the guy just got hired!
Reid got into an older GMC but its Reid......he's not going anywhere....to much has happend to the poor guy!
Morgan.....got into an older GMC.....I'm a little worried about him.....but then I thought they would never kill off Morgan because of his fan base.....i mean its Morgan.....who would tacle the unsubs!!!
Which brings me to my assumption.....JJ & Will......both got into an older GMC.....and this may sound harsh and I don't mean it that way I love JJ.....but A.J Cook is the only person I could think of that maybe went up to Ed and said "you know what, I want to start my family, I can't work"! It makes sense to kill off JJ because in real life she wants to raise her baby! It will suck majorly and it will be devastating, but I can understand it if that is the case.
I couldn't even imagine how the team would react, it will be heart breaking!!
Thats just my thoughts, it's killing me not knowing though and its sooooo hard to imagine losing another character! If this is the case and they are thinking of adding another character PLEASE GOD
don't make it that Kate women!!! Please!!!! Can you tell I don't like her lol!
Ahhhhhh, i can't take it!!!
Um Jill, about that therapy.....do you charge by the hour lol.....
Well, thank you to all the Brilliant Criminal Minds writers, to Ed for for being the wonderful man you are, to all the crew, and to our amazing actors that make this show shine brighter than the stars above! I can't wait until season 4, it can't come soon enough!!:)
Thank You to Stacy and Jill for being the Back bone of this forum, you guys are apprciated sooo much.Also thank you to everyone beautiful person on this forum, I look forward to hearing everyones opinions and and ideas all summer long. The show might be over but we can all still talk:)
Love you all
Lasell xoxoxoxo
A person on another forum posted that Ed Bernerohas been giving interviews saying that nobody dies from the BAU and the entire cast is coming back next year. That is good but then what was the point of the finale?
I loved the episode but now I am confused!
Hotch never got into the SUV so we know he is in one piece. I agree that if it is a major cast member than it must be AJ. I can totally see her wanting to be a stay at home mom.
I really enjoyed the episode. Favorite part was Morgan and Rossi. They've come a long way. Almost friends and certainly they respect each other now. I hope Morgan takes his advice. I liked when he told Morgan that he would keep an eye on him and let him know if he was developing a problem. That shows a lot of caring and we didn't see that when he first rejoined the unit. He was Mr. No Teamwork. Good for him. Growth.
Thank you Ed, the writers, the cast and the crew for a great season. Thank you Jill and Stacy for providing us with a place to play that is safe and friendly.
I am such an idiot! I watched the episode and then was waiting for the promo. Idiot. There is no promo. It is the season finale. I am in major denial.
We lived through the hiatus and then the strike. This new hiatus just feels WRONG. I want a new episode next week.
The finale was very good. Gideon being mentioned took me back a step too. Wow. Hotch, Prentiss and JJ are safe. Everyone else was in one of the SUVs. I think it is a ruse. Sneaky CM! :)
I just watched the season finale and my stomach is in knots. It will probably be in knots till the new season.
Does anyone know who was in that SUV that blew up? I hope it is not my favorite doctor?
Am glad I found this blog. So I don't feel weird about my feelings for the show. LOL I wont get into details.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooor its a test as to how there gunna do it that the terrorist group simulated. HA!!!!! I RUINED IT FOR U GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OK, everyone.... who was in that SUV?!?!?
I have to be utterly selfish and say....not Reid...nooooooo please not Reid!
NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!MORGAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hoping it was all staged, seeing as they are all being watched...
I think it's JJ too. On the InFanity show...AJ said something about since she was expecting that she was wondering how long she could still do shows like this...
Mandy said something like the same type of thing...why watch this show..watch I Love Lucy or something...he was getting tired.
Well we have all summer to hash this out.
To Ed and everyone...speechless...incredible last episode of the season. Cannot wait for September. You left us with quite a bit to talk about. Great job.
here is my theory:
they discussed the tarot card being a message for only the police, not the media. the death card means a 'transition' or 'change.' when they were figuring out that the card was for the fbi/police and not the media, Reid has a lightbulb moment and runs out.
I also had a lightbulb moment - which agent whose life 'transition' or 'change' has been the focus of plotlines lately? JJ's. none of the other agents have had life changes lately...as soon as I thought about this, I thought I knew for sure that she was going to be shot next! it also makes sense because of the added 'drama' of her fiance quitting his job and asking her to do the same for the safety of her new baby.
My theory is JJ was in the SUV.
Okay so I have to get all of this out. Here are my thoughts on each character.
JJ, If you watch the bit with Will and JJ you will see that Will seems to have left something behind. He is running his hands around his pockets. Maybe he forgot the keys or was looking for a ring? But as others have pointed out the car that got blown up was already in movement. I seriously doubt they would blow up JJ. Plus AJ has made comments in interviews about her entire pregnancy being shown on national TV. Something tells me she is safe. Plus who kills a pregnant woman?
Prentiss won't go away. She still has to much story to tell. She's also newer so I see her being safe. Plus if she was going to be the one to be killed then she would have died in that alley.
Rossi, he is brand new. I can't see even CM hiring someone and bumping them to the front of the credits just to kill him at seasons end.
Garcia, never in a million years. They would have to be out of there minds to kill her. Plus the poor girl already almost died once this season. I say that earns her a srvival card to the next season.
Reid, this guy has been to hell and back. While he has a rabid fan base I can see him being at risk.
Morgan, I don't know about him. I love the character but it seems that maybe his story has been told. He was at the point where he could be promoted. We already know what happened to him when he was a kid. Something tells me he could be at serious risk.
Hotch, okay a lot like Morgan his story may have played to its end. When they have to take his story to him being with a woman that looks like his ex then maybe his time is over. Maybe if he gets killed Morgan will be next in line to step in to his position. I think Rossi is happy in his job so nothing would really be in Morgans way. Plus Thomas has been knocked to the very end of the opening credits. Weird for a guy that has been the lead since episode 1.
I think I read somewhere that the brit would potentially be in the next seson premiere. If it is Hotch then either she didn't get in the car with him and maybe they'll bring her in as a new cast member or Hotch is safe.
No matter how this goes down I don't think anyone will be happy. All of these characters are equally loved and it would be insane to kill any of them. Maybe they are pulling a quick edit trick on us and it wasn't one of the team. Okay well I can dream.
I need to go and process what I just watched. All I can say about this is AMAZING JOB CAST AND CREW.
jesus if its reid im gonna be pissssssed
is there anyway to like watch for liscense plates?
]and see who matches it
amazing episode! I'm terrified about who was in the SUV! I'm praying that it's injury rather than death though it was an impressive explosion.
I wanna thank Ed again for chatting with us yesterday before the episode!
I can't wait til next season!
I'm stunned.
Just...stunned.
This is torture. All summer...you're going to torture us all summer?
You are such deliciously evil people!
I LOVED IT!
What a story...no program on TV gets me so on edge as this one. Brilliant. You achieved your goal.
The scene with all of the terrorists made my blood run cold.
I loved the scene with Morgan and Rossi in the bar. Rossi is so cool, so good - he has a nice blend of strength and tenderness. Bravo, Joe
I love that Garcia got to go out on the road.
Everyone, thank you for the best season yet.
I can't wait for Season 4!
I am still trying to catch my breath! I have never loved Criminal Minds so much! Since the Fisher King, this is the first time the team has been split up or faced with this kind of ending. No one knows what is going on. And yet the team is a solid (or almost solid) unit. Thank you for such creative cruelty: for putting us in suspense about which of our beloved characters is in mortal danger (please not JJ or Reid!).
I am so glad - so exstatic! - that after a difficult season, CM has literally ended with a shocking and incredibly effective bang! You know the characters inside and out, and even though they have changed since Season 1, they have changed for the better! Thanks again for this wonderfulness!
Now, we're in for an excruciating 3 months!!
Did anyone else notice the great awkward hug between Reid and JJ in the hotel when they were congrats in her on the baby? too funny.
I have to laugh at myself, even though I knew someone was going to be blown up, the whole end montage of Black SUVs sucked me in and I was really caught unawares. Kudos to the writers and director of this ep, it was cleverly done. I am less concerned about the who at the moment than I am about the process the CM staff went through to decide who goes and who stays, unless it was, like Elle and Gideon, a personal request by the actor. If so, then I think it might well be JJ taking a break to be a mom.
Lociloco
Someone said that nobody would blow up a pregnant lady.
Ed Bernero killed his own daughter's character in No Way Out Two. He seems to figure out what is best for the show and if you aren't it or it works for him to axe you then you are gone.
In this case a blown up crispy critter in 1,000 pieces.
I think it is JJ. Love the actress and it would be fun to have her be a mom but she is the most expendable. Also she has the smallest fanbase. You can't kill the other characters. Garcia and Reid are untouchable. There would be rioting in the streets. Rossi is new. Morgan is beloved by all. Hotch is an icon for the show.
my theory is that is was that What's-his-face cop that Emily was talking to at the hospital, that is why she is running towards the car...hm, guess i'm just not willing to admit it might be one of our profilers...i will take it hard if they kill of one of our own..with gideon quitting, and all...they wouldn't do that, would they???
