Criminal Minds

I’m very excited about this episode. I’ve been waiting for something to happen with Reid. They made such a big deal of his trauma and supposed drug addiction last season and then this season, he hasn’t been a big part of any of the shows. I’m glad that appears to be changing. I wonder if there is something wrong with him and where the action will lead…”Elephant’s Memory” will air on Wednesday at nine.

“3rd Life” helped propel CBS to a second place finish Wednesday night. CSI:NY also had a new episode. NBC was the top network, with new episodes of Deal or No Deal, which was more popular than CBS’s Power of Ten. The New York Times reports this morning that both CM and CSI:NY were tops in their timeslots. ABC was third, but had decent numbers for Wife Swap and Supernanny.

“3rd Life” was the first new episode we’ve seen in a few weeks and was much anticipated because of the guest appearance of Gina Mantegna. It was great to see a new episode, but it was disappointing in that that was one of the last new one for a while. I thought the episode was not one of the best CM has to offer. The whole plot twist with the witness protection thing was strange to me. I know it made sense because of the way they lived, how Lindsay was able to stay alive, and why her father faces no consequences for his actions. It just seemed kind of thrown in there. The character Gina Mantegna played also was odd to me. Again, this is because they were trying to show that she had a totally different view point than your average 15 year old, but it was still very strange seeing her. I know I have repeated the words Odd, Strange, and weird a lot, but that’s what this episode was for me. One bright spot was Spenser. I haven’t been loving his character much this season. Maybe that’s because they haven’t focused much on him personally, like they did last season. But two things stuck out in “3rd Life.” Just before the team finds out that Jack is in witness protection, they see that his buddy (aka a federal marshal) has a gun. Immediately, they all draw their guns. Spenser wasn’t hesitant at all. He looked like a real FBI agent. Not shaky or scared. Go, Spencer! The other was when Spenser happened to be the one to find Lindsay, Jack, and the kidnapper in the bathroom of the high school. He tries to talk Jack down from shooting the kid who took his daughter. Jack shoots him anyway. Spenser just looks shocked afterwards. During the whole scene he is very sure of himself, but after, he is just astonished. It made his character seem a little more grown up, like he could take care of himself and didn’t need the rest of the team to protect him.
Other than that, this was not one of my favorite episodes. Next week, “Limelight” will be on. The contents of a storage unit in Philadelphia are bought at an auction. Inside, there turns out to be evidence of a serial killer. The team must look at the items to profile the killer. A local agent becomes a focus of the investigation.

Trivia: The song that Katie is singing on her weblog and at the end of the episode is “Umbrella,” by Rihanna featuring Jay-Z. Here’s a Youtube of the song.

Note: I feel like I’ve talked about the strike a lot, so today I’ll just give you links to two good articles that talk about the impact on your favorite shows.
This one from the San Jose Mercury News talks about new and returning shows and what potential schedules could look like. This one from Seat 42F will tell you how many scripts are prepared for your favorite shows.

If you missed last week’s episode, which heralded Joe Mantegna’s arrival, here’s a clip. In it, he is talking to Erin Strauss (the big boss) - she can’t understand why he came back. He helped start the BAU, and now he’s coming back to work under Hotch. This, as it turns out, appears to be hard for him. He takes over and leaks important information on a case to the media without consulting the rest of the team.

Youtube is a very dangerous place - I was looking for one video, and I got sucked into watching a bunch. Couldn’t resist this one. What better combo than Weird Al and Spencer Reid.

Do me a favor: go here and look at the picture of Matthew Gray Gubler. Does he not bear a striking resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite - minus the huge glasses?
I just totally used that as an excuse to talk about Napoleon Dynamite. If you have not seen it, definately check it out. It’s such a random movie but SO FUNNY. And now my whole family talks like him, so that’s fun too!

Here’s a little YouTube to get you in the Napoleon Dynamite mood. It’s Napoleon on David Letterman doing the Top Ten (Signs You’re Not the Coolest Kid in High School).

And if you have some extra time on your hands, check out Napoleon’s famous dance scene.

Dr. Spenser Reid is the resident genius of Criminal Minds; he knows all kinds of obscure things, like what is on page 17 of a book he read when he was seven. He reads at an insane pace and can process things instantly. The only thing that he’s not so good at is being a twenty-five year old. He’s shy and awkward around women, which was why I was glad he started hooking up with the actress in season one. His character isn’t like anyone a lot of us know.
Some characters make us feel like they’re real people: You can see Hotch struggle with trying to balance his work and family lives; Elle is traumatized by her attack; Gideon carries pictures of victims whose cases he’s worked on in his wallet. Is Spenser as realistic or is he more of a stereotype of what people think a genius is?
It was interesting when they showed flashbacks of when he had to send his mother to an institution. It made him seem more human. His short-lived drug habit also did this.
He adds a lot to the show - he brings amazing intelligence to the team, but he also has a more innocent quality to him than the others.
Check out this clip from Youtube. Matthew Gray Gubler as himself:

Tonight’s episode is a rerun of “Legacy,” in which the BAU is called to Kansas City to investigate the disappearances of homeless people. Detective McGee from Kansas City approaches JJ for help because his own superiors do not believe the missing person cases are connected. McGee believes there may be as many as 63 victims. Hotch and JJ go to “unofficially” look into the case, while a prostitute named Maggie is fighting for her life.
Early in the show, Hotch walks into Gideon’s office to find him watching Charlie Chaplin movies - a little comic relief from the horrors of their job.

