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| | Criminal Minds - Horrific spoilersAre they trying to sex up Criminal Minds? It seems like it. There's the Garcia/Kevin romance. Now, in principle, I love the pairing, but I don't want to see the pairing. I don't want him to come on just to be the boyfriend. Aside from his general adorableness, one of the main points for the ship is that him being a recurring character means there won't be much attention focused on it. I'd rather they find some way to justify him being there as part of the job and maybe mix in some boyfriend stuff. (Although that's difficult, too, because Garcia's been doing the tech stuff all on her own, except when she was prevented, and it might make it seem like she has less skill. But, I'm sure they could manage without losing her awesomeness) And, by mix in, I mean nothing overt. The naked Kevin scene that's supposed to come has me worried. And, there's supposed to be a Morgan romance, too? If they mean an episode where Morgan connects with someone on a case, and there are some flirty scenes and maybe a serious heart to heart, I'm willing to go with that. But, nothing where they bring another character in for a bunch of episodes to play just "the love interest" And, I'm not against romance on tv. I've shipped for couples. I never thought it was a horrible thing that they showed that Rory slept with Logan on Gilmore Girls. I didn't even mind the idea of the relationships on Grey's Anatomy, although it got ridiculous after awhile. I hated the specific pairings (well, the men in them) but I was willing to suspend disbelief that a superior could sleep and have a relationship with their interns. But, I don't want that on Criminal Minds (although thank goodness there hasn't been any implication that the romance will involve two team members - and never ever Hotch!). To me, a show should establish its feel and rules right away. And, you can grow and even change, but you still keep the basic idea. And, this show has been on for almost three seasons. The most they had was Hotch's marriage (which mainly explored the difficulties of balancing family and job), references to Morgan being a player along with a couple of brief scenes of him dancing with women during those casual feel good scenes that you know are the calm before the storm, the actress with Reid in an episode where he gets kissed, Gideon having dinner with an old friend that gets interrupted by a head in a box, a detective in New Orleans flirting with JJ, and the hacker foreplay between Garcia and Kevin. Now, with the exception of Hotch's marriage, keep in mind that these things were confined to subplots in single episodes (although the Kevin thing seems to be extended). So, it was never the focus of the show. And, it doesn't need to be. Despite popular beliefs a show can be interesting without a focus on romance. And, I don't expect them to be asexual. I just don't need proof that they date (and we get references from time to time - Prentiss complaining about how her nerdiness screwed up her date, Reid telling Morgan he's never seen him with the same woman twice). Just like I don't need proof that they use the bathroom or mow their lawns (for those who have houses). To me, it smacks of someone (the writers, the showrunner, CBS?) not having faith in what works and sticking something (sorry, tried to avoid anything that could seem like a sexual pun) in there because they forget people have liked the show that was on for nearly three seasons.
Horrid development #2 - JJ is pregnant? Supposedly, they're working the actress' pregnancy in. But, that's not necessary. JJ has so many responsibilities that they could easily keep her a vital member of the episodes and hide the real life pregnancy. She wouldn't be able to go on raids for awhile (and I know one poster feels that going on raids is a sign that the character is important -and gets annoyed when neither Prentiss or JJ is on one- but the raids have never been that important to me as far as how I think a character's worth is portrayed), but she could do press conferences behind podiums, show her from the neck up - or however low you can shoot to conceal a pregnant stomach- when she's comforting the families - something I'd like to see more of, anyway. JJ being a crack shot and showing that she's also a field agent is cool, but she's also the person the families can turn to, and the last time they really showed that was in Seven Seconds. Heck, even Miss "Losing It" had a good idea. Digitally remove the image of her stomach (the bulge, not the entire stomach, obviously). There's so much to explore about JJ without working in a pregnancy. First, we don't need a story about someone who didn't use birth control or something like that. They've implied that JJ works longer hours than any of them, so it's difficult to know when she'd have time to have a relationship (and I don't want a one night stand). And, because she works so long, being able to have quality time with a child is difficult -and they already have that story with Hotch and his kid. Some general ideas repeat, but this isn't one we need to see from another angle. And, now, the big question on the boards is "who's the daddy?" That's terrible. What about "why does JJ do this job? How did she come to regard the BAU as her family? What was her family like? " Even, if she had started out the show as a mother, "how does she balance the two?" (although, again, we have someone for that story) Not some soap opera "Who's the daddy?"
I stick with shows for years after they go down hill, so I'm not going to say I won't watch. But, (and I know this is all based on spoilers and not seeing the episodes) I feel that it will ruin a show that's been my comfort zone. Even with the Hotch divorce, Rossi and the Rossi trifecta, the Russian Mob episode, and other things, overall, this is what I point to as quality tv. But, this just makes me think the whole thing is headed for an irretrievable downward spiral.
And, just because female agents get pregnant in real life (don't know how often it happens) doesn't mean that it's a good idea to show it on tv - especially since so many shows already have female characters getting pregnant. And, I'm not opposed to that in general. But, to me, it doesn't add to the story. Or expands or illuminates on JJ. There's nothing organic about it.
| | | Posted 3/20/2008 6:15 PM - 0 comments
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