The only thing they can do to never make me watch it again is to kill Reid...If he's gone, I'm gone!
So evil. Oh so evil. So wonderful at the same time. Kudos to the writers, the cast, and the crew. Now if only I could freeze myself for 3 months and awaken just in time for the premiere..hmmm...
i honestly hope its rossi or prentisss
only because i love the originals too much to have them leave
its been three seasons, i love reid too much.
garcia and morgan cannot die, theyre too funny when they talk together
but its gonna be one of them
i know it
HEY GUYS.....
Don't get me wrong... I ABSOLUTELY love the show....
BUT MAN I HATE CLIFFHANGERS!
How can you be so cruel, leaving me hanging like that for the entire summer.
Now. Enough with the rant. I thought the episode is totally brillant.
Please pass on my heart felt thank you to everyone on the team who help make te show possible :)
Winnie
It looked like we were watching footage from the surveillance cameras when the SUV blew up. (Maybe on the unsubs' equipment?) Maybe the images were manipulated by the FBI so that the unsubs thought they got one of the team. (Shouldn't the FBI have had someone watching their vehicles? They had already seen one of the unsubs blatently kill a detective, and they suspected a bombing may occur...)
I don't think anyone was in the SUV that blew up.
It isn't Garcia or Hotch and I can prove it. You can clearly see the license plate of the SUV that blows up. Garcia, Hotch and the British are in a car with a different license plate. They are absolutely not in the blown up SUV.
Prentiss isn't in an SUV with that license plate either.
That leaves JJ, Rossi, Reid and Morgan. My money is on none of the above. It is a ruse.
Awesome episode. Lots to talk about.
i agree props to everyone who makes this show work
and makes it good enough to compete with american idol and not get stomped on.
Loved it.
If it Morgan, I be really upset.
However, I think it the woman who was lead person(can't remember her title) who is killed. I definitely think it someone who is not a regular cast member.
Or it could be all be for show and no one was in the car.:)
I was in shock and then I started to cry. I don't want any of them to die. I love this show. Everyone that works on the show does an amazing job. It is one of my favorite shows.
I can't believe it! We have to wait all summer to find out who gets it. Please don't let it be Reid. I think it might end up being Morgan. No matter who goes, it will be a sad first ep.
It was great to see Sienna Guillory on the show. She's wonderful. Well here we are with a cliffhanger. Not my favorite thing to do but we've gotten good at waiting. I like the notion of it being a training exercise. That is powerful. You have to realize that nobody dies. Never going to happen.
Lets all calm down a bit. What did we actually see? We saw several identical SUVs with agents getting into them and then we saw an explosion. The terrorist could have bombed any one of a dozen SVUs. I think it is all just going to be fine. JJ will be upset. One member will have some bumps and cuts and the others will be looking for the nearest pub for a tall one.
That was a crazy episode. Great storyline. It got more frightening as it went on, with more unsubs and now a terrorism group. Yikes!
I was waiting the whole show for Will to be killed, not sure why, but I thought he might die.
My jaw is still on the floor. After thinking about it, I think it's gonna be JJ who's killed off. I think they would totally kill off a pregnant lady. Plus it would make sense if she wanted to leave the show to raise her kid. This summer break is gonna be so long. Whoever it is, it's gonna be sad and I'm gonna miss them.
Rebecca
LuvSpence
Terrific episode and a great season. Here's what happens. Joyner exploded and Hotch lives with more pain, suffering and guilt. The reason they had her look so much like Hayley is because when she dies Hotch realizes he wants his wife back so he shares his job with Morgan which makes Morgan happy and gives Hotch time at home. The End!
Oh wow! I think it was the best CM finale ever! It was great!
The fact that Morgan is up for a new position, possibly, is great, but I do NOT want to see him go!
I loved the scene of Garcia and the copy lady in the video room (sorry Im horrible with names) They way that Garcia showed her how to lighten up a horrible job, and then bringing all those things out of her bag, as great!
I hope that cop guy (like I said Im horrible with names) will be all right.
Then ending! Oh man! The way they showed them all getting into SUVs. Theres no way possible to know who was in it, and theres no way possible for them to have survived.
Course my theory is one of three things:
1) It was so random look-a-like SUV and no one from the team was in it.
2) It was empty
3) We saw that got into it, but what we didnt see was that they got back out, and THEN it exploded.
(Course after it exploded kitty Reid disappeared, and I only found him under the covers of my bed. Please dont let that be a sign! - Then again hes' currently out and trying to crawl behind the teny tiny space behind my printer)
What an awesome finale! I loved how intense it got at the end, and I loved JJ and Will, and Emily with the detective, and like everyone else I'm going to go crazy trying to figure out who was in the car. Job well done, CM writers! I'm already desperate for September to arrive!
And a big thank you to Ed for chatting with us! It was wonderful.
It was Reed who got it. Go back and watch again. He is the only one who gets into an older SUV. Everyone else gets into a shiny brand new one, the one that explodes is not brand new looking.
What a great show. I can't wait to find out what really happened.
I think the explosion was staged. Since the BAU knew that they were being watched they could've set something up to draw out the unsubs. But, who knows. This is going to be a loooong 4 months, y'all!
Kudos to Ed and the writers!
You nailed the whole damn season. It was great. Thank you for the chat last night Ed! You are totally the best in the world.
Could you come back to chat next week and TELL US WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?
Jill won't let us ask for spoilers but if you wanted to just tell us then she would have no say in it. Just kidding!
Loved the episode. It was fast paced and shocking. Will is growing on me like mold. You have to respect a man who does the right thing and he is doing the right thing.
I think Hotch has aged twenty years this season. Maybe less angst for him in season four. Maybe a fling with Prentiss. There's a wild idea. I could live with it. *g*
Chris Mundy- You used the G word tonight. I didn't think we were allowed to do that. *g*. Great episode. Well written.
Thank you to everyone who makes CM for all of us. We really are a family and it is a lot of fun.
Oh man, what a great episode! They did it to us again! Now the rumors and speculations can begin!
Soeone in tonight's chat said that with the way they shoot shows, the SUV could have been blown up on the first day of shooting and been a completely different car than the one's the team got into! So if we freeze frame and check license plates, we probably won't be able to figure it out. Our show is sneaky, so they might have done that to us! LOL
Morgan mentioning Gideon caught me by surprise, too. But then again, it kind of makes sense, because Shemar is the one who was the most vocal when talking about MP's leaving the show. I like the analogy someone had earlier about the show surviving and thriving without that character. And I was and still am a big Gideon fan.
The hour went by so quickly, when I realized they were getting in the SUV's I really thought it was only half over and I looked at the clock and ralized that it was almost over. What a great show.
I am going to have to watch this one a bunch more because there was so much in the show that I know I didn't catch half of it the first time through. Thank God for the DVR!
It's going to be a long summer trying to figure out what happened.
Thanks again to Ed who joined us in the chat last night, Matthew, who joined us a few weeks ago and all the wonderful writers--Andrew, Simon, Chris, Erica, Deb, Dan, and Jay who have given us their time in the chat room. CM ROCKS!
The license plate on the exploded SUV does not match that of Prentiss, plus the sign in front of her SUV is different than the one you see her climb into in front of the hospital.
However, the exploded SUV did have government plates, so it's not just a random SUV, it's distinctly one belonging to the Feds. As to whether it's an empty one parked in front of the FBI HQ or one with somebody in it is a completely different matter.
i need to watch it tomorrow again
i was sooo caught up in what was happening, i didnt pay attention to the plates until after it happened
oh wow
i hate summer
There is no way that it is JJ that dies or is injured. CBS may torture and abuse kids on Kid Nation but Bernero is a family man with a soul. He isn't blowing up a pregnant main character. You can take that to the bank and cash it.
The show tonight was great. We watched together in the commons and you could hear our collective screams probably to the dorm. We are all supposed to be packed and ready to leave campus in the morning but we are still talking about the episode. It is going to be a long night.
So if you do review the video and if that actually determined who was safe and not; I could name two that are safe, Emily Prentiss and Derek Morgan. If you take a look at the car that was blown up and the two vehicles they got in. The cars had different style doors. The one that blew up opened left and right the ones they got in opened up and down and had a brake lightgoing across the top. However this is TV and the people will do whatever they want. Garcia and spencer looked like there cars might have also been the same as morgans and Prentiss. But i couldnt come to a conclusion.
i hate hypotheticals because you think something, and then youre like, well if i could think of that, then the writers probably know we can think that, so then they will do something like that to throw us off, but then you think what if they knew we knew that they knew
and it keeps going if you get what im saying
ugh please be september, even though i dont want school
First, I want to thank Ed for coming to chat with us last night. It was wonderful of you to take the time from your busy schedule to spend time with us.
This entire season has been absolutely fantastic (all three miniseasons) I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Tonight's episode was an amazing finish to the season.
