Criminal Minds

According to The Hollywood Reporter, CM won the Wednesday nine o’clock rating race, beating Pushing Daisies and Bionic Woman. This pushed CBS to a second place finish in the 18-49 group and a victory in overall viewers. Good news for Pushing Daisies though. They rebounded from last week’s poor numbers and had higher than average ratings. Bionic Woman didn’t have the same luck - the show had its lowest 18-49 score of the season. CM had its highest ratings since February 7. Whether it’s Joe Mantegna or the dramatic “Penelope” episode, more viewers are tuning in to Criminal Minds.
The big winner of the night was “Shrek the Halls,” on ABC. The half-hour special had the highest 18-49 rating of the night.

P.S. If you’re a devoted CM fan but want to check out Private Practice or Pushing Daisies, ABC has the full episodes available online. You can also see Bionic Woman online at NBC.com.

Last night, I was watching Criminal Minds with my fiance, who can be at times the most insensitive person alive. But he surprises me on occasion. After the show, he said that something about the show is different. He said maybe it was just this episode but the mood was entirely different. So I tried to pump him for information, but that’s really all he said, other than that it was more action-based, where the others were more pensive. There is usually a race to save another victim, and this didn’t happen in “True Night.” There was also not a lot of profiling going on, which I didn’t really notice until he said something about it being different. This was an episode that focused on the killer instead of the BAU members. As the episode progressed, you could kind of profile him yourself. John’s (Frankie Muniz)flashbacks let the viewer understand what was happening. He kept calling his girlfriend’s phone and getting her message that she was out living her life. This was emphasized so much that of course she was dead. My fiance was right: the tone was very different. It almost made you feel crazy as John relived the attack on himself and his girlfriend but didn’t really seem to realize that it actually happened. And he had no idea that he was killing people (all gang members, who were responsible for the attack). He drew the crime scenes as pages of a graphic novel.

John’s agent talks to the FBI and tells them about the behavior he’s noticed in John - the erratic behavior, calling his girlfriend’s cell, the change in his work. When John’s led into the police station, he looks confused, and you can almost hope he didn’t do it.
When he’s being interrogated by Hotch, Rossi, and Prentiss, they have to convince him that he’d been attacked. A huge scar lays across his abdomen. It’s like telling him his girlfriend is dead all over again, and he finally remembers.

At the end of the episode, he is in a hospital/institution, and he’s surrounded by drawings of his girlfriend. Still calling her cell phone to listen to her voice.
On the plane home, Prentiss wonders if anyone is capable of this. John went from a writer and artist to a murderer in six months. If he could do that, anyone could.
I was kind of surprised that cute little Malcolm in the Middle could be a convincing serial killer. He was really good. He looked the part, but still managed to have an innocence about him.

I really did like this episode. It was different and more unsub-focused. The profilers played a very small role in “True Night,” which I wouldn’t really enjoy watching week after week, but it was a good change.
The more I think about it, the more that this episode is one of the ones I like best. It’s not often that shows can make you feel a certain way, but you definately feel John’s emotions and feel sorry for him at the end. Even my aforementioned insensitive fiance felt bad for him.
What did you think of the episode? Good, bad, ugly?

If your favorite show has run out of new episodes, it’s a good time to check out what’s new on DVD at TV on DVD. - I am still waiting anxiously for the second half of the last season of The Sopranos to come from Netflix.

Tonight’s episode guest stars Frankie Muniz (Malcolm in the Middle) as a comic book artist who becomes involved in the search for a serial killer (and those serial killers always love to involve themselves in their own investigations…maybe it’s little Frankie himself).
Frankie Muniz’s role on Malcolm earned him nominations for Golden Globes and Emmy Awards. Currently, he’s involved in racing. He competed in the Champ Car Atlantic Championship in 2007 and placed 22nd overall.
“True Night” airs at 9:00 on CBS.

Talks between the WGA and studios resumed on Monday, but there is no word if anything was accomplished. The talks are taking place under a thick blanket of secrecy. And there’s really no way to know if anything is being resolved, but it seems hopeful that talks are scheduled for three days.
The Hollywood Reporter quotes an industry insider:

The three days was to keep people talking. They didn’t want people to just get pissed off and walk away. They wanted to make sure they would keep talking.

As the talks continue, so will the picketing. There is a planned “solidarity” rally in NY for WGA-East, and attendees will include John Edwards, Tim Robbins, and Joe Pantoliono, among other politicians and actors.

