Photo: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Criminal Minds spoiler thread for "The Performer" with guest star Gavin Rossdale and starring Joe Mantegna, Thomas Gibson, Paget Brewster, Shemar Moore, A.J. Cook, Matthew Gray Gubler and Kirsten Vangsness.
*** Beware of spoilers in the comments ***
**Quote and song info will be posted after the episode airs on the east coast ***
92 comments:
I think it is very interesting to bring up the "vampire" subject. So many killers use that personification for murdering. There are real cases of that kind of murder. Vampire have always been a fascination in our society. Often they have two personalities and the fact that this one is a singer / vampire will be quite fascinating. Also we will see our dear Prentiss show her capabilities for interrogation a “special” unsub. Another superb episode on the way!
Wait, so the owner of the blog got to visit the set?!?!?? Lucky duck!!! LOL. Also,
Dear Gavin Rossdale,
You and your wifey are the cutest couple ever.
Sincerely,
CB
Sounds very interesting. A "vampire" subject. Creepy. Can´t wait to see this excellent episode.
I love CM Wednesdays! I am really looking forward to tonight's up. #98 and counting!
From the CTV promo, seems like we will have lots of Prentiss in this episode, yay! Gavin Rossdale looks scary and deranged with those fangs! Oh and we will get a Joy Division song performed by Rossdale!
Brigitte
Can't wait for this episode! It sounds a really interesting episode! And I hear there's lots of Prentiss and some good JJ moments which always make me happY!
Will be interesting to see what they make of it. There was a "vampire" killer once but he was severely mentally disturbed. A paranoid schizophrenic. This one looks more like an organized killer ...
Looking forward to see more Prentiss in action as well :) Kick some butt, girl!
Hope it's good. I'm starting to get a bit dispirited with the season. The focus on Hotch is dragging it down IMO. So all strength to Prentiss tonight! Would also love to see more Reid, Rossi and Garcia too. All distinct and three-dimensional characters.
The vamp thing looks pretty cool. The plot gives interesting inversion. Instead of the killer operating according to a hidden pathology, he's acting in accordance with his very public stage presence. But then of course why would you need to hide from yourself in that way unless there were some underlying issue?
Hope no bats were harmed in the making of this episode.
oh i looooove vampire subjects since i am a little child! can't wait fot that epi!
2 1/2 hours and counting. i am so excited and I hope that we get alot of Prentiss in this episode.
Altho' I am always eager to see a new CM epi, I am esp excited for tonite because I sprained my ankle last night & am supposed to be "resting" alot & am feeling kinda like MGG and Shemar have felt this past few months with their walking difficulties - makes me feel a little closer to them -Hah! You can bet that I will be in my warm jammies, in my comfy Lazy-Boy and have either a glass of wine or a chai to watch my fave guys, inc. that eye candy, Gavin. Yum! Hope he is not really the un-sub...
OMG they mentioned Lila to Reid hahaha!
OMG! This episode was like a "Pick On Reid" Episode! hahahaha! GREAT episode! :P
Okay. Great episode. Gavin Rossdale did very well, and I felt bad for him at the end of the episode.
I loved the little talk between the team members at the beginning on the plane, haha!! JJ mentioning Lila to the great discomfort of Reid, Garica mentioning Prentiss' goth days...Great. The only sad thing was that, since Morgan is unit chief, it's unprofessional to call Garcia 'babygirl', or at least that's what I'm thinking since he stopped himself from calling her that.
I also loved the Reid/JJ scene, where she's trying to explain Twilight to him and the meaning of the word BFF.
HOLY FREAKIN GOD. How dare that stupid manager whack JJ upside the head?! Oh my freakin lord. I loved that 'dizzy' scene, where she's trying to focus on the girl and the manager. And then...BAM! PISTOL WHIPPING AT IT'S BEST! Whoo, JJ's badass. Loved that scene. I felt so nervous for her, but she pulled it off.
The team laughing at Reid's cluelessness at the end was so cute. :P
Great episode. *thumbs up* Lots of JJ, which always makes for a good one.
Helloo. I thought it was good episode. I liked the tie-ins from Somebody's Watching. And ya know what? Gavin Rossdale did a pretty good job- He's not the GREATEST actor in the world, but he was better than Frankie Muniz.LOL Dante is character was just a lost soul. At the beginning he looked like Eric Draven :P ::)
Typical of Reid not to know Twilight even though I hate the genre. *hides*
Loved JJ at the end, and the plane scenes were great.
P.S. For her last episode, Holly Harold did great.
Loved it!!!! It was a real twist in the end, with it being the fan, but loved the surprise. Also loved JJ's pistol whippin! Love when JJ gets action. And Morgan in kevlar is always loved.
Oh how sweet it was to see our team act as a team again!!!!! Teasing each other and taking care of each other. More than a team, it felt like a family again!
Story-wise I thought it was very solid. Gavin was great. A very ironic comment on celebrity and fame. I can't imagine living in the fish bowl of fame! It makes you think about what our favorite celebs must sacrifice to bring us entertainment.
I am getting quite excited for "100"! I want to see Hotch get Foyet. And get his job as boss back. It seems to be wearing on him to have to explain why he isn't head honcho any more. And Morgan seems uncomfortable not being as free with his "baby girl" Garcia! They are much better as friends than as boss and employee. But I do have to say that I am very much enjoying seeing Hotch takle the bad guys!
Great job from our favorite show yet again!
I loved this ep. The team aspect was definately there and absolutely loved the references to Somebody's Watching and even to a lesser extent Revelations with JJ and Reid and them "splitting up" in tonight's ep. Finally someone gave JJ something to do other than talk to the media! Gavin Rossdale did an awesome job and he also looked HOT! Some musicians can't make the crossover, even for a guest stint, but he did a great job! Gwen is such a lucky woman!!
JJ teasing Reid about Lila was hilarious. JJ pistol whipping someone was long overdue. AJ was terrific in this episode. I liked it all the way around. Great team dynamic and nice to see Hotch still looking out for the team.
Prentiss Rocks!
the start is very good with the Joy Division song!
Rossdale is pretty good as vampire/tortured/rock star. I felt sad for him, not enjoying the music anymore.
I like that we were kept guessing who the killer was, I thought Dante, then the manager even pour Teddy/Eddie!
Love all the humour! With all the heavy, creepy, violent epsiodes with had recently, this was welcomed.
Oh the team was so wrong on the profile but then the unsubs were so disparate! I like to see them make mistakes.
Oh man poor JJ, that must have hurt! yay for JJ to have pistol whipped that creep!
Lots of Reid this week, still his hair is too long.
Love the ending on the plane! Love those little funny moment between the team! and them taking care of JJ with small gestures that shows how they do care for each other, just like a family.
Good, fun episode with good work from Paget Brewster and A.J Cook.
btw saw the promo from CTV for next week and it look great, and karl Armold is back! Real Creepy guy who told Gideon 'I'm an excellent father!'
Brigitte
Man, I had a nice long comment and it disappeared. So, to try to re-create it . . . .
Interesting episode. I am still trying to figure it out.
Loved the Twilight digs - it was tongue-in-cheek and cute.
Having the Gavin Rossdale character be the unsub was a little too obvious. I feel sorry for him, he was used and probably drugged to keep compliant and oblivious to what was going on around him.
The manager using a psychologically damaged fan was really sick and he had NO remorse. And just to promote a new CD?!?! Crap!!! And how dare he whack JJ on the back of the head with a shovel! Good for JJ for getting herself up and conginzant and whacking him back and securing the scene for the team, however wobbly she was.
And the fan's house - ever hear of the show "Hoarders"? I think she is a contender!
JJ called Reid "Spence" several times in this episode and she hasn't called him that in forever. Them teasing him about Lila was kind of cute, and have the same COTW from that episode was a nice touch.
Reid needs a haircut!!!
Great team interaction in this episode. I loved the case. Can't wait until next week for another great episode of CM!