Honestly the only complaint I have is that I have to wait months to watch part two. I WANT TO KNOW WHO WAS IN THE SUV, WAAAA. I'm betting there's a bunch of big evil grins in Hollywood tonight.
Knowing it was going to be a cliffie I even had a friend tape it on what will be the first of my season four tapes, so I'll be able to go from part one to part two without switching tapes.
Thank you to everyone involved for a wonderful season three of Criminal Minds.
my theory is that the Brit got it, and Hotch is hurt so that Morgan has to take point. It'll show him that he really doesn't want the job, and then all the happy fans will remain happy.
ED:
So far this evening I have received over 500 - I won't tell if you tell me who died emails, well over 2000- Please ask Ed what happened but tell him I won't tell emails and 100s of- they mentioned Gideon emails. And the night is young and the emails just keep coming. Clear evidence to me that once again CM hit it out of the ballpark and scored.
Great episode. A great way of ending what has been a trying but extremely successful season. As a fan, I am so very proud of you and every writer that works for you. It all begins and ends with our writers and you all faced every hurdle and still raised the bar of excellence we have come to expect. You didn't let that which you could not change knock you down. You worked harder and we are the ones who benefitted.
But you didn't just give us the price of the ticket. You and the writers are regular members in the CM chat room. You deliver good/bad news to us first and you never let CM fans forget that you appreciate them as much as they apprepreciate you.
So congrats to all of you. Thank you for the season. I look forward to season four. I would write more but I have to form a committee to answer these emails. Unless you have an extra support person I can borrow. Just kidding. It is our priviledge to answer these emails and help in whatever way we can.
Great comment J.
Since only one person is supposed to have gotten hurt then who was alone in a car?
Garcia was in a car with several others.
I think Morgan was alone. Hotch was with the Brit. We will all be speculating all summer long.
We need to look at the caps when they are finished and check the license plates very carefully. That will tell us everything.
Great episode. Wonderful season. 26 episodes next season is like winning the lottery!
I enjoyed the season finale of Criminal Minds. However, the ending is about to give me a nervous breakdown! It looks like the SUV that exploded looks like the one that Morgan got into. I hope that it isn't. I don't want anything bad to happen to him. :'-(
Is it 26? I read it was 27. Either way that is exciting. Somebody commented that AJ doesn't have as large a fan base as the other actors but that is wrong. She has a very devote fan base and the threads for her on the website are very active.
Maybe JJ is so upset by the bombing that she retires. That I could stomach but not blowing up a pregnant woman. I went a long with fingers in the chili, kids being burned alive, etc. but blowing up a pregnant woman would be past my limit.
The show likes to put the answers right infront of us sometimes. I think there is a simple answer and we are just missing it.
I knew there was going to be an explosion, but that was WOW. We saw all our guys except Hotch get in the SUVs, Garcia got in on the passenger side, so she had a driver (in NYC I would too) we don't know if it was someone from the BAU or just someone assigned to pick her up. JJ was with Will. Morgan, Rossi, Prentiss and Reid all got in the driver's side, (the way Reid looked to see the ignition to put the key in was cute).
So, not that I didn't like Joyner, but I like our guys more. I'm hoping it was her SUV that went boom, and not any of our people. That way we keep all our guys.
I just wanted to say tonight's episode was fantastic. This whole season was amazing...and to think i was actually nervous when Mandy left. Boy do I feel silly now. Ed, you have done a spectacular job. Also, I wasn't able to attend your chat last night, but thank you so much for taking time to talk to the fans. Now I just need to figure out how to get through the summer!
Man, I hate that you made me like Rossi for once. Damn you, CM writers!
Awesome job. Just awesome. Now I'm going to be biting my nails for the next three months...
Morgan's frustration was surprising. Did anyone else see this coming? I missed it.
Hotch wasn't even in one of the SVUs when the thing blew. We have an entire long summer to talk about all the endless possibilities. I think it was the British chickie that bites it.
I was googling to see if any other fans were as ticked as I was by this episode and found this blog. Nice of Ed to chat with fans and all, but seriously, is this the year when network television attempts to piss off their entire viewing audience?
First Bones, then House, then NCIS, now Criminal Minds. All of them with either a ridiculous bit of nonsense that leaves fans like me shaking their heads or cliff hangers that leave us fuming.
CM is a great show, I just don't know that I have what it takes to keep following it :( Thanks for all the entertainment though. I really enjoyed the show!
Shirley
I'm so excited to see this episode!
Thanks Ed, and everyone else who works on this wonderful show for an awesome season.
And also, thanks for chatting with us all the time. It means the world to us.
-ztivo
Shirley:
Don't give up watching CM because you don't like cliffhangers. I don't like them either but the show is awesome so please stick with it. You said you just found the blog. We have fun here and on the message board. Come have fun with us there and we can pass the summer break all as CM friends. Maybe we will have more chats. It can be so much fun. I am glad that you found the blog. The gals work really hard on making it special. Stay with the show and be a part of the CM family.
They adopted me when I found the blog after the Big Game.
We have no expendable characters. So nobody dies. We already know that A.J. talked about being pregnant through the next season so she isn't leaving us. I think we have lost enough characters the past few years. Ed said in an interview that nobody died and just one got hurt so why is everyone worrying. It was a great finale.
Incredible Blog!!!
I like the suspence of a cliffhanger. They don't bother me. Gives you something to look forward to and think about during the break.
Kill JJ = Nay
I swear, if they blew up Reid I will stop watching the show. Or Morgan for that matter.
do we know if s3 will be out on dvd
by sa1989
Thank you for the spoilers. It could be another year before we get the episode. I have a question about the chats. Would it be possible for the Criminal Minds Italian website members to join in with the chats?
Hey folks...
Don't know if you have complete faith in your CM production team or not but there is either a major
continuity error or the subway film was doctored and even the victim was in on it. LOL
When WE (you know- as if we were there) are watching the subway murder the "hoodie killer" approaches from behind the right shoulder and backpack of the victim and then walks past with the body between the train and the perp.
In the surveilence footage the killer comes up on the left rear of the victim and shoots him, then wslks past his left side, between the body and the train. Backpack is still on the right shoulder.
What a glaring error.
DSPY, I will have to look at that when I rewatch it. I enjoyed the episode. Garcia personalizing the tech's room was so typically Garcia. Very enjoyable.
Morgan and Rossi's conversation was very good. Rossi really understood Morgan's dissatisfaction and tried to help him by offering really good advice. I think Morgan is an outstanding member of the BAU but he can be a real hot head. I am not sure he has the maturity yet to lead his own team.
Oh, my God. If someone's dead, it'd better not be Emily, that's all I'm saying!
Joyner is the obvious person that dies. I am a newbie here so feel free to delete my comment if it there is a rule against newbie comments. I liked but did not love the episode. I don't think they are going to kill off one of the main characters so the cliffhanger feels contrived. There were elements that I liked very much in the episode. The interpersonal relationships were solid moments. JJ and Will is a solid storyline.
Well done!
great way to cap the season.
let me throw atheory into the mix .
If reid were injured that could be a way of bringing the issue back into it ,
Pain meds and all that.
I'm so pleased that we got as many episodes as we did this season. The strike seemed to drag on forever. Thanks to Ed and the writers for a wonderful ride. It has been one hell of a season.
The finale is sure to have people guessing and calculating all summer. If there were cookies then I totally missed them. I caught a few Hotch references that didn't quite add up but all in all it was a good solid episode. Not my favorite for the season but solid.
I couldn't deal with losing a main character. I am still not over Elle leaving. I don't accept change very well. Referencing Gideon burning out was a shocker.
Since we have been told that no main character does die then I think this episode was a setup for the season opener. I think we'll find our answers there.
If they are not taking a break then they should already have filmed the season opener. I get google alerts for all the CM actors and I haven't heard of any of them planning to leave the show.
Read an article w/ Ed B it is definitely a BAU agent.... so that scratches the Brit, and eliminates the "empty SUV" theory. I say it is Hotch or Morgan..... and I say S4 cannot possibly get here soon enough!!!!
April.... my understanding is they filmed the finale and the premiere all together for continuity for JJ's belly growth ;) .....
"And in the explosive cliff-hanger, "one of our team is going to be severely injured, and [viewers will] have to wait all summer to find out who it was," says exec producer Ed Bernero. "If you care about these people, you cannot miss the last 30 seconds."
That was from the spoiler section of the TV Guide. So what does severely injured mean? I will have to go back and rewatch the last 30 seconds. Long summer ahead of us!
Terrorism was an interesting angle. I thought the case itself was just great. Could have gone a lifetime without the explosion. We need some clues like we had for FK1.
Has anyone considered that the BAU team set this whole thing up? They knew they were being watched by the terrorists. Maybe they had already found the bomb and detonated themselves in a contained way. Perhaps nobody was in the SUV. Maybe Ed said someone gets hurt to throw us off the scent. Possible?
Can't be JJ. They wouldn't go to the trouble of writing in the whole pregnancy just to blow her up. Plus that would be way over the top even for a crime drama.
Also, Hotch looked upset that JJ had not told him about the baby. Is that how you all saw it or am I projecting?
