Reid and the drug addiction
Heaven knows I love the show and Reid is a fantastic character, but one complaint I do have about the past season is the way they handled Reid’s post-”Revelations” drug addiction. Or rather, how they *didn’t* handle it.
When we saw Reid steal the drugs at the end of the episode, I was pretty excited. The drugs he was given are highly addictive and it wouldn’t have been realistic for him to have as much as he did without getting somewhat hooked. Add to that the mental stress of the ordeal he had been through and I was expecting a pretty serious look at how Reid’s addiction would battle with his logic, how he would seek help (or have help brought to him via the team), and how he would fight and win against his addiction.
So of course I as heavily disappointed that it was never really full-on addressed. We saw him in the following episode, staked out in a bathroom with his drugs before he was interrupted. After that there were moments where it was implied - both that he was still dealing with it and that the team knew what he was going through. But it was never fully addressed.
I know it’s a crime drama and not an after-school special, but I would have really liked to have seen a proper attempt to show how a character like Reid, someone who is highly intelligent, deals with logic, and wouldn’t normally be a drug user, would fight against a drug addiction.
(Photos source - buddytv.com)
April 7th, 2008 at 6:43 am
I’ve heard something about a vaccine that makes us quit doing drugs.. isn’t that’s great?
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:23 am
This is a very exiting series because drugs made Reid do many wared things but its a good one because as a young person fighting drugs its a real thing out street.
gc0005
Colorado Drug Addiction
September 7th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I wholeheartedly agree. When I saw him take thdrugs I was perversely excited for the character development potential. They did subtley aknowledge his problem for the next two or three episodes, but then it seemingly disappeared. And then the character was sorely underused in Season Three. If anyone has a reason to use drugs, it’s Reid.
“Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” - Ernest Hemingway.
And he was so right, you know?
April 11th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Actually having a background like the character of Reid which for me was a very odd thing to see on television for my live had many turns that wen’t the same as his character.
(A very logical mind which can be very annoying for the world arround, 3 Degrees at age 24: Math, Physics and Phychologie and a life in criminology as I work for a forensic team.)
With an extreme logical mind it is often very hard to express feelings and deal with emotions. Not that the emotions are less just the way of coping with them gave me a problem with amfetamins and morfine. I havce been clean for two years now but I can understand how a situation like that grows on a character like the character of Dr. Reid. So to gice a reaction on the writers question of not normally beeing a drugs-user; there really is no stereotype drugs user. Drugs Abuse comes in all layers of people.
About 35% of the people with medical degrees use benzodiazapines to relax and a 27% (has) used amfetamines to relief the fatigue of the work presure. The same numbers apply to shrinks. Many great minds have had their downside in the use of substances that induce an altered state of mind.
November 29th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Logan, if you are as smart as you say you are, then why did you misspell just about everything?
January 13th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
I agree with the original post concerning Reid’s drug addiction. I, too, was very excited about this story arc being played out in future episodes and was wondering how the writers would handle it.
To say that I am disappointed that the storyline has seemingly been dropped does not even begin to cover it.
To me, the episodes addressing Reid and his drug addiction are among the best ones! I definitely want to see Reid’s addiction revisited in detail.
Rumor has it that Reid’s drug addiction will be introduced in a future episode during season five but I have not idea if this is true. I really hope that it is though! When I heard that rumor I got so excited! I want the CM writers to go there with Reid and to do this storyline justice. They got off to a great start…now they need to continue!
Matthew Gray Gubler is doing an excellent job. His portrayal of Spencer Reid is mesmerizing. He really won me over with the whole drug addiction story arc and I think his talents are being wasted if the writer’s do not allow him to go back there and revisit Spencer’s problem. Addicts don’t get cured. It’s a constant struggle. They can learn to live with the problem and function but the possibility always exists that they could have a setback. That doesn’t make them terrible people, just human.
I want to see Spencer Reid continue to deal with his addiction while still working for the BAU. The team would have to deal with the situation and I think they would. It could be very powerful stuff if handled correctly!
February 18th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
I completly AGREE !
I really do wish the proceeded with this addiction that reid had “begun”,
When I first seen how he returned to his victim and picked threw his pockets and took the drugs i was totallly excited to see a new side !
and i was totally let down although i still do love this show.I wish they would have at least shown his addiction or at least bring it up so we could know what really happened here !
maybe in there next seasons they release the “new” character for matthew and mix it up and show us what we’ve all been waiting to see ! I hope that creator of the show realizes that this is an eye appelear as a terrific and smart man struggles with something like this . this could make the rating much HIGHER !
June 15th, 2010 at 9:58 am
If I am an addicted to drugs and alcohol does that mean I have no controll? Or can I still be addicted and have a normal life?