"Proof" - The BAU team searches rural Oklahoma when women are being found murdered after being robbed of one of their five senses. Also, JJ and Prentiss get the cold shoulder from Reid as he deals with their deception about Prentiss' presumed death, on CRIMINAL MINDS, Wednesday, Sept. 28 (9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Andy Milder ("Weeds") guest stars as Cy, a mentally-challenged man, and Tracy Middendorf ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Boardwalk Empire") guest stars as Lyla Bradstone, Cy's sister-in-law.
What do you think about the episode ??
Careful in case you haven't watched the episode yet... comments might contain ***SPOILERS***...
Photo: MATT KENNEDY/CBS ©2011 CBS BROADCASTING INC. All Rights Reserved (promo pic for "It Takes A Village)
Of the 3 epis so far, this was my least fave. I felt Reid was out of character, more than the others, calling JJ "Jennifer", and complaining to her that he was at her house crying every nite for 7 months and treating her like a 2nd rate citizen. The real Reid is too smart for that. He is sensitive and may have felt hurt but would not speak out in such a way..much like he did when he had been using Dilaudid. JMHO.
ReplyDeleteDidn't care to watch this one twice, which is unusual. Altho' last season, I rarely watched any twice, other than maybe "JJ" and the few in the Prentiss arc to better follow the Doyle/Declan story and make sure I was catching it all.
Where is everyone? How come I am first in both these threads? Do we need to send out the canine unit to find our regulars? Too much down time I guess.
Hope they check and get back on here!
Didn't like this either, Gubegirl, except for the "very tempereed suggestion". Found Reid's characterisation repetitive w/o any growth. i don't feel he was unjustified in reacting to the situation, but the way he did it made me cringe. This reaction goes very well (and not in a good way), i feel, with Morgan's statement to Garcia - 'Prentiss wouldn't want us to sulk' (or words to that effect). After Hanley Waters and the short albeit powerful scene b/w R and H, this was a monumental letdown.
ReplyDeleteThe 'family' scene at the end was sugar-coated and felt off re timing and emotional impact.
Plus, although happy hotch is a wonderful thing (poor guy deserves a break), i feel the timing is all wrong. And while i understand the whole anti-shipping rhetoric, i cannot imagine mere speculation would make the writers run scared; so much so that hotch and prentiss don't seem to be living on the same planet any more. i don't understand this, seriously. There will always be subtext, or not, depending on what one wants to see, but to let that affect the way the characters are written is to abandon all reason, in my humble opinion.
I found the choice of having a mentally-challenged unsub to be rather offensive. It just promotes a negative view of disabled people in general. They've been stigmatized enough already in general society--must we add the creepy stereotype to make things worse. Unfortunate implications, indeed.
ReplyDeleteGubegirl,
ReplyDeleteI guess you're first because I didn't know the site was back up, I haven't been tuning in every day because it's been down for so long.
I liked Reid's reaction. I think he was entitled to be angry at someone who he considered a very good friend's betrayal of his trust. Logically, I'm sure he knows the wisdom of the decision, but I think his emotions need to catch up from the shock of the betrayal he feels.
It was JJ's and Prentiss' reactions I didn't like, trying to turn it around on him with the micro-expressions and ulcer comments. I think Prentiss' assertiion that they had no choice was wrong. They did not HAVE to do what they did, they chose to. Did they make the right choice? For everyone's safety, definitely. But it was not the ONLY choice. And her turning it back on Reid, I think, was unfair.
I would usually have enjoyed the last scene at Rossi's but, in this case, it seemed so cheesy that Reid would get over everything just like that. You don't get over betrayal that easily and the smiling and glass clinking made me roll my eyes. I would have found it more realistic if Reid hadn't come or, if he did come, show that he's trying, but all is not well yet. That would be more realistic of someone trying to get over a huge betrayal by people that he had trusted in the past.
Anonymous: I didn't find them making a mentally challenged person the unsub that offensive. There are unsubs in every walk of life. Why should the mentally challenged be any different? Was this guy creepy? Yes, but many, if not most, of the unsubs who aren't mentally challenged have been creepy too. I think that goes with being an unsub, not with the person's mental capabilities.
Pat, I agree with every aspect of your post.
ReplyDeleteReid was totally entitled to feel betrayed and hurt. I specially didn`t like JJ` s reaction to him. And I wish that Reid had not come to the party at Rossi`s house. It is unrealistic that he is over the betrayal so fast and everything is forgiven. The scenes at Rossi`s were nice but way too early in the season.
Anonymous and Pat: I too didn't find them making a mentally challenged person the unsub offensive. Wouldn`t it be rather offensive to imply that mentally challenged persons are not capable to be unsubs?
This was the weakest episode. One thing I did like, although like might not be the right word, was Reid's behavior. He wasn't reacting from an intellectual level, but an emotional one. And, Reid knows which buttons to push. Calling JJ "Jennifer" I saw as deliberate, to make her feel that he was putting distance between them.
ReplyDeleteWhat I didn't like was the ending scene. It's like they said, "Hey, the audience likes the team hanging out, so lets slap one into the episode." Reid was mad at JJ and felt distant and awkward with Prentiss. There's no way he'd be ready to be all cheery and friendly with them outside of work. I also don't buy Hotch seriously suggesting it. Too many issues to think a pasta party would solve it. Unfortunately, it seemed as far as Reid was concerned it did, which is a disservice.
Another thing I didn't like was the unnecessary close ups of the victims. Was it really necessary to see exactly what the effects of the acid were? Sure, sometimes you are going to see less than pretty sights, but I think this went too far.
One thing I like is that so far this season, there isn't the emphasis on shooting and chases that I was afraid of from the overuse of the word "badass" to describe the new season. I know not every unsub will live or be talked down or tricked, but it's nice that they haven't made it seem like the primary point of being in the BAU is to use brawn instead of brains.
Still, Proof I think was an incredibly weak and poorly written episode.
I liked the team interaction in Proof. I felt Reids angst was a bit over the top, but I liked him just showing up at Rossi's at the end. There was not much more that could be said, that JJ or Emily have not cover. We can maybe assume that the characters may have discussed their feelings more over dinner. I thought Rossi's cooking lesson was humor filled. I liked the unsub story line, but found the violence over the top. Sometimes less is really more.
ReplyDeletethis is definitely my most favorite episode of the season so far.
ReplyDeletei dont care for storylines or any of the characters at the BAU, just individual episodes with good, creepy killers and this one was it.
wish there were more of these type of episodes but with a who-dun-it twist meaning the unsub is revealed in the end but other than that, the torture, the mental retardation, the reason behind his actions - all were on point imo. 9 out of 10 for me.
Ok.. To the people saying that the mentally disabled unsub wasn't offensive:
ReplyDeleteThe simple fact that they had a mentally challenged unsub wasn't offensive, it was how they let the actor get away with butchering that role. He literally sounds like a cartoon character. If you've ever spent more than 10 minutes outside your house, you'd know that not one single "slow" person sounds like that. They may have speech impediments and word formulation problems, but they still sound like real, actual people who deserve a bit of dignity when being portrayed on TV.
Plenty of shows are now casting actual Down Syndrome-folk instead of hiring B-Movie actors to completely encourage terrible stereotypes by creating these voices that sound like they are taking with a giant cock in their mouths. That is the offensive part. If you weren't offended by this unsub, then it makes sense because you aren't the type of person who's capable of comprehending what about it is even offensive. Can't be offended by what you can't understand. Posted 6 years too late.