I had seen no spoilers so I had no idea it was coming nor what the rumors are (whether someone dies for sure). All I know is that in that final montage they showed 6 different people getting into SUVs, but they never showed Hotch and the female agent get in. I'm willing to bet the first scene next season is them walking towards their SUV and it blows up. In any case three people have rumors for next year already - Garcia, JJ, and Morgan.
Arianna,
I wondered about Hotch's reaction also but I rewatched the episode and I think he was just trying to be polite and give her some privacy. Men can be so weird when it comes to things like that.
A hoax on the terrorists and the viewers? I can see that. That is possible.
I must confess that I yelped when it blew. I knew it was going to happen but I was still totally and completely not ready for it. If it is Reid that is hurt I hope they don't give him pain meds. I could not stand to see the drug storyline pop back up. It was dreadful. Completely.
Well, I have done my CSI thing and have positively excluded 3 members of the team. If you watch the explosion in slow mo, you will see that it is an older Chevy Suburban with the brand name in the bottom right corner of the tailgate. You will also see that it has vertical split rear tailgate, has a license plate ending in 4V1, and is in front of a stoplight with a one way sign, and a tall building with vertical slats on it, and nothing visible on the right side. These details exclude:
Prentiss- She is driving a newer Suburban with the bow-tie design on the center of the rear, and has a horizontal rear tailgate and a licence plate 968N2.
Reed-He is driving a GMC, when he crosses the front to get in, the front logo is clearly visible.
JJ-The hotel she is leaving is too close to the vehicle, it would have been in the shot along with Will, who had not even pulled his hand off of the passenger side door.
As far as the others, I am still going thru the footage, along with specs of Suburbans to figure out who it is, and will repost when I determine, although it would make sense for it to be Hotch, they never showed the vehicle he gets in, and if I were the producers, this is what I would have done with the victim, so that no fan with extra time on their hands (me) and a desparate hope that it is not Morgan could figure it out with any certainty. I will press on though.
I am going to rewatch the episode tomorrow and then post my comments but I did want to say that I really liked the episode. It was a great season finale.
God that ending was intense! Loved the ep as a whole! Great Garcia stuff, loved the tension with Hotch & Derek and Derek & Rossi's chat! Plus some good Prentiss scenes too! Quite liked Kate Joyner too it was creepy how "Haley" like she looked tho!
The only thing I didn't like was the JJ stuff! Will just creeps me out and I don't see the chemistry between them at all! I hated how he was all over JJ to tell the team about the relationship in "In Heat" and in this ep just turning up at that hotel when they were working on the case and basically forcing her to tell them about her pregnancy as well as throwing the whole "I asked JJ to marry me" thing out there too! Plus his whole "you shouldn't be in the field, blah blah" was just sexist and annoying. I'm disappointed that JJ didn't tear him down a bit more over all that!! Very pushy guy, don't like him at all! And do we actually even know if JJ has said yes to the proposal?? very weird..
I still wish they would have just hidden the pregnancy! But it's done now we have to deal with it I guess.
As for explanation over who was in that car! ugh I'm leaning towards Prentiss! I mean terrorists... who better than an fbi agent who's also an Ambassador's daughter? Plus was it just me that got the feeling that Emily felt like that the unsub was waiting for her to come round that corner to "shoot" she was very shaken up in that scene! If it is her I just pray she survives!!
anon wrote:
Well, I have done my CSI thing and have positively excluded 3 members of the team.
You're assuming that the SUV that was blown up was actually one USED by the team in the ep. It could've been blown up days before the scenes with them getting into the cars was actually filmed. So, study it all you want, but you can't actually be sure of any of your conclusions...besides. Do you really think they'd make it THAT easy for us?
I HATE HATE HATE cloffhangers.
I'm going on a hunger strike until the beginning of the next season. NA!
*pouts*
OMG, what a finale!
I just watched it and still can't believe it.
I'm still not sure who it can be in the car.
This will be a very very long summer!
How can they do that to us?
I loved the Morgan and Rossi scene. It shows again how much Rossi cares about the team members and how he's still able to push them forward. He's surely the Dad of the team.
Loved the JJ/Will scenes, too. It was funny to watch JJ telling the team she's pregnant. And it was really interesting to see the reactions of everybody.
I so hope nobody from the team died in that car.
Wishing every CM member, cast, writers, crew a wonderful summer. Hope everyone will find time to relax and to spend time with their loved ones.
You all have done an increadible job with this season!
Thank you so much for that.
Renate
Here's an idea...the Brit tries to blow up Morgan because she doesn't want to lose her job and tries to make it look like the terrorist group was involved...don't know just stirring up more dirt!
OMG!!!!!!!! What are they trying to do to us??????? How are we going to make it through the summer?
Great ep!!!! Very tense. I love it when there is a lot of tension like that.
If only it was September!!!!
Laura
Ed,
You are the best! Thank you so very much for taking time out of your hectic schedule to chat with us on Tuesday. I really enjoyed the chat. I still can't quite believe how lucky we fans are to have a show that we love so much that gives so much back to us! You are all amazing, every single one of you and we appreciate it so much. Thanks again for chatting and hopefully we'll see you again soon.
Laura
That was beautiful. This is a Season finale. I loved every minute of it; it was the best one so far, which makes sense since this is the best season so far, IMHO.
I hope no one died, like I said up there, we have suffered enough. But if I remember, one agent will be severely injured, not dead, so my vote would go for Hotch. With that explosion, the only way to survive will be to be outside, near the car, Hotch was the only one not in the car yet.
But if it was one of the team members inside the car, better not be Reid, Garcia, Prentiss or JJ. Or Morgan, or Rossi. Or Hotch. Or Will.
I can't wait until next season.
Actually, I can't wait for the DVD of this one.
i sure hope none of the cast dies in that car! But it was an intense episodes and i loved it, besides the car part! I will waiting for September now
This has been the season for cliffhangers on all of my shows. I think the strike made everybody fall behind and they needed the cliffhangers to have some time to breathe and take stock.
I love CM so this is just something that is rambling in my head. If nobody dies in that car then they have just played with our heads. There is no way anyone got out of that car alive. Bernero has said that nobody dies but someone is badly injured. That could, depending on how they play it, end up looking like a cop out. Dramatically speaking it would be realistic for them to have one of the main characters die. These near death experiences are starting to stack up. They missed their opportunity to have Elle die from her injuries in Fisher King. I am assuming the timing wasn't right contract wise. You know that if they had known that Mandy wanted to leave then they would have blown him up to the rafters. My guess is that if nobody dies but one is hurt then it is the person who has no new contract yet. He/She will lay in a coma until they sign one. Just my opinion.
Mundy did a throw back to "Revelations". Reid and JJ separated and Reid was tortured. In this episode we have Reid and JJ together again. JJ was the one in "Revelations" to tell Reid to never go off on your own again. In this finale Hotchner sends JJ to the local police station and separates her from Reid. JJ heads off to tell Will and Reid goes to his car alone. Then we have an explosion. Am I just thinking too hard or did anyone else think about this when the episode was over?
Prentiss would make the best prize for the terrorists since she is the daughter of an Ambassador or former Ambassador.
What if Morgan wanting to leave is the start of a CM spin off. Shemar could lead a show. I would love that. Bernero could have three CMs like Wolf has three Law & Orders!
I loved the finale. It has us all talking and guessing which I am assuming was the point of it to start with. Nice job by the writers all season. They did themselves proud this year.
What an EXCELLENT episode!! I can't wait till next season. I will say that if anyone survives that explosion it will be unbelievable. Explosions not only blow you up but they suck all the oxygen out of the air, therefore you would not only explode in the blast but your lungs would explode either way. I think...Anyway LOVED this episode!
Ed I was unable to attend the chat but still wanted to take a moment to say thank you. We are so lucky to have you in this fandom.
Lee :)
I think Kate Joyner was the intended target for her work with Scotland Yard and I think they killed her. I think Hotchner was next to her and was hurt. I also think the unsub was one of the cops in their briefing. If you look closely at exactly where the car was when it blew then you will see that it was near the light and was in motion prior to blowing. I guess we wait until September for the answer. Nicely done. Thanks CM.
BOOM!
30 seconds of excitement now leads to months of anticipation.
this was a great show last night i was on the edge of my seat the whole time. i don,t have a ciue who got blowen up at the end, i do no they will all be back. i will be like everyone ealse waiteing tell the new season to find out who it was/ it will be a long summer tell then.
I'm leaning towards it being Morgan. There were so many times during this episode that he was singled out for attention. Garcia showing him to the tech lady, his conversation with Rossi, etc. I don't really think anyone does die but you never know with Criminal Minds. Thanks for the great season three. It has been a BLAST!
I loved the episode! What an incredible ending--especially because it keeps you guessing about who was in the explosion. I hope it turns out that it wasn't anyone from the BAU team because I think we have had enough turmoil in cast changes but if we have to lose somebody then I hope it is JJ because the idea of AJ leaving to raise a child is a happy thing and someone else leaving just means more wondering why an actor/actress left.
