Sunday, June 26, 2011

CRIMINAL MINDS: ERICA MESSER CHAT TRANSCRIPT


Criminal Minds: Transcript of the chat with Erica Messer, showrunner of Criminal Minds held on June 25, 2011.
©2011 CRIMINAL MINDS FANATIC BLOG/WEBSITE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Erica_M has joined.

jill: Welcome Erica! We're happy to have you here today to discuss season 7. You have your whole cast back.......that must feel great.

Erica_M: hi there everybody! I'm so so so so so so so so so so so so happy the cast is BACK!

jill: Are you ready for ?s?
Erica_M: absolutely!

jill: Since Thomas Gibson signed his new contract after the writers started working on Season 7, did this affect their writing process or their plotting for the first few episodes of the season?

Erica_M: Great question. Jill knows I tried to remain incredibly positive during that trying time -- so I wanted to move forward believing the deal would be made. We proceeded with stories involving Hotch for that reason. There was a plan B incase it took longer to make the deal, but thankfully we didn't have to go down that road because it felt really foreign to me. done

jill: You mentioned the possibility of a future online chat with the writers? When do you think we might be able to look forward to that chat? Can you tell us anything about the newest writers? :-)

Erica_M: Yes, we should set something up soon before they're all buried in scripts! The new writers are all seasoned storytellers and are fans of the show, which is helpful! I will talk to them on Monday about getting on here to say hello to you all. done

jill: I just wanted to know if MGG would be directing any of the Prentiss returns eps?

Erica_M: MGG usually directs later in the season for scheduling purposes, so no... but the good news in that is it means we've got our girl back in the premiere! done

jill: Do they plan to bring the Prentiss storyline to a head quickly so she can get back to the team?

Erica_M: Yes. The challenge in the premiere was to honor the storylines we created for Prentiss and her departure without repeating episodes 617 & 618. We accomplished that (I believe) without sacrificing story but also without having her just appear in the teaser! done

jill: Where do you want to see CM go this season? Will you take us back to when the cases were the A story?

Erica_M: I want CM to do what it does best. Tell compelling stories about the darker side of the world we all live in... and honor our heroes and their lives while they protect us all. The second part of that question has me wondering why the cases didn't seem like the A-story before. done

Erica_M: Can you explain? done

jill: I think they mean the drama with the actors

Erica_M: OH! That! Yes, I want the drama to be on the screen this season. And it shouldn't have too much to do with outside forces this year. We've been in the spotlight but I want us to rally around the troops and support them on screen as we did off screen. I want ALL of us to have fun again this year because I think we forgot how... done

jill: Not sure Jill will allow this question but will Seaver be back at all or are we done with that character...no offense to Ms. Nichols!!!!

Erica_M: I think I told you guys before that I believe there's a story that's begging to be told about Seaver's dad -- but I don't know when I'll get to tell it. Rachel has been amazing about all of this and has graciously accepted that she's moving on. I was incredibly impressed with her good attitude. done

jill: Jill tweets lots about you and for me, a newbie, it has been eye opening. I didn't know you had been with the show since day one. She says you know these characters better than anyone. That says a lot. Do you feel the new writers will have that type of understanding?

Erica_M: Oh, thanks Jill! She has known me for years and understands that I'm really really REALLY protective of this show (mama bear-like) and of course, the characters. I respect our actors and listen to any and all concerns they have. Their job is to portray someone they've created and our joint-responsibility is to protect those characters from harm. The new writers are getting a crash course in that right now! done

jill: What is your biggest challenge this season since it is your first year of being our showrunner?

Erica_M: Managing my time has been the biggest challenge. I'm sure once production starts and scripts start rolling in I'll have another answer to that question! done

jill: Now that the spin is over will we have more the same amount of Garcia?

Erica_M: Our Lady G will be more present. She's such an amazing actress, I can not get enough of her! done

jill: Erica, speaking of Garcia...I can't wait till you see the pens fans have sent in this year. They have outdone themselves.

Erica_M: Oh! That's great! Can't wait to see them! done

jill: Next ? has to do with loose ends but it was in Spanish

jill: I have tried to translate it as best as I can

Erica_M: Okay...

jill: Will you be able to tie up some of the loose ends from seasons five and six?
jill: I think that is the ?

Erica_M: The biggest loose end is Prentiss and all of the drama surrounding her departure and return, so, yes. I want to know what our team does outside of the BAU. We've come up with some good tidbits about each character. I still need to sit down with Thomas and Shemar since their contracts weren't finished when we wrapped. I think it's important to have the actors in on those conversations because we're all in this together and have to stay true to who we're creating. done

jill: Ed Bernero did cookies for us. Do you know what cookies are and will you be contiuing that tradition?

Erica_M: Oh! And Paget! She wasn't here when we sat down with the writing staff!

Erica_M: Of course! I've baked a few for you myself!

Erica_M: Yes, you can expect those throughout!

jill: Everyone has a favorite character and of course we never agree on who has the most screentime. My questions concerns the ladies. Can we hope they get some great screentime?

Erica_M: Yes Yes Yes

jill: A recent article say that AJ will be changing and her character will be more edgy. Looking forward to that. Any hints????

Erica_M: She's grown a lot since we've seen her and it's a confidence that is earned when you're on your own -- unable to depend on those friends who really had your back. Because Hotch promised he'd never replace her (ep 602, "JJ") and kept that promise, we'd like to see how it works with her as a profiler and her old communications duties will remain divided up among the team. She will not always be the face of the BAU for press conferences, etc. done

jill: Will Breen Frazier be back? Love his episodes. Miss not having him come to chat last season. We always had such a good time with him.
jill: Several people sent in questions concerning Breen

Erica_M: Breen is back and better than ever. He's writing episode 704 and would be happy to chat. I know he's always had a good time with you guys. done
Erica_M: Really? I'll pass that along to him and maybe you can get him in here soon!

jill: Okay, if we can do this in a reasonable fashion I am going to open this up to questions from MODS ONLY.

Erica_M: Yay!
Hardkorr: If i may ask for clarification, Erica
Hardkorr: JJ is coming back as a Profiler now?

Erica_M: She is filling more of that role than any other role she had before, yes.

Hardkorr: That's awesome. She's always profiled just not "officially"

Erica_M: If a stranger watched our show, they'd think she is a profiler. We all know her history and can understand why she's earned this spot.
Erica_M: Behind the scenes, I've wanted us to all have new challenges this season and I think it's great to show that on screen as well. done

00_WatchMod_SSA_Carpenter: Will we be seeing more of Sergio in season 7?

Erica_M: Ha! That's great! Sergio is mentioned in the premiere... is that a spoiler?!

jill: no that is cool

Hardkorr: Well we have Strauss back in Season 7? Will we find out what her secret is?

Erica_M: Yes, she too is in the premiere. I love Jayne Atkinson so much and would really like to see her in our show a bit more. There are hints to her secret in the premiere and we'll discuss when we chat about 701! done

Hardkorr: We love her too. She is the character we all love to hate

Erica_M: Right? Someone here called her Darth Vader! Yep. She is the perfect antagonist.

jill: Thank you for the Jim Clemente and John Douglas chat

Erica_M: Oh my gosh, those gentlemen are such a joy to work with -- haven't met John Douglas yet, but talked to him and hope to see him during his next trip to LA.

Hardkorr: Can you tell us if any interesting guest stars have been lined up yet?

Erica_M: Mark Moses (Mad Men among many other gigs) will be in the premiere. We just started prep and will have a list of guest stars coming our way by the mid of July. Will be sure to let you guys know.

Erica_M: (Jill, let me know if you meet up with JD)

jill: I think we are all meeting at the studio

Erica_M: oh... perfect!

jill: What can we as fans do to help support you this season?

Erica_M: Thanks for asking. Twitter is amazing (from what I understand of it!). These chats keep everybody on the same page and excited about the show that we all love... so we should make a real effort to keep these going. You having our backs while we're in the trenches is so important... your support goes a long, long way. Keeps the troops happy and encourages us to go on. One of our writers ran the LA marathon and said she connected with the crowd the whole time and their cheers made her keep going. That's how I feel about you guys. Your enthusiasm for CM is contagious. And when you're down about it, that's contagious too. So my hope is that you'll all be as excited as we are for season seven!

jill: I can't tell you what but a large group of fanatic fans have a surprise for you while I am there. Our way of showing you our support. We all have a lot of confidence in you and look forward to what your experience brings to the show.
jill: The show is in good hands

Erica_M: Oooooo! I love surprises!
Erica_M: And I have promised to take care of this show -- it's what I signed on for and it's what I plan on doing.
Erica_M: Thanks for your support now... it means the world.

Debbie: Hi! Just two comments, if I may…I’m so excited about you being our showrunner! and having everyone at home again! I would love to see more of the science of profiling - kind of like when the show began. I miss that.

Erica_M: Thanks for your kind words. I'm excited too! Our challenge with the science of profiling is that we don't sound repetitive. We're always looking for new disorders and conditions that we can dive in to... Yeah! I know Debbie
jill: Any more mod ?s

jill: Okay I am going to open ?s up to the room. ONE at a time

cmwinner: Just for clarrification, is Seaver's character only going to be mentioned in the premiere as to where she is or will we see her at all?

Erica_M: is my answer to that a spoiler? We will not see Seaver in the premiere
robinotl: Will we be seeing more of Kevin (Garcia's boyfriend)? I kind of miss their interchanges.

Erica_M: We'll see Kevin a few times this season... they're really cute together. Loved them in the finale. done

Sherry_Belle: hello, in the last chat, you said that you would check into letting us watching eps online...what's the status on that?

Erica_M: Ah! Sherry Belle! Thanks for reminding me. I'm putting it on my list right this second. Sorry!!!

Erica_M: Oh, hi Reid Fanatic. Yes, we will have more Reid. He's got a great arc this season.

diamondclear: Hi Mrs. Messer! This is great to have you here! My question is...Will we see Hotch really deal with losing Haley? And Jack's adjustments?

Erica_M: I'd love to see how he's been coping with that major loss... and Jack... it's one of the topics to discuss when the writers meet with Thomas.

Cephalophile: Thanks for being here! Any chance of seeing Jane Lynch, despite her many other obligations?

Erica_M: Yes!!!!!
Erica_M: The current Reid arc that's being developed involves Jane... done

sdwally: Wiil we have more Hotch this season than in Season 6? He seemed to be under-used in Season 6?

Erica_M: Yes, more Hotch.

oceanblue78: Season 6 focused more on the unsub I think, will season 7 focus more n the team and their realtions?

Erica_M: Yes, the premiere will get that ball rolling and I'd like to continue that journey throughout the season. We've earned that after this long!

psycheek: How many episodescan we expect this season?

Erica_M: We've got an order for 22. Will let you know if it becomes 24.

007luvscriminalminds: Okay. Thanks. Will we see Will and Henry this season? I missed them last season.

Erica_M: We will see JJ's home life this season... really want to see Henry

Hardkorr: Will he still be played by AJ's son?

Erica_M: I've got a meeting with Glenn Kershaw -- our producer/director who's directing the premiere -- in a little while, so I should start saying bye soon...

Erica_M: yes, hardkorr! AJ's son is Henry

jill: Lets let Erica go with out thanks

Erica_M: Thank you all so so so much. I'm really looking forward to spending more time with you all this season. Have a great weekend everyone and thank you for spending some of your Saturday with me!

Erica_M has left

©2011 CRIMINAL MINDS FANATIC BLOG/WEBSITE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

174 comments:

Criminal Minds Fan said...

Thanks for the great chat Erica!

khalid said...

It was great.

Thank you!

Japspen said...

The chat was great! Season seven promises to be one of the best. Thank you so much to Erica for her time with us.

heyya said...

Thank you so much Criminal Minds Fan for posting the chat transcript. I greatly appreciate it.
Thank you so much Erica for a wonderful chat. I'm looking forward to season7 with a lot of excitement and anticipation, I have a feeling that it's going to be one of the best, if not the best season ever. It will be great to see our cast back together again!
JJ coming back as a profiler will be great I think. She always profiled anyways, especially in seasons4 & 5. I'm just really glad she's coming back. I'd love to see more of her home life. I adore Henry and Will.
It's great that Paget will be back right away. She was greatly missed.
I can't wait for Reid's story arc to play, especially now when we know that it will involve Jane Lynch. Best news ever! I love that woman to death. Some of my favourite episodes involve her and it will be awesome to have her back for a moment or two.
I really, honestly hope though that Seaver never appears on CM again. Ever. I'll be frank. I really don't give a damn about her or her father. I just want to forget that she ever existed. I guess I'll just skip the episode(s) that focus on her and her father, if/when they're telecast.
All in all, great chat, and I'm waiting for season7 with bated breath, I'm highly optimistic! Thanks again Criminal Minds Fan and Erica for organizing and participating in this chat :)

CheetoBreath said...

Thx for posting the transcript :)

CheetoBreath said...

I love the pic that goes with this thread. Originally tweeted by TG .... end of S5 "school is out". Well, it's S7 now and school is back in session with our gang!! Yay!!!!!!

Yay team! Yay Erica! Yay Jill and the mods! Yay Hotch! Yay Sergio the cat! Yay to us fans! Yay! Yay! Yay!!!!!!

I'm just a little bit excited about S7..... lulz :D

Maria said...

Thank you so much, Erica!!

It's always great to be able to meet with you in the chat-room and enjoy your input in what's coming next in the show but specially your enthusiasm about it, it's refreshing and contagious. Love it!!

Is not September yet? Lol!

Greetings from Spain :)

bmahina said...

Can't wait for season seven!! Happy to see AJ and Paget back! Thanks Erica for taking time to chat with us ^_^

Elisabeth said...

Thanks for the chat Erica !
It was very informative.

I'm happy about some things that were said and a little worried about others.

I'm certainly glad to learn that they won't take long to resolve the Doyle arc.
I didn't want it to be dragged on for too long.
I wonder who kept Sergio the whole time (I would like to believe it's Reid as I see him as a cat person).

About JJ becoming a profiler, I'm unsure.
It's not that I doubt her abilities (I don't), but I preferred her in her media liaison role. But I'm glad to have her back.

Seeing what they all do with their free time,...interesting(I just hope romance won't be included, that's something best left to the viewer's imagination in my opinion).

I'm certainly overjoyed to learn that Jane Lynch will be back as Reid's mother. I love her as Diana Reid ! Thank you so much for that !

But I'm also worried about what it could mean. I hope they won't have Reid becoming schizophrenic.
I didn't really enjoy the story about him being potentially mentally ill (or simply too stressed by the job) and I wish the show wouldn't go back to that.

