Criminal Minds 5x09: 100
Huh. Possibly the first episode without a somehow significant title. I guess anniversaries do that, which is a teeny-tiny bit of a shame, because there are so many ways they could have made the episode title massively suggestive. Oh well.
Yeah, a really long "previously on...", which of course it had to be. I often wonder a bit at that part, because sometimes it seems like it's an art in and of itself, picking the right scenes for the "previously on..." to set the audience in the right mood. It's not just about reminding us what happened, it's about subtleties in the scenes they choose to include. Anyway.
Oh, the open. The open is a thing of beauty. Who are we? A medic? It's just.... Well the bodies are Foyet and Haley, I guess, and the upstairs one is probably Haley, judging from Morgan's look. Oh, this is just beautiful.
"He who fights with monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Wow. Okay, that wasn't even subtle, but that's fine, because it's the quote from the end of Extreme Aggressor, and I've been waiting for them to really address - or at the very least acknowledge - the parallel between Hotch and Gideon. And while it wasn't subtle, I hope they can make it elegant.
Alas, JJ's stint as communications "director" was not to last. I would say that they need to work on consistency, but I guess now it's firmly on the record that she's a "liaison". Then, in lieu of a promotion, let's keep it that way?
"Driven." And she does not even blink. Man, I love you, JJ.
ANDERSON! Oh Agent Anderson, I've missed you so. You have come, I suppose, to herald death and destruction and crying FBI agents, as you so often do? Well, right now you're there so JJ has someone to growl at.
JJ is kinda driven, too, if you don't mind me mentioning it. I love it when my girl badasses. "I don't care if you have to drive to the Postmaster General's house."
JJ, still the one who self-identifies most strongly with Hotch. Will is amazing, and JJ-and-Will are wonderful. Yes, I've stopped calling him The Cajun Mumbler, because he's pretty awesome.
And JJ cracks the case! At 6 minutes 44 seconds, that's gotta be some kind of a record.
"I'm not just a pretty face." Oh, Anderson. Don't make me love you, Herald of Death and Destruction and Crying FBI agents. You've smartened up, though, I'll say that much. Although you'd be hard-pressed to be much dumber than you were three and a half seasons ago.
"O. M. G!" So, nerds with girlfriends? Still eat a lot of crap. Also, more than ever Kevin made me think of Xander, now. Did Xander always eat?
"It's not okay." No, because you're the most loyal friend ever, Penelope. You see the good in people. And Strauss looks like she knows exactly what Garcia means, but she still asks, because she has to.
Prentiss has a hoof-in-mouth moment, but Hotch is two steps ahead of her. This is Hotch and Foyet's game, everybody else is just along for the ride. Although, Hotch, honey the thing is... You kinda ARE falling apart. Unless everything since the attack was an act? Which, yeah, you're good, but that good? Really?
Man, Penelope and Kevin working in sync is a thing of beauty. Also: "Work, honey"? Made me giggle. Also, they crack the case.
The name-searching sequence is good. They think, bounce ideas, then Reid cracks the case! With a little help from his friends, of course.
Oh, Dave, you're such a douche. And I love you until the end of time for your righteous douchieness. Even though Strauss is clearly trying to do the right thing. She's going to have to take shit for it anyway.
Oh, excellent bit of misdirection at the end of Dave's interview! It wasn't Hotch! Although Hotch runs first. Also, even though that was a bit of a tense moment, I couldn't help but laugh out loud as every person on the street turned out to be an agent. Seriously, I was only half-certain that they wouldn't all burst into song and dance right there.
"When Foyet gets cornered he starts killing."
"We're not gonna let that happen." Man, Morgan is getting really good at this.
Reid has SUCH an attitude problem, and it's so amazing to watch. "The problem is, I have an eidetic memory, and that's not what happened."
Sam's not dead! And Reid knows a thing or two about torture. And Foyet knows a thing or two about how to be scarily good at what he does.
Prentiss fidgets terribly when she's nervous, and she can make "ma'am" sound pretty condescending. Also, Anderson is now Herald of Death and Destruction and Crying FBI Agents and Strauss' minion?
"Is there a question in there somewhere" - are you sure you're not a lawyer, Emily?
(Also: Fairfax county! My personal canon has Hotch and Haley coming from there!)
"Be gentle, like I was with you?" My show has everything written between the lines. I love you, show. And they're certainly not making much of an effort to dissuade the rape theories.
And Hotch trying to throw Foyet off with the profile, trying to talk him down. As if he still doesn't get where this is going.