Oh, and Reid acting so smug when he talked about being a fan of Beethoven and nothing provocative could be said about that was funny. The look on his face when the team asked him if he ever saw the movie "A Clockwork Orange" was priceless. Very cut
I was blown away by Gavin's performance tonight and our cast did a great job. Loved this episode.
Good, funny episode. Love the reference to twilight! Hello adam/amanda!
wow JJ got hit with a shovel! Damn that must have hurt!
Nice ending with still very clueless Reid!
Tina
Reid not knowing about Twilight really cracked me up. I thought our Dr. Reid knew everything. Great episode.
Liked it, not the best of the season but a fair one.
best part was JJ getting the unsubs, Reid being wrong with the profile, the joking on the plane, love the plane. Rossdale was good but then i knew he would be after seeing him in Constantine.
This epi was better than last weeks, but I still feel as if I'm watching an off kilter version of the team. It just doesn't play out quite right.
The writing was brilliant for this one, especially capitalizing on the vampire craze. At least this one didn't sparkle. LOL. I must be the only person on the earth who's never heard of Gavin Rossdale until he was gonna be on the epi. He's a singer or something? I think at my advanced age he must sing some type of more current popular music that I won't listen to. I prefer the 70's. LOL.
Two weeks until #100 and what I hope and pray will be the last of Foyet. Dead Dead Dead Foyet. PLEASE???? And then please tell me I get my Hotch back in charge??!!
Loved this episode. It seemed more like the older episodes. Enjoyed the family feeling with the team. Always like the spots on the plane. Everyone was very good tonight and each had an interesting part. Can't wait until next week.
Pat
Oh my god, tonight’s episode was amazing. I think this was the best episode of the season so far and my new favorite. Plus it had more Dr. Reid screen time. I agree that this was the "Pick On Reid" episode but it worked. Loved the Twilight reference too. Also it was nice to see tie-ins from Somebody's Watching and Revelations, its small things like that that add a little something extra for fans of the show who are more than a casual viewer. I hope there are more to come
this was such a cute episode! i love that reid is so smart and yet knows nothing about pop culture! heehee! and also the little plane scene at the end. hotch smiles again =)
Fantastic ep.
The actual case was adequate, but it was the little character moments that rocked. From the Lila stuff to Em's goth call back to the calvary riding to the rescue. Awesome.
And JJ, what a great ep for her. Nice to see the tough badass side of her. More, please?
Great job, team CM.
Holly, you will be missed.
Man. I totally dug this episode. It was fun to see Gavin Rossdale (whose character sort of reminded me of a toned-down, tired David Bowie). Also, it was fun to see Reid in the spotlight a little more. The throwbacks to season one were a lot of fun (ooh, Reid and Lila in the pool kissing!) and I liked seeing goofy Reid. Best moment ever: Reid asking, "What's Twilight?"
The episode tonight was interesting. The idea of making the viewers focuses on one person while all the time it was someone else’s was awesome. I like the way it unfolded. We could almost believed that Dante was a schizophrenic with a double personality since he played one on stage and often we see people take their “persona” life. All the time, he was simply tired of his life, he loved music but not the way he was doing it anymore.
It showed us an unfortunate aspect of a reality in our society. Young people who become obsessive about their hero and would do anything for them. The young woman tonight was so ill that her fanatism for her favourite singer blended with her illness. It made her fragile and easy for anyone to use her for do any assignments in the name of her hero.
I like the way everyone worked on this case. Seeing Prentiss and JJ being bolder in their work was really amazing. One thing thought, no one of the team had more time than the others in this episode and I thought it gave a good beat to the whole episode.
Gavin Rossedale was a very good choice to play Dante. He did a wonderful acting job and showed that he is a talented artist in many fields.
I can’t finish my post without talking about my Dear Joe/Rossi. I really appreciated the little hints that were made by Rossi about being a fan of the Rat Pack and that is favourite Beatle album was The White album. Joe played Dean Martin in the movie Rat Pack and he really is a big fan of the Beatle. I thought it was great to have those little facts.
I also have to add that I notice that the team was more of "relaxe" about the change of leader they went throught.
I loved every minute of it. Gavin did a great job as well as the entire cast. Prentiss did greatin the episode and how she figured out when they went to dantes house that a car was there that didn't belong. When JJ went by herself to that girls friends house I had a bad feeling. When she got knocked out I was screaming at the tv. She did an amazing job and I am glad that she is getting more screen time. The end was really funny. It was nice to see all of them laugh and caring for JJ. Next week looks amazing and it looks like we are going to get a lot of Prentiss in this one.
Well I'm a JJ fan so of course I liked this episode. Finally some JJ peril. You could tell she was so dizzy after getting whacked in the head with a freaking shovel. I thought AJ really pulled it off. You could tell she was having a hell of a time finding her bearings.
I thought Gavin did a nice job and actually felt bad for his character. You could tell however almost from the beginning the manager was involved but I didn't suspect the best friend of Tara's until JJ pulled up in front of the house. Then I said, oh oh...JJ's in trouble.
Jet scenes were both great. I love the poking at Reid about Leila. JJ calling him Spence. Garcia reminding us of Prentiss' youth. JJ used a lot of first names in this ep...Spence, Derek, and even Penelope. I loved when Emily referred to Garcia as PG.
Team was really great in this ep. The way they care for each other was so evident. Even JJ pushing Reid to give his profile was cute. Emily of course had a couple of great lines...especially the reply to Detective Kim when he wondered what Garcia could find on him. "Oh I prefer not even to consider it."
Not a lot of Hotch or Morgan in this one but I have a feeling they'll more than make up for it in the next 2-3 episodes.
But JJ getting hit in the head and then coming back to return the favor..GO JJ!! If you've ever had your bell rung (and I have), you know just how hard it is to move much less focus.
Nice job team! I can't wait for the next few episodes so we can see what you have in store for us.
yay yay yay!!! The team/family dynamic is back again. When it was gone it was like that dissonant chord, like a minor 2nd or diminished 5th, that is just ITCHING to be resolved back into a harmonious major chord. LOL. So sweet to see how the team were all concerned and caring for JJ on the plane in the end. And loved all the teasing back and forth with all the different members. So sad to see Morgan be unable to call Garcia "babygirl". :( :( :( Loved the throwbacks to previous epis with Reid and JJ, kinda like an inside joke for people who have been watching for a while. Sorry to the newbies who may not have understood the references; I guess y'all will just have to get busy and catch up, eh? hehe. *wink* Also so glad to have Reid be more like himself, spouting facts and genius-y type things again.
I love it when they let JJ do more than just press conferences. She's my fave of the girls. Prentiss is the hardass (she has a hard, Strauss-like streak in her. She wasn't even compassionate towards "Dante/Davies" even after it turned out he was innocent and was being used), Garcia is the kooky tech girl (like Abby in NCIS only not Goth - haha), but JJ..... JJ is the sweet, girl-next-door type BUT you can bet she won't blink an eye if she needs to take you down!! You go girl!! :)
I could tell pretty early on that it wasn't Dante/Davies. The manager was pretty highly suspect to me, although the twist of him using a fan was unexpected and I never would have guessed that! :) So sad though, that for many celebrities that really is how it turns out for them. A particular one comes to mind. Everyone used him as a cash cow, even some of his family. So sad!!! :( The makeup for Rossdale was excellent, reminded me of the makeup for Heath Ledger's Joker which was freaking awesome. And a big pat on the back for Gavin Rossdale - great job!! Actually, a big pat on the back for the entire cast and also to the writer, Holly Harold, for a great episode!! Oh, and the crew too. And the wardrobe and makeup people. Oh heck, this could take forever so I'll just say EVERYONE. LOL. :)
A couple of unsystematic comments that came to my mind while/after watching this epi:
- Why is JJ going ALONE to interview someone? True, nobody could know that the girl turned out to be the unsub, but isn't there some kind of protocol that dictates that there always have to be two agents? I really don't know, that's why I'm asking.