There’s not much news, but hopefully the talks are a good sign for ending the strike. I really haven’t noticed any changes yet, but I don’t watch a lot of tv. I watch CM, and PBS. Honestly, this doesn’t affect me at all, and when reruns start airing, it’ll be very easy for me to entertain myself. I do hope it ends though, because of the thousands of people who depend on the entertainment industry for their income. The people who work in shops or restaurants and the people who maintain the studio buildings and do the landscaping and hair are the ones who are paying the biggest prices. So for them, I really hope they can get back to work soon.
In the meantime, check out House tonight at nine - in the preview it looks like someone leaves Dr. House speechless, which should be worth watching.

About.com has an interview with Kirsten Vangsness, and I thought it’d be a good time to look at it because last week’s episode was all about Garcia.

Q: Before you became an actress, you had several interesting jobs (substitute teacher, grant writer), did any of these positions help prepare you for a career in acting?

Kirsten: “I used to be a substitute teacher for quite some time, I was in a group home, and then sometimes I was a teacher for long periods of time. If they didn’t have a teacher for a really rough class, I would be the teacher who would come in and teach them. Someone once told me there are two kinds of teachers: The kind who can get the kids to do anything they want by sheer intimidation and then there’s the kind that can get them to do anything they want because you don’t know what that person is going to do. I was that second kind. I’d walk in the kids would be like, ‘She just came in and she’s wearing shoes with kitty cats on them, purple-striped nylons and a Sex Pistol t-shirt.’ I just pulled out an apple, a grapefruit, a pan, 12 books out of my purse, 14 kinds of lip-gloss and they didn’t know what to make of me. There’s an element of almost being like right before school when you’re going to see these kids, you’re setting yourself up to be eaten alive and chewed up and spit out. There was that element, that quickening, meeting all those people coming from different worlds and creating in like 15 minutes, a community.”

Q: I understand you have very unusual shopping tastes, can you tell us what your favorite items to buy are?

Kirsten: “I like clothes that make me happy! They don’t arrive to me like they’re supposed to. I’ll get something and say to myself, I know this is brand new, but I’m going to cut the neck off, I’m going to slice the side up and sew a different piece of fabric in there. When I was a child, my mother would give me and my sister like $15 apiece, put us into goodwill and tell us to go get our school clothes. If that meant you spent the whole $15 on a pimp daddy fake fur coat, that was your school clothes, which I did do one year. When I was in first grade, I got this fantastic fake fur coat that I wore every day, when it was 80 degrees. Right now, I’m on a crinoline kick, I have way more crinolines that any human being should have.”
To read the entire interview, go to about.com.

It’s Black Friday, the second biggest shopping day of the year. How can you put your money to good use and still support the economy?

The other day I was doing some Christmas shopping online because I HATE to shop at Christmas time. It makes me stressed (a lot of things make me stressed though). So I was looking for stuff for my hard to shop for family members. There’s a cool site called Findgift.com where a magical wizard asks you a few questions and then finds gift suggestions. I tried that and was looking at a bunch of expensive things. And I thought that if I was spending money, I might as well spend it better.

I did a quick google search and found World of Good. All of the products on this site are fair trade certified. You can read where the products are made and by whom. I picked out a tote bag for my sister-in-law. The description tells me that it was made in India. The workers who make the bags are paid a living wage. The proceeds from the bags also help subsidize meals, housing, and health care.

I’m not against big stores…I also bought my daughter a present from Amazon, and I have an affinity for Wal-Mart. But I felt like I was helping, if only a tiny bit. And besides that, the products make really nice gifts, and the prices are good. They have jewlery, bags, housewares, and linens - all made by different artisans and all funding good causes.

I just wanted to mention some alternative gifts for Christmas. I found gifts for my hard to shop for people and they’re more unique than the gifts you pick up at Target or whatever. If you’re interested in fair trade products, visit World of Good. I just did a google search for socially conscious gifts. (Make sure that you visit legitimate sites though.)

Note: If you’re looking for unique gifts that cost very little and are awesome, check out Creative Mom Cafe. There are some really good ideas for homemade presents.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - it’s one of the only times I get to see my whole family. (Except for my brother - Happy Thanksgiving), so I love it.

Also, one of my favorite tv sites, Buddy TV, has some details on upcoming CM episode, “Birthright.” Birthright is expected to air on December 12 at nine. Sounds interesting…I guess you can inherit anything from your parents.

