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| | Criminal Minds -Comments (and naturally fan rants) on The CrossingSo, this is an episode that was decent -not great- but I actually expect that it will improve upon rewatch. (Which could be a dangerous expectation) But, it has stuff to build on.
But, lets get the fan rant out of the way. Reid's had a ton of episodes about him - more than anyone, I'll bet. But, JJ gets two episodes in a row (and they certainly don't overload on JJ episodes) and suddenly the show is going to be all about her? Yeah, this is like when someone says the show jumped the shark based on one episode. And, what makes a case pointless? Someone said the Hotch and Rossi (fan practice has forever ruined the convenience of the / between names for me) was pointless. Why? It was a case they worked. What makes a case have point and what makes it so one doesn't? I could see (but emphatically disagree) with the idea that maybe Hotch's plot in Damaged was pointless (it wasn't!) because it was all personal - Chester Hardwicke was a red herring.
But, back to The Crossing. Like I said before, I like when the personal and professional intertwine. JJ had issues with the case, with feeling she hadn't done her best to protect another woman. That she hadn't convinced the higher ups to take the case. Shades of Revelations. Reid rushes off on his own and splits up with her before she can finish her protest that it's a bad idea, and she wants someone to blame her. The higher ups decide not to take the case of another woman in danger, and she sees it as her fault, and she makes that much more effort not to 'make the same mistake' again. And, I really don't understand the derision with the idea that these people sometimes take things personally. It's absolutely believable that these cases would get to them sometimes. And, JJ is the most professional while taking it personally. Even though it was clear something was bothering her, she did the job, didn't do anything out of line. And, it wasn't just because she was pregnant (yes, they revealed it in this episode) that she was bothered. They took the time to establish what about this case would get to her. The pregnancy just made the others more concerned. They didn't know what was going on, but they knew something was more off than even the case. And, I liked that it was introduced in a very case based episode and at the end. It kind of implies (although we'll know when the new episodes come) that the show will still be about cases and not all about her baby. It'll factor, but it's not all baby stuff.
On to the Hotch and Rossi plot (and I realize I talked about all the JJ stuff and didn't really talk about the case. Well, you know where my priorities lie). No, Rossi didn't do anything wrong in the episode, but I'll just keep disliking him. Hey, I don't have to be reasonable. Anyway, like I said, he didn't do anything wrong when he told Hotch that he might have tried harder in his 3(!) marriages if he had had kids. It wasn't a criticism of how Hotch handled his marriage. Simply an observation of Rossi's marriages. Hotch was completely projecting. But, I also don't think Rossi was being wise older profiler and trying to get Hotch to open up. It would have been a terrible way to do it, by saying he would have tried harder if he had kids, which, if it had been directed at Hotch would have carried the unspoken - "like you didn't" which is how Hotch took it. I also don't think Rossi's comment about kids really said he wanted them. It was just that kids would have made it harder to give up on the marriages. But, we get a Hotch smile (and Rossi better not be the only person who can make Hotch smile anymore) and some sarcastic humor. "Four failed marriages between us, we must be experts at something." A little rusty, some bitterness in it, but glimpses of season 1 and 2 Hotch. And, as for the projection, acceptance isn't coming as easily as it first appeared. Which just shows that Hotch can surprise me. I wanted to talk about (maybe I did?) how when Hotch feels a path is right or inevitable, he doesn't hesitate, even if it brings dire consequences -like ending his marriage. And, he doesn't waffle over hard decisions. So, signing the papers was simply accepting the inevitable, not being at peace with it. And, total fanwank on my part, but I think Hotch is finally saying to himself, "wait a second. I wasn't some shallow husband who cared more about work than my family. I tied. If I couldn't give more time, I tried to give my all for the time I had." He usually seems completely resigned to being criticized (except when he asked Haley for support for trying to do the right thing at home and work) as a husband or apologetic, or he berates himself - "I'm just the father and husband who's never there." He set up an impossible task - giving 100% to two separate causes (especially if one cause -Haley- sees the other -the job- as the enemy) but it wasn't for lack of trying. Just looking at how happy he was to be doing chores at home because he had a vacation to spend with her says as much. So, yeah, I like to think Hotch was defending himself a little, as well as feeling guilt because he couldn't make it work.
And, arrgh. When he and Rossi were talking about something having to give, it was Hotch's marriage, not the job (and TG's time on the show). We already saw what gave. Haley left. Hotch mainly concentrated on talking about Jack. Seriously, I know Hotch is subtle, but I don't think they'd be so subtle in writing him out as to move at a snails pace.
Um, case stuff. Interesting having an abused wife who wasn't beaten but emotionally abused. And, that it was the woman prosecutor who didn't believe her. Glad she didn't just fangirl (okay, she was too professional for it to be real fangirling) over Rossi's books, but followed Hotch's days as a prosecutor. Not sure I buy that she would have accepted that the woman had been abused, even after hearing that she felt it was necessary to clean up the blood from when she shot her husband because it would look messy and her husband would hate having the police see the mess, not to hide what she had done. I thought maybe she would have felt that the woman was faking. But, time constraints. Not sure how Hotch's statement that the woman had suffered enough fits into my understanding of him, but I suppose he saw it as self defense. (Wish I knew exactly why her breaking point came). Not even sure how I feel about the killing and the justification (or whatever). She was emotionally trapped, but I'm still not sure.
The stalker was creepy! I can watch the killers do all sorts of terrible things (not that they really show them doing it) and none of it scares me. But seeing that face in the bushes grinning? Scary! And, we get a victim who fights back. Uses her brains (and what she learned from the team) to make the stalker think she was on his side. And, we get a tackle! The first Morgan tackle of the season! And, apparently, the writers of the episode see Hotch as the mom of the team (but no way Rossi is the dad. He shouldn't even be on an equal level with Hotch. ). I also love that Hotch was okay with the others working on a single stalker case because JJ was passionate about it. And, that the others also were quick to sign up (even argumentative Morgan) based on her passion. And, no one attributed it- yet- to some shippy thing between Hotch and JJ.
| | | Posted 5/8/2008 1:26 AM - 0 comments
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