Bering & Wells 5evah.Warehouse 13, smatterings of Voyager, Defiance, Person of Interest, and pretty much anything related to one adorable and delightful Joanne Kelly. Currently in the throes of an unplanned obsession with Paget Brewster/Emily Prentiss. Primary blog over @grandhike.
it's hot as balls here so I guess instead of a nap, it's Time for me to watch the finale, CME 17x10.
Spoilers and nonsense under the cut.
- I can't remember what happened last week. Oh, yeah. Ok
- Toodles, ha ha
- oh RIGHT. Now I remember. My incandescent Nate rage lol.
- I should not watch this mid-afternoon. Can't see shit
- why would Rebecca's mom know about whatever's going on lol
- minimal loss still ringing in my ears a bit. Sadly (bc this is not that)
- Oh Nicholas d'agosto is in this. Bailey?!
- they did SHIT ALL with the immediate aftermath of the cliffhanger. Ok
- fuck I have to switch to a different room it's too hard to see
- ope. he dead. didn't last long, did he. I did giggle at the dripping blood trail
- sorry that explosion that knocked Prentiss over was really funny
- so their cells were designed to create those bonds
- ok Prentiss is "on trial". yeah, who is we?
- I'm sorry every time they say "Peter B." it gives me bachelor/bachelorette related hives. Another symptom of paget-brewster-fan syndrome. will I ever recover
- is there a weird lack of urgency? Like, remembering back to when scratch kidnapped emily I feel like there was more panic among the team. Hm
- Dave, try telling people what you're thinking and where you're going some time
- uh oh. Is the B for Bailey?
- ah. hm. Pete.
- guys, where are we? and what are we doing here?
- not the black and white flashbacks again.
- EXCUSE ME. "I HAVE A SISTER" a whatnow. is she playing Bailey again
- if I could see the things on my teevee screen I could probably figure out who Pete Bailey is played by. his voice is familiar. Wait, is that the guy who played Wyatt in The Fosters? wow ok
- what a mess.
- loving PG's UFO earrings
- this is confusing as hell. and a lot of exposition
- Rebecca's "fuck you" to Vinny was lovely
- fucking hell this is very confusing.
- JJ "this is Emily"...girl I will always love hearing you say her name
- lol I love when the show *almost* roasts profiling
- did she say "your boyfriend's dead because you shot him babe"? why does this feel off to me? It seems too emotional, too angry? Emily's still off kilter?
- THIS FUCKER. YOU LEAVE JENNIFER JAREAU ALONE
- WHATTT. Penelope Garcia with the stare down?! what am I watching
- please break his face jj (but don't, bc he wants you to).
- damn. but also now we've got the exploitation of two female characters we know...and for what? and I think it's safe to assume JJ's not planning to tell Voit's wife...so we're back in not being honest with people territory... what is the point of all this?
- a blue-flamer? that's a new term to me
- "he had a drive...I used to have it..." hmmmmm
- there's a fucklot going on in here.
- well this is not great for our heroes...
- the stakes do not feel high enough for the story they're telling. like...do we really believe emily/the team is in imminent danger? (we do not.)
- omg how convenient, NOW they figure out is a trap lol
- oh sure the projector's just hooked up to the Internet
- ??????
- [god jj is so attractive]
- but what is this like...CW show hero shot montage thingy
- sorry the silly little troublemaker gibberish certificate on the wall in this scene with Clark Gregg is sending me
- "discretion is the better part of valor" and the shame on Emily's face at that
- party at PG's house
- OH NO. NOOOOO. TYLER APPLIED TO THE FBI. OH NOOOOOO. oh no im so shocked
- JJ "I have never been that high, ever" so I was right! she for sure has partaken before
- "we were more miserable apart than together" what a RINGING ENDORSEMENT for your relationship hahahahahaha 🤣
- Rebecca is looking v cute
- I can't with this show. Ahahaha god I'm laughing so hard. I can't explain to anyone how much I love and dislike criminal minds. What it has become. It delights me so much and it is so disappointing.
I'm going to have to rewatch this episode. There's a lot going on here. I will miss Emily Prentiss forever and always. She left some part of herself in London or whatever, and didn't return when Paget came back to the show. I thought her personality returned a bit in s16, and it did...but I don't know if I know her, this her. Anyone else?