"Hold, please." Foyet is so fantastically creepy. And knows the exact right buttons to push.
"Their house, where they lived together!" And they ALL crack the case!
Hotch and Haley and Foyet on the phone together, Hotch trying not to cry while he tries to calm Haley down, and talks to Jack, and has him hug Haley, has to be one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen. He has a code with Jack! "I need you working the case with me." Does Haley know what that means?
"Neither did you." Oh thank God, she forgives him. And understands him. And makes him promise to take care of Jack. And then she's gone.
And this has to be the stuff of Hotch's nightmares: Going around his darkened house, clearing room after room, looking for the murderer he knows is hiding somewhere. It's beautifully done, though, no music, just Hotch's breaths, laced with exhaustion and adrenaline and still-unshed tears.
Yes, Hotch, empty your magazine. THAT'S a good idea. Oh, right, back-up gun. But you don't want to do this by gun, do you?
Fighting - real fighting - looks vaguely ridiculous, grown men hoisting each other up and falling over tables.
"I surrender." As if it was really all a game. Well, George, the thing is, your opponents didn't see it quite that way.
I'd hoped Hotch would be in this situation and not kill Foyet, to prove he was the better man, but he was just strung out too far. It had to happen the way it did, even though it meant that Foyet won. In a big way. Although it was painful to watch, and was not exactly ambiguous - it was just wrong - it had to be this way. Maybe this was what Hotch needed as a cathartic exercise? Certainly that was what Eddie and the gang tried to communicate - a bit on the nose, perhaps, but still. It might just have worked. And Morgan pulls Hotch off Foyet before hugging him tight.
Stop me if I'm wrong, but I think the flashback scene is an anachronism. Hotch and Haley split up long before Jack was this old, and it was Haley and who lived in the house. Anyway.
"Miss Jareau" He's teaching his son to be a gentleman just like him. Oh, Hotch.
Morgan knows Haley's dead, but he's checking her pulse anyway, just to be sure, because he can't make himself believe this has really happened.
And finally, finally Hotch cries for real, for everything that has happened. For the divorce, for what happened to him, and for this. Finally.
Strauss almost loses it. And feeds Hotch his line. And Hotch doesn't meet anyone's eyes. And then he goes to his son. And his family is circling the wagons.
The episode started with a quote about monsters, and ended with a quote on family. My show, it knows what it's doing. (I just hope I'll still be able to say that in a few episodes' time.)
Yeah, a really long "previously on...", which of course it had to be. I often wonder a bit at that part, because sometimes it seems like it's an art in and of itself, picking the right scenes for the "previously on..." to set the audience in the right mood. It's not just about reminding us what happened, it's about subtleties in the scenes they choose to include. Anyway.
Oh, the open. The open is a thing of beauty. Who are we? A medic? It's just.... Well the bodies are Foyet and Haley, I guess, and the upstairs one is probably Haley, judging from Morgan's look. Oh, this is just beautiful.
"He who fights with monsters might take care, lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." Wow. Okay, that wasn't even subtle, but that's fine, because it's the quote from the end of Extreme Aggressor, and I've been waiting for them to really address - or at the very least acknowledge - the parallel between Hotch and Gideon. And while it wasn't subtle, I hope they can make it elegant.
Alas, JJ's stint as communications "director" was not to last. I would say that they need to work on consistency, but I guess now it's firmly on the record that she's a "liaison". Then, in lieu of a promotion, let's keep it that way?
"Driven." And she does not even blink. Man, I love you, JJ.
ANDERSON! Oh Agent Anderson, I've missed you so. You have come, I suppose, to herald death and destruction and crying FBI agents, as you so often do? Well, right now you're there so JJ has someone to growl at.
JJ is kinda driven, too, if you don't mind me mentioning it. I love it when my girl badasses. "I don't care if you have to drive to the Postmaster General's house."
JJ, still the one who self-identifies most strongly with Hotch. Will is amazing, and JJ-and-Will are wonderful. Yes, I've stopped calling him The Cajun Mumbler, because he's pretty awesome.
And JJ cracks the case! At 6 minutes 44 seconds, that's gotta be some kind of a record.
"I'm not just a pretty face." Oh, Anderson. Don't make me love you, Herald of Death and Destruction and Crying FBI agents. You've smartened up, though, I'll say that much. Although you'd be hard-pressed to be much dumber than you were three and a half seasons ago.
"O. M. G!" So, nerds with girlfriends? Still eat a lot of crap. Also, more than ever Kevin made me think of Xander, now. Did Xander always eat?