- I really don't have anything against Morgan as Unit Chief, it's still a bit strange, but I can get used to it. BUT: Why not call Garcia "Baby Girl" anymore? Especially since it was only in front of his team. I mean, I could understand that it would have been strange for a Unit Chief to call a colleague this in front of other people at a police station for example, but they were on the plane... (do I make sense? Probably not...)
- To be honest, it was very clear to me from the first moment I saw the manager that he was involved. And only because of the actor (whose name I've currently forgotten, but it was the computer geek guy from Ocean's Eleven, right?), who I've seen in a couple of "wacky" roles before. He just had to be the bad guy again :-D
- Gavin Rossdale is smokin' hot!!! I've actually never been interested in him or his music, only known him as Gwen Stefani's husband, but wow, I really liked him. Of course he's not the best actor, but really a great performer. :-D
- Loved all the Rossi scenes, especially the one where he draw the media attention to himself :-D. Oh, and I love his smile...
- Which brings me to my next question, no, make that a request: Please, I want more Rossi! I really love the team, every single one, I really do. But this is the fourth episode in a row that he had pretty little screen time :-( (at least, that's how it seems to me)
Other than that, I kinda liked the epi. Not my favorite so far, but also not the worst this season. Something in between.
It was OK. Solid. Guest star good. Case too obvious. Atmosphere at start nicely reminiscent of 'True Night'. Still underwhelmed by this season and I really miss Rossi.
It was an interesting episode. It wasn't my top favorite, but I did really like all the little team interactions. We got to see more of Reid than in previous episodes. I also liked how the writers referred back to Lila for Reid and the high school picture for Prentiss. It showed great continuity. I liked how the team worked with the profile this time.
Interesting episode.
The storyline was not that captivating but it was okay.
I loved the team dynamic in this episode.
Still, Reid not knowing a thing about 'A Clockwork Orange' doesn't seem believable at all.
I liked the episode. It was good to see all the team in action, especially the girls.
I loved the little bits of background information we got on Emily and the reference to her teenage look. It was great that she took the lead on the interrogation, and figured out that one of the cars didn't belong to Dante.
The case wasn't easy and clear cut, and the twist it took at the end, with the two unsubs was interesting.
The team in such good spirits, smiling and joking on the plane, was a sight I really missed. They haven't looked so relaxed in a very long time.
Gavin did a good job this episode. You could feel for his character and his torment.
Thank you Holly Harold for a great episode and to all the team for a wonderful job.
Great episode. It pulled together a lot of things. Emphasis on certain options and specifics and downplaying others and those choices were marvelous.
Emily in command was amazing to watch and her flipping in the interrogation was awesome! Master at work in that room!! JJ and Reid were fun with JJ deciding Reid had the profile and calling Morgan.
After working on a previous case with someone and then telling them he was no longer in charge, it had to be difficult for Hotch. Yet, by way of explanation and saying only - Long Story - he was very respectful of Morgan and the team.
The ending again was perfect. OMG, we got an actual smile and laugh from Hotch. The camaraderie between all of them was fun and a relief from the darkness with which they deal daily. Hotch finally has a chance to be part of the team and relax instead of being reserved and at a distance as the boss. Reid cracks me up when he doesn’t get the jokes which show such contrast of his total innocence of normal things yet brilliance with everything else.
Morgan is good as leader but I miss his usual self and the group is missing it. Hotch is intriguing, though, as he surfaces as a team member and not leader but I still can't wait for his return. ITA, it is a bit off with this switch.
I liked the way they worked the preview for next week – looks like a really strange episode.
Good going CM team & writers … another great episode, all in all I think it fell together quite well, I agree with earlier comments you could tell early on that the manager was the bad guy, maybe not predictable for some but for dedicated CM fans I think it was quite easy to read through the lines …I have to watch it again but reading through comments I have to say I agree with Vali, although there was a lot to love in this episode
• Our team, our family was back, the plane exchanges were fabulous, so great to have them back
• JJ calling Reid Spence a number of times through the episode and everyone watching over her on the plane back .. badass JJ great work
• Loved the throwbacks to the previous episodes … initially left me wondering if Reid would make contact with Lila, the Prentiss Goth comment was just priceless
• The exchange at the end of the episode was light hearted which was welcome after some serious, deep, unsettling team events of late …was nice to see the smiles, jokes, teasing and fun banter
• Garcia/Baby doll gorgeous as ever … missed Morgan calling her Baby doll though
• Reid back and doing his thing.. great to have him back
• Hotch taking down the unsub …
I must say I don’t like the serious Morgan, I love Morgan & his character, but him as unit chief really doesn’t work for me … so want Hotch back & leading his team, there is somehow something that just works with him as unit chief … they all seem more connected as a team and somehow the hierarchy seems to blend in seamlessly. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that it is constantly being pointed out that Morgan is heading the team or the way Morgan delegates/instructs but somehow this doesn’t sit right.
I don’t know Gavin Rossdale that well but I think he pulled off the character well, interesting episode and well done by all ..
Looking forward to the next, and especially the 100th so we can close off the loop on the Reaper and see where this will take Hotch, his family and the team, I’m waiting for the Morgan/Garcia/Tamara showdown ..
The episode for me was just ok. Not one of the best but not bad.
What I did like: lots of JJ and Prentiss, nice references for other episodes, Reid behaving like in the first two seasons, the plane scenes, Hotch smiling!
What I did not like much: the theme of the case (vampirism) was very interesting but how it was actually developed I did not like (too obvious Gavin Rossdale was not the unsub). Why did JJ go alone, but even worse than that why did she keep entering the house if you could see that by the mess and conditions it was, someone that was not on her right mind lived there?
The episode was kind of light, after the problems Hotch has been facing it was nice to see him a bit relaxed but I want him back as Unit Chief soon!!!
Brigitte said...
The team was so wrong on the profile.
I didn't think it was so totally wrong. Reid was wrong about the sex but he did say that a female with that syndrome was excedingly rare. You could tell when JJ walked up to Gina's house that Reid had been dead on. It was an older home, in total disarray and Gina said her grandmother was sleeping so she obviously lived with an older female relative just like the profile said. She even wore long sleeves. They hadn't counted on it being a duo of the manager and Gina but most of the profile was right.
I loved this episode. It was much more balanced than the others. I was so glad to see more of Reid spouting off facts like he used to. It's so ironic and funny that he knows so much about things nobody else knows and is so totally clueless about things that everybody else knows (Twilight, BFF, A Clockwork Orange).
I miss the banter between Morgan and Garcia. Him calling her Penelope and her calling him sir just seemed so...wrong!
I enjoyed the references to the previous episodes like Lila and Emily's goth look in high school.
We learned some things about our team in offhand moments outside the case. Rossi likes the rat pack. Hotch is a fan of the Beatles' White Album. Reid reads books in other languages and likes Beethovan. And JJ has a hard head!!
I loved the more family like atmosphere, the joking around, the way they cared for JJ, Emily giving her water, Hotch handing her something for the pain, Reid covering her up. That was good to see for a change.
Ok episode. Didn't like the plot too much. Seems like it was written for a younger audience. Buffy the Vampire slayer style :P
JJ was great, so was Prentiss. Love the girl power here. Prentiss' interaction with Dante were interesting and well done. She was just so clearly not a fan. It was hilarious how she pretended for the sake of the interrogation.
Morgan as boss doesn't make sense. The role distracts from his real strength on the team. Morgan is not a typical follower. Very headstrong but because of that he's better off not taking the lead. He needs a very careful handler. He's not the paperwork, politics etc. kind of guy.