The fact they are keeping on Tyler is not surprising. And I don't super care about it, I find him fairly inoffensive in himself, BUT I fear this means Luke will continue to be sidelined and I'm bummed at that. Maybe they will continue having these two bond and that will give Luke more screentime at least. To be extra funny FBI HR should just reject him outright and the team has to do increasingly inane workarounds to keep using him.
And that Voit is still around... Also not surprising given how much they like Zach Gilford. I personally am not tired of him so much as.... confused about what they're doing with him. With Gold Star they made Voit out to be some sort of manipulative genius, kind of mirror universe Reid. But where can they go from here?
And JJ, my beloved. I don't even know what to say there.
Rossi's still hallucinating. Wonder if he will ever do his 4 hours a day therapy lmao.
I wasn't going to post because I wrote this in a sort of fugue state after staying up super late watching the ep over and over when it first dropped. but I like having a record of what I was thinking, such as it is.
Esp about the brief discussion of BAUgate, and how jj specifically says her beef is that emily wasn’t honest with “...us, with *me*”. emily’s “I am” is earnest, but she’s on a slightly different page than JJ cuz she follows that with “honestly, I want to quit”. Emily’s still drowning in her feelings about how the job is fucking her up, jj’s just over here trying to be real with her about their relationship. And it really sounds like there’s more to the “it’s about being honest with *me*” than just BAUgate. Like….is JJ wanting more honesty about whatever the fuck happened to them? It’s not a huge stretch. I love AJ Cook's performance. when I first got into the jemily of it all with cm I was very focused on Emily but as time has passed and I've watched and rewatched, it's become clearer that JJ a huge engine driving what makes jemily interesting to me.
I’ve seen folks theorize that Emily’s knowledge of BAUgate is what caused the perceived distance between her & JJ in s16, but I personally don’t fully buy into that. Emily became unit chief in 2017ish, and section chief presumably sometime in 2020-2022. It’s unclear when she was briefed on BAUgate. She tells Luke about it like it’s mostly a done deal she inherited the problem/information, the issue was apparently dealt with, and she made a judgment call about informing them. But as he pointed out, you know once it’s on the Internet it lives forever. She’s can't be naive about that. And I think she's glossing over it a bit to try to calm him down. We’ve been given no indication that Rossi had this info, though he probably knew broad strokes, and he was UC for some amount of time. My guess is she was briefed in detail on BAUgate when she became SC. So I guess BAUgate could be a component of s16 tension with JJ, especially insofar as this is a big unspoken thing that Emily has shouldered alone in order to shelter her team/friends, and is potentially emblematic of a larger pattern of Emily withholding information and not feeling free to be open with JJ as a friend because of her professional responsibilities. But I think if we take their distance seriously it has to go deeper than this one thing. Because the weirdness between them goes back further than evolution. It’s also in the way JJ chose to fuck off to New Orleans instead of taking over as UC as Emily planned. [where does this fit in the “we don’t quit” narrative that JJ spins?]. It’s in the way we don’t know exactly why JJ & Will decided to move back to Virginia. It’s in the way some awkwardness, resentment, isolation, hurt, whatever brewed between them during the pandemic years (and before!), and perhaps unspoken history made it difficult for them to be normal with one another on a personal level.
To me, the weirdness of their interactions in s16 is most egregious in the lack of direct comfort/interaction after JJ & Luke were blown up in the shipping container. And maybe a little in the fact that Emily so happily greeted Will, of all people, when they all returned from California (made me laugh so hard my god). But the relative stiffness of their interactions has been consistent since season 12/13, I think (thinking about the what ifs/if onlys convo). As though one or both of them were making an effort to be professional but not too personal, or keep it benign and surface level because dealing openly with whatever they had going on deep down would be too painful.
I’m so glad this convo happened in a more relaxed setting. They were going to have a talk at the office! it would have been more buttoned up, might have even played more into the underlying tension between them. It wouldn’t have been JJ trying to keep Emily from quitting. Could have been harder for Emily to really hear all of what JJ was saying to her, in that environment.
Speaking of all of what JJ was saying. !!!