I am laughing at those who don't think the show would blow up a pregnant woman. That would not even rank high on the list of things our great show has done. Some people take maternity leave and others just get severly injured in an explosion and come back after their baby is born all better. *g*
I love the show. I made my whole family watch the show last night. It was really a great episode. I dare not guess who it will be but please let it not be Garcia, Morgan, Prentiss, Reid, Hotch, Rossi or JJ.....that leaves nobody.
Thank you to Ed for coming to the chat room this week. I am sorry I missed the chat. I hope that he will come again.
I don't think that studying the license plates is going to help us. The writers are smart enough to know that that would be the first thing we would do. We need to look for clues in the rest of the episode and then wait for the new season.
The cast did an outstanding job last night. Mundy wrote a great episode. The whole damn CM organization deserves kudos galore for the whole wonderful season. The best of the best. CM slams!
I love Erik Palladino and they shot him. Figures. Has anyone else noticed that the quality of guest stars this season has been exceptional. We've always had great guest casting but this season was remarkable. Of course all my favorites are either unsubs or victims but it is nice to see our quality show enticing quality guest stars. No please could we lose Kevin Lynch. Love Nick but it is time to blow up his character. Too much. Will is better but we need to tone down his accent. That would fix him for me.
I liked the ruse theory people came up with. It is a fresh idea and CM could pull it off.
Loved it. Every minute of it had me wondering. The hour flew by in minutes.
Great episode, even if fall is a loooong time from now!!
Thanks, Ed and all, for creating something that we can so get wrapped up in. I've never watched a show for as long as I have watched CM. And this episode is a very good reason as to why. ;-)
OMG...I'm....I'm...shocked...do they wanna kill me?
Three months?I can't wait for so long time...I mean...great episode but OMG...the end...if someone dies from the team I cry...I swear.
Again a great episode, but oh dear what's with the evil cliffhangers this season?!?!
Between Criminal Minds, NCIS and Supernatural this will be the longest summer ever!
But for the record I'm going with: it was an empty SUV that got blown up.
Refresh my memory,
who was going where just before the SUV blew up ?
did anybody VOLUNTEER to take a vehicle ?
I thought it was a very good episode. Not one of my favorites, but very good anyway. I especially loved the way the Terrorists storyline played out.
The bad: I haven't cared much for the JJ pregnancy storyline so far, and it was no different in this episode. There is just so much of it that has been unbelievable to me.
The good: Morgan mentioned Gideon! YAY!!! Not only did it fit where Morgan's head was at during that moment, but us Gideon fans thank you for that one! Rossi getting Morgan back on track at the bar was probably my favorite scene. I also loved how Morgan mentioned the change in Hotch, who in Season Three seemed to take over the constant frown that Gideon had in Season Two. Hotch certainly has aged a lot in just one year. The Emily profiling the cop scene was good as well and I liked how her scene after the cop was shot and the Rossi/Reid scene all merged into them coming to the Terrorist theory. That all came together really well. And of course the Garcia computer scenes are always interesting to watch. I loved how she showed off Morgan to the other tech. LOL!
The ending: My top three picks to get blown up are JJ, Emily and Hotch.
JJ - My first guess was that it would be JJ and Will that get blown up. If AJ wants out due to the baby, then that's one way to end it. If AJ just wants a little time off when the baby is born, then JJ being hurt in the explosion would fit as well, as whoever gets hurt would need time to heal (like Elle did after she got shot). And with regard to the previous comments about blowing up a pregnant woman, my guess is that the writers would not have any problems blowing JJ, Will and their unborn child up, if it suited the storyline.
Emily - The One Way sign below the red light makes me think that it's her vehicle that explodes. The sign can be seen both when she parks at the hospital to go speak with the cop AND when the vehicle explodes at the end. It also looked like the same vehicle to me, but then again...they all looked alike to me. LOL! Also, unlike the others, she was away at the hospital, so her vehicle may have been easier to plant a bomb in. The others all seem to have been parked in front of the FBI headquarters or police station or whatever, which would hopefully have made it more inconvenient to plant a bomb.
Hotch - I really can't see *anyone* living through that big of an explosion if they were inside the vehicle, so since Hotch and the "Haley look-alike" were the only ones not shown getting into a vehicle (only walking out of the building), it leads me to believe that they might have been walking next to the vehicle during the explosion and therefore Hotch might only have gotten hurt. I don't think it would really matter whether the female cop lived or not. If anything, she could have shielded him somewhat from the blast, enabling *him* to live.
Reid and Garcia have already been near death, so I can't see them going there again and Rossi is still new and doesn't have the fan following that the other characters do yet, so I can't really see them picking on him. It could be Morgan, but they already gave him another interesting storyline during the finale, so they don't really need to blow him up as well. LOL!
I can't help but wonder if they (the writers/producers) have even decided yet who it was that was hurt/killed in the explosion or if they are still able to make that decision over the summer. If so, then all this speculation is for naught. LOL! They can change their minds at any moment and still make it look good. LOL!
Respect,
I agree with you. The producers may not have even decided yet if someone dies. Also we have heard rumors that they filmed several different premieres so even the actors would not know who it was in hopes of cutting down on spoilers.
If Hotch does get badly injured, could that bring Haley back into the picture? It would be nice to have him reunited with his family. The British look alike didn't do it for me and I think she definately dies.
Dear Mr. Bernero,
I take back every nice thing that I ever said about you and Chris Mundy. You both are dirty, rotten, scoundrels. You told us that someone would be blown up in the season finale, but you FAILED to tell us that we’d have to WAIT until next FALL to find out WHO it is! ARRRRRRGH!!!!!
Do you have any idea what you have done? An entire summer of CM Fanatics trying to figure out WHO WAS IN THE SUV? Mark my words, strange things are going to happen.
No, wait, I know. I have a high definition recorder…capture the frame….zoom in on the plates….enhance….enhance…..enhance… I said enhance damn it! ARRRRRRGH!!!!!
Dialing….Garcia, hey, this Phoenix in the St. Louis FBI office. I need to borrow your computer and magic fingers. I’ve got some surveillance video that needs to be cleaned up. I’ve done all I can with my equipment. I was wondering if you could get me a clear match on the plates. Sure, I can wait…..uh, er, yes, the video does look a lot like a TV show. Isn’t it amazing what our surveillance guys can do these days?....No, I don’t care that you’re using hundreds of thousands of dollars of government equipment! I NEED TO KNOW WHO IS IN THAT SUV! ….Click.
I’m just gonna kill that man. Yes, that’s it. He’s not going to see season 4. I’ll just get a hit man. He’s Italian and a cop. He’ll understand that. Oh….problem…. I don’t know any hit men. I know how you hire a plumber, but how do you hire a hit man? Are they listed in the Yellow Pages? Hmmmm. Let’s see…. H……H-a…..H-e..…H-i…..nope. Maybe they’re under “A” for “assassins”. Hmmmm, not there either. I bet I need the Los Angeles Yellow Pages…..
Oh, well, that really wouldn’t fix the problem anyway. We still wouldn’t know WHO WAS IN THE SUV. And if the hit man got there too soon, before they completed episode 4.1, then we’d NEVER know. No, maybe that’s not such a good idea after all.
Maybe, just maybe, he did it not because he’s a dirty, rotten, scoundrel bent on creating havoc in the CM Fanatic Universe. Maybe he did it because that’s his job and he’s just too damn good at it. Maybe he did it because he is an executive producer of a TV show and he’s a genius at getting people involved and eager to come back for the next episode… even if it is four months away.
Hmmmm…..A Genius? Or Evil Genius? That is the question. Is he trying to bring us back to CM next fall, or trying to drive us all insane?......Bwahahaaaaa……
Ed….Don’t be ridiculous. Go back to bed. There can’t be a unicorn in the Garden. Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a unicorn.
Is there?
Ed?
Ed?
Are you there?
OMG what a present for us. I can´t get my feelings in words. A great ep. I´m very terrified at the end, jumped up and then Boom seconds of heart attack, out and over.
OMG who is it. This ep toucht my nerves. It would be a long summer.
Ed, writers and actors thank you so much for this wonderful great season three. Great job.
You all are killing me.
Blümchen
Germany
Denial is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence.- Wikipedia
I'm in denial. I checked IMDB and none of the actors have any new series listed. Joe has a bunch of movies but he always does so that means nothing. I think IMDB would list any new shows one of our actors was planning on being in so I think they are all safe.
I thought the episode flowed really well. I really liked the scene with Morgan and Rossi and the scenes between Prentiss and Cooper. I was so sad that he was shot and I felt really bad for Prentiss. She was really on the verge of tears but trying hard to keep it together.
When Prentiss joined the BAU we all thought she was cold and uncaring but she has evolved into a trusted friend, valued agent and shown that she has a warm and loving heart.
When Rossi joined the team he was a one man show. Not friendly. Almost mean. Now he is open and helpful. Seems to genuinely care about all the other members of the unit and even appreciates Reid.
Wow those are some big changes. Season three was the best so far. No "Doubt" in my mind. I look forward to Sept and the start of Season four.