Now, that story could also be about Reid's mother dying.
As horrible as it might sound, I would much prefer that scenario over Reid becoming schizophrenic (and the loss of a parent is sadly something we all experience at one point).

So, once again thank you for the great chat Erica !

And thank you for the transcript too !

amelialor said...

It's been awhile since a chat was filed with so many good news like this one.

Now, with the cast restored to what it makes this show great, we can all feel excited for the new season.

And the fact that now the show is on the hands of such an attentive and dedicated executive producer helps a lot.

Thank you Erica for your time, for listening and respecting the fans and I have no doubt that this upcoming season will be great.

Alana

heyya said...

Elisabeth, I agree with you once again, it'll be fun to see what they do with their free time outside of the BAU. I also think romance should be left out of the equation. Let our imaginations run wild. LOL!
I certainly hope Reid's arc doesn't involve his mom dying! Yikes...that would be brutal. Please no. Maybe she'll just ease his fears about him developing some mental illness, so that he will finally be able to let go of his fears and go back to being the lovable genius who spouts random statistics and makes everyone smile. I hope they tie it up with a case they're working on like they did in the Instincts/Memoriam. Those two episodes were superb!
I do hope that Reid's story arc or any story arc for that matter doesn't drag on for too long. I hope the arcs get resolved in two, at most three episodes. I would love for them to get back to compelling cases with intriguing unsubs, lots of profiling, and character moments intertwined amid all this. They managed to do this effortlessly in the first four seasons. I want a throwback to those old days.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the chat, Erica! I'm looking forward to the next season. :)

Sabine (Germany)

Elisabeth said...

Hi Heyya,

Yes, I much prefer imagining for myself the profilers love life than seeing the writers take on this ! I totally agree with you, let our imagination do the work here, it's much better.

About Reid mom :

I'm so much not into the whole 'Reid is too stressed because of his job' story.
I just don't want the writers to waste Reid's screen time by going back to that storyline.
I want a more interesting story for him this time.

I know that Reid's mother dying would be brutal, but loosing a parent is a tragedy we're all confronted with at some point.
So, I would prefer that scenario.

I guess I'll be disappointed if they use Jane Lynch just to reassure Reid over his pointless headaches.

But maybe they'll surprise us and use Jane Lynch in a completely different way, who knows.

Anonymous said...

A few points stood out for me:
1)Jane Lynch back-finally!
2)MGG directing-awesome!
3)Sergio-definitely want to see him.Maybe Garcia had him?!

I always loved the chemistry between Matthew and Jane.Their scenes together were some of my favorite of the entire series.
However, I hope that this is NOT setting up a major heartbreak for our darling genius-as in something happening to his mom.That this might be 'the secret',or a buildup to a return of the headache story?
I know it would give Matthew a chance to show his awesome-ness with a story like that.We know given the chance,he can really show his 'acting chops'.It would just be so hard to watch.I am quite attached to our junior g man.I cannot stand the least little thing happening in regards to him,as opposed to the others,which does not seem to bother me all that much.I STILL cannot watch reruns of Amplification or Revelations without bawling my eyes out.Heck,I cannot even handle a story on that fanfiction site!Having Reid go the way of his mom, even more gutwrenching.I hope this is not their idea as a possible 'out' in case Matthew does not sign next season.IF that is the possible scenario, I would NOT be watching one of my all time favorite characters ever slowly deteriorate that way.I just could not bear to.Please, CBS, don't go down that road.

Blimey Limey said...

Ooooooh! A fabulous treat for a Sunday afternoon! Need to re-read & digest a few things but...

1). Thanks to Erica for the chat.

2). Thanks to Jill for providing a transcript for those of us who weren't at home at the time. ;-))

Can't wait for season 7, it sounds one hell of a lot more promising than season 6.

Yeah, and only one quibble... we want to *SEE* Sergio, I'm sure he'd be available for a year's supply of fish!

I may return later - sorry in advance. Ha!

Glynnis said...

Thank you so much for posting the chat transcript! I couldn't be home at that time and hated to miss it.

Lots of good news! More Hotch! Prentiss back in 7:1, mention of Sergio, Jane Lynch, a Reid arc, JJ profiling (maybe she took required courses over past year?), more Kevin, the actors having a hand in their character dev., etc.

I really hope they find ways to go back to featuring the profile science more... at least alluding to it more since it's part of what differentiates the show from other procedurals. I also liked the green screen gimmicks (into the crime scene or following what happened) from S1. And I REALLY hope to have more team focus than unsub focus. I like to think along with the team to figure out who dunit! :)

I feel very hopeful for Season 7 now! :) Thank you, Jill! Thank you, EM!

zagi said...

Thanks for the chat and thanks for the transcript.

I`m looking forward to season 7 and I`m glad that the whole cast is back. I`m not pleased about JJ being back as a profiler though. The team has enough profilers and there is already not enough to do for all of them during most cases/episodes.

zagi said...

I`m a little sad that Rossi was not mentioned at all in the chat. I would have loved to see a Rossi story arc in season 7 . He is long overdue for more screentime and some drama storyline.

Angela said...

I am happy about AJ and Paget coming back. And Thomas staying. I think Erica is a good writer and she's written some of my favorite episodes.

That out of the way, I'm not at all happy with JJ becoming a profiler. She never wanted to be one. I remember, because she said so in North Mammon. And her saying that is what made me like her. I'm not saying I won't still like her as much. But, I loved that she wasn't a profiler (yes, she's done some duties. Hotch has spoken to the press sometimes. That didn't make him a media liaison) not because she didn't think she was good enough, not because she hadn't "earned" it, but because she chose not to be. I also don't like everyone talking to the media. I knew JJ would have added duties and bring more to the team this season, but my hopes were up that they wouldn't toss away North Mammon by making JJ a profiler, after reading an interview with AJ Cook, where she said she didn't think JJ would be one, because she didn't want to be one.

Well, everything in the chat about JJ professionally seems to be all about the media and the press. But, since that's always only been one part of JJ's very involved multifaceted job, I hope JJ will still be the one to get all the cases. To be the one to decide which ones to bring to Hotch and the others. That she still presents the cases. That if the team needs access to people, that JJ's the one who gets it. And, especially, I hope JJ is still the one "the families can turn to." Because that was enormously important. I just hope they haven't phased out all that. Or turned it into less of a job in itself, but more just another part of being a profiler like talking to the media has been.

Oh, well. There are plenty of things to look forward to. I'm very glad JJ's back. Glad to get more of her personal life. Glad that there's going to be more focus on the team. The unsubs aren't in the opening credits, so they aren't as importantv as the team. So I'm glad of that. Really glad that they might have Hotch deal with losing Haley. Glad that Kevin will have a few appearances. Glad to have the season 5 cast back together and being a team and friends (and hopefully never turning into romance between them). Love that they discuss things with the actors and work with them on the characters. So, a lot of good things. And, one major disappointment, which I know puts me on the opposite side of the fandom.

Tiecollector said...

Thanks so much for providing the transcript!

Erica Messer seems such a wonderful person who knows and respects the characters and the actors, and I'm very confident she'll do a sensational job as showrunner.

The few hints she gave do sound really, really exciting and I'm so looking forward to S7!!! :)

Oh and,yes yes yes, MORE HOTCH! :)))

LaShawna said...

After reading that transcript, I'm really getting excited for season seven. It sounds like there are a lot of good stories planned, and I am relieved to finally have my favorite cast back together again. :)

LunaM said...

Jill, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for providing the chat transcript. And thanks to E.M. and CBS for allowing it. :D

What did we learn?

More whodunnit episodes with focus on the team. Did I understand it right or is it just wishful thinking that Erica said this?

Will Hotch be shown finally dealing with the Foyet-trauma? Well, from how it sounds they'll try, but I guess that means no. They "tried" last season too and nothing came to pass with regards to that storyline. And I'm starting to think that it's a bit too late now. Maybe they should just move on?

Shemar will sit down with the writers also, so I'm sure he'll have a good storyline in season 7 too. I would love to see a bit follow up on the story with his dead cousin and his auntie.

The downer is that unfortunately no one asked about whether Rossi will have more screentime this season. He finally needs a good storyline, IMO.

Not sure how I feel about JJ as a profiler. She'll do great, I'm sure. But I always liked that she had this special place and responsiblity in the team. Does that mean we'll still see Garcia presenting the cases? Please no. I love Garcia to pieces, but her presenting just felt wrong to me.

As for the rest:

More of Prentiss and JJ - YESSS
More Hotch - YESSSSSSSSS
More Reid - YESSSSSSSSSS
Reid's mom is back - YESSS
Strauss is back in the premiere - YESSS
Kevin will show up once in a while - YESSSS
Seaver won't have a good-bye storyline - YESSS

And most importantly: Sergio the cat will be mentioned in the premiere. YEEEESSSSSS

It sounds like season 7 will be better, likely much better, than season 6, but that's not hard to achieve anyway, IMO. I'm looking forward to it and I'm optimistic that it'll be a good one, but I'm hesitant to expect the best seaseon of CM ever. Yet. Lets wait and see how many of the good stuff Erica promisded us will really end up onscreen.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much Erica for chatting with us. I am so happy and excited about next season. As our new showrunner Erica, I trust you, and I know you won't disappointed us. And thank you Jill for making this possible.

Pocahontas

Jane said...

Right now I'm really excited about season seven !

The real highlight for me is the news of Jane Lynch being involved in a Reid arc !
1) Yes for a Reid arc !
2) Yes for involving Reid's mother !

I agree with the posters who said they didn't want Reid's arc to be centered around his headaches.
I don't know what the writers have in mind and how Reid's mother will be incorporated into the story, but I hope it won't revolve around that.
I don't mind if the story they have in mind is very sad (I do like good angst on the show).
But no matter what, I just hope it won't be about his headaches and Reid fearing schizophrenia.
Reid deserves more of a storyline than that.

Rach said...

Thank you Erica! Season Seven looks fantastic. I wonder if Emily's return will cause any problems for spencer, in terms of his "potential" schizophrenia. I love Jane Lynch and am thrilled that she will be returning to the show for his story arc. :) To be honest, Kevin annoys me SO much and Garcia can do better, however, we'll see what the writers do. I am looking forward to the exciting return of CM!

Deb said...

Thanks to CM Fanatic Blog for posting these chat transcripts. It's really nice to be able to revisit the conversations!

Really appreciate Erica taking the time to "chat" with the fans. From her comments in other interviews as well as here it's obvious that there is a HUGE mutual respect flowing between the production staff as well as cast and crew of CM and the fans.

Looking forward to the upcoming season and more chats. Thanks again!

P.S. In addition to seeing the whole Family back together I'm looking forward to learning about "Sergio's" fate. Thought maybe Reid would adopt him! :)

Misty said...

Thank you for this wonderful chat!

I personally prefer watching warm team moments over seeing the characters private life.
But as long as it stays little tidbits and doesn't involve romance, I guess I'm all good.

It's good to know that the crew will try to focus more on the team and less on the unsubs. That's greatly appreciated.

Not thrilled about the possibility of Reid becoming 'headaches guy' once again...
But maybe his arc won't involve his psychosomatic headaches ? I sure hope so.

Ms Messer, I'm so glad you managed to get Jane Lynch to come back this year !
I wonder if we'll see Reid's father too...
I really wanted him to acknowledge that what he did was horrible. Leaving a ten years old with a schizophrenic mother, leaving him to not only take care of himself but also to take care of his mentally ill mother. And never writing, never helping, ..all the while leaving ten minutes away the whole time.
Not to mention leaving to his son the burden of committing his mother...

Anyway, I have high expectations for this season !

Anonymous said...

I thought JJ was going to stay the coordinator and the face of the team (at least that’s what a spoiler said a month ago). What happened ?

I understand that AJ Cook might have wanted her character to change because she wanted JJ to have a more important role, but I find that sad. JJ was wonderful as the coordinator and as the face of the team. She didn’t need to become a profiler (and I don’t think the team needed another profiler, they are already five on a regular basis).
Well, that’s the only downer of this chat for me.

I’m ecstatic about the news concerning Jane Lynch.

Just like Elisabeth I don’t want them to bring back Jane Lynch just to reassure Reid that he’s not becoming schizophrenic. I hope there’s more to the story that will allow us to see Jane Lynch again (even if it’s the last time we see her as Diana Reid…).

I don’t even think Reid would bother his mother with his headaches since he’s extremely protective of her.
I don’t think he would want to worry her about that and I can’t see him traveling to Las Vegas just to talk to her about his headaches (not even knowing if it’ll be a ‘good day’ for her, meaning a day where she’s lucid).

But it could be the other way around : maybe it’s the arc involving his mother (no matter what it is) that will trigger his headaches. It seems more interesting that way.

I’m excited about the idea of a Reid arc and I can’t wait to see it.

Great chat. Thank you Erica for taking the time to answer those questions, and thank you Jill for the transcript.

Anonymous said...

More Reid............Yesssss.....I can't wait...........

Sherry_Belle said...

Thank you so much for the chat Erica! I'm looking forward to season 7 a lot, and knowing that the show is going to be in great hands just makes it all the better! Also, thanks again for answering my question!

Daisy said...

Erica,

Thank you taking taking time out of your day to chat with us. As usual I really enjoyed the chat as you mentioned lots of interesting things! So so so so happy our "7" are back for season "7"! (No disrespect to Rachael Nichols of course.) I am just ecstatic about the Reid arc and about Jane Lynch coming back. I love how she plays Diana Reid and how she and MGG/Reid interact as mother and son. They are so sweet together.

Thanks again to Erica, Jill, and all the mods.

Season 7 here we come!!

TheEldersTKD said...

Thanks for the awesome chat Erica. Can't wait until season 7!

Anonymous said...

Super excited about the Reid Arc. I'm also excited we'll get to see Jane Lynch. I love the mother/son chemistry between Matthew and Jane. They work so well together. And yay for Reid getting more screen time.

TIffanyRN said...

Thanks for the wonderful chat! :)

Teresa H. said...

Thanks for the transcript of the chat. I couldn't be at my computer to take part and it's nice to read the conversation.
I'm hoping for a good season 7 and the tone of the chat was definitely very positive but honestly "the proof of the pudding will be in the eating" I'm not going to speculate too much on what may be. I remember being excited about the beginning of S6, it was the first season I was going to watch as the new shows were broadcast. I was intrigued by the "secrets".
I am happy that it seems that the Prentiss/super spy/BAU as anti-terrorist squad story will be brought to a close. And that we get to see more of Jane Lynch and Jayne Attikinson.
I was also sad to realize that there was no mention of JM/Rossi. I like him as the man with the long experience with the unit, who has seen a lot of life, the details we can just guess at, and who is able to step back a little and maybe help Hotch do the same.
For now I'm going to enjoy our conversations here with the pals who are fanatics like me. I know that what people say here comes from an honest place of love for the show and the characters and actors, each with their own favourites, and there's no spin involved. Because of that I actually feel very connected to CM and have a lot of fun doing it.