I agree this is a confession of love. And it’s fucking beautiful. It’s JJ being vulnerable about how much Emily’s presence in her life means to her. JJ’s telling Emily that they are stronger than their predecessors in part *because they have been a source of strength for each other, for years.* Paris, the miscarriage, yes. And, and. JJ is and has always been so strong as an individual. But Emily was also JJ’s quiet strength in Georgia, the hospital waiting room, the stalking case, the bank robbery, in Reid & Penelope’s abduction, in East Allegheny. JJ saw and believed in Emily’s humanity - her hidden dreams - from early days. She pulled her through those bleak 7 months in exile. How many times has JJ taken the sting out of Emily's mood like she did on the jet in 11x19 Tribute? JJ is making herself a source of strength for Emily, right here in this conversation (*make* them fire you!, don’t just roll over). They have such a history of mutuality: of comradery, kindness, deep care, showing up. It’s not romantic in name but can easily be read that way. It’s *really* fucking romantic, even if it’s platonic. Do you know what I mean???????
I’m obsessed with AJ Cook’s choices throughout. OBSESSED.
The way JJ pauses for that moment after “it gives me you”, making steady eye contact, letting it really sink in. She got brave, and it landed. Then she kind of rolls her eyes at herself, maybe a little annoyed at the tears starting to come, maybe a little embarrassed that she’s letting this truth out into the world.
And the “Always.” Dropping eye contact, retreating from the moment a bit. A bit afraid to watch Emily’s reaction - but also she does very deliberately look directly at Emily again for a split second! That “Always” has carried a torch, for a very long time. That “Always” at least never admitted to Emily how much it hurt when she left. How much the distance has hurt.
~ I’ve been through hell in this job but it brought us together (I love you). You’ve kept me going through awful things (I love you). Of course I’ll support you whatever you decide (I love you). I’ll always support you even when you leave me (I love you). You’ve left me before and it hurt and it didn’t stop me from loving you (I love you). Please hang on; please stay; please come back to me (I love you, I love you, I love you). ~
*gentle screaming*
And, oh my god, Emily’s reactions. Emily had no idea this conversation was going to go where it did. Immediately defensive when JJ mentions Paris - she’s still in the part of the game where she’s protesting being convinced to stay, and Paris feels like a low blow. The way she crumples into “oh goddammit” when JJ brings up the miscarriage. Oh now it’s clear this is going deeper. Like, WHAT is the full story there??!! JJ was pregnant when she came to Emily’s rescue, right? So the attack and miscarriage happened while Emily was tucked away in Paris. We know JJ was Emily’s only(?) connection to her real life in that period, and here’s confirmation that Emily was a lifeline for JJ during that time as well, perhaps implying that she wasn’t confiding in her husband, at least not fully. You know how JJ tends to keep the hard things to herself, and she was forced to keep secrets for her safety and Emily’s safety. But she shared this with Emily. Maybe Emily had to push her (she “didn’t quit” on JJ), but they were already both in the dark, so to speak, so JJ could let herself lean on that support without bringing that darkness into her home life. Emily’s “goddammit” to me sounds like: memories of grief upon grief upon desperate isolation. Sounds like: I put those memories away and it took something out of me to do it. Sounds like: That was when their love for each other deepened, grew richer and more complex. That was when something more might have started to bloom between them, some doomed but lovely unnamed thing. And then it was locked away. And JJ has the audacity to acknowledge it? Now? Emily’s been spiraling about what’s the point of fighting this battle, when I feel like I’m losing myself? And JJ calls up the memory of this awful, bleak time when they both felt horrendously lost and they *got each other through it.* I mean. I MEAN
I love Emily’s shocked reaction as JJ’s confession lands. Either Emily’s feelings never breached the platonic barrier (not my interpretation!), or she put away the possibility years ago and did her damnedest to not look back. You can see her wheels turning, her uncertainty about what JJ’s revealed, her wanting to tread carefully. And when Rossi texts and she has to make a choice? JJ’s looking at her with those big blue eyes. Time to table the full depth of the moment. Sprinkle in a little bravado. The thing about being an adult is, you still have to go to all hands meetings while you’re having an earth shattering realization.
……..
Another thing about “it gives me you.” JJ has probably resigned herself to the fact that working at the BAU is the only way she gets to “have” this much of Emily. It’s part of why she came back from New Orleans, even if never acknowledged or articulated.