Joyner and Haley looked like twins. What does that mean?
"The man visited by ecstasies and visions, who takes dreams for realities is an enthusiast; the man who supports his madness with murder is a fanatic." by Voltaire
That tells you right there that this is a hoax and all of them will be fine. Great episode. Great blog. Glad I found it. I've bookmarked it.
i love and hate that ep at the same time!
i love it because it was simply so great!
i hate it because i will suffer all the summer! and thats not fair! ;)
great great job!
Aurgh! I haven't been reading any spoiler interviews, so the blown up SUV was a total shocker to me. I jumped up and nearly sat back down on my cat!
Great end to a great season. I'm not a great fan of cliffhangers, but I trust the writers to make it worthwhile in Sept.
Thanks to Ed and all the writers and cast who have been so attentive and caring toward the fans.
If I tear 3 pages out of my calendar, will the summer go by more quickly?
I don't know if anybody has found this this out yet. but on other site someone was able to get a screen shot of the SUV the blew up. It could be any one of the people involved. the SUV was already on the road/driving. It was stopped at a red light when it blew up. Therefore, all the scenes we see of the cast getting into the cars don't mean anything. :( You can't figure it out from those.
Why was Garcia in the field on this case? She was using her own computer. Why did she travel with the team? Why was she there?
And Nick Brendon's aweful character, Kevin Lynch, is a computer tech like Garcia.
Are they replacing Garcia with Lynch because I will have a panic attack.
Anonymous: I agree with you that they looked like twins. I have no idea if that means anything. Maybe Hotch just is attracted to that "type" of woman. It was funny that JJ noticed it and commented on it.
This is much worse than "The Fisher King" cliffhanger. At least with FK-1 we had clues to work on over the hiatus till we solved it.
We have nothing here to work with except license plates which mean nothing and slow-mos of the last few minutes that really don't give you much either. This is truly a cliffhanger!
Seriously........that SUV blew up and I just sat there, with my mouth wide open. Why would the show do this to me?!?!?!? Now I have to spend the next 3 months, overly concerned........great ending...horrible suspense for me though!
Perfect episode.
I really loved the Morgan/Rossi talk at the bar. Always liked Morgan /Rossi scenes. I thought from the first time they got intodruced to each other they would make a brilliant team. From the beginning Rossi seemed to be more interested in Morgan than in any other member of the team. So hopefully none of them two gets blown out of the show.
But then I hope none of the BAU characters is getting killed.
I loved that they mentioned Gidion.
Season three is my favourite so far and I´m looking forward very much to season four.
More thoughts on character safety after last night season cliffhanger.
Prentiss is safe. I just saw a screen cap of the car she gets into and I paused on the SUV exploding mid explosion and s long as the producers pay attention to detail the it can't be her. The SUV that blew up, as others have mentioned, had a back that opened to the sides while the one Emily was in opened up and the license plate was in the wrong place. It was lower on the SUV that blew up. Well that's one of our 7 safe.
Morgan is safe. He is driving the same kind of SUV as Prentiss based on the brake light you can see as he walks to his car. Plus as others have mentioned, we need our resident unsub tackler.
JJ, might be safe. My guess is the bomb was tied to the ignition. JJ was in the back seat and Will looked like he was looking for keys or something in his pocket. I hope that he was to busy enjoying JJ coming after him that they misplaced the keys and while someone is getting blown up they are looing for lost keys. If AJ does want some time off then the show could say that JJ took Will's advice and took herself out of the field. She could jump in from time to time and keep Garcia company at the office like she did in Season 1. Those was soe great stuff from them early on in the series so I wouldn't object to that.
Reid, he looks to be in a older less shiny car. He is the only one we actually see put keys in the ignition and turn it on. Plus he is loved by eveyone of the team so IF someone does die he would present the most heartache for the team and the fans.
I'm still running on the great amount of hope that this it was another government official and not one of our team. I wouldn't object to them having blown up the look alike.
Someone needs to invent time travel quickly so we can jump ahead to September and solve this mystery.
Ok so everyone in the chat assumes that one of the team members is dead. It maybe wishful thinking but I don't believe that any of the team is dead, injured maybe, but not dead. Either they blew an empty SUV and no one is dead/injured or they killed a non team member. My other theory includes it being Hotch, Rossi or Prentiss being injured, not dead, and it being used to provide back story much like Elle being shot. I mean we've only been screaming for Hotch, Rossi, & Emily's back stories for months/years so what better way to give it to us then in an a season finally cliff hanger. Again, much like Elle. Past behavior is good indicator of future behavior.
On the freak out of CM turning into a Soap Opera... even if Will and J.J. get married I doubt they will show the wedding. They may show photos of the blessed event but that's it. Besides a honeymoon get away would be a great way to explain J.J.'s absence while A.J. is on maternity leave. I know J.J.'s maternity leave should cover it but we all know TV maternity leave is like 2 episodes and then they're back to work. Like it only takes a couple weeks to fully recover from your vagina being stretched, ripped, and torn and then sewn/stapled back up. *shudder*
Thanks to all the writers, cast, crew, directors, and Ed for making season 3 so great. Have a restful break. We will be waiting, anxiously, for season 4. Thanks to Jill, Stacy and the mods for all your hard work on the blog.
Terrorists walk among us and infiltrate all types of jobs. I honestly think the computer gal that Garcia was working with was part of the terrorist group. I base that on the terrorist's ability to hack into the webcams.
I think the BAU caught on to what was happening and used this knowledge to their own advantage. The team seemed to break out by themselves. Was it to warn those they trusted or perhaps so the terrorists would have too many agents to watch and the BAU could put their plan in action? I think they may not have told the British agent or maybe her dying was purely an accident but I think the BAU wins this one. We have been told that nobody on the BAU dies but one is gravely injured. A shard of glass can gravely injure you. I think that my money is on the BAU!
Everyone is coming up with such interesting theories of plotlines. I am still too shocked to way in on any of them.
It was an incredible finale, season and I commend all the talented people behind CM.
I knew a cliffhanger was coming and it still made me jump! That's how awesome this show is.
This is going to be a loooonnnnnnnngggg wait.
When the screen faded to black I immediately wondered if Ed Bernero had watched "The Sopranos" because they ended that series making you wonder what the hell happened when the screen faded to black and now here we were finishing the season wondering what the hell happened.
They needed to make this cliffhanger more confusing than the Fisher King and they did. We solved the Fisher King mystery in just a few weeks. I think they wanted us to really have to chew on it till the new season's premiere. Nice work because I'm chewing.
Two thumbs up to Chris Mundy for an excellent episode.It was a very suspenseful case for the BAU to figure out who's been dropping New Yorkers faster than bad hot dogs from a sidewalk vendor. I almost thought they've perfected human cloning when Kate looked so similiar to Haley but has Edward Scissorhands for a hairdresser.
Loved all the interteam tension to heighten the suspense!!
I hope the scenario for season 4 premiere would be like this. Rescue crew runs up to burning SUV to find..... the biggest red herring you've ever seen,flambe of course.
Thank you Ed and team for a fantastic season 3 and for coming to all the chats. You guys are the best and I can't wait to see what next year brings!!!
Ok, I went back and took a closer look at the back of Emily's vehicle and compared it with the back of the blown-up vehicle. The vehicle that exploded clearly had two doors that opened from the middle out to the sides. The back of Emily's vehicle did not open that way, as it had a logo and a license plate in the way and no line going straight down the middle to indicate doors. I no longer think it was her vehicle that might have exploded. LOL! That still leaves a lot of possibilities however. LOL!
I was glad that JJ's pregnancy was finally revealed and they can all talk about it and share it with her. Hotch seemed miffed that she had not already told him. Mommy and Daddy being the last to know didn't seem to sit well with him.
I guess I better start learning to like Will because I think he is here to stay. Maybe he can be a stay at home dad. That would be a nice storyline.
Mentioned Gideon. It seemed right. We complained a lot that they never mentioned Elle when she left. I think mentioning Gideon was a cookie.
I'm not as sure as others that the advice Rossi gave Morgan was so wise. I think Morgan feels ready to take the step and if that is the case then he should make that decision himself. Rossi hasn't always conducted himself well in the past. He has talked about the mistakes he has made in his own career. I would have liked him getting his advice from Hotch over Rossi. I did appreciate that Rossi cared enough to offer him advice. Reaching out to him was nice. Didn't Morgan once say to Rossi that he was going to figure Rossi out. I think Rossi has also figured Morgan out.
My heart broke for Emily. She needs a man in her life. We know she wants a child. I think she needs a family and her mom the Ambassador would freeze boiling water. No offense to Kate Jackson.
The cars and the license plates are a big fake out. If you look closely the one that blew up was an older model. Either it was a way for the production company to save money by not blowing up a newer model or it was not one of their SUVs. I think it is all smoke and mirrors to keep us confused, guessing and salivating till the new season.
What if the terrorist Prentiss shot wasnt trying to commit suicide by cop?
what if he was trying to kill prentiss ?