Anyway, on to our “Penelope” recap…

Good episode. This one was the best of the season, and the most exciting one since Reid was kidnapped. We got to learn a bit more about Penelope - losing her parents, how she was recruited by the FBI. It’ll be interesting to see if this episode did as well as last week’s, which topped Private Practice in the ratings for the first time.

At the beginning of the episode, she’s weaving in and out of consciousness. As the BAU, sans Morgan, gather at the hospital, Hotch tells Rossi that the EMT said it didn’t look good. Morgan is in church and isn’t answering his phone.
Pretty early in the episode, we find out that Garcia is going to be ok. But no one knows what happened. She tells them that her date shot her and that she should’ve listened to Morgan. The team is told not to investigate the case because Garcia has been suspended. She encrypted a program with the team’s info, and the internal affairs unit is investigating this. It comes out that she was hired by the FBI because she was a dangerous hacker. They wanted her on their side.
Morgan takes Penelope home from the hospital and stays with her. They patch up their friendship, which is a sweet scene. While he’s there, though, he’s awakened by gunshots. The officer guarding the door is shot by Penelope’s attacker. Morgan chases him but isn’t able to get him.
After this, the team gathers at Garcia’s house. They aren’t getting anywhere, and all of a sudden, David Rossi starts yelling at Garcia. Telling her to spit it out, what does she know, what was she working on. Morgan is telling him to stop, but he continues, while Garcia looks scared. Finally, she tells them that she counsels victims’ families. Sometimes she is asked how cases are going. So she’d flagged a few so the lead detetective would know the FBI considered them priorities. She doesn’t have authority to do this, which is why she didn’t want to tell them. But it provides the vital clue.
Meanwhile, Nicholas Brendan appears to try and crack Garcia’s system. It’s very cute when he’s in her office and she’s at home. They’ve never seen each other, but they are almost flirting as they try to beat each other into the system. (I really liked his character. He looked like he rolled out of bed, took a shower the day or so before, threw on some clothes that were on his floor, and left. Not like he was trying to look like he didn’t care, but really didn’t.)
Anyway, it turns out that a few cases Garcia flagged involved the same deputy sheriff - who is none other than her date.
So, he’s in the BAU, being questioned by internal affairs (they don’t know yet he did it). The computer tech (whose name I’ve honestly forgotten) and Garcia communicate with each other and he’s sending her video of the BAU. They see the deputy and call Hotch, who is there. The deputy starts getting suspicious. The team calls JJ, who is in her office. They tell her what’s going on, and she is able to get behind the attacker, who is holding the internal affairs guy hostage. She shoots through a window, getting the guy right in the head. It was an amazing shot, especially from JJ (who for some reason I didn’t expect to be able to shoot like that).
Anyway, at the end, Garcia meets the tech. She tells JJ that everything happens for a reason. So the two computer techies are gazing into each other’s eyes, impressed by the other’s abilities. It’s very cute and sweet.

I really liked this episode. I liked how Rossi went at Garcia. He knew it was the only way to get the information and that he was the only one who could do it because he was the one without all the ties to her. It was also nice to see how much Garcia means to the team. She’s so different from the rest of them, but also so important to the team and to their lives.
I wonder if Nicholas Brendan will appear in any more episodes…they’d make a cute couple.

I’m a little late putting this up. I really forgot it was Wednesday. My week is a little messed up so hopefully I’ll remember to watch Criminal Minds.
Tonight at nine is the continuation of last week’s episode, “Lucky.” “Penelope” will pick up where we left off - Garcia’s date just shot her. The rest of the team is working on finding her killer and wondering if it’s related to her work (awfully coincidental that this guy was in the coffee shop she always goes to and just happens to have a computer problem). Nicholas Brendan, of Buffy the Vampire fame, guest stars as a computer tech who is hired to try to interpret Garcia’s computer system and see if anything she was working on yields some clues.
Sounds good - I’ll definately remember to watch this one. I think it’ll be interesting to see the interactions of the rest of the team and how David Rossi fits into this. It’s an us vs. them type of situation, so we’ll see if he’s an us or a them.

I really hate game shows. Jeopardy is ok, but I can’t stand anything else. I hate reality shows too. I refuse to watch Survivor, although yes, I will watch Janice Dickinson and Ultimate Fighting Championship (I don’t know how I come up with these, but there it is).

Anyway, as the WGA strike continues (talks resume next week - so hopefully it’ll be over), you may find yourself with some time on your hands if you don’t like game or reality shows or reruns. What are you going to do with your freed up time?