You know it’s a good scene when it makes me want to watch a bunch of other scenes. Even scenes I hate. Like…I want to revisit Reid talking Emily off the ledge, the truth or dare confession (loathsome!), the scene where Emily decides to stay on as UC in s12 (love this one). The Forever People (Mr Macbeth my beloved).
Honestly maybe JJ’s poly and she doesn’t know it, hasn’t let herself consider it. She’s evidently got a lot of love to give. And that needn’t be framed as some kind of betrayal of her vows or callous carelessness with her friend’s hearts, not to my mind. Plus, like, three cheers for letting your love for someone simply be what it is, however amorphous or uncategorizable, however little you can or want to act on it.
*******
Oh my god I’ve watched this scene over and over and over. I have total brain worms about it. I feel insane. I forgot to eat lunch and dinner
*******
Jennifer Jareau. This is AJ Cook’s season, it’s her show now. I am all the way in forever and ever
.
.
.
when CME socials started posting Jemily stuff and AJ said “ultimate Jemily moment” and Paget lightly teased……I just laughed. Like, okay, sure, ancient CBS procedural. Sure, my little carousel of disappointments. Sure. LOL. After all these years, they are not going to go there, and I wouldn’t even want them to.
I did not in a million years expect them to crack open the door like this. I still don’t think they’re going to break up JJ & Will. I am not expecting a Jemily kiss. But after this episode - the pathway to such a thing is clearer than it was. And now I think if they did choose to go there, they could maybe (maybe!!) even do it well. Shocking development. Has a lot to do with AJ's performance tbh. The writing is fine, despite the way it seems to twist the facts of canon around bts reality. But she's the one laying JJ's heart bare.
.
.
.
If this is it, the full extent of JJ’s and Emily’s scenes together this season (which would be weird!), I will still walk away with warm feelings. I’m honestly feeling so grateful for the way this episode gave them room to honor the history of these characters.
- I guess I gotta rely on someone else to get good screen grabs of the BAU conspiracy boards
- but also who is the bearded guy on JJ's board supposed to be? Didn't recognize him at all
- side note I'm sure Doug Bailey's family is going to come into this at some point. The way Brian Garrity said "he had parents..." that one time. And now they name-checked Bailey again
- I like the Dana / Jade duo. Too bad that didn't last!
- Voit's "Toodles" made me cackle
- Garcia saying "rizz" also made me cackle but like differently, in a sad way
- Tyler is annoying again, paired up with Emily. idk why. he's just a lil boy and she's... Emily. like...the wine pairing is wrong
- Frank Church is quite a guy. Likes to push buttons I see. ...What the hell do I know him from?
- HOLY SHIT BALLS BATMAN. I checked IMDb. Tuc Watkins. He played Nate. In WH13. MOTHERFUCKING NATE. HG'S BEARD IN BOONE WISCONSIN NATE. FUCKING NATE!!! my god. FUCK
- the yell I let out
- fucking NATE, of all the things......christ
- i'm dying. I was following along with interest but now I'm like...activated (lol)
- if hg wells found out about this BS she would torture murder him SO HARDDD posthaste
- GOD. now I want Jaime Murray on cme as a hot evil sexy big bad. oh no now im daydreaming about her and paget going head to head. my life is ruined. RUINED
- alright........ forcibly moving on
- I like Garcia's jacket
- criminal minds but actually wait no, government / anti- government conspiracy manipulating and torturing children. like the Afghanistan storyline for JJ, another sick fuck co-opting covert state action to feed his own evil ends.
- makes it easy to root for Jade.
- this fucker. Nate. motherfucker!
- emily quoting gandalf, pls 😂
- oh, she's just walking in. Emily you badass. the memory of minimal loss echoing in my brain
- this episode is exciting.
- so what building is Jade blowing up? and like...is Emily in it by any chance???!!!! Aaaaaaaaa
- they really built that tension at the end! only one more episode, damn
- this Lawrence Durrell quote "the richest love is that which submits to the arbitration of time"...in Emily's voice no less. I assume it's about Rossi, but a girl can twirl her hair and think of other applications.
- this Rossi stuff with Jill. Hmph. And Prentiss talking about... falling in love with your best friend's wife, and timing... teehee
- the way Emily listens and responds, reminds me of their chat in season 7. Can't remember the episode atm but it's when Rossi is thinking his ex wife (#1) wants to rekindle and Emily tells him to take the leap. I love that little scene, so this reminder was nice.