I just think its interesting this explosion occured a few hours after a member of this terorrist group pointed a gun at prentiss.
perhaps without realizing it she stumbled onto something that might give away the groups intentions .
even if it turns out to be JJ or another member of the BAU that is hurt,
I believe prentiss is the target.
I showed the last 30 secs of the ep to my mum - who doesn't watch, much to my annoyance - and the first thing she said was, "oh, they blew up the hot black guy." When I freaked out ("how did you know that?!", etc.") She just told me, "well, it was his car.". My mum is really good, visually. I'm gonna take her guess. Excuse m while I go and cry.....
Here's a question for the group: Why were the BAU using so many different SUVs to start with? They needed only a fraction of the vehicles they were using. I think it was a fake out for the terrorists or us or both.
I think it is Hotch that is hurt. Call me crazy but until the finale Thomas Gibson has done like zero publicity for the show. He wasn't even on the S-2 dvds. Maybe he wants to leave. Then he did the publicity for the finale to through us off track. I think they wrote Gibson a way out if he wants it. Just my opinion. Please don't flame me.
I also like Will and JJ together. They're sweet. I don't see her giving up her job like he did and that should make for an interesting conversation after this bombing.
Love the show.
First...Thanks Ed, for coming to the chat on Tuesday!! And thanks for the great episode.
I speculate that the Brit is the target of the bomb, and it will leave Morgan with the dilemma of deciding if he wants the New York job.
I guess we will have to wait and see.
From TVGuide.com: And in the explosive cliff-hanger, "one of our team is going to be severely injured, and [viewers will] have to wait all summer to find out who it was," says exec producer Ed Bernero. "If you care about these people, you cannot miss the last 30 seconds."
Severely injured = NOT dead. My guess? Morgan or JJ (with MAYBE Will dying). Now to explain:
In order to stay on the show Morgan needs to not get that promotion so either 1) They need to blow to the case (no pun intended) 2) Morgan needs to turn down the offer, OR 3) Morgan needs to be unable to take the offer...IF he were to be severely injured then he'd be unable because he'd be recovering.
In order to stay (without break) on the show JJ needs to, well, not be pregnant, lol! If she were in the car that exploded and were severely injured it's likely she'd lose the baby. And, since we saw the state of that car, it's possible Will could have been the killed one.
Just my thoughts at the moment...Subject to change, LOL!!!
if paget is shown running towards the exploding vehicle...if i'm not mistaken, wasn't she alone with the roughneck cop at the hospital. no other team members were with her or even in the vicinity near her. so couldn't it be the cop at the hospital instead of one of the cast?
Ok, it is Hotch because,
HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WE DIN"T SEE GETTING IN A CAR. He will walk out hit his remote opener and get blown to kingdom come. Nobody could survive an explosion sitting inside that car. Hotch could survive this explosion if he hit the remote from a distance. This way Morgan can run BAU while Hotch recovers and it will show Morgan he doesn't want the job in NY. Pluse if the BAU helps the Britt lady she keeps her job.
Call me crazy but doesn't anybody else think it is weird that Hotch was the only one who we didn't see getting into a car. Plus, Garcia and JJ were in the passenger seats sooo they were with somebody driving and the producer said ONE of the team gets hurt.
Plus look at the car, the antenna is on the wrong side of the car for Reid, no plate so no Prentise, wrong location for JJ and Will (outside Hotel).
My thoughts.
I'm still trying to get a handle on why Morgan had so much attitude with Hotch. It seemed out of character for him. Of course Hotch smacked him down telling him to go take a walk. Didn't leave Hotch in the best frame of mind.
Then Hotch and the lookalike wife was creepy.
Hotch didn't appear that happy when he found out that JJ was preggers. Not having her tell him seems to have hurt his feelings.
Then I think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think Haley-2 was the target and he was standing with her. BOOM and Hotch is really not having a good day.
It was an awesome episode. Something for everyone. I know I will watch it several more times over the next FOUR months.
I loved the episode. A+
I bet the writers are all laughing at us. I bet they have no idea yet who they are going to make the victim and here we all are trying to figure it out.
Love Ed but maybe he sent us on a wild body parts chase saying that one member is injured.
I want to say thank you to the writers for mentioning Gideon in this episode. I am a big Mandy fan but I stuck with the show when he left. It meant a lot to me that his character was mentioned. It was classy.
Sometimes terrorists use two prong attacks. The car bomb may have been only the first attack. Who knows what they could have planned. Logically once the vehicle blew up all the survivors would have gotten out of their vehicles and for all we know they could be sprayed with bullet fire.
I'm one of the people who finds it interesting that we are never shown Hotch getting in the car. Maybe there's something there?
I don't know. It's going to be a long four months
I think the timing is the key to solving what happened. Also the vans they were getting into were completely different than the one that was bombed. So either it was a denotation of a rigged van, there could have been a time lapse that we don't know about yet or ?
but it was not one of their vans. The writers had to have known that we would notice the difference between two door, four door, new, chevy and the likes. I think what we need to solve this mystery is info we just do not have yet.
No better way to not have a mystery solved like FK was than not giving out all the clues.
Just my two cents worth. I enjoyed the entire season. Well worth watching.
Reid was driving a GMC so it wasn't his SUV. As long as he wasn't hit with debris then he should be fine. If by some slim chance he is injured then I would like someone to give him a haircut while he is unconscience.
The finale was incredible. I loved this cliffhanger. There were no dull moments. Non-stop action. Just my favorite kind of episode.
This episode was exactly why I watch CM. It was solid action and a great story. I have watched it three times now and still have no clear idea of who was injured. That is okay. I will wait.
I do agree with many of you that said that Morgan seems out of character during parts of the episode. That does make me nervous. Gideon....wow that surprised me as it did everyone else but the context was so perfect for him to be mentioned. Wonderful end to a wonderful season. Now if G-d would move American Idol off of Wed nights we could really celebrate next season.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!major spoiler !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it has to be one of 4 poeple
i've watched my recording like 200 times
its
rossi
JJ and will
the British Woman
or hotch
I don't think anyone is leaving because I saw a spoiler where it said none of the actors knew about that "Boom" ending as the writers didn't want anything leaking out. So let's face it, if one of the actors was leaving they would know this.
I think it was a sneaky ending, maybe one of the characters got out of the car before it exploded or it isn't even one of the main characters. Maybe one of the other cops who were helping them, or that blond FBI agent, the British one.??
Okay...
Do you think the folks editing the show screwed up like they did in the subway? Where the security video showed a different murder than that which actually took place (continuity).--Killer passes on the right side of DB in live action but on the left in video.
Watch minutes 1 through 4 of the show and you will see. Later when they revisit the subway tape it is correct.--
If they didn't get their images crossed then the Anon poster was right about the cars.
The exploding vehichle is an older
Chevy with a chrome rear bumper.
Everyone had a new/newer ride clearly shown and or different model plus lamp posts, trees, building too close to be theirs except for Rossi and Morgan.
You never get a look at anything around Rossi's truck but you do see the view in front of Morgan's.
If the editors and continuity folks did their jobs the way they are supposed to it is one of them and NOBODY else.
Pssst, the intersection in front of the explosion looks very similar to the on in front of Morgan's.
Okay now the elimination of the others...Black rear bumper and plate on rear door for Prentiss,
Reid has a GMC, JJ - new ride and close to building/lamp posts, Garcia -New model vehicle and trees/building.
Let's call J.R..
It's all a terrible dream..."There's no place like home, there's no place like home, there's no place...
well it wasnt Reid...unless they cheat and the continuity is forgotten.
tampa baby said...
Here's a question for the group: Why were the BAU using so many different SUVs to start with? They needed only a fraction of the vehicles they were using. I think it was a fake out for the terrorists or us or both.
I think it is Hotch that is hurt. Call me crazy but until the finale Thomas Gibson has done like zero publicity for the show. He wasn't even on the S-2 dvds. Maybe he wants to leave. Then he did the publicity for the finale to through us off track. I think they wrote Gibson a way out if he wants it. Just my opinion. Please don't flame me.
I also like Will and JJ together. They're sweet. I don't see her giving up her job like he did and that should make for an interesting conversation after this bombing.
Love the show.
He didn't do any dvds for Dharma And Greg either.
J, I believe Thomas Gibson never participates in any Extras because his family [wife and kid(s)] live in Texas, so he travels back there at any free time. Although you can see him participating on behind the scenes, such as the video on CBS or that special video they had welcoming the shows back from the strike.
But I'm with you. I think it's Hotch, but because he was the only one not showed getting in a car and no way someone would survive being inside that car.
I found myself in Vancouver on Wednesday night, but couldn't watch the ep as it aired - which would have been so amazing - but I've just watched it now....and WOW!!!! So the new season starts when?
I can't wait. Guess we'll have to learn to live with the reruns. At least here in the UK S3 has only just started so we'll be getting close to the start of the new season by the time they run out. Well that's the theory of it!
Jx
I started watching Criminal Minds during the strike while my shows were in reruns. I have really enjoyed it and I liked the finale episode. I really like JJ and I think the scenes with her and Will in them are cute.