Here are some of my ideas:

1. I could read/play with my daughter. She’s way more entertaining than a lot of tv shows. (I hope the strike doesn’t affect Curious George, though. That would be devestating.)
2. You can catch up on shows you haven’t seen. If they’re showing reruns it’s a good time to see what’s up with Lost or 24.
3. You can check out Oxygen’s Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. Wait, really, she grows on you. She’s so bold and bitchy - I love her.
4. I will finish making my Christmas presents for my family.
5. I will have time to devote to cleaning my refrigerator and oven. These are jobs no one tells you about when you’re young and can’t wait to be an adult.

6. Reading is always good. I’m reading Year of Wonder by Geraldine Brooks. It’s about the Bubonic plague. If you’re looking for something less depressing, read Freakonomics. It’s really interesting, and then you’ll be able to tell people why crack dealers make less than McDonald’s workers and how Superman stopped the KKK. Also available is the first book, Jump Cut, in the new Criminal Minds-based series.
7. You can go on the Watching House site and harass Randi with comments about how much better Criminal Minds is.

8. I like to do crafts. If you need some crafty tips, 451Press has great craft and hobby blogs. Did you know that you can make Vanilla Velvet Honey Lip Balm? Summer at Creative Mom Cafe has this and other great projects - including 30 Gifts in 30 Days, perfect for Christmas. Draw, paint, sew, whatever.
9. Watch netflix. I’m getting Season Five of CSI.
10. If I get really really bored, I suppose I can have a quality conversation with my fiance.

What are some things you do for entertainment besides tv?

The National Post of Canada has an article today about the WGA strike. Both sides have indicated that they will resume talks next Monday. The strike started on November 5, and viewers haven’t felt the impact for the most part. The strike has, however, affected the thousands of people who are employed in the entertainment industry. This ranges from costume designers to hair stylists to maintainance people. It overflows into the community as well. Coffee shops, restaurants, and stores lose business when these employees cut spending. The entertainment industry pumps a lot of money into the local economy, and that lack of money is hard felt by the citizens.
In the face of this economic hardship, it behooves both sides to end the strike quickly from a PR standpoint.
The writers have been supported by actors and even politicians. Barack Obama has publically sided with the writers, and CA Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been calling for a quick end to the strike so the effects his state aren’t as profound.
Economic effects are also being felt in Canada. About twenty US shows, including Criminal Minds and Bionic Woman, are made in Vancouver, Canada, where production has shut down.
The full article is at The National Post.
The Vancouver Sun also has a good article about the effects of the WGA strike on Canada.

Shemar Moore made People’s list of sexiest men for 2007. He came in at #10!

I’ve read again and again that Criminal Minds is the darkest crime show on tv, that it’s extreme with its creepy villains and crimes. Honestly, I never really saw that it was so much more terrible than other shows, CSI for example. One particular episode of CSI that was especially memorable to me was when an older lady died and her cats became hungry. Not a pretty picture (and yes, they showed the picture).
I don’t know if I’m a product of over-exposure to crime shows and violent images, but the show didn’t really seem outrageously over the top.

Last night, I had a different perspective. Jamie Kennedy played Floyd Feylinn Ferell, a former mental patient who took a large bite of his baby sister when he was seven. He seemed pleased with himself when he’s being interrogated by Morgan with Fr. Marks. When he reveals that he’d fed one of his victims to search volunteers, he looks like he made a joke and is happy with the reaction.

With all the violent shows, movies, and videogames, I don’t know why this was especially vivid to me. It disgusted me, and I could begin to see why Criminal Minds was said to be more dark than other shows. On other crime procedurals, there is almost a light tone as the officers and detectives go about their business. Sometimes they are affected by their cases, but the tone is very different. Criminal Minds is always dark. Even when they’re joking around, there is an underlying tension and pervasive unease. Garcia provides a break from all this with all her color and charm, but even she is affected by what she sees.

The reason why I’m writing about this is that a reader commented that she won’t be watching the show anymore. A little aside: I really value the comments that people make. I appreciate the time they take, and I take respect everyone’s opinion. I just wanted to say that so the person who wrote the comment doesn’t feel singled out. Anyway, she said that the show had taken a morbid turn. There were images that she didn’t want her children to see. This is a person who has watched CM from the first episode.
It’s ironic that I’d just been thinking of the disgusting image of the volunteers eating the victim, and this reader made the comment.