- JJ & Luke in the field. looking foine
- I like the way the Stuart house kids think Voit's a little bitch
- I really like Rebecca. Tyler's sort of growing on me, like some kind of inoffensive fungus maybe. I'm not a fan of whatever they're doing to Luke with this alleged "triangle"
- so all the Gold Star doctors/psychologists are dying/killed...I see where we're going here. Jill you in danger girl.
- Paget's hair so pretty 😍
- Tara is gorgeous, always. But those pics of Aisha directing the last ep? I nearly passed away 🔥🔥🔥 holy shit 🔥🔥🔥
- wait WHAT. Did I fall asleep? (that's what I get for watching this in the middle of the night)
- WHAT???!!!
- going back to watch what I missed
- I gotta be so honest. I just am not that interested in Rossi's emotional turmoil, his inner world. I'm sorry old man. I just....I just want to see more of JJ, more of Luke, more of Tara, more of Emily. Voit in s16 and now Gold Star in s17 have both built to/been aimed at Rossi at the last chapter, and I just do not find that particularly compelling. I think this is a result of the 10-episode serial format. They have to make the overall arc "big" and they make it about "the BAU" and who is more representative of the BAU than Rossi. I like Joe Mantegna, but of the limited time we get the fact that it's Rossi, over and over, is a bummer to me. ftr this is also why I am pleased that Spencer is not in evolution - bc I don't think they could resist making it all about him, somehow.
- I did like the way they had him zoning out while JJ etc delivered the profile, and then she clapped real big.
- wait a minute here. We were led to believe that Gold Star had *national security* implications. Now it's come to light that Jill used the white paper to draft a proposal, and the proposed project was funded by a mysterious *private entity*. Is the supposed blowback that the FBI sponsored research that eventually led to the creation of these killers? So the FBI has an interest in not letting that information go public, in order to protect its reputation (lol)? And you'd think, if the FBI director "had it out for" the BAU, what better excuse to reorganize or dismantle than to let the "founders" of the BAU take the public fall. Idk it just feels weak to me, the way this is all supposed to hang together. I suppose if there really are other facilities besides Stuart House, that were more successful (ie their patients became agents of state violence rather than uncontrolled killers), the gov would want to keep that secret. It's a pretty dark view of the establishment, that CM doesn't generally express. But we are no longer just a CBS procedural...
- the scenes with Jill and Damien. Ran counter to my expectations. It happened so quickly, that she convinced him his training had been a lie, that he killed his foster dad for no good reason. And then he's dead??? I honestly would have liked something more with this guy. He already knew quite well that he had been made into a monster, and was apparently exacting his revenge for that. So why give Jill any time at all? Because Jill manipulate him by using his given "purpose" (to "save the children")? And Damien and Jade have a fairly deep bond, so why does he commit suicide by her hand, leaving her alone? I'm confused by how that all went down.
- seems like, at this rate, we're unlikely to get any further follow up on how JJ is doing with BAUgate. great
- also side note but did Emily officially step down/was demoted from Section Chief? She's UC but no longer SC I think.
- hoping and praying for Jill to interact with any other member of the team going forward. Especially JJ. Not Tyler
- this show is so disappointing! I feel comforted by that. And disappointed lol
- maybe on rewatch this will flow together better for me...
I'm sure my overall impression of this episode was damaged by the fact I fell asleep for half of it and woke up to the climactic tragic. Lol moment
- sorry but also hilarious that this guy's just in his basement with the holiday decor in storage
- nothing like a nice nap while you wait for the corpse to dissolve 😂
- I mean yeah especially when you're a new dad
- ok Felicity Huffman will be making her appearance!
- Emily "I gotta flex a little bit" profiling Tyler's handwriting? rolling my eyes so far back in my skull
- LOLLL Emily's "all of them??!" delivery
- so they're leaning into the parental dynamic with Rossi and Emily here, and it's cute, but the very idea that Emily would follow such a prohibition is so funny, Rossi you're still delusional my man. Adorable indeed
- cm is a comedy!!! "I don't have asthma"
- oh no this is heartbreaking AND sinister. And kind of vaguely romantic?
- Tara, I WILL listen to you lecture me about epigenetics. Anytime
- "situational psychopathy." words!