Liked everyone on the team: Morgan finally dresses professional again (like in the first seasons) and looks more like an agent and not like a wannabe Rambo. Reid is great and his character is finally growing on me again. Rossi rocks as always. Garcia is and will always be a cutie-pie. Can't wait to see her style next week. Prentiss rocks hard. JJ is a pro as usual. My all-time favorite Hotch is just the most awesome, top-notch agent there is. Why again did he have to step down??? Oh yeah because for drama sake. But seriously, isn't he just as professional as can be? Let's recap: Went through tough divorce, deals with a jerk of superior who wants him "dead" (career wise), survived a bomb attack in Mayhem, got tortured and seriously injured by Foyet, loses his son, lives with the threat of being Foyet's target ... and he's out there doing an awesome job! If Strauss would be able to pull her head out of her *** (where the son never shines) even she would realize it). Hotch is about the greatest testimony to leadership, character, professionalism, and strength there is. Reid gets victimized and we pardon one transgression after the other. Morgan has been the impulsive one from the beginning, not too mention having serious trust issues. Now he's unit chief (he didn't steal the job; the writers/producers made Hotch appoint him, I get it). We have a great team but Morgan in charge is the unbelievable/ridiculous part. 2 agents (Hotch and Rossi) who are senior to Morgan and way better suited for the lead position but Morgan is calling the shots. Morgan would never be unit chief material in the real BAU. He's a fine agent. I like him on the team. I don't like him as a unit chief.
Vampire case ... Nice and entertaining but nonetheless a bit boring for me. Too obvious that they were on the wrong track. Even the girl as unsub wasn't believable. Profile didn't make sense. Reid would have never been that off. He's too smart for that. Now I wonder: JJ almost being killed by visiting the unsub unknowingly ... If Hotch would have still been in charge he would have been held responsible for that. Can we now blame Morgan for it? I think that would be only fair considering what we put on Hotch's shoulders every time.
I liked Prentiss interrogating Dante. Loved the last scene in the airplane. Just like in the good ole times. Hotch laughing and smiling. Good to have you back Hotch :)
I enjoyed the episode, it felt balanced, but Reid was written strangely. It felt like he was getting the "standard issue TV genius" treatment and that's not him. I buy that he hasn't read Twilight but I CAN'T buy that he's never seen or heard of A Clockwork Orange. Reid is a sci-fi/fantasy geek! He goes to Comic-Con, he reads graphic novels, he's a Trekkie. He is not a pop culture ignorant like Temperance Brennan. I also dislike the trope that geniuses must only listen to classical music. Reid doesn't seem like that kind of guy.
That being said, the continuity beats were much appreciated, as were the tidbits of character backstory. The UNSUB plot was a little...unsatisfying, as it was clear fairly early on that Dante wasn't the killer.
"I also dislike the trope that geniuses must only listen to classical music." Criminal Macros
Yeah, I thought that too. I see Reid more with something offbeat and not this era but still 'pop' like 13th Floor Elevators. Though Beethoven makes sense with his sense of structure (Reid the pattern-finder). Perhaps Beethoven is what his mother listened to and so he inherits it. More than anything though, I think silence would be what he'd listen to.
All the little text acronyms as well, I'm sure the guy would know those. He researches the abstruse in a technological world. How would he not have noticed and questioned all those abbreviations before now?
Yay for being a team with inside humor! Yay for Hotch smiling a couple of times!
Nay! Got the plot in the first 30seconds. Nay! For Reid not knowing current entertainment trends. He reads the paper doesn't he? Goes online? It was funny 1st season, not so funny now.
The team was good this ep, still want Hotch back as unit chief. Vampire idea, heh,,,
Lociloco
The team dynamic has felt off to me ever since Hotch stepped down as unit chief. Even though there were many team moments in this episode, which I would normally enjoy, in this episode they felt forced to me.
Maybe the biggest problem I had with the episode is that it seemed that the team was doing a lot of dumb things:
- Why did JJ go alone to see the victim's friend? Didn't she, Reid and the team learn from their experience in The Big Game / Revelations that a witness can unexpectedly end up being the unsub?
- When JJ saw the mess of a house and the odd behavior of the friend, why didn't alarm bells go off in her head that maybe something was very wrong and that she should call for backup? She's supposed to be an experienced FBI agent.
- When the M.E. mentioned that there was no sexual assault on any of the victims, the first thing that popped into my head was that the unsub could be a woman. Why didn't this occur to any of the team? Even if they thought it unlikely that the unsub was a woman, they're supposed to keep open minds and think outside the box.
I really want to like this episode because of all the team interaction and the beginning and end plane scenes, but it was only okay for me.
Great epi! No time to write.... but it was great!
OMG...finally a somewhat "Reid" centric episode. I also agree with the majority of everyone...it's great to see the ending plane scene where everyone was joking. I'm a huge fan of Twilight...loved it that they sneaked that in. I also loved all the references from previous episodes...
And can we give a BIG ginormous round of applause to JJ/AJ...pistol whippin'!!!! LOL
My favorite episode for this season so far.
A solid enough effort, with good ensemble work and good continuity, but the case isn't that compelling. Trashy pop culture and celebrity obsession is kind of an easy target, and because the unsub is actually mentally ill, it says less in the end than it might. While Prentiss would like to blame Dante for his hand in the mess, it doesn't really work, because the poor nutty girl could have obsessed about anything. The manager being behind it had more potential -- the truly sociopathic element lying not in the interaction between artist and fandom, but in the marketing of it -- but we kind of skate off the surface of that. Maybe some day we'll see that story, and it won't be fiction.
Dante is a limp rag of a guy who hates his life but sticks with scarfing mind-altering substances and pizzing and moaning about things entirely within his control. Loved the awkwardness of Prentiss trying to pretend to be a fan and her about face when the jig is up. I guess he would have been more sympathetic if he hadn't been so ineffectual.
Week two of being unit chief, and I can almost make out Morgan against the wallpaper. Just kidding. No, I can't. Except for the brief flash of personality while quickly retracting the "babygirl" with Garcia, he could be anybody. It leads to a lack of energy at the center of the team, and I think that's what those of us who feel the team dynamic is off kilter are sensing. It's also kind of strange for Morgan to have Reid come up with and deliver the profile pretty much alone, when it's usually a more collaborative activity. He doesn't scold JJ for going off by herself, either, although one could argue circumstances made the point for him. It's not just a matter of safety, though. Law enforcement usually gathers evidence in at least twos, because that way there are two people to vouch for the integrity of the evidence collection. And was there really no way to have known that Gina was schizophrenic? She was never hospitalized and the neighbors never called police over a disturbance? That's the kind of stuff Garcia usually picks up.
Loved the rabbit warren of Gina's house and yard, though.
Although it's good to see more "Spence" at last, I agree with MadLori about the Brennanizing of Reid. The pop-culture obliviousness is overdone on that annoying show, but at least Brennan is a lab geek. You'd think that being that ignorant of pop culture would actually work against a profiler.
True, it wasn't the episode with the most depth, but I was just so happy to have the team acting like a team again that I was willing to let the other stuff go. LOL.
VanessaRossi: I dunno why JJ went by herself, perhaps because the others were out and it was just she and Reid left and Reid needed to work on the profile some more. With a certain time constraint and urgency, they probably have to weigh certain risks like going to interview a witness alone. As for real-life protocol on that sort of thing, I'd be interested to know that too. And true, the team probably wouldn't have minded Morgan calling Garcia "babygirl" but he was probably trying to break himself of the habit in order to prevent saying it accidentally elsewhere in front of people who WOULD have a problem with it. I also liked the part when Rossi tried to divert the media hounds by giving a statement. And then later when the team asked what he said, he's all "my statement was: I hate LA". hahaha
Eleo: Hoarding and a house in severe disarray is not necessarily a sign of schizophrenia. As for the bizarre behavior, considering this girl's best friend had just been murdered perhaps JJ thought she was just extremely distraught and wanted to make sure she was ok.
RMF: While I agree that Dante could have used some "Personal Responsibility and Accountability" lessons, once you're in the grips of an addiction they are really hard to break. Really really hard to break. You've either got to really want to quit or have people to support you. Usually you need both actually, and Dante seemed to have neither. Totally agree about Morgan's leadership bringing a lack of energy. There's nothing like an intense Hotch to lead the pack!! :)
I really liked the preview for next week's episode. Very creepy as hell to think that these sickos could look like anyone. *shudders* And yeah, I agree the Twilight and BFF thing seemed a little forced to me. But I'm glad that Reid is spouting facts again. For a while there I thought maybe his leg injury had gotten to his brain too. Haha. Speaking of which, I wonder if he'll relapse into painkiller issues again because of his leg. I also agree that while he is socially awkward, I don't think he is Brennan-like in that he is totally pop-culture ignorant. In fact, in previous episodes he has picked up on certain posters/athletes/musicians in some of the scene investigations.