Hal Boedeker - the TV Guy- reports that CBS was #1 in ratings Wednesday night. Power of Ten, hosted by Drew Carey pulled in the most viewers for the eight o’clock hour at about 8.7 million people. Rerun Criminal Minds episode “Lessons Learned” was also the top ranked show for 9:00, averaging 8.3 million viewers. Pretty impressive when a rerun generates that many viewers.
“Lessons Learned” first aired on November 22, 2006, and has agents Gideon, Prentiss, and Reid traveling to Guantanomo Bay, Cuba, to try to stop a chemical terrorist attack on the U.S. In this episode, Prentiss shows why she’s in the unit. Her knowledge of the Arabic language and culture is key in trying to prevent the anthrax attack that jihadists have planned. (For an episode recap go to TV.com) This episode was written by real BAU agent Jim Clemente.
Here’s a clip of Clemente talking about his job as a profiler. He specializes in cases involving children, particularly internet crime.

My favorite. Thomas Gibson plays Agent Aaron Hotchner on Criminal Minds. He started acting at age ten, went to Julliard, did theater, televison, movies. He played on CBS’s Chicago Hope and ABC’s Dharma and Greg

It’s very nice to do a little bit of the darkness after a little bit of the lightness. Variety is the spice of life. I enjoy both and hopefully I will be able to do as big a variety as I possibly can.

Here’s a little piece of the light:

And a little of the dark:

This clip is definately worth watching when Hotchner describes his team.

When I think of Joe Mantegna, I think of the mafia…or at least mafia movies. Apparently, a lot of other people do too. He’s been in The Last Don, as Pippi De Lena, Don Clericuzio’s right hand man/hit man. He won an Emmy for that role and starred in the sequal, the aptly named The Last Don II. He also played in the third Godfather movie. He’s even a cartoon mobster.
But Joe Mantegna also starred in Joan of Arcadia, a CBS show in which the title character communicates with God. He, like Mandy Patinkin, is a Tony Award Winner (The Glengarry Glenn Ross). He portrayed Dean Martin in The Rat Pack.
He’s played a cop in Homicide, Persons Unknown, Above Suspicion, and Albino Alligator (which I’ve never heard of but my boyfriend, Kevin Spacey, directed it!) So, maybe he will be a good FBI profiler. I still have doubts about it, but I’m liking him more and more. And one more reason why I’m coming around to Joe Mantegna. This has absolutely nothing to do with his acting ability or whether he’d make a good FBI agent, but it makes me think of him as a real person: His daughter Mia Marie was born prematurely on June 5, 1987 after doctors identified an infection in the umbilical cord. She weighed only 1 pound, 15 ounces and was reportedly one of the smallest babies born in California that year. When Mia was 2 1/2, she was diagnosed with Autism.
I see him as more than a mob character now. Since I addicted to YouTube lately, here’s a clip from the Craig Kilborn Show, in which Joe Mantegna faces Kylie Minogue in an intense game of Yambo. He’s one of those funny guys who are non-funny. Or a non-funny guy who’s funny.

Joe Mantegna, Criminal Minds

I have to give Joe Mantegna a chance: any guy who plays a Simpson character can’t be all bad.
Here’s a clip from YouTube in which Homer is threatened by Fat Tony (Joe Mantegna).
Keep watching: around minute two, Fat Tony hops on the Springfield Turnpike and reenacts the opening of The Sopranos. (It’s funny - plus, I have a little crush on Tony Soprano.)

If you missed this episode, make sure to watch this. This clip of Criminal Minds is set to the song, “Whisper,” by Evanescence. Even if you did see “Revelations,” it’s definately still worth watching. Very exciting!

If you have no idea what happened, check out some more clips at YouTube. There are a few that show longer sections of the episode if you want a better idea of what’s going on.
While you’re there, check out these other CM videos: One has scenes from “Revelations” set to “If Everyone Cared,” by Nickelback. (Awesome video - very exciting). The other is “Lithium,” also by Evanescense, and features scenes after Elle’s attack at the beginning of season one.

For the longest time, fans - myself included! - have asked the big question: Yes, the chase to catch killers and rapists is awesome, but will JJ and Reid ever finally hook up?

There was once a mention of a date way back when, but then nothing ever came of it and everyone was left wondering if we’ll just have to deal with the cute tension between them without anything further. A.J. Cook, the wonderful actress who plays JJ is just as in the dark about it, as seen when she was asked about the relationship that never was:

I’d personally love to see it as long as it doesn’t override the main purpose of the show. And if it never happens, well we always have about eight thousand fanfics revolving around their relationship to make us feel better.

When my favorite TV shows go off the air for the (looong) summer, I try to deal with the boredom by watching reruns, but thanks to YouTube, I can sometimes find fun stuff over there too to fill in the blanks of hiatus. One of my favorite things is when people make good fan videos. I can basically take a video with my camera and post it but I know essentially nothing about editing (editing was one of my least favorite things in film class, I just don’t have the patience for it) and making fan videos so I really appreciate the effort people put into them.

Here’s a nice one with scenes from “The Big Game” and “Revelations” set to a Nickelback song. It’s a bit dark of course, since a lot of the scenes happened at night and in darkened rooms, but it’s still great.

Happy Memorial Day to American readers!