- "you're not gonna mess with my head again, are you?" "of course I am" 🤣🤣🤣. It's so nice that Emily's feeling more pep in her step
- side note: Emily in red my beloved
- what is Tyler's "persuasive skillset"?
- what is going on with this lawyer guy. Voit's whole deal seems to be reminding us that profilers are insufferable
- well that's one way to pay your lawyer I guess
- okay actually I think this shot through multiple car windows is cool
- I am not the only one interpreting that "skillset" comment that way lol. cm is a comedy! not like...a good one. But I am laughing. yokes on me guys
- oh I like this Penelope look
- hope his screams don't wake the baby 💀
- what? why this weird ass angle. oh like a security cam? harrumph
- yeah ok I'm laughing so much at Jill thru the door
- did she just leave Tyler in the car like a neglected toddler?
- this murder couple is fucked up, but like not in a fun way
- kind of annoying that they conveniently forget bi people exist just to make this evidence 'exonerating'. I mean, JJ didn't forget (of course). but also is it weird they didn't say the guy was gay or bi, just referred to who he had sex with?
- "he loved you back" Aww
- oh my god the comedy just keeps coming. Jason Gideon was melodramatic, histrionic...and Rossi is "the opposite," please. Like, I know the man is currently xtra traumatized but he's been yelling and throwing coffee cups at the wall for weeks, months, etc
- "how's JJ?" aww
- this baldfaced manipulation is kind of funny. it's kind of like all the times Emily's flirted with a suspect or unsub except not smooth at all, girl did you forget how to be subtle. the eager "but is it working? but I'm cute right?" energy
- calling JJ "the younger generation" is too silly I can't. She's been in the BAU longer than you!
- omg his wife is dead already isn't she.
- this mfer creepy
- JJ still wearing those sleeves pulled all the way down to her hands...
- when Jill comes in to the BAU is she just going to read everyone for filth? I wouldn't be shocked
- oh doctor you got lucky
- oh goddddd not the baby corpse 😫 holy shit. the dead wife's hand was gross, but the baby! noooooooooo 💔. aisha tyler why did you do this to me
- uh oh vinny!
- here she is! hugs from Penelope!
- it would be so funny if Jill took this opportunity to vandalize Rossi's office
- love to torture this old man
So overall this episode was okay. I think they're having a hell of a time trying to balance the Voit/Gold Star of it all with a serial murder of the week. The murderer was suitably creepy and imo an interesting rehash of that guy in "Normal" that was shooting people in traffic. But does it tie in with the season? Thematically if not in plot terms? Seems like not much! Maybe I'm wrong.
I do really like Jill Gideon, very much looking forward to her involvement. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Felicity Huffman, but I like this character - she has a personality! And a sparkle in her eye! And a unique perspective on the team and the work! I hope she's not just used to fuck with Rossi. I like that she has (pleasant!) history with the OGs. She must have known Elle as well - it would be neat to get an Elle mention. Also I hope she and Tara get some screentime together.
good news. I finally fell asleep waiting for the ep to drop. and then I woke up again! so now imma do this.
Spoilers, etc. for CME 17x06. 🥰
I watched this episode at 4am. But it's 11:30 am now and I've already seen it two more times. 🥳
- oh I don't like this. Dream sequence for sure, right. Luke! No no no no
- EMILY. oh you motherfuckers. oh my god. wow even when they killed her the first time they didn't make me watch her die like THIS. FUCK ME. Erica Messer I will never forgive you!!! 😈
- (wish I could retire the small part of my brain that resents that this scene happens in service of Rossi's pain.)
- Haunting lil echo over the title card. 😈
- Rossi losing it does make a great case for promoting someone else as (acting) UC........like JJ. C'mon now.
- oh look!!! JJ and GARCIA. I know they had a couple scenes (one?) in s16 but it always warms my heart to have them together. Just like ye olden times. Kind of. The vibe is off? Maybe the way it's shot? They're not even looking at each other much? I am nitpicking now.
- "you're an angel of helping" - truer words about Jennifer Jareau etc etc. she is an angel.