Teresa H. said...

gubegirl,
I've just gone back to the last thread and I saw you're sad news. It sounded like your doggy had a happy life with you.

sf81387 said...

Thanks for the chat! : )

There were parts I liked and parts that leave me wondering if I'm going to like where things are going, but I'll take the wait and see approach.

I was happy to read that they wrote Hotch in the first few episodes even though they weren't sure about TG's contract situation. Hopefully that doesn't mean he'll be delivering some generic lines here and there and they really did include the character in whatever events are taking place. After that terrible misstep in the finale with Rossi stepping in where Hotch was supposed to be in the scene with JJ, I'm skeptical.

I was also happy to hear that the Prentiss Super Spy arc will be over and done with in the first episode. I was NOT looking forward to watching anymore of that nonsense and was hopeful they wouldn't drag out her return over a series of episodes. So hooray!

I was happy to hear that there will "more" of every character who was brought up. Not that I expected the answer to be "no" to any of those questions. LOL

I'm not sure about JJ coming back as a profiler. At the moment I don't like it, but I will wait and see I guess since I don't really have much choice in the matter. I don't like Garcia presenting the cases and I was really hoping that the girls coming back meant things might get back to normal.

JJ used to do enough profiling on top of her other job and it was her "specialty" that set her apart and made her unique. Now she's just going to be another one of the gang that they have so many of now they can't seem to give them adequate screen time, or at least time that doesn't feel like they just threw those lines in in order to give the actor something to do or say in the episode.

I really miss the Criminal Minds of Seasons 1 through 4. It was at its best then. Back then Hotch was the clear and undisputed leader of the team. When was the last time we saw Hotch in an interrogation room? JJ was his right arm as well as his left arm on the really bad days and she kept them all organized. Garcia sat in her lair and provided answers as well as comedy relief. Reid was the brainiac that always had something in his head that was relevant to whatever was going on. Morgan was the emotional pulse of the show. The guy who called Reid "kid" and who would get in a marine's face when he believed Hotch's life was at stake. Rossi was the guy with some diva tendancies who loved to play devil's advocate.

I feel like I don't recognize this team anymore so my hopes for Season 7 are that I will once again recognize them.

Not too keen on there being excessive emphasis on the character's personal lives, but I'll take a wait and see approach to that as well. It may end up being my favorite thing. : )

Chez said...

Thank you for posting the chat for those of us who couldn't make to the chat. It's great to find out what's been happening behind the scenes and what's planned for season 7!

Anonymous said...

I was so happy to read this transcript! I am eagerly awaiting the start of Season 7, knowing the family is whole again.

I’m first and foremost just so happy that everyone from Seasons 4/5 will be back. That group has such wonderful chemistry and the show really felt unbalanced and somewhat broken with even one of the cast missing. If Hotch hadn’t returned to the team, that would have been a dealbreaker, so thank heavens that was resolved! As for how the season plays out, I'm happy to wait and see.

Season 6 will go down as the “lost season” for me; although it sets things up for 7, there was an obvious lack of depth, research and team moments (that lead me to Criminal Minds in the first place). The strong focus on the unsubs in 6 did little to advance our understanding of the team members, and the lack of meaningful and anticipated interaction between the team members actually made the characters seem out-of-character at times.

Season 6 did a huge disservice to the entire cast, and to MGG in particular. Yes, I’m a Reid fan, and Reid was so often left behind at the station and seemed to make very few contributions to the profiling (when there was any). I don’t know if this had to do with Reid’s “secret” (which was still unresolved by the end of 6) or if the newer writers just didn’t know what to do with him. (Maybe his eidetic memory is breaking down?) If the writers actually give Reid (and MGG) much more to do this season, I will be immensely happy. He is such an interesting character with potential for so much more.

I know this sounds like a critical post, but that just speaks to my utter disappointment with this past season. That said, we the fans are immensely fortunate to have a team of people, including Erica Messer, who actually care about what the fans think and want to put out a quality show (in spite of the setbacks caused by reduced budgets and the whims of the CBS execs) and for that I am grateful. Can’t wait for Season 7 to start!

Elevenses said...

Thank you to Erica and Jill for the chat and for taking the time to talk to us. I look forward to S7. Love love love the cast pic! It makes me smile.

Tom said...

Nice chat, but it made me nervous.

I don't know how much I'm going to be looking forward to this next season.

I may be burnt out. :(

Anonymous said...

Awesome chat with lots of good information. Especially excited to hear Jane Lynch should be on as Reid's mom and that he has a good story arc :)

heyya said...

I agree with what most of you are saying regarding the Reid/Diana Reid arc. I'm happened to loathe the headache story-line and didn't even want to see it crop up again next season. Reid certainly deserves better. I also hope that Jane gets to do some amazing work. Earlier when I said she may help ease his mental fears, I just threw it out there, well, because I don't want her to die, because I believe, sadly that may push him over the edge. I'm all for a bit of Reid angst, but if any of his parents must die, let it be his dad. He is annoying and a horrible human being. Diana is way too cool and adorable.
I'm positive that they won't just waste Jane Lynch's talent, and the writers will come up with some amazing stuff for her as well as Reid. I'm not going to speculate anymore and just remain positive for the new season. I can't wait for it!

Dreis said...

So excited about Jane Lynch being back ! I love the scenes between her and Reid.
That news is really unexpected, I never thought I would see her again on Criminal Minds !
I'm going to rejoice in the fact that we'll see her as Diana Reid at least once again before the serie ends !

My wish is for her to have good material to work with and being able to shine in her scenes.
I hope we'll get strong and emotional scenes between her and Spencer, even if it's really depressing !

SSA_Carpenter said...

Thank you so much for the chat Erica! You've been doing a great job as showrunner and keep up all the hard work! I can't wait until season 7!

sindee said...

Thanks for this great chat, Erica !! Anticipating Season 7 even more now... :-)
CU sindee

Angelwriter said...

I thought JJ was going to stay the coordinator and the face of the team (at least that’s what a spoiler said a month ago). What happened ?

Good question. Even more to the point, those words came from AJ Cook herself. And, it seemed like while she didn't know exactly what she would be doing when she came back, she did know that much. That she would be the coordinator. I hope in some capacity that's still true. Cetainly AJ seemed to think it was, so something had to give her that impression.

Anonymous said...

Not sure how I feel about JJ becoming a profiler. I liked her in her role before - it was unique.

I'm so excited about the Reid storyline that will involve his mother. I just it's not like last season where there was all this hype and then they just killed his storyline. Surely they will be able to come up with a strong storyline for such an interesting character. Reid is so unique, he deserves something concrete. I also hope he doesn't keep getting left behind at the station. I really hope they don't waste the talents of Jane Lynch and MGG.

I love Morgan but I feel like he needs to step back a bit and let Hotch be the leader again. He sometimes takes over. It was nice when he used to feel like he was at the same level as Reid and Prentiss.

I hope Garcia does what she does best and remain mostly behind her computer. I prefer JJ presenting the cases. I love Garcia but I think she really shines when she's in her office relaying info over the phone while providing comic relief.

I think Joe Mantegna will also be able to go back to his role. I like how he was before season 6. It seemed like much of season 6 was about his nurturing side with regards to Seaver. It really did not suit him. It worked for Reid and Gideon but for some reason it just did not work with Rossi and Seaver. Now that she's gone, his role won't feel so forced.

I'm glad they brought back some Reid and Morgan moments towards the end of S6. It seems like it was completely lacking for a while. Some Reid and Hotch moments would be great for S7.

Another thing, I hope they have some cases that require Reid to crack some codes or figure out some puzzles. I love seeing his genius mind at work. They used to have some of these before but they don't have many lately. They have a unique character, it would be nice if they utilized him. All he seems to do lately is geographical profiling. I mean he's got an IQ of 187, he should be able to do more.

Anonymous said...

I absolutely do not want to see Morgan step back. How insulting to his character.

I like where he is now, and I feel he should stay there. He's a former Unit Chief and has earned the respect of his elders and those who entrusted him with the position, therefore, he should not be required to step back and play second fiddle to Hotch. He's earned everything that's been given to him, including that office, which I disagree with many who say he should be placed back in that damn cubicle. His co-workers can go visit his office anytime. It doesn't feel right to suggest he be demoted in any way, as if he's inferior.

I'm looking forward to some awesome Morgan moments in Season 7. I hope the writers do not disappoint.

Teresa H. said...

Caught Rossi's first episode on ION last night. This is how I relaxed having arrived home late after over 3 hours of highway driving. Nothing like watching some serial killing to quiet the mind. Loved watching him get ready for that meeting with Strauss, he looked so dapper and sophisticated. I could have done with a little toning down of the arrogance he showed towards her. They obviously have a history. I would like to see some of the backstory on that. JM looked much more comfortable playing that Rossi than the one he had to play in a lot of S6, as mentor to Seaver. And I know I've said this before but he looked so sexy with the greying temples.(Drool).
Don't get complacent Elevenses I am not ceding Hotch/TG
to you. I have plenty of room for both of them.
Even though I like the collegial relationship he and Hotch have now I enjoyed the tension between them in that episode.
Reid was adorable on one of his halloween kicks and showing his grasp of the details of Rossi's writing. As I watched Reid talk about Halloween in his enthusiastic, even obsessive way I was thinking how well the writers gave us a glimpse of a character's interests outside of the workplace without it having to take up too much energy. It was a snapshot that worked perfectly. More of that in S7 please.

zagi said...

I thought Joe Mantegna looked very comfortable to play Rossi as mentor for Seaver. Joe likes Rachel and Rossi liked Seaver. I enjoyed their scenes together.

janet said...

Thanks for the transcript.

My only problem with this chat:
JJ as a profiler?
I don't see the point of this. She always helped the team, profiled a little bit and still had her special niche.
I don't understand why all of the sudden being a liaison is no longer good enough for her character or dispensable for the team, or why they decided to finally share her responsibilities within the team, if by the first episode with Garcia doing it last season, it was clear that she shouldn't be doing it. They missed such a good opportunity last season, I think it's a little bit too late for that now.
And talk about throwing away all of the experience she gained in the Department of Defense/State Department. And a final question: where did she find the time to take the profiling classes? Episode 2.07 – North Mammon, writers, I remember.

But other than JJ as a profiler, I'm really optimistic about the new season. I'm glad the team is all back and I'm happy that the person responsible for the show is actually focused on this show alone and wants to improve it. And I'm really happy about Jane Lynch making an appearance.

Elevenses said...

I think taking back Morgan's office would be insulting and i don't see any of the characters taking offense to that, least of all Hotch.

And i don't see Rossi as a cuddly papa - he is more of the caring yet relatively aloof observer. He showed amazing balance between attachment and detachment in the seasons prior to S6. I never thought he was unkind, but he didn't always say the 'nice' things people wanted to hear. The barbs, occasional and stemming from his upbringing/experience, etc, made him more interesting to me without taking away from his relationships with each individual member of the team. But, but and but, S6 has not been kind to anyone, not even to Morgan in my opinion, because screen time does not necessarily translate into quality time. Everything about S6 seemed like a short cut, a hurried resolution and simplistic characterisation. They all turned into insipid one-trick ponies and the layers reduced to caricature to the detriment of all the characters. Would love to have the complexities of the prev seasons back.

Teresa, you cruel cruel woman - you give me hope and then take it away (sniffle). Nah, just let me know which half of TG you'd like.

Should we continue on the other thread, as i see it's only to thank Erica and Jill for giving us an awesome chat?

Cheers all,
Eleven (etc)

Elevenses said...

Taking offense to Morgan's having his own office i meant.

janet said...

I think I remember Garcia saying Morgan's office was temporary. So I was surprised he got to keep it. continuity error or the writers just felt he deserved to keep it?
Somebody has to remember to ask that in a future chat.

Anyway, I'm okay with Morgan keeping the office, he is a senior agent and was even a temporary unit chief, but I did like the fact that most of the team was so close in the bullpen and we got little scenes with Reid, Morgan and Emily there.
Of course, the same way they brought Garcia and JJ out of their offices into the bullpen for some of those scenes, they can bring Morgan too.
It's just sad to imagine Reid all alone in the bullpen, but Emily will be back now that JJ is supposed to become a profiler too, maybe she will lose her office and move to the bullpen too.

I do hope it's ok to speculate here, since a lot of it has to do with what Erica said in the chat.

Criminal Minds Fan said...

Please only use this thread to discuss and thank Erica for the chat. Thanks.

zagi said...

I thank Erica, Jill and the moderators for the chat but I would appreciate if in the next chat the mods would also ask questions concerning Morgan and Rossi. There were questions about Kevin, Henry , Will and Sergio but none about Morgan and Rossi. At least Erica mentioned Shemar, but nothing about Joe and his character.

Thanks in advance.

Criminal Minds Fan said...

NOBODY sent in questions about them. Prior to the next chat why don't you come up with a question and send it in. Thanks!

Questions are always appreciated.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Erica for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet and chat with the fandom.

Thanks to Jill and the mods for facilitating the chat and for everything you do to keep the blog up-to-date with all things related to CM. Thank you for posting the transcript as well.

I'm looking forward to Season 7 and seeing the 'Original Recipe' team back on screen again.

Amanda said...

Is there going to be a new post soon? I can't wait for news!!

Anonymous said...

Garcia never said Morgan's office was temporary.

Her exact words were "An uber office fit for out acting Unit Chief."

Agent Hall retired, leaving the space vacant, which left it Morgan's for the taking, thanks to JJ and Garcia's efforts.

Morgan is always in the bullpen. There were several episodes where he was seen there and not in his office, which led me to believe they took it away from him until the end scene in "Coda."

I would like to see more Morgan office scenes. How has it been decorated? Does he have his name on the door yet?

Danna said...

Great chat !
Thank you Erica, Jill, the moderators and everyone involved.

I'm so excited about the Reid storyline that will involve his mother. I just it's not like last season where there was all this hype and then they just killed his storyline. Surely they will be able to come up with a strong storyline for such an interesting character. Reid is so unique, he deserves something concrete. I also hope he doesn't keep getting left behind at the station. I really hope they don't waste the talents of Jane Lynch and MGG.

I totally agree with that statement.
I too hope Reid will get a strong storyline this time, one where MGG and Jane Lynch have strong, emotional and poignant scenes.


Another thing, I hope they have some cases that require Reid to crack some codes or figure out some puzzles. I love seeing his genius mind at work. They used to have some of these before but they don't have many lately. They have a unique character, it would be nice if they utilized him.