I really enjoyed this show..... I was so dreading a "True Night" repeat!
I can deal with Morgan leading - totally get not calling "PG" Baby girl.... people already rant about that is unprofessional, how much more so for a leader????
Rossi was his handsome fabulous self - love diverting the media.
Kick some booty JJ!!! That lovely lady is full of surprises... headshots and pistol whipping - what else does she have in store ??
Prentiss totally not selling the "Im a fan" HAHA
Reid was good, I love seeing more and more progress in healing for MGG - I know it had to have been so hard for him to get through filming fresh out of surgery, and apparently he is feeling better since he has more lines. Keep getting well!!
Hotch laughing. 'Nuff said. *sigh*
Hi
Did anyone pick up how Prentiss told Rossi that Taara's apartment was similar to the apartment that she had when she was at Georgetown but in the first episode in which she appeared she told Hotch that she was at Brown, I believe. It was either Brown at Columbia. This is shocking since the writers are usually very attentive to continuity in their characters' lives (unless Prentiss attended grad school or some other type of educational program at Georgetown). All in all it was a good episode and I love the ending on the plane. it is nice to see the characters laugh once in awhile amidst all the horror they see - especially Hotch!!
I noticed that too Zainab and wondered about that. She said she attended Brown when she met with Hotch for the first time. Now Georgetown? Perhaps she attended more than one college but more likely it was an oversight of our writers. (Not surprising since several left or had to leave).
A couple arguments:
JJ going to interview Gina alone at her house. It's been protocol for the most part up to this point that if any of the team visits a house outside of HQ, they go in pairs. I understand her going for plot reasons, but in all honesty, I don't think that situation would ever happen.
(minor) Reid's preference for Beethoven. He voiced his preference for Mozart in "Paradise."
Good parts:
The team's interaction on the planeride home. It's good to have more background info, especially Rossi and Hotchner. The banter between them solidified Hotch's blending more with the team instead of being the removed & reserved leader.
Garcia banter! You don't know HOW MUCH I've missed this!! While lessening Morgan's comments makes sense 'cause he's team lead, Garcia I feel wouldn't let up any.
Don't know if it was intended, but the relationship parallel between Dante & Ray and Morgan & Tamara. Ray wants to help Dante, and he goes so far as to murder. Morgan started wanting to help Tamara, and if he's not careful, it could lead to oversights and getting to close to 'the line.' Excellent. And if it wasn't intended, I guess I read too much into it...
JJ's toughness, if nothing for the simple pleasure of seeing that it takes more than a shovel to keep even a press liasion down :D :D Loved it!
One of the 'middle of the road' episodes for me. I enjoyed it because it was on the 'lighter' side (as far as CM goes), with lots of team interactions and banter. I needed that with all the Hotch angst. Thanks for the smile, TG. Just love Rossi/Hotch.
Case-wise, a topical subject, not particularly strong plot but I was willing to go along with some of the more far-fetched bits to see the team together.
Holly, thanks for giving us some great JJ & Prentiss, and especially for the cookie about Emily's highschool photo! Garcia is a scream! :) And even with a smaller role this week, Hotch shone through: it must have been hard to tell the Detective he wasn't in charge, but he did so with grace and there was no distraction. Love the man! Reid too was back to his cute self, full of facts and naivity. Good to see him on the mend.
Still wanting Hotch back as UC ASAP!!! Morgan just... just not right. Its too awkward... sorry Morgan, go back to kicking down doors and diffusing bombs.
No doubt it will get darker next week... roll on 100th epi!
Best episode this season so far!
I think I’ll have to watch it at least 10 more times to be coherent again, there was just so much to love about it!
First, the music! I feel 20 years younger/back in time right now, Gavin Rossdale did a fabulous job both as a singer and as an actor (and I probably would have loved the episode if they just had turned the first minute with the Joy Division cover into a 45 minute loop, LOL).
Then, there was so much hilarity in this episode, it was good to laugh during Criminal Minds again, and I laughed a lot. Even our team members laughed and had fun!
After all the drama so far this season, this episode finally felt like good old-fashioned CM again and just for that I love it. It was nice to finally focus on the case of the week again.
There were also so many layers of subtext to make the fandom happy, so many allusions to former episodes and known canon facts to obsess about. I loved how they toyed around a bit with the aspect of obsessed fans, almost enough to give me a bad conscience, LOL. (And the homepages of Dante’s fans really reminded me of some CM fan pages...) It was also great to see the LA detective back, I love these little cookies. The whole episode had such a fantastic atmosphere and lots of lovely Reid.
I’m one happy camper right now!
I didn't read all the comments so I don't know if this has already been mentioned but...
It took JJ all afternoon to get to Gina's house. After she left to go see Tara's bff, Reid gave the profile, Morgan and Prentiss go with Detective Kim to visit the place where the party was held, they arrest Dante, Prentiss interrogates Dante, and they figure they have the wrong guy.
I mean I live in LA and can tell you traffic sucks, but come on. Where did JJ go?? Shopping?
Yet it take the team no time from when Reid and Garcia figure out the unsub is Gina to get to the same place JJ was going. Just long enough for JJ to recover from getting hit over the head and take down manager boy. Like they were around the corner yet they started at the same place JJ did.
It just struck me as weird.
And, Prentiss went to Yale. Strange how both Prentiss and JJ both have odd Georgetown references when canon dictates they went to different schools. We found out JJ went to Pitt in North Mammon, yet in Zoe's Reprise she tells Rossi she saw him her senior year at Georgetown. Emily says she went to Yale in The Last Word and in this ep she says she wanted to live on campus at Georgetown.
Again...weird. I really need them to explain. Even if it's something simple like they decided to transfer.
It was not a bad episode. The case was interesting.
You could tell easily that Dante /Paul Davies wasn't the Unsub.
And I think that it was rather easy for the audience to tie the manager to the crimes. At least I'm glad that this episode avoided some obvious clichés.
Prentiss interrogating Dante was great. Nice moment.
JJ was really great too, glad that she had some actions. I'm sure the JJ fans are (justifiably) happy.
I was delighted to see Hotch smile and laugh at the end.
Morgan did a really good job. He's trying very hard to stay extremely professional, even when he talks to Garcia.
It was nice to see the whole team concerned about JJ.
The profile was far from being completely wrong, a lot of things were right :
- the fact that the unsub cut himself/herself repeatedly ;
- the long sleeved shirts to conceal the scars ;
- the poorly kept elder home ;
- the fact that the unsub lives with an elderly woman like a grandmother ;
- the fact that someone out there already knew that the unsub was very sick (and it turned out to be the manager who knew).
They just didn't know that the manager, Ray, was using Gina and his purpose.
Like Reid said, Gina fits every other piece of the profile.
On the downside :
Reid not having even heard about 'Twilight' is completely stupid.
I'm certainly not a fan of Twilight (never read the books and never saw the movie), but I still know vaguely what it's about.
How many times have the media talked about it ? Countless times. I find it incredibly hard to believe that he hasn't even heard about it once.
Reid can read 20 000 words per minute, his interests are very diverse, he's a geek and he's extremely curious. All of this doesn't add up with him not even knowing what 'Twilight' is.
But I find it even more hard to believe that he has never heard about 'A Clockwork Orange' (or that he has never read the novel or seen the movie for that matter). 'A Clockwork Orange' is a really big classic and is worldly famous. It's highly unbelievable that someone with Reid's culture, geeky tendencies, love for science fiction and curiosity wouldn't know about it.
I was a little disappointed in the holes of this episode, I have to admit: JJ going alone to the house, Morgan not reprimanding her, Morgan himself not seeming to recognize it was his responsibility to send another agent to accompany her in the first place...