- "put on your awkward pants." I giggled! the delivery
- "I do talk about it...with Emily." 😭
- (but also dude, retire and go hang out with your grandson for fucks sake. let yourself heal)
- UH oh here we are. omg. Look, I have not put on the clown shoes bc I know better. But I am excited they have a scene, together. CHEETOS (cheese puffs) CAMEO. what is going on
- "you see that movie...idiot city...wait...idiot city?" oh I'm cackling already LMAO. Yeah. I enjoyed that.
- and now we are low-key setting up Luke & Teresa? "I have a thing for army guys" okay miss ma'am 👀
- Rossi, buddy. You don't have time to NOT do therapy. I wonder if this is where Mrs Ex Gideon comes in? Is she gonna be the trauma counselor? Hm.
- @ Luke's face when Garcia pairs them off to go thru Tyler's history to figure out who's been stalking Teresa: I can just hear the tiny voice yelling in his brain "put on your awkward pants!"
- I'm digging this whole thing with JJ & Emily. We finally get a sort of glimpse at the fabled girls nights. But I'm struggling with the logic a bit here. Emily being pushed to her limit, "crossing a line she's never crossed before" with Voit. Apparently ready to give up in some way. Reminiscent of that scene when Barnes puts her on leave and all of a sudden she's packing her apartment. I guess the discomfort of that, for me, is that seems like a core distinction between pre-Doyle-exile Emily and later seasons defanged Emily. I always struggled to reconcile these two Emilies. Also - nitpicking - Emily "Vonnegut enthusiast" (Elizabeth) Prentiss has never bothered to read Catcher in the Rye? hm. It's been One Million Years since I read Catcher but I imagine it could have resonated with Emily a bit vis-a-vis Matthew.
- maybe the common thread is that Emily leaves. When things get hairy, emotionally or otherwise, Emily dips. Is that the thru line? It is, according to several brilliant fic writers. And it does make sense, in terms of her upbringing/formative years. It made sense after Doyle that she needed a new context. I guess any reminder of s12-15 Prentiss just gives me the willies?
- LMAO fuck of course the cheese puffs were not just an Easter egg.
- not JJ getting "why are the walls closing in" high, cut to Dave getting PTSD halluci-squished in the elevator. 🤣 They just keep torturing that old man
- every time we cut to the "Stoneward Penitentiary" exterior my brain only sees "Squidward Penitentiary" lol
- OH SHIT. THAT'S where she comes in!!!! Jill Gideon started Gold Star???!!! fml
- I keep saying it... I'm finding this season quite enjoyable fr. Even though I don't care about Tyler a whole lot, he fits in to the team better and the effort Luke is making with him is nice to see. The Brian Garrity / conspiracy theory angle is working for me as a mystery. I don't care much about Gold Star but I've never been here for the crime. And I am enjoying Voit insofar as I like the frame of him as a twisted little boy foil to Rossi. I just like Zach Gilford.
- also I like how each narrative opportunity for JJ and Emily to have a confrontation has not been a blow up/angsty mess. I like an angsty mess too! But it's a testament to their years of friendship and professional trust, all they've been through and the ways they've been through it *together*, that JJ is handling it like this.
- god I continue to love JJ more and more. For me, she is a stronger character without Will in the picture. And I don't mean that Will is some kind of bad part of her story. He's just better as background noise. Their chemistry has never been fully convincing for me, and I'm not sure precisely why that is. But this season? JJ is incredible, and I'm not distracted from that by her husband. It's so nice!
- [some stuff with Tyler happened here I guess]
- oh my goodness! 🥹🥹🥹 THIS SCENE 🥹🥹🥹 JJ laying it ALL out. I'm so happy. This is so emotionally satisfying!! This is so much better than the parallel scene with Emily & Spencer in season 13 (that scene is a mess). You know it's funny how the arc of JJ & Emily's relationship was shaped by the fucked behavior of the network in firing AJ & Paget. I mean, they absolutely had chemistry and vibes and moments in the early seasons, but the nuts & bolts of who they are to each other now are so tied up in how the actors (and show) were wronged and came through that. Wish it need not have happened, but I find something sweet about the results. Maybe just that the emotional weight of it is genuine. Idk it's 4:30am as I write this.
- something I will never fucking tire of: the way JJ says "Emily"
- "I didn't quit on you, in Paris. You didn't quit on me, after my miscarriage." god damn. I gasped. And the way Emily reacts! This is such good food! I appreciate it so much. This feels like a long awaited antidote to the subtextual emotional constipation between these two. ALSO - as far as I can recall it's just been fanon that JJ shared about her miscarriage with Emily, and now it's confirmed. That's a really nice detail, as is the level of intimacy that suggests.