"It's not okay." No, because you're the most loyal friend ever, Penelope. You see the good in people. And Strauss looks like she knows exactly what Garcia means, but she still asks, because she has to.
Prentiss has a hoof-in-mouth moment, but Hotch is two steps ahead of her. This is Hotch and Foyet's game, everybody else is just along for the ride. Although, Hotch, honey the thing is... You kinda ARE falling apart. Unless everything since the attack was an act? Which, yeah, you're good, but that good? Really?
Man, Penelope and Kevin working in sync is a thing of beauty. Also: "Work, honey"? Made me giggle. Also, they crack the case.
The name-searching sequence is good. They think, bounce ideas, then Reid cracks the case! With a little help from his friends, of course.
Oh, Dave, you're such a douche. And I love you until the end of time for your righteous douchieness. Even though Strauss is clearly trying to do the right thing. She's going to have to take shit for it anyway.
Oh, excellent bit of misdirection at the end of Dave's interview! It wasn't Hotch! Although Hotch runs first. Also, even though that was a bit of a tense moment, I couldn't help but laugh out loud as every person on the street turned out to be an agent. Seriously, I was only half-certain that they wouldn't all burst into song and dance right there.
"When Foyet gets cornered he starts killing."
"We're not gonna let that happen." Man, Morgan is getting really good at this.
Reid has SUCH an attitude problem, and it's so amazing to watch. "The problem is, I have an eidetic memory, and that's not what happened."
Sam's not dead! And Reid knows a thing or two about torture. And Foyet knows a thing or two about how to be scarily good at what he does.
Prentiss fidgets terribly when she's nervous, and she can make "ma'am" sound pretty condescending. Also, Anderson is now Herald of Death and Destruction and Crying FBI Agents and Strauss' minion?
"Is there a question in there somewhere" - are you sure you're not a lawyer, Emily?
(Also: Fairfax county! My personal canon has Hotch and Haley coming from there!)
"Be gentle, like I was with you?" My show has everything written between the lines. I love you, show. And they're certainly not making much of an effort to dissuade the rape theories.
And Hotch trying to throw Foyet off with the profile, trying to talk him down. As if he still doesn't get where this is going.
"Hold, please." Foyet is so fantastically creepy. And knows the exact right buttons to push.
"Their house, where they lived together!" And they ALL crack the case!
Hotch and Haley and Foyet on the phone together, Hotch trying not to cry while he tries to calm Haley down, and talks to Jack, and has him hug Haley, has to be one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen. He has a code with Jack! "I need you working the case with me." Does Haley know what that means?
"Neither did you." Oh thank God, she forgives him. And understands him. And makes him promise to take care of Jack. And then she's gone.
And this has to be the stuff of Hotch's nightmares: Going around his darkened house, clearing room after room, looking for the murderer he knows is hiding somewhere. It's beautifully done, though, no music, just Hotch's breaths, laced with exhaustion and adrenaline and still-unshed tears.
Yes, Hotch, empty your magazine. THAT'S a good idea. Oh, right, back-up gun. But you don't want to do this by gun, do you?
Fighting - real fighting - looks vaguely ridiculous, grown men hoisting each other up and falling over tables.
"I surrender." As if it was really all a game. Well, George, the thing is, your opponents didn't see it quite that way.
I'd hoped Hotch would be in this situation and not kill Foyet, to prove he was the better man, but he was just strung out too far. It had to happen the way it did, even though it meant that Foyet won. In a big way. Although it was painful to watch, and was not exactly ambiguous - it was just wrong - it had to be this way. Maybe this was what Hotch needed as a cathartic exercise? Certainly that was what Eddie and the gang tried to communicate - a bit on the nose, perhaps, but still. It might just have worked. And Morgan pulls Hotch off Foyet before hugging him tight.
Stop me if I'm wrong, but I think the flashback scene is an anachronism. Hotch and Haley split up long before Jack was this old, and it was Haley and who lived in the house. Anyway.
"Miss Jareau" He's teaching his son to be a gentleman just like him. Oh, Hotch.
Morgan knows Haley's dead, but he's checking her pulse anyway, just to be sure, because he can't make himself believe this has really happened.
And finally, finally Hotch cries for real, for everything that has happened. For the divorce, for what happened to him, and for this. Finally.
Strauss almost loses it. And feeds Hotch his line. And Hotch doesn't meet anyone's eyes. And then he goes to his son. And his family is circling the wagons.
The episode started with a quote about monsters, and ended with a quote on family. My show, it knows what it's doing. (I just hope I'll still be able to say that in a few episodes' time.)