Once again, I completely agree. I hope to see Reid using his incredible brain more to crack codes, figure out complex patterns and complex mathematical formulas, read 20.000 words per minute, ....

We don't see that a lot anymore. I hope the writers will showcase Reid's genius much more (and more regularly) in the future episodes.

Angelwriter said...

I don't understand why all of the sudden being a liaison is no longer good enough for her character or dispensable for the team

I'm going to try to make this my last post on JJ being a profiler, because there's nothing that can be done about it now. But, I have to get all my feelings aired. Then I'll concentrate on the good things about the chat. But, yeah, why isn't being a liaison good - no, awesome- enough anymore? The thing is, first it's out of character. JJ didn't act like she was doing the liaison job for experience so she could earn the position of profiler. She treated it like it was important in itself. The others treated her like professionally what she did was important. What does it say about what she did for five seasons to turn her into a profiler and treat it like some promotion? It sounds like being a liaison was nice and all, but not something anyone should really strive for. Not something that matters in itself. The profilers are the ones who count. It just bugs me, because that's not how they treated JJ. She didn't need to "get to be a profiler". She got to be a communications liaison which is a fine job, as fine as being a profiler.

I wish they would have just found a way to expand the liaison role to give her more to do. Not make her what she so confidently (will I ever be able to watch the end of North Mammon again without feeling sad?) didn't need to be? Not continue to have the team all divide the role among themselves, which I thought was done to make the best of a bad situation.

But, again, it's over and done. It's just a shame first because other than finding out that we'll see Henry, it's the only thing we've heard about JJ. And, it's a long term thing. I just hope aside from the personal stuff, JJ gets a really good story that's not all about her being a profiler.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for the chat Erica, you generosity to the fans is really appreciated. I am really looking forward to next season. Thank you to Jill and all the moderators for their continued hard work.

RMF said...

I'd prefer JJ to remain media liaison as well, but given that she's going to be a profiler, I hope she at least goes back to being their case screener and case presenter. Much of the pain around Garcia's increased role centered around the inappropriateness of her dress and attitude when presenting gory crime-scene details, whereas JJ's delivery was always professional.

Velandra said...

I posted on the other thread before this one was open so here's a quick overview. First thank you Jill and Erica for the transcript and chat! Now I'm also unsure of JJ as a profiler. As people have pointed out in North Mammon she said she didn't want to become a profiler. People are entitled to change their minds though, I just hope she retains the caring nurturing aspects of her personality. I also don't like how the team will be sharing the liason duties. Morgan doing press conf. And Garcia presenting cases was just wrong and at times downright painful. I am incredibly excited to here that we will see more of Reid. I just hope we see mire if his genius and not his headaches. I can't wait to see Jane Lynch reprise the role of his mother . I honestly didn't think we would see her again seeing as she is doing glee now. I like seeing her in non comedic roles. I have mixed feelings about seeing more if their personal lives. I was happy seeing snippets here and there. W/ a one liner from Rossi about one of his exs. I think some things might be better left to the imagination. I would like to see more of Kevin/Garcia. He did quite the dissapearing act last season ( must have taken lessons from Reid) :) I would love to see Anderson here and there this season. I know I sound a tad neg. truth be told I'm incredibly excited about this season. Erica is the showrunner and we have our family back. I think this season is going to be great! Sorry for any typos . No time to proof

Pat said...

It's more like who doesn't have an office now, I'm sure JJ will take back her old office, so Reid is actually the only one without an office, which almost seems like a put down of him. All the other profilers get an office but him.

I don't know if I'll like to see a meaner JJ. I loved her as she was before.

I too, hope Reid doesn't have to spend the whole season at the precinct. Why can't he go on raids anymore?

Anonymous said...

Prentiss doesn't have an office.

Hotch, Morgan, JJ, and Rossi all have offices.

Hoping for more Morgan this season. There can never be too much of him. Shemar does a superb job with what he brings to the character, considering he's hardly anything like Morgan in real life. His talent is so underrated, and it's a shame people can't get over his looks and take him seriously, as he's become a truly captivating actor in such a short time.

I just love it! So glad his pay was doubled. looooong overdue, and he should be earning more in my eyes. LOL!

Our team is back! =D

Anonymous said...

@ Anonymous

Yay! Another Morgan supporter! =D

Believe me when I say that I love, love, LOVE my Criminal Minds team. They're like my family.

But Derek Morgan's my favorite sibling. haha. I just love, love, LOVE him!

I was sweating bullets when Shemar's contract was up, hoping he would sign. Him signing had me set for Season 7 immediately.

Now that the band's back together, that's even better!

I can't watch Criminal Minds without my Derek Morgan. The show needs them all! They're our superheroes! =D

I loved the partnership between Morgan and Rossi after Prentiss left, but with her coming back, I hope they go back to having her partner with Morgan, but still switch off with Rossi sometimes. I love seeing Derek work with either of those two, as they all have such great chemistry together.

In my dream world, Morgan would get another crack at being Unit Chief, but he's too reluctant to take it on. haha! I respect that. I like the tight fitting shirts anyway. xP

~ Brit

Henry Patterson said...

This show can not be saved, season 5 and 6 was very bad. No difference with season 7. Just cancel it

Regina said...

Thanks very much for the transcript. I tried to convert EST to my timezone, but when I woke up I'd missed the chat!!

I'm pretty neutral about JJ as a profiler. I think I'm just so estatic to have her back that I don't mind in what capacity she returns. I just hope that we still see shades of the old, nurturing JJ of past seasons. I wonder, though, if she will still present cases, hold press conferences etc?

Anyway, I'm so excited for Reid's arc! Jane Lynch is amazing but I hope she is used effectively, not just her appearing for the sake of her appearing.

Henry Patterson, I think it's premature to assume season seven is going to be a repeat of seasons five and six. That said I liked season five, but still IMHO it looks promising, with our fab seven back and Erica as showrunner. I'm certainly looking forward to it!!

Also I'm really tired so I apologise if this doesn't make sense.

sdwally said...

Thank you Erica for a great chat! Thank you Jill for making it possible; and thanks to the mods for helping to facilitate it.

Great to hear we'll have more Thomas Gibson/Hotch in season 7.

I'm looking forward to JJ as an actual profiler. As the communications liaison, she seemed like a quasi-profiler anyway. I don't know to many PR people who carry guns and get involved w/negotiating crime scenes and dealing with unsubs like JJ has done in episodes like Identity and Cradle to Grave.

The liaison position is special and JJ did a good job; but CM is about profilers. If TPTB thought it was necessary to bring in a blonde profiler, which was a disaster; I'd rather see the original blonde given that opportunity.

I'm with the crowd that doesn't like seeing Garcia present cases. I prefer her in her lair being fun and witty as well. I would love to see them mix up this responsibility or allow Hotch to do it; and I'd also love to see Hotch doing more interrogations.

I'm glad we'll get more than a teaser of Paget in the premiere. It will be interesting to see how the team absorbs her "betrayal" and "death," and how they get back to business as usual the next episode; hope it's not too contrived.

It'll be interesting to see who's been keeping Sergio--here's hoping it's Jack!

Anonymous said...

@ Brit

Think we'll ever get to see if Morgan might still have Clooney?

I'd like to think Clooney is a German Shepherd police dog.

Shemar's got bulldogs irl, and I'm not a big bulldog fan. haha!

I can see Morgan with a police dog at home for some reason, I don't know why.

Speaking of home, I'd like to see where he lives. We've seen Prentiss's, Rossi's, Hotch's, and Garcia's houses, I wanna see Derek's dwellings.

I'll be angry if he doesn't get an arc this season.

Anonymous said...

@ Brit

or Gordinski. LOL!

Hated that guy! I wanted to see Morgan deck him so badly!

They said he had a motorcycle. I wonder what kinda whip he drives. I'd laugh if it was an SUV. lol.

He's always doin the drivin for the team. They must feel safest with him at the wheel. :P

Anonymous said...

I was at the chat and it was great... thanks Erica... I hope we have a good balance of all the characters and their various relationships.... don't want anyone to take over... let's get back to the good old days.
All the characters are important...It's not a soap opera though... really good cases please!!! And thank you

Anonymous said...

Shemar's doubled salary better mean something Erica.

Better have something big planned for mah boy. ^_^

RoseLaurel said...

Thank you, Ms Messer :) Love Criminal Minds and I can't wait to see what you have planned for us! Thank you for the amazing series, and keeping us updated! I am especially looking forward to Reid's story arc.

Anonymous said...

I think this season, they should do a better job of the Morgan/Garcia banters.

Last season, it seemed unrealistic for her to flirt and half the time he doesn't bite. That doesn't make it fun.

She also shouldn't cross the line and act outright lusted either. LOL.

They need to make it cute and funny like it always has been. That's the one part of the show that I always look forward to, and I don't want to see it taken away, as it's part of the savory flavor of a darkening world.

Blimey Limey said...

I hope JJ still remains the kind, compassionate character she was - as soon as I saw the way she was power dressed in that final scene I thought it was out of character for the JJ we used to know. I'm not explaining myself too well (it's late here) but I know what I mean. ;-))

Looking forward to seeing Reid and his mom - I agree that MGG and Jane Lynch work so well together. I think the "Reid thinks he's becoming schizophrenic" angle is too predictable. My guess is either Diana gets ill or it's something to do with the headaches storyline. I'm still pondering the evidence which suggests that Reid is one hell of a lot more stressed than he's letting on (headaches, gastric upsets... then there was Prentiss' "death", horrible cases, implied lack of social life and girlfriend...) and could be heading for a breakdown. I don't want to see him go doolally, but to admit how much it gets to him... Urgh, I'm really not coherent tonight! Sorry.

Hotch... Moooooaaaaaarr would be a good start, after last season! I'd like to see him face up to what he was put through at the hands of the Reaper, and release at least some of the guilt he must surely feel about what happened and the fact that his son is growing up without a mother, etc.

Morgan - More like the Morgan of old. Kicking in doors, passionate about the job and the team but also able to explore his ambitions - maybe given some responsibilities which don't change his character too much?

I hope the aftermath of the Doyle saga doesn't impact on the storylines too much, although we do need to see the aftermath of how Prentiss has been affected, and how the rest of the team react to her sudden return from the dead (not to mention how they react when they find out Hotch & JJ knew all along).

I'd like to learn more about Rossi's character, as well as see more of him during cases. He's been too low profile for too long.

Finally - Sergio! Who's up for starting one of those online petitions to have him reinstated?!

Right, I'm off to my bed. I'm sure I'll read over this tomorrow and wonder what's been added to the drinking water...

Cherish said...

Ahh, nice to see all is right with the Criminal Minds world and the team is back as a unit. :3

First order of business...a storyline arc for Mr. Morgan. They were doing good with him for the first portion of the last season, and then took him totally out of character when he implied Prentiss was a whore and tried to cast judgment. That is NOT Derek Morgan folks, and I was a bit miffed over who wrote that sort of demeanor for him. They had to have been off their rocker, and it was insulting to the Morgan character, tbh.

Knowing her life was in danger and being as close to her as he was, he would have NEVER tried to find fault with what she did, as he should know better than anyone what survival means, looking back where he came from.

I'd like to see him back to kicking down doors as well, but don't limit him too just the brainless muscle. He can be physical and smart all at the same time. Shemar's more than capable of handling it.

Children. Start showcasing that. I've always seen that as one of his highlighting qualities in that he has an affinity for children. It's one of the things I love most about him after his horrible past of sexual abuse as a minor. I was upset when they ruined...totally RUINED the Ellie storyline (as if casting the actress to play her wasn't bad enough).

I'd like to see Derek and Emily both work together to kill Doyle. That would be so badass, like in "Retaliation" when they both shot Shrader at the same time. I LOVE moments of comradeship like that.

As someone mentioned above, yes, more Rossi, especially the Rossi/Derek partnership. What they did in the Season Finale was just amazingly awesome, Rossi holding off the guy so Morgan could knock him out, then Morgan killing the girl before she had a chance to hurt Rossi. I LOVED IT! =D

I walk into Season 7 hoping for the best, so come on writers...do yer stuff! xD

Sky said...

Moooooaaaaaar HOTch please!!! And moooaaaaar Hotch and Rossi scenes!!!

ShemarDerek said...

Nice chat. First one I've seen as I haven't been around these parts much.Found out about the blog during the petitions. Morgan's my favorite because Shemar Moore's my favorite actor and I started watching the show because he's on it. Yeah, everybody has their favorites, their Hotch's and Reid's and Gideon's. I love them al, but my heart belongs to Shemar/Derek.

Looking forward to anything and everything Derek Morgan this season coming up. (:

Anonymous said...

I want more of them all!

More of Rossi, Prentiss, Reid, Hochner, JJ, Garcia, and #1 Derek "HottestManInTheWorld" Morgan! :D :):):)

<3 them!

~ Brianna

Optika said...

Thanks to Jill and Erica!

Very excited to see CM come back with its cast intact and revamped. I like JJ coming back as a profiler. SHe did it anyways, its a totally organic and logical promotion and there have been several episodes in the past where JJ and Hotch have split up the media duties so its not really a big deal anyway. We only got to see the surface of JJ as a liaison and the show is about profilers so it is very fitting and a great promotion for JJ. Its not a demotion like some have said on other blogs and JJ will have her own area of expertise I'm sure.

More character driven eps sounds great, more backstory on all of them. Rossi is definitely due a great storyline as is Morgon. JJ sounds like she will be getting one this season as well.

I wont miss Seaver but I think that her character should be wrapped up and fixed so if they go back to the drawing board and bring her back to go over her father's story, that is fine with me and I would like to see it actually.

I would love to see a CM crossover with White Collar actually. My two favourite shows and leading men lie in Aaron Hotchner and Neal Caffrey!

I also gotta say that in retrospect, and as a woman myself, unfortunately, many female characters suck and aren't well written. JJ and Emily and Garcia all have their strengths but they all have weaknesses too as they are written. Its a part of being human and bringing the flaws to the table but I am excited to see Erica Messer write some great shorelines for JJ and Emily and improve on their character strengths. I would love to see Josh Stewart back and AJ's son. Josh Stewart is in The Dark Knight Rises so that is interesting in and of itself.

Don't care for Sergio as I hate cats. Glad to see Strauss back and excited see the new opening credits as well! I hope the show revamps to become a bit grittier and more badass but stays true to itself. Season 6 wasn't great but I like t look at it as necessary because it showed CM and everyone involved and its fans how important the cast dynamics are and the story dynamics and what they should and shouldn't do, what works and what doesn't.

I like that everyone will be on CM season6 dvd cover art. They all deserve a spot and look forward to the featurettes as well.