Morgan also seems, idk, stilted. His Unit Chief mode is very robotic. I used to like the character but not in this role. Hotch is the only one who can pull off serious and still feel real.
Still, reasonably entertaining and good to see JJ kick some butt! Nice job of Rossi to attract the media away from Prentiss/Morgan too. Loved the cookies and the tidbits of character music preferences. :) And loved to see Hotch smile. :) :) Now to get foyet and resume his Unit Chief status!
The premise was far-fetched but it's like one of those fluffy popcorn movies. It's too unrealistic but it's so fun that you just kick back and enjoy the ride.
So the manager arranged to kill four women via a deranged. schizophrenic fan, risking jailtime for her,himself, and the rockstar and the payoff is increased record sales???
That has to be one deranged and stupid manager. But the epi was full of funny things to bring much needed levity back to the show.
Loved Garcia drinking a Bloody Mary and saying she'll take a bite out of the case.
Loved the jab at Prentiss looking like a Goth in HS.
Loved Hotch doing the unsub tackling again. Go Hotchie Go!!!!Might as well up the brawn factor if you don't have to be the brains of the group. :)
It was nice to have references back to past cases like having Detective Kim back(altho what was up with the Lando Calrissian hairdo??) How funny was the attempt to get a rise out of Reid with asking about Lila?
Speaking of past cases, when Reid said he should have gone along with JJ, it was like, haven't you guys learned by now that it was always more of a disaster with the two of you together!
By now they should know that there is no such thing as an innocent secondary witness when those two are involved. It was weird that JJ went alone. Too bad she didn't stick around for the profile about the old house. That should teach her not to rush Reid.
I guess the best thing about the epi was a perky Reid with a lot more screen time. YAY!!!!!!
Almost like making up for lost time, he practically gave an entire lecture on vampirists.It was nice to hear him say a lot more intelligent facts again.
I couldn't figure out how he could have moved his crutches in the one scene where he entered the room talking on the cellphone and propelling both crutches forward. That must be some awesome armpit muscle power to keep one crutch moving while holding the phone on that side. Wow!
This is my favorite episode so far in this season since it was a fun one. Thanks to Holly!!!!
Wow! How fun to read all the comments and love the chance to talk to you here! Laughing at comment by southrnbygrace: I turned 60 last wk and know Gavin Rossdale is not to be missed! A talented frontman, hubbie of Gwen and what a hunk despite this less-than-attractive role he played in CM. I say, turn of the radio and enjoy!
And I totally agree with Zainab and Vali-writers getting the colleges all wrong! I will fight them to become the new back-story researcher which a show like this needs; little slip-ups are happening more frequently. We're fanatics, remember, you must get it right!
JJ going to the house that looked like it should be showcased on "The Hoarders": wrong! Reid or someone not on crutches should have been with her. And I agree also with MadLori who knows that Reid is an extremely well-read-in-touch geek and would DEF know about Twilight, Clkwrk Orange, just not BFF! Hah! And he has cited his love of Mozart before - I think when he may have been suggesting to JJ that the baby may benfit from listening or something. And he is not just a classical music buff: he referenced "Siouxie and the Banshees" (almost out of character!) in an old epi that was also the throwback to the comment in this epi about Prentiss' prev appearance in her yrbk!
I also thought Det. Kim's hair was WAY too long and weird; I vote that both he and our man Reid hit one of the salons up there in LA and get themselves proper haircuts!
There - that's all! Gotta go so I can watch it again! What does that say about this show? I have watched the last 3 epis 2 X each - so very good! Hugs to you all!
Love this vamp episode, the team act again as a team and the funny moments at the plane, wonderful.
The girls did a great job. Go, go,go.
Gavin Rossdale was fantastic. And a smiling Hotch:)
Thanks Holly!!
CM rocks!!!!
I really loved this episode!
I loved the team dynamics and the girls rocked!
We need more female scenes because Prentiss and JJ are truly wonderful!!
Wow, that was amazing episode! My number One of this season so far. Great story IMHO,and I really liked the tidbits connecting this episode to what previously happened on CM, even to some previously revealed facts about our characters. Not mentioning that Mr Rossdale did a great job portraying his character, bravo!
Have that just seemed to me or was this episode also a bit more fun than the previous ones? :)
Great work CM cast and crew!
Agree with you completely gubegirl. Not only did Reid mention Souxie and the Banshees and Mozart in previous episodes but he also knew the words of that Johnny Cash song in EM. His musical interests or at least his knowledge as with most things must be vast and varied. I had trouble too believing he had not heard of A Clockwork Orange or Twilight. I'm sure he reads the best seller list. Each novel in the saga would take him what... 15 minutes?
Oh oh, someone has been hanging out at Bar Sinister. Anyway, truth be told, this episode is very close to reality about the L.A goth/fetish scene.
Not sure what I thought about this episode. Loved some parts and others not so much. Nice to see a bit of team levity, the teasing, Hotch smiling and the looking after J.J on the jet. Nice crutch action by Dr. Reid while on the phone. Nice to see Det. Kim again and I liked the Prentiss/Davies interrogation scene. Like others I have a hard time believing that Reid did not know of A Clockwork Orange and Twilight. Reid had the profile done before J.J. went to interview Gina, I was surprised they didn't discuss it a bit before she left.
Recap:
Opening scene: Goth concert
CM begins at a large concert featuring a Goth performer and lots of adoring, screaming fans. He, Paul Davies, is performing a Joy Division song. The crowd is all chanting his stage name, ‘Dante’ and as he finishes, he drops his microphone on the ground. Not looking overly impressed, he leaves the stage to more adoring fans and people wanting to shake his hand. His manager follows with a big smile on his face. Once alone in his dressing room, Dante picks up a bottle of whiskey and takes a gulp before throwing it at a mirror, which cracks. He sits down and looks at himself in the cracked glass, obviously distressed. He becomes more and more agitated, running his hand over his face and forehead and even spitting. When Davies again looks in the mirror, there is blood running from his mouth, he looks paler and his eyes are much darker. His teeth are blood stained and two have become pointed, much like vampire fangs...
The scene changes to the outside of the concert hall. Three Goth-looking concert goers emerge from the building, raving about Dante. Two are female and obviously friends and they are followed by a male who is trying to convince the blond girl that she should allow him to walk her to her building since its dark outside. She looks at him scornfully, saying she’s tougher than he is. The girls are giddy, to say the least, and refuse his offer, getting his name wrong in the process. Giggling, they stagger away down the street.
The next thing we see is the blond girl entering her apartment. Taking off her gloves (still in the dark) she looks up and sees a shadow at the door. She opens the curtain which covers the door, looks out, smiles and opens the door. The ‘shadow’ enters, grabs her and after a struggle, gets her onto her back on the ground where he/she strangles her while continually smacking the back of her head against the floor. She dies with her eyes open.
Quantico:
The team is in the BAU room where JJ is showing pictures of the dead blond on the screen. Her name was Tara and her body was dumped on a freeway off-ramp. She is the third victim in 2 weeks. The profiling begins. Due to the dump sites, the team postulates that the unsub actually wants the bodies to be found, and found quickly. All victims were hypovolemic; Tara was found with less than 1 pint of blood in her. Reid comments that if exsanguination is the goal, the unsub is getting more proficient since the first victims had more blood left when they were found. Tara is also the only victim to have a written message: ‘the Liar’ is written in red on her outstretched arm. All victims appear to have been strangled and then bled out through identical wounds in the throat. Prentiss can’t believe that they resemble fang marks. These wounds were all covered in human saliva so it appears that the unsub drank the blood of the victims. The team look grim and horrified.