Has Criminal Minds taken a turn for the worse as it gets more and more graphic? Is the tone of season three more foreboding than the previous two? I really don’t know. I do feel like something is different this season - besides the obvious cast change.
Is there another change in the characters? Are the shows gruesome, but at the same time predictable? What do you think of the cases and profiles that are being shown?

This was an interesting and welcome comment, so I thank the reader who wrote it. When I watched “Scared to Death,” I felt like it was a step backwards for the show. It seemed rushed and not fully developed. With “Seven Seconds,” I feel like the show was back in top form. There was a lot of family dynamics and relationships to investigate, and there was the suspense of finding the girl - and even whether she was still alive. I did enjoy “Lucky,” though I found it to be repulsive. But I think that being repulsive is what seperates CM from other shows. These aren’t average, ordinary killers (if there is such a thing). They are depraved. I have to admit that is why I watched the show in the first place. The crimes are different, the atmosphere is different. Some episodes are like mini horror movies.
The humanity is supposed to come from the profilers - their reactions and interactions. I don’t know why other people watch Criminal Minds and other crime procedurals, but I’m willing to guess that a lot of people are drawn to the sick and depraved cases. It’s fascinating to us.

I certainly understand, though, why this reader will not be watching the show anymore. Maybe there comes a point when you can’t absorb so much sickness and ugliness. What do you think?

To read some reviews of CM from back when it premiered, check out Metacritic.

Criminal Minds won the nine o’clock timeslot for the first time this season. It beat out Private Practice for the first time and won the 18-49 age group.

Criminal Minds was in top form for Wednesday night’s episode, “Lucky.”

The show opens with bubbly, happy, smiling Penelope Garcia. She meets a guy at a coffee shop, fixes his computer, and gives him her number. She tells Morgan, and says she’s not the type to get hit on from across the room, and that it usually takes men longer to realize how wonderful she is. Morgan tells her to go with her gut, which she does. She throws his number away. But then, as she is talking to Morgan, she gets mad when he implies (or seems to) that there must be something wrong with the guy if he asked her out. So of course she sets up a date.

The case the team is investigating is particularly gruesome. The victims have pentacles carved into their chests, their legs are missing, and one had partially digested fingers in her stomach. The crimes take place in a small Florida town, and it revolves around the church. After the team deduces that the unsub is a former mental patient, they find the hospital where he was likely a patient. They find out that he bit a chunk out of his nine-month old sister when he was seven. Luckily, they also found out his name. From there, it was easy to trace him - he didn’t use an alias or try to hide. The last victim is saved, but one woman is still missing.
Morgan interrogates the unsub, who wants to talk to the parish priest. The priest tells the unsub that he is not alone, God is a part of him. To which the unsub replies, “And Tracy is a part of us too.”

The gruesome part: he signed up to help with the search party. His job was to feed the other volunteers. There are flashbacks of him ladling out soup to people in the community. This was so disgusting to me - they’re eating the person they’re trying to find.

On the personal side, Morgan is struggling with his faith. He lost faith in God when he was a child and was being abused. God did nothing, Morgan says. At the end of the episode, he is praying in church.

And Garcia’s date…at the end, James says, “Garcia, I’ve been thinking of doing this all day.” Hmmm…first date kiss? No, he takes out a gun and shoots her in the chest.

This was a great episode - very dramatic and creepy. Not only was the case interesting, the characters were developed further. We got to see more of Penelope - her interaction with Morgan when she gets mad at him lets us see a different side of her. Her character shows a lot of personality, but we don’t know a lot about her personal life. This will change in the upcoming episode when the investigation into her shooting takes place.

The third season started off well with “Doubt.” I was less impressed with “Scared to Death,” but the subsequent episodes have been exciting and entertaining. Next week’s offering, “Penelope,” continues the story and leads the team to suspect that the attacker is someone close to the investigation.

If you want to read a bit more about the WGA strike, Buddy TV has a new article, with thoughts from AJ Cook, CM exec producer Edward Bernero, and CM writer Andrew Wilder.

Tonight on Criminal Minds, the team tracks down a serial killer, played by Jamie Kennedy. This cannabal causes Morgan to doubt his faith. Also, Garcia goes on a date, and the relationship is not off to a good start.
If you want to know what happens, click here. Otherwise, we’ll see on Wednesday!
With the writers strike unresolved, this is one of the last new episodes. Next week, Nicholas Brendan will guest star as a computer tech hired to crack Garcia’s unique system.
To find out what else Criminal Minds has in store, check out TV.com’s episode guide.