Anonymous said...

I want more of them all!

More of Rossi, Prentiss, Reid, Hochner, JJ, Garcia, and #1 Derek "HottestManInTheWorld" Morgan! :D :):):)

<3 them!

~ Brianna

Anonymous said...

Sergio.

Ahh, BAU pets.

I'd love to see more BAU pets, starting with an actual appearance from Clooney.

He BETTER be a Shepherd. haha!

Anonymous said...

This chat provided some great previews for the new season.I cannot wait to see Jane Lynch back as Diana. She and Matthew are just magic in scenes together.Not sure how I feel about JJ as a profiler. I just hope the writers take some refresher courses on our team members. I hardly recognized them last season they seemed so 'off' at times!I just want to chalk that season up to a bad dream perhaps,like a lot of others do? Sergio definitely needs to come back,where has he been?With Garcia?Morgan?
My biggest 'beef'?Get our genius out of the police station, and get him using that adorable wonderful mind of his again.For more than map reading!Spencer Reid is one of the most fascinating,endearing, unique,and smartest characters ever on tv. Someone who can make you laugh with his long speeches and awkwardness.Yet at the same time break your heart with a certain look or expression in certain scenes and episodes.I feel he has been gradually vanishing from our screens for the last two seasons, and has less air time than the guest stars!

I hope that this network has finally seen the light, and does NOT mess this up again. The team is back as it was.Let's get the show back the way it was in season1-5.

Anonymous said...

After much of Season 5 and all of Season 6, we have overdosed on Derek Morgan. Frankly, I've had my fill. The writers shoved him into our faces far too much.

I'd be happy if Morgan was allowed to fade into the background a little; too much overblown Morgan and salivating Garcia added to what was wrong about Season 6.

We need more Hotch, more Prentiss and more of the rest of the team.

Moore Morgan said...

After the first 4 Seasons, more Morgan was long overdue after years of being in the background.

I personally didn't feel he was shoved in my face, and that's what made Seasons 5 and 6 the best seasons to date. His character is the most interesting, and there can never be too much Morgan, while I've had my fill of Hotch after 6 years. I prefer them all getting equal screentime, which obviously wasn't the case, especially for the first 3 seasons which I don't find too memorable, except for "Profiler, Profiled."

I liked Hotch not overdoing it in Season 6 and lording over everything. It helped me like his character again because I don't care who they think the star is, I don't like one character being shoved down my throat unless that character interests me in some way. I don't like being told who to like.

When a character is in the background for so long like Morgan was. and they finally bring them to the forefront, I don't complain. It was a refresher for me and all of Morgan's fans because I know there are legions of people who do possibly watch the show for Shemar Moore as there are legions of people who watch the show for their other respective actor.

If Morgan fades back into oblivion in this next season, I won't be watching much of it, to be honest, because he's grown way to much to just start playing second fiddle once again, and be the brainless brawn who is supposed to be a crutch for everybody else without his own scenarios and personality.

That's just wrong.

Anonymous said...

Did someone say more Shemar Moore?!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! =D:):):)

More, more, MOORE of this ridiculously good looking hunk of chocolate goodness! I only started watching the show because he is TOO good looking. hehe

Derek Morgan can tackle, cuff or shoot me anytime just to look in those big brown eyes and have this sexy thick eyebrows put me in a trance. <33

He need to be a daddy. A daddy to MY kids! hehe I kid.

Looking forward to what Season 7 has to offer! ^_^

Velandra said...

Nothing against Morgan I think he's great but he was S5 and S6. I think it's time to feature some other team members especially Rossi and Reid who where practically MIA in S6. Older seasons (1-4) and part of S5 have done arcs and character centric eps. while still featuring and highlighting the rest of the team. I think we need to get back to that formula. Also while Hotch was in S6 they pushed him so far into the background it was blink and you miss him. I love all of the team and would like to see them all featured this season.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Moore Morgan.

He was underutilized and under-appreciated for so long that it was great to see him more in Seasons 5 and 6.

He still was underplayed in Season 5 though, as the whole Season was built around the Hotch/Foyet storyline, which bored me to be honest.

Season 6 was great to see him arise as the tough as nails hardass he became, especially with the premier and him brutally executing Billy Flynn. I think that was a pivotal Morgan moment, and a pivotal Criminal Minds moment.

I disagree that Hotch hasn't been in Season 6 much. He had plenty of time in the 6th Season, his scenes with Jack and him talking the unsub down in Hanley Waters.

He did the grief assessments, helped bring in Seaver, helped Garcia try to feel comfortable with taking on JJ's role.

What more do you want, the rest of the cast to be fired and turn the show into Agent Hotchner: FBI?

Nothing against Hotch, as I like him just fine, but just like Moore Morgan, I'm all Hotch'd out after 6 years to be perfectly honest and he needs to continue to step back a bit and let others come forward.

Give me more Rossi, JJ, Prentiss, Garcia, and Derek Morgan. :)

Velandra said...

Anon: I think my exact quote was I love all the team and would like to see them all featured this year. Oh yes and I also said I would especially like to see more Rossi and Reid. Now how that translates into fire everyone and make it the Hotch show I'm not exactly sure.

Jessica said...

While I do like Shemar/Morgan, IMO there was quite a bit of he and Garcia in S6. I would like more of the other characters, especially JJ and Hotch.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Moore Morgan and Anonymous! I couldn't agree more!

More sexy Derek Morgan! =D

~ShemarsBabyGirl

heyya said...

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think they should go back to the roots. They should go back to handling the characters and cases as they did in the first four seasons. As Velandra already pointed out, even if the focus of those episodes was one a specific character, it never felt like the others were undermined or underutilized. They all contributed something worthwhile and got enough screen-time to satisfy their respective fans.
In seasons5&6, when they did episodes that were centered around a particular character, it felt like a one-man show, and as though the others were only there for the sake of being there. Whilst I liked season5, I detested most of season6.
I think they should go back to the way they presented the episodes in the earlier seasons. Those seasons/episodes are exactly what drew viewers to the show and more episodes along similar lines certainly won't hurt.

UnitChiefMorganFTW said...

Count me in with Moore Morgan and the others.

I did feel like Derek had been underutilized for quite some time, and that his importance was very minimal, that he was just some other agent who was expected to kick in the doors and pop in every once in a while to tell a joke or tackle somebody.

Seasons 5 and 6 showed that he was much more than that, and that he was a natural leader in addition. I appreciated it, and came to love him even more.

I personally do not want the Derek Morgan of old who fades into the darkness while the others come to light as if he doesn't matter.

While I love them all, my eye is particularly on Derek as I want him to continue to grow and evolve, and not take a back seat like some peon subordinate.

Rossi desperately needs some more screen time too. I want to see him and Derek work together more often. Derek and Rossi seem to understand each other and relate really well, and I want to see more of that.

Anonymous said...

@ UnitChiefMorgan FTW and Moore Morgan

Yes, absolutely one thousand percent agree!

I loves my team. My heroes. (:

I don't usually post on blogs like this, but after this contract drama crap, I'm long overdue for some Shemar Moore/Derek Morgan sexiness! xD =D:):)

Shemar''s Lioness said...

Derek Morgan is my favorite character, but please don't overdo it.

They overdid it with Gideon and Hotch, and I ended up liking them both alot less than I used to.

If they're gonna do anything with Derek, it better have some meaning. No lovey dovey storylines, something meaningful and impactful.

"Our Darkest Hour" and "The Longest Night" were awesome. "25 To Life" was awesome. "Profiler, Profiled" was good for what it did, which was show the vulnerability of a strong character such as Derek.

He's evolved in so many ways, I think there are no heights the character can go.

I disapproved of the writing they did for Morgan in "Lauren," and I felt it was too OOC for him to act the way he did towards Prentiss and the whole situation.

Alot of people started to hate the character, but I feel the hate was unjust, as it didn't even feel like his character. The writers must have put somebody else's lines in for Derek Morgan because that was bloody awful.

I realize Morgan is unpopular on certain internet sites, but don't use it as a reason to bury the guy. They shouldn't be trying to do anything negative with any of our team members because they are the saints and the good guys, the shining rays of light in a dark world.

If they need something to call upon the next time they hit a bump and don't know what to write for Morgan, hop on over to FanFiction.net. LOL!

I'm sure those writers won't mind if you tap into their inspiraton. :P

All joking aside, I'm hoping for equal screen time, but I will still be watching SSA Derek Morgan extra closely. ;)

Moore Morgan said...

@ Shemar's Lioness

FanFiction.net?

Have you lost your mind?!

Look at all the Morgan/Reid slash over there!!! LMAO!!!

I kid. I love FF.net. Some of those writers really know their stuff when it comes to the characters they write for. Maybe Erica should think about hiring some of them. haha!

I just had a random thought. I wonder how Sergio and Clooney would get along? LOL!

I wanna know what the profilers drive. Why do I keep assuming they all own Chevy Tahoes? LOL!

Anonymous said...

Criminal Minds and NCIS: LA Crossover.

Derek Morgan + Sam Hanna = so epic, the world would implode! :0

Velandra said...

No offense intended to anyone but when did this become the Derek Morgan thread? I think he is absolutely delicious and there is still a lot to be explored w/ him but couldn't that be said about all the characters? Reid is my fav. ( I love a tall skinny genius) but I don't want eps centered around him all the time. I want to see the entire team playing to their individual strengths and getting back to what they do best..... Profiling. W/ Erica as showrunner I'm expecting a great S7.

sf81387 said...

I disapproved of the writing they did for Morgan in "Lauren," and I felt it was too OOC for him to act the way he did towards Prentiss and the whole situation.

I thought his reaction to Prentiss's past behavior was perfectly in character. Morgan has always been reactive and judgemental and he's very hard on the people he cares about. It gets tiresome at times and you'd like to smack him and tell him to just shut up, but it's also one of the things that makes Morgan who he is and who he's always been.

As for the screen time debate. I like Morgan a lot, but I was very Morgan weary by the time Season 6 ended. He's too loud and angry to be on the screen so much. It wears you out.

I prefer the earlier seasons (1 thru 4) when the characters all seemed to be fleshed out better and there wasn't one character dominating the screen episode after episode and the same two agents weren't paired up case after case after case.

I was probably one of the few who groaned at news of a Reid arc. Why do we need arcs? Whatever happened to just telling really good, creepy stories about psychos and the super intelligent agents that hunt them?

Shemar's Lioness said...

If it's not the Morgan thread, it's the Hotch or Reid thread, so shrug.

Everyone's entitled to talk about who they like.

I disagree that Morgan was in character in Lauren. Yeah, he is hard on those he cares about, but he would have NEVER implied that Prentiss was a no good slut and tried to criticize her for trying to survive.

Morgan grew up in Chicago. He KNOWS what it's like to have to survive out on the streets, and while Prentiss's situation was different, it was still very much the same. She had to be ruthless, just like Morgan did when he was younger in order to stick up for himself around those gangs.

I disagree that he's too loud and angry to be on the screen too much. They all can be loud and angry sometimes.

When he has responded in anger, I felt it was just, except in "Lauren." In "25 To Life," he had a right to be angry because he had just helped a man gain his freedom and it blew up in his face. In "The Longest Night," he had MANY reasons to be angry, after the stuff he had gone through at the hands of Flynn.

Other than that, I don't recall him being "too loud and angry." Is that supposed to be a black man stereotype? Not trying to start anything here, but I don't see him as any angrier than the rest of the characters can be when something irks them. Rossi and Prentiss especially.

There is no screen time debate. Some of us like our favorite characters and wouldn't turn down more screen time for them. It comes with the territory.

I love them all, and I want EQUAL screen time for all of them. I felt that many seasons were too Hotch centered in regards to his personal life and whatnot.

Season 5 was still Hotch centered, but I liked the fact that Morgan got to step up and be in charge for a while. Loved it.

I liked the darker more serious Morgan in Season 6. I don't want him going back to being light hearted. It's not realistic in my humble opinion.

They are all changed and matured profilers who have seen more than enough atrocities to smile all the time and it be genuine. You lose your wife or best friend, or get tied up, beaten down, and watch a cop murdered right in front of his daughter, then watch the daughter get kidnapped, it's going to change your demeanor some.

MorganMinds said...

Nice chat guys. Wonderful insight into what our writers have cookin.

Put me down on Team Morgan also. When Shemar sits down with Erica,
I hope they whip up something big for him. I'm looking extra special forward to any storyline involving him. :D

gubegirl said...

Love Morgan. Think he is too handsome for words. Love his sensitivity, big heart and usually, his temperament. He is abit of a hot head, but usu in a good way and doesn't lose his head and is always the ultimate protector, faithful and just. Def would want him on my side:)

But Morgan doesn't need more than his 1/7th of the screen time; Rossi and Reid do. Rossi has not had enuf most seasons and I want to learn more about him and Reid has just been cheated big-time for the past two seasons of any significant stuff, except for abit here and there like Uncanny Valley.

At first, I blamed it on his leg but then when it continued into this season (6) I don't know what the reason was, but I felt we didn't get to see him perform at his best much at all and we know he is excellent--he needs good material to work with and wasn't given much, IMO.

Want to know more about Rossi but not see him in the Papa role; like the wise, experienced, clever, quick and sexy older guy:)

But mainly I want more Geekness. Oh, yeah, more Reid would be great.

Velandra: who are all these Morgan-named people? I don't recognize them at all. Maybe they saw all the recent mag covers and followed him here and are new to the blog?! Hah!

Or prev Anonymouses who have decided to now gang up on the Hotch - aholics and we Geek-freaks will be next. LOL. It's OK, we can handle it, can't we?

G'nite, y'all.

Pat said...

Although I agree that I like to see character centric episodes that include everyone else as well and that I don't care for arcs, just good stories each week will do, I do think Morgan monopolized most of S5 and S6. I know everyone has their favorites but I think it only fair that we see more of Reid and Rossi who have been so very underused, especially Reid who never seems to leave the precinct and says only a few words here and there. He deserves a bigger part as does Rossi whose only function last season seemed to be mentoring Seaver.

Sky said...

Sorry, I'm not fooled at all. I know it's the same person posting all the Morgan messages. Why bother posting under different made-up user names? You're really making yourself look like a psycho. A desperate psycho.

Shemar's Lioness said...

I stalk the blog for news periodically, but I have rarely posted.

I started coming here more after the whole contract fiasco.

I'm not ganging up on anybody. We all have our favorites, and I think I did say we need more Rossi too, in one of my posts. I love Rossi WAY more than I liked Gideon, and his partnership with Derek is just awesome, especially in the finale. Maybe you skipped over that. No need to get defensive. We're all fans here.