***OPENING CREDITS***
On the BAU jet:
The team begins to discuss the case, which allows Reid to give a mini-lecture on ‘Renfield’s Syndrome’ (human blood drinkers) to deflect attention away from JJ’s teasing. She was reminding him of the last time they had been in LA and worked with Detective Kim, a stalker case. Reid was attracted to the subject of the stalker on that occasion. Embarrassed, Spencer says that they should be concentrating on the current case only. As he begins his lecture, he reports that those suffering from the syndrome aren’t generally sadists, but schizophrenics with some cannibalism. The condition is rare, which gives Garcia a nice lead-in to her finding that vampires, on the other hand, are not rare and that LA has a large subculture of them. When asked if all the vampire photos Garcia started to upload to them drank blood, she replied, “Negative. They mostly just dress up like Prentiss did in high-school...” Morgan starts to end the conversation with the Tech by thanking her: “Thanks bab...” but catches himself and instead says “Thanks Penelope.”
LA:
It is night time in LA and we see someone climbing the steps to a fancy-looking, large house. Next we see Davies (Dante) wake up and there is blood on his pillow. He is startled when his manager, Ray, enters. Davies doesn’t want to get up, saying he’s sick but Ray convinces him that the record company requires the singer to attend a party and will be angry since they are already late. Davies eventually agrees but doesn’t want to have to ‘become Dante’.
When the team arrive at the local police station, they are met by Det. Owen Kim; it is a reunion of sorts since he has met them all with the exception of Prentiss and Rossi, who Hotch introduces and follows this up by informing the Detective that Morgan is in charge. Kim looks surprised but Hotch just says “long story”. Kim starts with the most recent information, saying that Tara’s apartment has been processed and sealed ready for their inspection and that her body (together with the other two) is at the morgue with a Medical Examiner waiting. Morgan asks Reid to go through the case files and begin to establish a preliminary profile, JJ to set up at the station and hook up with Garcia to investigate the witness list while the rest of them try to learn more about Tara.
The scene changes to a night-time party. ‘Dante’ arrives by helicopter to a gathering of media and more screaming fans chanting “Dante! Dante! Dante!”
At the police station, Reid and JJ continue to look for links between the victims and the witnesses. Gina King knew Tara the longest so they decide to look into her past while still looking for other commonalities between witnesses; Reid suspects the unsub is from this group.
Back at the party, Ray introduces Davies to a magazine editor, who asks him about his crossover from Goth to Vampire. Dante is completely disinterested. He insults the type of people who are his fans and walks away, scotch in hand. The editor wants to quote the singer but Ray manages to persuade him not to and steers him away.
Prentiss and Rossi arrive at Tara’s apartment and start their search. As they begin to look around, it emerges that Emily did some waitressing in order to be able to afford an apartment in Georgetown during college. Their banter is cut short when Rossi observes that Tara seemed to be into making movies. More disturbingly, Prentiss finds a shrine to Dante in an adjoining room. They call Garcia to look more deeply into Tara’s life as seen through her Facebook, Twitter and MySpace accounts.
Meanwhile, the party is still going strong. Ray finds Davies standing alone on a high balcony, brooding. Dante is upset because he feels he’s no longer making music, but staging events. The manager tries to convince him that he’s great because he “sells records” but Davies isn’t buying it. He turns to go and bumps into a waitress, causing her to drop her tray of drinks. Flirting, he suggests they go somewhere else. She agrees.
Hotch and Morgan meet with the ME at the morgue. Hotch tries to speed things up by telling the examiner to send the saliva samples to the local FBI lab with a rush request, that the results should be back the next day. The agents discover that what they had previously thought to be ‘bites’ were actually caused by a boring instrument since the wound edges were sharp, not ragged. They don’t know what the saliva is from although Morgan suggests licking of the wounds. Hotch feels that once an unsub like theirs gets started, things will only get worse.
Just before we head to commercial, we see someone being dragged over wet, outdoor terrain. A boot comes off in the process.
***commercial***
After the break, a news helicopter reports the discovery of another body, must to JJ’s disgust. She is talking to Garcia to see what the technical analyst has found in her snooping of Tara’s life. Garcia hacked into Tara’s sites of course, figuring out that the password was ‘Cullen’. Reid thinks that she said ‘colon’ leading JJ to roll her eyes, ‘Cullen’ being the vampire family in ‘Twilight’ and Reid being clueless. JJ then gives Spencer a quick pep talk for his upcoming delivery of the profile before leaving to interview Tara’s ‘BFF’, a term which leaves Reid confused for a second time.
There is a brief scene at the sight of the latest body dump. The victim once again has ‘The Liar’ on her arm so they know that it wasn’t a message specific to Tara. Morgan has heard that the profile is ready so the team heads back to the station.
Reid has put a list of descriptive terms on a whiteboard. He tells the police that the unsub has strong desire for blood; a ‘vampurist’. The unsub most likely has a habit of cutting himself. He would also have a long history of animal abuse but not torture, since it is the end result which is important to him, not the method. The profile continues. The unsub is thought to live in a poorly kept and older home in order to ensure privacy (to drain the blood from the victims). Most likely he lives with an elderly person and has extreme schizophrenia. Those with this disorder cannot be hidden for long so someone knows him and that he’s sick.
As Reid finishes delivering the profile, we see Davies throwing up and looking horrible. He moans for help and Ray is there, promising he will “fix this”.
The team gets news the latest body was the waitress from the big party the previous night, an Erin Hickman, so Prentiss, Morgan and Kim go to interview the caterer’s boss, Miss Masters. Masters said that the girl just walked out of the party and apparently had a history of drugs. As they are conducting the interview a guy carrying a stack of CDs walks by. Prentiss grabs one; it is a Dante CD entitled ‘The Liar’. She calls Garcia, asking for everything the tech can find on Dante. Garcia reports that the singer is the only thing all of the victims have in common; each had set up cyber shrines, showing obsession for his music. Emily requests an address so that they can go and talk to the singer. Kim tries to tell her that it may take awhile to obtain due to privacy of celebs, but even before he’s finished speaking Penelope has given them the address. Kim is impressed, saying that he would hate to know what Garcia could find out about him. Prentiss gives him a knowing look, saying that he shouldn’t even consider it.
Morgan, Prentiss and Kim arrive at Davies home, noticing that the homes are not poorly kept as the profile suggested. While Derek and Kim begin talking to the singer, Emily examines two parked cars, one very expensive, and the other not. Noticing this, she gets Garcia to do a plate check for “the one that doesn’t belong” and they discover it belongs to the latest victim, Erin. They take Davies to the station for questioning.
As the SUV approaches the station, they are greeted by a horde of reporters. The agents put a jacket over Davies’ head and push through the crowd. Luckily, Rossi appears and distracts the media saying that he has an official FBI statement. He later admits this was him telling the media that he hates LA.
Through one-way glass the team observe the singer pacing agitatedly around the interrogation room. They are disturbed by the fact that Davies doesn’t appear to fit the current profile even though he had been arrested for domestic violence ten years prior. Prentiss is selected to do the interrogation since it had been her to confront Davies at the house. Morgan recommends she ask for the star’s autograph. At first Emily thinks he is kidding but then realizes showing some adulation might be beneficial.
Once in the room with Davies, Prentiss begins by saying that she doesn’t think he was involved in the killings. Davies looks sceptical but Emily explains by saying that there has probably been a mistake, that she received some bad information from the police. Behind the glass, Reid approves saying that a schizophrenic would be confused and unable to follow the contradiction in her attitude. Prentiss goes on to tell Dante that she is a big fan and asks him to sign a pad of paper; she would like his autograph. At this point Davies is frustrated. He looks towards the one-way glass, asking if they think he is stupid. Unruffled, Prentiss takes out crime scene photos, asking the singer the name of the album due for release that day. The pictures clearly show ‘The Liar’ on the bodies. Emily informs Davies that the latest body was of the woman he took home the night before and asks him what happened. He says that he cannot remember. Prentiss continues, telling Davies that the girls’ blood was drained through the holes in their necks and demanding to know whether he is a vampire. Dante claims total innocence, saying that he’s only a vampire in his act. He requests speaking to his manager but Emily simply leaves the room.