My boyfriend watched the last scene in slow speed and he said that it was impossible to tell if anyone of our unit was in the SVU plus like so many have said already we don't know who could be hurt nearby.
Ed said "seriously" hurt but that doesn't mean somebody died. I think just the thought of losing a main character has made everyone freak. My guess is that it is JJ because the actress's real-life pregnancy needs a maternity leave. This could be the way to work that into the series.
With JJ pregnant on the show, she has an out for her "maternity leave".
Speaking on the other 43.5 minutes of the episode..... the scene with the terrorists watching was completely eerie... I personally love Will, but it looked like they were a little heavy on his makeup for this one... I thought Hotch was going to have a stroke when Morgan confronted him about the Brit... and the guy Prentiss shot, why'd he stop? Do they know who Prentiss is, with her ties to the ambassador? Glad we saw more than a screenshot of Garcia... kudos to the writers for mentioning Gideon and his burn out without bashing Mandy (which would be easy!)....
All around great episode... glad they didn't just do a 30 second spot of the truck blowing up.
I think the Hailey-double blew up so next season Morgan can angst over whether to step out of Mom and Dad's shadow and take the new gig. Several people have talked about the possibility of a spin off show for Criminal Minds. I would sooooo love that. Shemar Moore could carry the lead of a new show with no problem
Morgan leaves. He takes Lynch as his Techie. Characters go back and forth between shows. I would love this so much. The NY office and Quantico offices would really not be that far away from each other. This is a great idea. When A.J. takes her baby leave they could simply say that she is helping Morgan for a few weeks in the NY office.
This was a full episode but the only thing anyone is talking about is the last few minutes of it. I think exploring the rest of the episode would be interesting. Terrorists- what were their motives, who was their target, etc.
Prentiss being the target is a definite possibility and could make for some very interesting insight in to her past. The FBI could have been their primary target at first but then when they saw Prentiss they zoomed in on her because of her family. We've screamed for her backstory since she joined.
This was a great episode and definately season finale material worthy of the months of fan speculation. I would just like to see more discussion on the why and not the boom. The writers wrote a great episode. All 44 minutes of it.
I think it was the English Haley double lady that was the target. She is not a regular character on the show and has the connection with Scotland Yard which is like a double gotcha for the terrorists. Slam Britain and the US at the same time by blowing her up on US soil.
Wonderful episode. Great on your seat ending. Kudos to everone behind Criminal Minds! See you when the summer is over. Work hard for us some more. You keep getting better.
Loved the episode.
Thanks!
Morgan got more detailed about his backstory. I was wondering at what point he was a cop in Chicago. From his background, as we knew it, he played sports in school, was with the bomb squad at some point, and then was a trainer for the BAU for new recruits, and then landed on the team. He's never mentioned (that I remember) being a beat cop before but that just shows how experienced he really is in his field. I am very impressed by Morgan's experience. I loved the scenes with Rossi and Morgan. I think the men are alike in some ways, except Morgan is more of a team player.
1. Loved Garcia's "miracle worker" mug.
2. The tarot card sent was the same one left by the DC sniper.
3. Lo-Fi in this case seems to refer to a plan by terrorists to start simple and build up. The first tier of attack is the bombing with kills innocent bystanders and then a second blast or fire would kill the responders. Mazimum damage. So I am waiting to see if this was just the first bomb or if this bomb ignites fires which kill more people.
4. Prentiss said the man she shot appeared to be wanting suicide by cop since the unsub could have quickly gotten away. So he meant to kill Cooper. I am not sure I understand where they were going with this. I need to rewatch the episode.
5. I don't like cliffhangers. I really wish they had not chosen to do one this season. The season has been hard enough with all the garbage that has gone on. I personally think we deserved better than a cliffhanger.
The car that blows up is actually an older Chevrolet Suburban. Notice the difference between the tail lights on the bomb car and Emily's car. You can also read the model on the doors of linny's second picture of the bomb car in mid explosion.
All of them get into a 2007 or 2008 model GMC Yukon (XL). Either the SUV that blew up was not one of the team members and an unrelated SUV or they just blew up an older model one so they didn't have to blow up a brand new vehicle (more likely). Thus, we probably won't be able to figure out which one of them it was by going off what vehicle they were driving.
Keep up the awesome theories! You all have my mind racing. I am concerned it is JJ. CBS would kill a pregnant woman. I don't know why people keep saying that a network won't do that. It is no different than killing any other character. I really liked the episode but I agree that it should not have been a cliffhanger.
I was thinking about this tonight...
So, we have Eddie B. saying that one of the characters would be seriously injured. (Which may or may not be the truth, but for this, we'll assume it is.) We have a show that LOVES misdirection and red herrings. They showed us an SUV blowing up after having everyone but Hotch and Joyner get into an SUV.
I wonder if any of the team were actually in that SUV. Something I noticed when re-watching tonight: when they showed the group of terrorists (after Joyner says they don't know that the FBI know they're watching), there was an overlay of a single terrorist kissing his gun before putting it in his (or her) pocket, then it fades out to the group. They don't usually show us something unless it's important...
What if one of the cell SHOOTS Joyner and Hotch? Joyner would most likely be the target; Hotch would be collateral damage (it is possible they go after both of them--Hotch is the head of the bau team). That would certainly count as seriously injured (and I don't think it was ever said the injury would be the result of the blast). The SUV isn't Prentiss' (not just the license plate; the blown up one had two doors that open from the back, Prentiss' is a...solid door) and it's not Reid's (Reid's was a GMC; the ka-blooey one was Chev). Is there even anyone in it? Is it something the terrorists have staged? (Although it wasn't in the lane closest to the side of the street...). Maybe it had other FBI agents who were working the case? I would put nothing past the CM folks.
I have a feeling Joyner might not make it--maybe so they can put Morgan in charge, at least temporarily? Would it work that way? If Hotch is injured, then Rossi would most likely take over the BAU team.
Anyhow, just a thought. :D
On the basis one is 'seriously injured'..
I don't think it can be any women- they've already shot Garcia and Elle! Especially JJ cos they've went to the bother of writing in her pregnancy. If she was leaving they wouldn't have bothered; if she wasn't they don't need to excuse her absence- we know she's pregnant after all!
So whose character needs some new drama? To make it Reid they'd have to go back to the drugs (-boring! And he's been a victim recently).
Hotch has his divorce stuff. That's maybe getting old, and it'd be interesting to see how they do without him.
It could be Morgan. Except his job offer story would be interesting to see followed up in the second half.
I don't think Rossi would be too missed if he was out. So it wouldn't make for many consequences in the team's functioning if he was out.
I think it is Hotch. How the team would work without him would be interesting, with Morgan up for a promotion and Rossi not been as used to teamwork.
Has anyone seen the finale promo on the official website? I didn't remember some of the clips... Maybe the serious injury comes later, after the cars!
They had to be trying to kill the Brit. The team only arrived in New York 24 hours earlier and that isn't enough time to target them and then put a plan into action.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/...0,4938588.story
Shemar talks about the finale. He is just so much fun. Better not be that gorgeous face that is "severely injured". Or those abs!
My money is on JJ. She is the least necessary and AJ is preg and needs time off.
I stuck with the show when Lola Glaudini (who played my favorite character) left, I stuck with the show when Mandy Patinkin (who played my second favorite character) left, I paid for half of the food for the striking writers to show my support for them, contributed to the assistance fund to help those who needed it and I have promoted the show since the first episode.
Now I am done. I found the cliffhanger to be insulting and an easy fix for the writers for what I am sure has been a difficult season. To me it is just a really good tv show. I will find another one to wrap my brain around.
Make no mistake that this cliffhanger wasn't really a cliffhanger. It wasn't a lead up to something wonderful. It was a show that is tired, worn out and needed to throw something on the screen to buy them time to regroup from the strike. It is also no secret on the web that Thomas Gibson is unhappy on the show. If he is leaving then why not just say so and kill him off. Why make the fandom sit and wait to see what will happen with him. The Hayley Brit was insulting. Was she truly the only Brit speaking actress that they could find. The vans and the explosion were clues to nothing. Make no mistake that this was like the Fisher King. It was a "we have no idea if one of our actors is coming back and we don't want a repeat of the Mandy situation so we'll screw the audience till we know something" and it was insulting.
The addition of Nick Brendon's character has been overwhelmingly disliked. The must read all the websites and they must know that but here we are stuck with him. Sounds to me like "they will get used to whoever we tell them to get used to" and that isn't why I watch tv.
A.J. Cook is probably a very nice lady but she has always been a B player on the show. It is wonderful that she is pregnant but turning the show upside down because she is pregnant is ridiculous. Stick her in an office somewhere and forget her. Instead we now have another guest star we are stuck with who sucks. Lets also not forget the wonderful message of unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancy and single parenthood that the show is glorifying for the younger viewers of the show. All for an actress that could be put behind a desk for a few months. Nobody would have missed her.
I have known many of you since before the show started and your friendships are valuable to me and I fully intend to keep them but CM is a part of my viewer history.
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