I'm not discounting that Morgan monopolized Seasons 5 and 6. I'm saying I didn't have a problem with it. Morgan's a character I turn on the show to watch, so I'm not complaining about him getting a little more screen time than in the past, and I cannot deny that he took a back seat for most of the prior seasons. There were times I wanted moore, and got less. =/

Not to sound like I'm ganging up on Reid or Hotch, but both have had their fair share of screen time in past seasons, and I'm personally not that interested in either character, while I do like Reid and feel he IS an asset to the team. I just am not too into the whole headaches and kidnapping and the mom thing. I'd rather see him spout of statistics or crack a cute little joke and flash that innocently light hearted smile of his. I love Reid as the cute little brother genius that I would want to help me with my homework. haha.

Oh goodness, Shemar's magazine covers are just too hot for words, but I've already seen it and all his beach pics on another site. HA!

He's been trending on Twitter lately. Maybe some of those tweeters found the blog perhaps?

I'm just anxiously counting down the seconds until Derek Morgan is back on my TV kickin' butt and takin' names <3

Anonymous said...

"Sorry, I'm not fooled at all. I know it's the same person posting all the Morgan messages. Why bother posting under different made-up user names? You're really making yourself look like a psycho. A desperate psycho."

This post is really uncalled for.

Can we not all be civil towards one another?

Why are you thinking that?

Sky said...

Me personally? I'm all Morgan'd out after watching him get too much screentime at the expense of other characters, namely Hotch in season 6. If the network thinks that Shemar is so great that they shove him to the lead of CM when he's supposed to be a supporting player, then they should just give him his own show. Give him his own police procedural that he can be the star of. I would think that would make any fans of his who don't want to have to worry about him having to share screentime more equally with the rest of the cast very happy.

Shemar's Lioness said...

That's your opinion, and I respect your right to it, so please respect the opinions of others and don't devolve to name calling and rudeness. It's unprovoked and callous.

While you're all Morgan'd out, in retrospect, I'm all Hotch'd out. I can't speak for all of the other Morgan fans or Reid fans or Rossi fans or Prentiss fans. I'm speaking for me. I am Hotch'd out after for a while of what turned into it being all about him being the leader, and his home life, his wife and kid. That's wonderful. I didn't need to see it in every other episode, or hear a reference made to it, unless references were made to ALL of their home lives. I am in no way trying to assault the Hotchner character, as he is apart of the team as he should be, but it's not all about him, and I'd find it rather tedious to have to watch it all revolve around him.

There is no way it can be construed that they tried to shove Morgan down everybody's throat, and it's widely embellished that such a thing occurred, as if every single episode of the whole season revolved around him and only him. Where on earth is that sort of mindset materializing from? I want to know, so I can recollect from my memory. Maybe there's something I've missed.

From what I gathered, we saw plenty of Morgan, Garcia and Prentiss. In past seasons, we saw way more than enough Hotch and Reid.

What about JJ and Rossi? If anyone should be demanding a character get more screen time, it's those two. Not any of the ones previously mentioned, and I was in no way advocating the whole show turn into a police procedural starring Derek Morgan. Is that sort of observation deriving from passion?

Shemar Moore is NOT a supporting player. Nobody is a supporting player, and nobody is THE star, and that was a rather disrespectful remark. It is an ensemble. Pay difference, yes, but this show is about this team, not Hotch or Morgan or JJ or Rossi or Prentiss or Reid. ALL of them.

I'd be happy with a Shemar police procedural, I'm not gonna lie, but that doesn't not mean I am or ever have advocated that he take over the entire show. That's just crazy talk. I love them all and want them all to have equal screen time so I can get to know them more.

As far as I'm concerned, the only thing missing in keeping the seesaw balanced is more JJ and more Rossi.

Saying that I pay close attention to Derek Morgan isn't the same as saying I want the whole show centered around him. He's my favorite character, just like others pay special attention to Reid or Hotch.

Why do conversations about one's favorite characters have to devolve into this kind of back and forth bickering? Can we NOT be civil, advocate for who we want to, and respect each other's differences?

Sky said...

"Why do conversations about one's favorite characters have to devolve into this kind of back and forth bickering?"

Because that's the way you want it to be. That's why you came here to this blog.

You talk out of at least three sides of your mouth, giving all kinds of mixed messages, saying that you're all Hotch'd out, but then saying that you think all characters should get equal screentime. You're all Hotch'd out but you say you don't have anything against him. It's an interesting type of tactical trolling that you're using. But I know you'd rather be on the other board where you have no fear of deletion and can post your much more hateful messages. But yet, you just can't resist coming to this board, too.

Shemar's Lioness said...

I'm not engaging in a childish spat with you over your outlandish and passionately blind assumptions.

I said what I said, and I meant WHAT I said, every word of what I said, and it's up to you to take it however you choose as it is an action on your part that only you have control over.

I own my opinion, and will continue to have the rights to it, just as I expect every other fan to own whatever opinions they posses, as it's not my place to tell them who to like or who not to like, and it's not your place to do likewise.

You are free to feel however you'd like. Don't let me stand in the way. :)

Anonymous said...

I'll start signing my posts at the bottom to eliminate confusion.

My Javascript messes up from time to time, so it's easier to highlight the anonymous circle.

I have to back Shemar's Lioness up on this one. No need to get offensive and accuse people of trolling just because your favorite character isn't their favorite character. This is the kind of stuff pre-teens do in middle school.

You like Hotch, SL likes Morgan. Okay. Good for yall. You're both Criminal Minds fans, so what's the big deal?

I personally favor Morgan, Rossi, and Reid. I don't want the whole show centered around them, but they are my favorites.

Hotch isn't my favorite, I'll be honest, but I don't hate him or wish to disrespect him.

Does that make me a "troll" too?

~ Brit

Kury said...

Thank you very much for Erica to take time for us talking about Season 7. I'm very, very excited about coming season.

My favorite character is Hotch.
I love him the most although I love every member of the team.

But I want good, well written case story the most for season 7.
Not unsub centric but profiling centric.
I want to see Hotch's strong leadership and every member using their special ability, INCLUDING Hotch, to solve the case. I really miss Hotch doing interrogation.
I want to see Reid using his supecial brain more often.
I want to see character's relationship grow not only Hotch and Rossi, but also Hotch and Reid (I really, really miss their interaction), Hotch and Morgan (I love their sometimes conflict but always with respect relationship), and of course every member's relationship each other.
I want to see Hotch and JJ's special interaction again.
And of course I really looking forward to see Hotch dealing with his trauma, losing Haley and killing Foyet with bear hand. And Jack!

I love to know we will see Diana Reid in season 7.
I'm looking forward to see how the team will handle Prentiss situation.

I can't wait September 21st to come!

Thank's again for Erica to work hard with passion for our beloved show!

sf81387 said...

Other than that, I don't recall him being "too loud and angry." Is that supposed to be a black man stereotype?

Morgan is black? ; )

Um...no, the thought had never crossed my mind. Morgan has been portrayed as a loud, angry hothead since the beginning. I'm not sure what show you watch, but the one I watch has always had a Morgan who is known to over-react and usually loudly and angrily to the point where his supervisors have had to call him off or send him away to cool off. Why do you think when it came time to assign one of the five stages of grief to each of the characters in "Hanley Waters" they assigned "Anger" to the Morgan character.

He's the most emotional character on the show. I don't consider it a bad thing. All the characters are flawed in some way. It only becomes a bad thing when it's in your face nonstop and the writers seem to have forgotten that the character does have a softer, quieter side.

I'm bailing out of this debate now. I like all of the characters and hope to see them ALL written much better this season.

Shemar's Lioness said...

I disagree with your assessment of the Morgan character as you don't seem to be paying enough attention to him anyway if all you've seen in the past 6 years is an angry hot headed African American agent who has to be pulled off cases. Your wild exaggeration that's why I'm coming to the realization that debating with you over something you pay hardly any attention to is pointless.

Back to what I said in the beginning. I'm looking forward to everyone's trials and tribulations this season, but I'm looking extra specially forward to a Morgan arc/storyline as he's my favorite character. :)

Anonymous said...

I've paid enough attention to all of them to not judge their character by what it is supposed to appear like on the surface. With Morgan, I never saw him as the "angry hothead who had to be pulled off of cases."
I think that happened only twice in my years in watching Criminal Minds, the first time alluding to the dark painful secret they uncovered about him in Season 2 and he wasn't even "pulled off" the first time. They just kept him away from the suspect and had him work with Reid and Elle for a while so he could cool off, since the case being about child abuse was ticking him off considering he had been sexually abused before.
Yes, I agree to some degree. Of all the characters he is the one to get angry, and that's what I love about him. It shows passion and that he's not just doing the job for doing the job, but that he feels what those victims feel and it makes him sick to his stomach. He wants to protect each and every one of them, and is the one the hungriest for them getting justice. Rarely has it ever gotten over the top though. That is a bit of a wild stretch.
I've never seen that, and I do watch the same show as everyone else.
His softer side was showcased all the times in Season 6. Maybe there were some episodes you may have skipped? Namely "The Big Sea?"
You're not a Season 6 fan, so you probably didn't turn on the TV much.

Velandra said...

Anon & Shemars lioness: I have to agree w/ sf Morgan has always been portrayed as the angry hothead quick to rush to judgement. I also got tired of it being in my face all the time during S6. The writers seem to have either forgotten that he has a softer more caring side or they just didn't care last season. Every character was written OOC last season and I was not a big fan at all. I am also one who did not care for Morgan as Unit Cheif. I just felt he leads w/ his emotions too much to be unbiased and effective. That being said I don't dislike Morgan it's quite the opposite and
I hope we can get back to days gone by and back to the profiling. This is all I'm going to say on the subject.

Gubegirl: yeah you think w/ so many Morgan/Dereks running around we would have noticed :)

Anonymous said...

Everyone has a different perspective when watching the same program.

I've never seen Morgan use his judgment before his brains, except for TLN and for that god awful writing in "Lauren." I wouldn't expected anyone to have paid much attention to any of those Morgan scenarios, so that's ok. It's an understandable mistake. :)

I think he was a very compassionate and open minded leader as Unit Chief. I wouldn't mind getting another taste of that. Most Morgan fans prefer him to stay out of the suit and into those tight fitting t-shirts that cling to his pecs, but some of us are more vain than others. haha.

Pat said...

@ Shemar Lioness

I don't think I devolved into name calling and rudeness. I thought my post was quite respectful although I begged to disagree.

I like Morgan, although he's not my favorite, he has many wonderful qualities, but I do see him as the one who most tends to get angry and fly off the handle.

A couple of examples: In Psychodrama, Morgan and Elle go to the unsub's hotel room. He doesn't answer and Elle goes to hand him the key and he says he's already got one and kicks the door in. Now what did that act accomplish? Absolutely nothing. Morgan just wanted to kick a door in so he did. Then in Supply and Demand, he punches the guy who punched him. The guy was already in custody, no need for Morgan to punch him but his ego would now let anyone get away with punching Derek Morgan so he punched him.

I didn't like Morgan as UC, not that he didn't do a good job and I didn't like to see him in a suit. Let's face it, Shemar will look good in anything. I just think the position trapped the real Morgan. When he spoke he never used contractions, he wasn't able to be his gregarious self. That's what I didn't like about Morgan as UC. I prefer when he's calling Garcia baby girl and Reid pretty boy.

We have gotten a lot of Morgan in the last two seasons and I can agree with those who are Morganed out. But, of course, Morgan fans will still want to see more of him. It's the nature of the beasts we are as fanatics.

I, of course, want to see more Reid. I've missed him terribly the last two seasons, barely ever leaving the station and only a few lines in a whole episode. I'm not asking that the episodes revolve around him but I'd just like to see him out doing something, contributing with his vast knowledge. That's been so lacking in S5 and S6.

I wish they'd jiggle the characters up a bit more as well. It always seemed to be Morgan and Prentiss together at the crime scene. Why can't Rossi and Reid go to the crime scene, or Morgan and Reid, or Prentiss and Rossi, JJ and Rossi, JJ and Hotch, Hotch and Reid... I'd like to see them mix it up a little.

Shemar's Lioness said...

My post wasn't aimed at you Pat. It was aimed at Sky who posted vulgar and hateful remarks aimed at me and other Morgan fans.

I can respect anyone's opinion, while I may disagree with them. So what if Morgan kicked down the door in Psychodrama or knocked out the guy in Supply and Demand?

In Supply and Demand, I didn't fault him one bit because that guy kicked the crap out of him. Morgan just walking away after getting his butt kicked wouldn't have been interesting television and it's little things like him popping the guy in the face that makes me like him. Nothing in that is over the top angry and hotheaded in my view. I think any alpha male, like Derek is, would have done the same thing and the fact that Rossi basically gave him the go ahead with a simple nod made that one of my favorite moments. The season finale made me really love Rossi. He and Morgan are awesome together. They really understand each other and it's beautiful television.

In reality, to be perfectly honest, being Unit Chief didn't hinder Morgan's "real self" at all, because the character had been turning down a dark path since "To Hell and Back," when the pig case really got to him. That's what makes it realistic in my view. If I start seeing the Morgan of old who flirts with everybody and hardly acts serious, the writers are failing to bring realism to the series.

I don't expect any of them to remain the same people with the job they have.

I too like the Morgan and Reid bond, although FanFiction kind of makes me glad I don't see them together all the time. HAHA!

It's okay to feel Morgan'd out, because like I've said, I'm all Hotch'd out. We have our likes and our dislikes and with this being a CRIMINAL MINDS blog, and not a actor or character centric blog, we should all be adult enough to handle our differences and just simple disagree with them or talk about them in a cordial and respectful manner.

It's immature to start attacking people with name calling and accusing them of things simply because they don't like another person's favorite character. That was Sky, not you, and I'm no longer engaging with Sky, because I don't have the mindset to devolve to the level of someone like that.

sf81387 said...

It's immature to start attacking people with name calling and accusing them of things simply because they don't like another person's favorite character.

You mean like suggesting someone is racist (not once, but twice) just because they don't see your favorite character the same way you do?

Shemar's Lioness said...

I never once called anyone a racist nor suggested it. I simply posed a question that didn't get an answer, but got a smart alek response, which is fine.

This in no way pertains to the quote you just highlighted. lol.

I'm not going to be goaded into submitting to trollish tactics on the part of a few over-passionate fans. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow. Some posters on this blog are blowing things way out of proportion here.

Shemar's Lioness said...

@ Anonymous

I take it with a grain of salt. :)

Anonymous said...

I love everyone on the show, and I am happy everyone has their favorites. Mine is Rossi.
I don't feel SL or many of the other posters here were out of line or insulting but I did see some derogatory posts that blatantly called names.
This thread is to discuss the show and anyone's hopes for Season 7, regardless of who likes who. Can we please have some decorum?

sf81387 said...