JJ arrives at Gina’s house and phones Reid to see how things are going. He says that they have a rock star in custody but he doesn’t really fit the profile. JJ asks how she can help and says she’ll return to deal with the media hoard after her visit with Gina. Meanwhile, at the station the team are baffled. They agree to allow Davies to phone his manager, thinking the manager then might be able to help the enquiry. Hotch gets a call from the FBI lab; the saliva on the bodies is from a woman.
JJ knocks on Gina’s door. The house is dilapidated and full of junk. Gina opens the door, annoyed at the knocking saying it will wake her grandmother. Agitated, she starts muttering about needing to go to the yard, turns around and walks quickly away while still muttering. JJ enters the house and follows, weaving through piles and piles of clothing, boxes and furniture.
On the back of the lab result Morgan asks Reid to rework the profile with a woman being the unsub. Spencer says that a female with Renfield’s AND the degree of aggression they’ve seen would be extremely rare but he gets down to work.
In the meantime, Prentiss gives Davies a phone but won’t allow him privacy. Ray answers. He’s in his convertible and pulling up in front of Gina’s house. He is really excited. Record sales are through the roof. He tells Davies not to worry, that he’s fixing things and that nothing can be traced back to the singer. Dante asks his manager what he’s done but Ray just says the less the star knows the better. He tells Davies he has one last “thing” to take care of and then he’ll come to the station. He begins to make his way around the front of the house.
Prentiss hears Davies’ side of the conversation and is suspicious of the manager’s need to “fix this”. She asks what “this” is but Dante doesn’t know.
Back at Gina’s house JJ has entered a yard. It too is full of stacks of old furniture, wood, general rubbish and appears to be fenced in. Gina has disappeared. JJ keeps calling out, identifying herself but there is no answer. Finally she sees Gina. There is a table with several containers of a red liquid and Gina is manically packing them into coolers with ice. JJ sees this, but just as she is about to act, she is hit over the head with a shovel by Ray who has appeared out of nowhere.
Garcia and Reid are both still trying to find out additional information. Garcia finds very obsessional fan mail that has been sent to Dante just as Reid has obviously thought of something too. Penelope identifies Gina’s mail as being particularly obsessive. Gina claims that Dante is hers and that she will kill for him. Reid realizes that she also fits the rest of the profile and calls out to the team. They know that JJ is at Gina’s house so they rush out the door in alarm.
JJ is desperately trying to regain her vision (currently blurred) and get up. She sees the incoming calls to her cell, which she dropped when she was hit, but is not coherent enough to answer it. Gina is still packing the containers of blood in ice, mumbling that it will go bad. Ray is trying to convince her to leave it and to kill JJ, claiming that Dante will be angry at Gina if she doesn’t. The team are still en route and know that something is wrong since JJ isn’t answering her phone.
JJ is still trying to regain her senses, but she has her gun in her hand and begins to get to her feet. Gina and Ray are still arguing, the woman wanting to make sure the blood isn’t going to go bad and Ray wanting her to kill JJ for him. Finally Gina relents, making Ray promise this is the last. He agrees and hands her what looks like an ice pick. But when Gina looks to the spot where JJ had lain, it is empty, just dirt. Ray starts to ask where she could have gone, but all of a sudden is hit over the head by JJ... with the shovel! JJ then points her gun towards a smiling Gina telling her not to move. Gina ignores JJ and starts laughing. She has seen blood on Ray’s forehead from the shovel and bends over him to touch it.
The rest of the team arrive, calling out for JJ. She responds, still pointing the gun at Gina, who is now leaning protectively over the unconscious Ray and repeating “mine, you can’t have it”. She doesn’t seem to care when she’s surrounded by FBI agents until Hotch pulls her up and away from the manager. She becomes distressed saying that the blood is going bad. Hotch leads her away while Morgan and Kim deal with the now conscious Ray who is loudly claiming his innocence.
Again at the police station, Prentiss enters the interrogation room where Davies is being held. She tells him that Ray had used a fan to do the killings for publicity... successful publicity since the CDs were selling like wildfire. Despite everything, Davies says that he would like to help both his manager and Gina. He can’t seem to believe when Emily says he can go free. As he passes by her to leave, he comments that all he ever wanted was to make music; he isn’t sure when that was no longer enough. The scene ends with a camera close up on the new CD.
Closing scene: On the BAU jet:
The closing scene has JJ holding an ice pack to the back of her head. As Hotch passes JJ a bottle of aspirin Reid asks whether they think the singer will still perform as ‘Dante’. Prentiss replies that if Davies has a conscience, he won’t. Spencer then puts a blanket over JJ, saying how guilty he feels for not going with her to Gina’s house but the rest of the team convince him there was no way of predicting her behaviour. They begin to discuss the obsession of fans, which leads to a light teasing session regarding musical taste. Rossi says that as much as he loved ‘The Rat Pack’, he wouldn’t have killed for Frank or Dean. Hotch agrees that his friend wouldn’t have killed but DID drink whiskey and smoke cigars for the stars. Dave retaliates by teasing him of his liking of the Beatles ‘White Album’. Hotch retorts that just because Manson high-jacked it doesn’t mean it ruined it for everyone else. Reid quips that he’s safe by liking ‘Beethoven’ since there is no “guilt by association”. There is a brief moment of silence before Prentiss asks him if he’s not seen the movie ‘Clockwork Orange’. He looks blank and we are treated to another classic naive Reid moment. The team share a good laugh, Reid included.
End
Nice to see MGG putting some weight on his injured knee!
Kirsten" You are indeed amazing to have summarized the entire epi in such incredible detail -you did not miss a trick! You must have a mind and memory like our boy, Reid!
And I agree, with Anonymous, the way Reid was talking on his phone and swinging his crutches was phenomenal-you can see that he has become extremely adept at doing these things simultaneously-probably constantly since July!
I will watch again a second time tonite, especially for little bits and pieces that Kirsten mentioned that I missed.
I know i should have been here
a couple of days ago, but have
been busy with work and all, but
still i wanted to come by and say
what a great show this was. I loved
every minute of it, and Criminal
Minds, you guys are really
rocking on these episodes. They have all been awesome so far.
I guess i would have to say my
favorite part was at the very
end while on the plane ride home,
everyone was laughing and smiling,
and giving Reid an especially
hard time as usual. It was great
to see them have some lighter;
fun moments. Thanks again
Criminal Minds writers for yet
another awesome episode!
You guys really do Rock!!!
Keep em coming. Looking forward
to next weeks episode.
I was surprised by how many people thought this was a great episode.
Basically Prentiss catches the killer by overhearing a phone call with Dante.
And, JJ going to that house and chasing the girl to the back was a very dumb move. Not smartly written in my opinion.
It's odd having Morgan at the Helm. Hotch was hardly in this episode. What gives?
I really enjoyed this episode. I've been a fan of Gavin for a long time so I was super excited to see him in this episode. He did an amazing job. I loved the teasing in the beginning and end it was nice to see how close they really are. I don't like Morgan as acting unit chief at ALL. I didn't like that he's not able to flirt with Garcia and honestly I hope Hotch gets to take over again soon. Hotch is much better suited as chief. I want to see Morgan kicking down doors and tackling unsubs again soon. But all in all I loved the episode!
Rose
Thanks Gubegirl! :) Good to know that someone actually reads these! LOL! On the other hand, don't tell me the bits I got wrong.
Enjoy! Good to see Reid on the mend.
Liked the episode. Especially the end scene on the plane. Nice to see Hotch smile. Looking forward to Outfoxed and 100.
My apologies for not reading all the comments before making mine. This episode was entertaining and it was actually a welcome change to not be cringing as much as I sometimes do. I think they're softening us up for some super-high tension drama, thrills and chills in the episodes to come.
By the way, I think that Hotch is enjoying not being in charge and cracking down the unsubs the way Derek used to. The girls are fantastic with JJ showing off some Grade A toughness. Of course, "the sexiest hacker in the world" is always fantastic.
Reed is the most hottest person that i have every seen. I truly find watching Criminal minds a pleasure. I would watch it over and over again. I would say that it brings live back to me when I can turn on Criminal minds and look at Drake , but mostly Reed's face.
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