I never once called anyone a racist nor suggested it. I simply posed a question that didn't get an answer, but got a smart alek response, which is fine.

No, you did and when I attempted to laugh off your first implication that I'm some how stereotyping Morgan because of his race you once again implied that all I see is an African American. If that's not suggesting I'm somehow racist then please do tell me what it is?

I stopped watching L&O: SVU because I grew weary of the loud, angry, hot-headed Detective Stabler. Am I stereotyping Italian men with receding hairlines as well or is it possible that I just don't enjoy having loud and angry force fed to me on a consistent basis?

Oh and to the poster that asked, yes I did see "The Big Sea". It was the episode where Dr. Spencer Reid suddenly became qualified in the field of forensic anthropology, which made for some wonderful eyeroll worthy moments. If you go read through the episode comments you'll notice that I commented that Morgan's scenes with his aunt were enjoyable.

Anonymous said...

Shemar's Lioness, don't engage. I understood what you were aiming for, and I didn't see it as racist.
All the poster is trying to do is drag you down to their level so they can beat you with experience and get your future comments deleted. I've seen it time and time again here, and it's an unfortunate plague as we are all fans of the same show, but always find some reason to nitpick at each other.
Keep it civil. Ignore hatred and insecurity.
I speak for everyone when I say that I'm looking forward to a great S7 where every fan of every character walks away content and gleeful that their respective favorite got their fair share of screen time.
I look forward to great things from our wonderful new showrunner, Erica Messer. :)

Sky said...

I just want to defend myself by saying that I never posted anything "vulgar" against the person who is provoking and spamming the blog. Anyone can go back and read exactly what I posted. And I did see the post where the provocateur did seem to be saying that another poster was racist.

Shemar's Lioness said...

@ Anonymous

Are you the anonymous Rossi fan who posted below me?

I wish some of these anonymouses would at least sign the bottoms of their posts. lol.

Anonymous said...

@ Shemar's Lioness

Umm...I posted a few entries here. Probably one of the ones accused of "spamming" and "trolling" under one name. *shrugs*
Why sign my name? It's not going to make me any less accused. *shrugs*
Through all the insecurity, I know there's civil people I can have a respectable adult conversation with. This is a Criminal Minds blog, and I'm a Criminal Minds fan so you just have to take things with a grain of salt and not let them get the reaction they want. :)
I respect you being a Shemar/Morgan fan, and I know the feeling that you want more of your guy, because I've wanted more Dave for quite a while now. haha. Never was a Gideon fan. Come to think of it, never was an Elle fan. I respect both though. The team seems absolutely perfect now.
I respect any Criminal Minds fan because despite what team member we like the most, we're still...Criminal Minds Fans. We're Criminal Minds Fanatics. haha.
You seem like one of the less aggressive ones. :P

Shemar's Lioness said...

@ Anonymous

Less aggressive?

Is that supposed to be a compliment, because that sounds pretty bad. lol.

Pat said...

Yeah, we have to agree to disagree, politely if possible. The debate is often what makes this site so enjoyable for me and I do learn things from others' POV.

When I said that about Morgan being gregarious, I never meant to imply there was nothing deeper. We know there is. I just thought being UC held Morgan back from what he would really want to do, but maybe that was a good thing, to see him have to take the role of someone who had to follow political correctness, rather than, say give into his urge to kick a door in.

SL, I guess I just prefer the less violent side of things which is likely why I gravitate toward Reid rather than Morgan. I always seem to like the nerds. Like Reid, I'm not an alpha personality. Both opinions are different. I don't think either is wrong.

Anonymous said...

The blog itself isn't bad. Every blog or website has its bad apples. It's a part of the insecurity that is the internet. Some use it positively, some don't. It's to be expected.
I figure with all the spam in other threads about cinnamon rolls and every other topic under the sun, talking about a character wouldn't be spamming.
I'm sure Jill has her hands full with what she and her moderators deal with, and it's hard to cipher sometimes.
Ever since some spam attacks last month, everybody is on edge when "an outsider" comes in. haha.
Kinda can't blame the, but you can't go accusing everybody of being a "troll" or a "spammer."

Criminal Minds Fan said...

Jill has her hands full fighting cancer and the mods have their hands full planning future events for all of you.

Please respect each other. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Thank you everyone!

HUGS!!!!!

Shemar's Lioness said...

Haha, you're alright in my book, Pat. It's great to see someone like you who can understand the essence of opinion and carry your own proudly while understanding somebody else's.

I don't really look too much into Morgan's violence because every character has to have some trait that differs from the other. Morgan's is that he's the aggressive one because he is a dominant protective alpha male, but I never thought of him as being too aggressive or over the top aggressive just because he kicks a door in or knocks out a guy who totally beat the crap out of him. But I think one thing and someone thinks another. If we all thought the same, the world would be one boring place. haha!

I absolutely adore Reid for what he is, the softer most intelligent member of the bunch. I too adored the big brother little brother relationship with Reid and Morgan, and that scene in "Elephants Memory" was just precious, where Reid actually opened up to Morgan about the horrific things he went through while being in school, Morgan being the understanding big brother.

I love all these character relationships and how they react to one another with beautiful moments like that.

Rossi filling Seaver in on the situation with Morgan's aunt, showing that Morgan and Rossi seem to do alot of talking. Garcia trying to tell JJ that Rossi walked in and caught her in the shower with Kevin Lynch. haha! I love it!

I gravitate towards Morgan the most because I'm pulled towards the more underrated characters, not to mention he is ever so relatable to me.

I don't discount the rest though because like I said, the team makes the show.

I absolutely cannot speak for anybody else, and I'm in no way trying to. If I'm to be attacked by some posters here, so be it. It's nothing new. :)

Shemar's Lioness said...

@ Anonymous

Roger that.

The internet is one of the most insecure places on this earth, which is a shame because that's not what it was created for.

You can't see the bad in everything though. Be like Lady Penlope Garcia, and see the beauty in it. :D

Anonymous said...

Oh Garcia. :P
I wouldn't let her and Kevin Lynch team up to bake cupcakes for me, I know that much! HAHA!

Shemar's Lioness said...

"Congratulations...Gradua-?"

Morgan's reaction was so priceless. LOL!

God I love them!

Anonymous said...

Think the writers are gonna have Lynch and Garcia tie the not?

That might make for some angry Morgan/Garcia shippers, and they might retaliate on FF.net. haha!

Shemar's Lioness said...

Our lady E didn't get into specifics, so we'll just have to wait and see.

Reid's joke in the finale "You should start workin out."

I spit up my drink when he said that to Derek. haha!

Anonymous said...

They really need to let Reid drive more often. I'd rather see him trusted at the wheel than running around with a gun.
Driving and being a genius. Imagine the conversations in the front seat with Morgan, Prentiss, or Dave. haha!

RMF said...

I disagree that Morgan was in character in Lauren. Yeah, he is hard on those he cares about, but he would have NEVER implied that Prentiss was a no good slut and tried to criticize her for trying to survive.

She wasn't just trying to survive, she was pursuing a deliberate strategy for infiltrating Doyle's organization, which was what threw him. I don't think he was really implying that made her a slut, but it seemed right that he was the most uncomfortable. He's the survivor of sexual abuse, and that would make it all the harder for him to wrap his head around the idea of fraternizing with the enemy, so to speak. Of course, his better point was about why she didn't just level with them about what was going on, which never did make a whole lot of sense.

Shemar's Lioness said...

@ RMF

Now that I think about it, good points.

I still think him criticizing her for throwing the grenade in the vehicle was out of character and made him look kind of dumb.

I kind of wondered about why she didn't level with them too. I guess it was just one of those things to progress the story regardless of whether it made sense or not.

I understand what they were going for with Morgan, but I felt they went about it completely the wrong way, and it made him look really bad, which is what I felt was out of character, because it felt like they were going for a bit of incompetence with him, and I don't see Morgan as an incompetent character despite his passionate outlook sometimes.

As Rossi said, "You get too emotionally involved sometimes. I know the feeling."

Not over the top, but in a way of connecting, of feeling and taking in the whole situation before moving for a solution. I don't see that as a weakness, but one of the best ways of making someone human. :)

Velandra said...

I felt the entire Prentiss spy arc was OOC. So I guess to progress a storyline like that
everyone had to be written OOC. I've said before and now I'll say it again I see Prentiss as a badass intelligent woman who can hold her own in any sit. but i just dont buy Emily Prentiss super spy. I just found it a bit over the top. Let's just chalk it up to S6 the season of OOC writing and be happy we got our team back! I can't wait to see them together again.

Pat said...

Jill, thank you for reminding us what's truly important. Hugs back at you.

Pat

Anonymous said...

With all the Shemar/Morgan comments in this thread, I'm gonna go ahead and throw in my two cents.

Shemar Moore/Derek Morgan is without a doubt the sexiest most delicious man my eyes have ever laid sight on. My mouth craves the candy my eyes see whenever he is smoldering on my screen.

Such a perfect specimen. <333

Phew. Glad I got that out of my system. =P

Continue on, my dear friends. =D

zagi said...

RMF said...

"She wasn't just trying to survive, she was pursuing a deliberate strategy for infiltrating Doyle's organization, which was what threw him. I don't think he was really implying that made her a slut, but it seemed right that he was the most uncomfortable. He's the survivor of sexual abuse, and that would make it all the harder for him to wrap his head around the idea of fraternizing with the enemy, so to speak. Of course, his better point was about why she didn't just level with them about what was going on, which never did make a whole lot of sense."

Exactly how I understood it and I´m a Morgan fan.

LunaM said...

I just want more Hotch. Not more than in seasons 1 to 4.5, but there definitely needs to be more Hotch than in season 6 and the latter half of season 5. I’m not talking about Hotch hogging all the screentime or all the storylines revolving around him. That’s not what I’m talking about. But he needs more screentime than last season and first and foremost he needs more QUALITY screentime. Another poster on here said Hotch-moments were like “blink and you miss it”. And that’s true. The character didn’t make an impression for many episodes. He was standing in the background uttering one line or the other once in a while. And what he said was largely inconsequential. Lines that could have been dished out by any other character too. Like it or not, Hotch IS the Unit Chief and that should show. It’s not to say he’s more important in terms of the show than the other characters. But it’s his function – not only with the BAU - but on the show. Just like the other characters have their respective function too.

I understand why other chracters’ fans might have gotten the impression that in earlier seasons there was Hotch and Reid overload. Sure, they had the most storylines, but I personally still feel that even in Hotch- or Reid-centric episodes, the other characters got their fair share too. Morgan certainly did.
I’m also not saying I’m “Morgan’d out” by season 6. I think the problem doesn’t lie with Morgan having more screentime. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem lay in what the other characters got to do – namely not that much – while Morgan had his screentime, IMO. Furthermore, the problem lay in too much focus on unsubs and their grizzly deeds, too little profiling, bad and uninspired writing for the most part and all the characters OOC more often than not.

What I personally hope for season 7 is more profiling, good original stories, and good team-interaction with good quality screentime for ALL the characters. I’d rather not have story-arcs revolving around one character (no, not even my beloved Hotch), just maybe one episode dealing with single character’s problems. One episode resolving the Doyle arc, one resolving Reid’s headaches, one showing that Hotch please finally has dealt with Haley’s death, one episode maybe dealing with the aftermath of Morgan’s cousin’s death (I loved his Auntie!), one maybe showing one of Rossi’s ex-wives, one dealing with JJ’s home problems (please don’t drag that one out), and one with Garcia maybe finally tying the knot with Kevin? Just some suggestions.

Anonymous said...

The way they did Hotch in Season 6 was exactly how they did Morgan for most of Seasons 1 - 4, which is why I personally liked Seasons 5 and 6 the best.
I don't hate the Hotchner character, but I'm personally not interested in seeing him lording over the team as if he's the whole show and the end all be all. That's not what the show is about.
He is the Unit Chief, but we don't need it thrown in our faces everytime we turn around. We should know by now after 6 years of watching that Hotchner is the Unit Chief.
I fail to see how other characters were jipped in Seasons 5 and 6. I think that's a big of an exaggeration.
I also feel that hotchner had plenty of screen time in this season, with alot of big things he did like bring in seaver, talk down an unsub, do grief assessments, interrogate someone who had information on prentiss, the soccer game with jack and rossi, and much more. If you blinked and missed Hotch, you must have held that blink for quite a while.

RMF said...

I wasn't a fan of the Prentiss arc either, but I might be a fan of the fallout. It raises some interesting issues for Prentiss, such as how to reintegrate back into the team after the dust settles. I'm not that keen on seeing the team's reaction to faking her death, because that whole plot line was so OTT. I'm more interested in how they relate to someone who appeared to be so blunt and straightforward actually having such a load of baggage hidden somewhere. And when it comes to her relationship with Doyle, there is a squick factor in it for all of them (You did what, Prentiss? An international arms smuggler? Mmmmmkayyyyy....), but especially so for Morgan. I was bored with how often they were paired up over the past couple of seasons, because it didn't really result in anything memorable, and I prefer it when they mix things up a little, but now there's something weightier hanging in the air. Morgan might get past it intellectually fairly quickly, but still be uncomfortable beneath the surface. Once Prentiss comes back, it would be natural enough to pair them up again in the field, and I can imagine some awkward SUV rides where Morgan feels alienated, and Prentiss feels embarrassed and judged.

LunaM said...

"I also feel that hotchner had plenty of screen time in this season, with alot of big things he did like bring in seaver, talk down an unsub, do grief assessments, interrogate someone who had information on prentiss, the soccer game with jack and rossi, and much more. If you blinked and missed Hotch, you must have held that blink for quite a while."

That's why I specifically said it was in "many" episodes. I never claimed he was "blink and you miss it" in "all" episodes. And I also said it wasn't necessarily about quantity of screentime, but that the quality of screentime was severely lacking, IMO.

All of what you mentioned here is true, and I did notice these scenes. Happily so. But after all, these scenes are all from 3 episodes. 3 out of 24. I give you even more: Hotch had an important part of the "JJ" episode in when he tried to keep her on the team and he had a big part in "Middle Man". All in all that's 5 out of 24. He was almost non-existent in the Reid-headaches storyline and he was almost non-existent in the Emily/Doyle-arc (please note: I said "almost", not "completely"). And all of that as Unit Chief. Which just by his position in the BAU is unacceptable, IMO.

I don't want to split hairs about who had how much of screentime in which episode and whatnot. And you will have noticed that I never claimed there was too much Morgan in season 5 and 6. I don't want him to be pushed to the background. But I just also don't want Hotch to be pushed to the background. And he was for large parts (please note I didn't say all of) season 6.

In the end, all of this is our subjective perception influenced by who our favourites are. I love all of the team dearly, and I want to see all of the team, but of course I notice Hotch or the lack of him most. Just like you are bored by Hotch and likely roll your eyes each time his face even shows up onscreen. That's why you favour season 5 and 6 because you perceive that Morgan was shown more than in previous seasons. That's just human and it's how we as fans work.

Anonymous said...

I love Reid :D and since his leg injury he's kind of not been used too much in the series and I too hate that he is always put in the station and doesn't do much other than a 'geographical profile' every once in a while :/ Hopefully this series will allow all of the characters to grow alot more and progress with the same amount of screen time. I think it's important for every character to have a past or troubles and am glad that we got to see Emily's. She has always been mysterious and it was good to know how she was before the BAU - it's good to know that she's not a stereotypical girl that guys feel they need to protect her all of the time - it shows that she can protect herself and has backbone which is necessary. I like that Rossi is sort of the 'dad' of the team, the one that the team can talk to as it's important. I want to see more of the humourous side of Hotch that we saw in Profiler,Profiled though and the Reid humour. I would like to see more of the individual relationships and I am looking forward to series 7 going back to that as I think everyone needs to be reminded of why we fell in love with all of the characters to start with. Personally, I feel from series 3 it has progressed in terms of more equal screen time as in the first and second series Gideon dominated the show and it was revolved around him, even though Hotch was the UC. This never made sense to me and I know he's more experienced but the other characters were shaded by him and we didn't know them as well as now. I want to see more of Reid and hopefully his and JJ's relationship as they were so close and his relationship with the others. I love to see people look at Reid wierdly for giving his speeches and Morgan having to stop him :P or when he suggests that there's an evil twin and eviler twin :P I don't think JJ will lose her heart she will just be tougher and I think Emily will too - I don't think any of the team will be angry over Emily either, I think they'll just be happy to have her back. As for Seaver, I feel sorry for her but maybe she leaves as she'd rather work in a different part of the FBI and I am glad that the BAU isn't going to split up and take different career routes in terms of the FBI. I think Erica is smart for putting the team back to the way it was as it shows that she actually listens to the fans views rather than doing what she thinks is 'better' and more 'creative'.
Overall, I am really looking forward to season 7 and hope that they are going to go back to the individual episodes rather than do what has happened recently in series 5 and 6 where someone is in danger. I think it's important for Reid's story to progress more as he would naturally worry that he may have scytsophrania (not sure how to spell it :/) as as he said it 'is genetically passed' and I personally can not wait to find out what is causing his migrains and sensitivity to light etc.
Although people may disagree, I prefer Morgan to be the bad ass, kicking down doors, type because he suits it and it shows that he's more than just a profiler but he really puts 100% into his job and believes in justice even though he may get emotionally involved at times which is again good because it shows his compassion. In addition, Reid needs another love interest to make it interesting and I'm glad we get to see more of Will, Henry and JJ :D. I like that we see Hotch's relationship with his son and I don't feel like any of the characters have been overused as such but that some - Reid, Rossi and JJ mainly, have been underused recently. I liked that Rossi, Reid and Morgan have had personal cases - Morgan with his childhood, Rossi with the case that haunted him for 25 years and Reid with Elephant's Memory, being tortured and his father. I prefer to see their personal relationships than to have a story about just one person and their past.

Rebecca

Anonymous said...

I can't say I'm a hardcore CM fan, but I do watch it when I have time for TV. Gotta say I love Derrick Morgan the best. He's so easy on the eyes. My mouth has actually watered a time or two while watching him on my screen im not going to lie. :P He is just sooooooooooooooooo perfect.
Maybe that makes me a vain viewer. I just love looking at him. :)

Teresa H. said...

The men of the BAU all attract me for different reasons. Hotch, the tall dark handsome leader who takes care of his team. I did not like it in the last season when a lot of his interaction with the team was to give banal instructions. Rossi for the mystery surrounding his past and those gorgeous eyes. I like the Rossi who knows how much monogrammed shirts cost and wears Italian leather boots. Morgan, his big brother relationship with the other team members is always a heart warming experience, his physicality and that gorgeous smile are just a treat. Reid is sweet and vulnerable and it's great to see him grow.
Having said all that I have to say that Hotch/TG is my favorite but I would not want to see him dominate a whole season. For me it's not about screen time per se. It's all about how they interact with each other, that those interactions are believable given their history together. Supporting each other, caring for each other, having some fun together and calling each other out when needed.
I hope in S7 they can get back to being a team, working to put together the psychological profiles of the bad guys.
I hope this is what we'll get but as I've said before, I'm in a wait and see mode.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm Derek Morgan <3

Than man can cuff me, slam me, and order me around any day of the week.

He's so gorgeous!

I love everybody on the team tho, and can't wait for Season 7. :)

~Katy

Fred said...

I just read the chat transcript posted here and I'm impatient to see season seven.

First, I wanted to thank Erica for taking the time to chat with the fans. I'm also seizing this opportunity to thank everyone who worked on making it possible.

The best news for me is the possible Reid arc and Jane Lynch.
I too missed Reid badly during season five and season six, so I was so happy when I read that news.

Just like the others, I hope the plan isn't to show Diana Reid having a random talk with her son.
I hope their scenes will be more meaningful and will have a real impact.

It's good to know that the menace Doyle represents will be over quickly.
I want the show to go back to season 1-4.

I'm not too keen on JJ becoming a profiler. I guess I'll have to wait to see how it plays out on the show, but right now I'm not really excited.

I also agree with those who said they didn't want romance storylines (even if it's only a "B plot" and even if it's with someone outside of the team).
I'm in total agreement with the different posters who said the writers should leave that to the fans imagination.

I'm really looking forward to see more of Reid and I hope his storyline won't be forgotten. Can't wait to see his scenes with his mother, even if "angst" is heavy in those scenes.

I'm excited about season seven (but still remain reasonably cautious) :)

Anonymous said...

Just read the transcript, and while it was good, I'm saddened by the lack of mentioning Rossi, or anything they might decide to plan for Morgan.

Looking forward to Season 7, but as the poster above said, cautiously. Hoping for more Morgan and Rossi. Those two were awesome in the finale! :D

~ Ericuh

Maria said...

Today is the day!

CM Season Seven starts production!

Of course, Mr.Gibson has twitted about it: Back to work! http://yfrog.com/h8kyfsdj :D

I've the feeling that this year we're going to have fun (we and them are waaaaaaaaay overdue!) and get a really good season overall ;-)

Teresa H. said...

One of the things that makes me "reasonably cautious" as Fred says about S7 is something EM said about repitition when it comes to writing the profiling lines. There really are only so many times you can say the same thing using different words. I wonder if the feeling I was getting of listening to cookie cutter/interchangeable lines
in S6 had to do with that. I believe there was bad writing involved but perhaps it was also because it's hard to find something new to say after 6 years. So they tried to mix it up and give us that crazy story arc and a lot of focus on the unsubs. Where I'm going with this is that I am somewhat worried that there may also be similar attempts this coming season which may disappoint me equally.
I like the formula that worked so well in the first four seasons esp
3&4.

Anonymous said...

Well I have a couple of comments. First, I totally agree that Reid's arc shouldn't go back to the skizo ordeal- we've been there already and if anything that just detracts from the Reid we all like. I agree that he didn't get as much screen time as in earlier seasons and that a little more time is warranted, but over-doing it will definitely make me like him less as I'm sure it will with other viewers. Part o what we like about Reid is the unassuming low key yet genius at the same time. I hope his arc has more to do with his geniusness.

Also, one thing that nobody's talked about but that really concerns me is" I'm worried that they're really gonna donwsize Prentiss in this season because of her arc in season 6 and the fact that viewers weren't crazy over the season....I LOVVVE Prentiss's character- she is my absolute facourite! Although I agree with many posters that old time episodes were good- I hope they don't donwsize her role in an effort to make up for season 6- Prentiss is amazing!!

I totally agree that if we're talking about screen-time- Rossi is the one to focus on. Rossi defintely is due...I also would appreciate a bit of humour from Hotch- he's gotten too serious- it was always cool to catch a glimpse of humour from him.

Lastly, as much as a love Garcia- I agree that she's gotta go back to the computer thing- that was definitely her niche- and I'd like JJ back where she was before...

Anonymous said...

I have to disagree with the poster a bunch of comments back that insinuated that Morgan needs to know his place and let Hotch lead his team.

I never saw it as Hotch's team, to be honest. I never saw it as anybody's team.

Morgan's come a long way, and he's not the little pretty boy with the abs who hits on everybody anymore. Yeah, the abs are still there, but he's an experienced profiler who has been through alot, learned alot, and grown alot.

He was the team leader for a while, so that alone earns him ranking points in my book. He's almost like an equal to Hotch and Rossi now. He's in their league.

I don't see a problem with Morgan or Rossi helping to lead the team, personally. They worked beautifully together in "25 To Life." (:

Danna said...

It's exciting to know the crew is back to work. A part of me feels guilty to be so happy (I'm sure they could have all used a longer vacation) but I can't help myself : I'm happy.

After two years where Reid has been put in the backburner I would love to see much more of him.

The news concerning his arc is a great one and Jane Lynch being involved is even better (if it really happens....and I sure hope it'll).

But, beyond that, I want to see more of him on a general basis. I want to see his genius more, it has been too long since the writers took the time to highlight that predominant aspect of the character.
I love Reid for his genius mind and for his usually sweet and unassuming personality.

I think the writers should work on that where Reid is concerned. Let the viewers see our favourite genius' mind at work with puzzles, riddles and so on.
If we could see that a lot more regularly on the episodes, I would be delighted.
Let's concentrate on what he brings to the team : his skills are invaluable in my opinion and I would love to see that acknowledged.
Please ?

And maybe it could be the occasion for Hotch and Reid to interact again and have more than quick professional discussions during the season ?
Pretty please ?

Teresa H. said...

Yes, watching Reid and Hotch is fun.

CheetoBreath said...

Congratulations to the cast and crew for completing their first day back on set!  :D Welcome back AJ and Paget!!! :D And ohhh haaiiiiiii TG lookin all hot and scruffly and wait, what was I saying?? Ummm ... Oh and TG in a tshirt frowning at his script in concentration... Umm where was I? Oh yeah, thanks to the cast, crew and Jill for all the BTS pics and vids! lulz Love the vid of Erica, how cute is she? (and so pretty too!)

So happy to hear of the Hotch/JJ interactions, one of my fave pairings on the show. And kudos to Erica for doing promos/interviews for the show. Keep up the great work, I am greatly looking forward to what you guys have in store for us this season! :)

Olivia3185 said...

Okay so I was watching Criminal Minds the episode where Reid was being druged by Tabyis when my little sister was like yeah why haven't I seen Gidean on latly and I told her why but since his eyes are all fixed in real life would if he had a star guest return in season seven and a serial killer had exscaped and was going after Gidean and the team was assigned to save him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!! That would be AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! :D can Someone please reply to me at olivia3185@gmail.com? I have been trying to get ahold of someone that is apart of the Criminal Minds Crew!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I have a few things I would like to tell someone!?

Meg said...

Danna said...

"It's exciting to know the crew is back to work. A part of me feels guilty to be so happy (I'm sure they could have all used a longer vacation) but I can't help myself : I'm happy.

After two years where Reid has been put in the backburner I would love to see much more of him.

The news concerning his arc is a great one and Jane Lynch being involved is even better (if it really happens....and I sure hope it'll).

But, beyond that, I want to see more of him on a general basis. I want to see his genius more, it has been too long since the writers took the time to highlight that predominant aspect of the character.
I love Reid for his genius mind and for his usually sweet and unassuming personality.

I think the writers should work on that where Reid is concerned. Let the viewers see our favourite genius' mind at work with puzzles, riddles and so on.
If we could see that a lot more regularly on the episodes, I would be delighted.
Let's concentrate on what he brings to the team : his skills are invaluable in my opinion and I would love to see that acknowledged.
Please ?

And maybe it could be the occasion for Hotch and Reid to interact again and have more than quick professional discussions during the season ?
Pretty please ?"

^^^ A whopping big YES from me to all of the above. I'm very excited for the Reid arc and I'm giddy at the thought of seeing Diana back again. Plus I want to see focus once again given to Reid's genius and his amazing mind.
I too would love to see more interaction between Reid and Hotch and I hope the Reid-Morgan relationship that we saw make a comeback towards the end of S6 carries on into S7. I adore their big brother, little brother relationship.
I've missed Reid these past few seasons and I fervently hope we get more of him this year.

Lauranthalasah said...

Oh God, so much thanks for posting the chat transcript, you make my day perfect!!

Thank you!! (Sorry my english)

Anonymous said...

Sorry, kind of new here, but I've re-read the transcript about twenty times and decided to post a comment.

I'm so incredibly happy that we will see more of the team's relations with each other, and interactions outside of their work. It makes the show just that much more dimensional and different from most, if not all, other crime-fiction shows. I loved the scenes where we saw Hotch interact with his son, and the scenes where we saw our favorite federal agents doing normal day stuff: going shopping, going to the movies, getting a drink... I would so love to see more of that. I think it'd be hilarious to see Rossi checking out a bookstore or something, Garcia going grocery shopping, Morgan dragging Reid to a club where he's hopelessly out of place. Just some completely random, fun stuff to keep up a lighter side to Criminal Minds.

By the way, does anybody else find it entirely amusing that Emily's cat is named Sergio, and Sergio was one of the name's Hotch read to Halley for consideration to name their son in season one, episode one? Irony. Sergio's another familiar (furry) face I'll be happy to see again. I'd be highly amused if Reid was the one taking care of the cat. He fits the "lonely man with a cat" stereotype well... Also glad to see more of boy genius.

It really was a great chat, even though I just snooped in on it. Thank you! -Haddock

Anonymous said...

as someone said before;
I was probably one of the few who groaned at news of a Reid arc. Why do we need arcs? Whatever happened to just telling really good, creepy stories about psychos and the super intelligent agents that hunt them?

I totally agree. after all the loose ends are tied up(Emily's 'death' ect.) they should go back to wrighting like they did in season 4, focused mainly on the unsubs and moments when you learn things about their personal lives, but the idea of focusing on their personal lives not the BAU and unsubs really annoys me. Don't get me wrong I love all the season 5 characters(especially Spencer Reid;)) and I don't want anything to happen bad to them but I do miss the days where you were left to imagine their personal lives and the show resolved around cases and profiling, I think season 6 ruined that for the show but hopefully season 7 will bring back the original Criminal Minds magic.:)

littlemickey said...

i just have a question will giddeon make an apperiance in this season

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