- AJ COOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- JJ you are never beating the "lowkey-in-(unrequited?)-love-with-emily-prentiss" allegations
- I am fully ready to exchange "grab your keys, let's fuckin' roll" for "wheels up". That's Prentiss, baby.
- lmao and they have to uber hahahaahaaaaa (but woulda been fun to have Tara pick them up lol!)
- I think the only thing about their scenes together that I maybe wish was different is when JJ does confront Emily about BAUgate, we're given no discussion of how JJ is doing. She is handling it, even before the edibles she's more sure of herself / less visibly traumatized this episode. But no real check in yet.
- Still. This episode was a fucking gift. More than I thought we would ever get. Beautiful ❤️
- oh and Garcia was Emily's safe haven for her little bender, and was keeping her whereabouts a secret (from JJ at least). Probably partly bc this is essentially a bottle episode and they didn't lay out cash for a new location for Emily's home. But I like the implications.
Final thoughts:
- shoutout to JJ for the belt buckle representation in this important Jemily moment
- I did get some Drunk History Paget vibes from high Prentiss but that didn't bother me. Didn't feel out of character. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- also shoutout to AJ's "crisp white" line delivery 😂
- JJ & Will get high together sometimes, for sure
- Everytime someone refers to the FBI director as Madison I can't help but picture like, a gossip girl
not me going back to rewatch every essential JJ episode I can think of. 200, the stalker case, legacy, North Mammon, hit/run, the slender man one?
I'm obsessed with JJ this season (CME s17). Obsessed!!!!
The "it's not important" exchange with Emily is killing me. in a great way.
I'll put the rest of my nonsense under a read more.
"200" starts with Emily reading the james burke quote "why should we look to the past in order to prepare for the future? Because there is nowhere else to look" wonderful. Was a reason ever articulated for why JJ specifically was chosen for her DOD assignment? Did Strauss put her up for it? Maybe tptb reached out for profiler/behavioral expertise and Strauss recommended JJ bc of her "non-profiler" profiling background + ability to connect with victims/mothers. Maybe Strauss scored herself political points with this move. Anyway. (yes I'm forever annoyed CM made "mother" JJ's loudest character trait) (but it is an interesting part of her character!!)
[love "200" for the obvious reasons but also bc Faran Tahir!]
The whole reason I started here is to watch the flashback scene with JJ and Emily on the jet on their way to Paris. Emily clocks JJ's whole deal and calls her on it. And oh how the turntables, in s17. In which Emily does NOT clock JJ's deal...and/or, does not call her on it. I don't think there's a world where Emily truly doesn't notice JJ is dealing with something - if she's actually paying attention. Leaving aside any special connection between them, Emily's job, for years, has been partly to manage the well-being of her team. JJ already opened the door, and even though she waved Emily off and Emily is fully occupied with the investigation & her emotional state, etc etc, Emily's not going to just forget. Unless she is really that deep in her own shit, which...it seems that she is, these days! augh!
Wow I haven't seen this in a hot minute. JJ's doing some light profiling of Emily lol. "another tattoo" 👀. "A phoenix, or a blackbird"..."I love the song. But something tells me I shouldn't tread in your waters" (wtf does this mean?!) What exactly makes blackbird 'JJ's waters'? Perhaps JJ suggests a blackbird tattoo bc she has considered that for herself at some point. I'm not up on particular cultural meanings for blackbirds specifically, so the only thing I can think of is the song. In which case...what might that mean to JJ? "take these broken wings and learn to fly / all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise/ ... / take these sunken eyes and learn to see / all your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free"
I mean, god, it's easy to imagine a young JJ clinging to this song in some way as she's growing up in her suffocating home after her sister died. And come to think of it, there's a poignant echo there of her realization in 3x18 In Heat, about the unsub "recognizing a freedom in his victims he wanted for himself". Does JJ yearn for freedom? What kind of freedom, freedom from what? Freedom from expectation...freedom from performing particular facsimile(s) of herself. ?? Freedom from the bureaucratic constraints (and like, laws of physics) that prevent her from aiding every case that crossed her desk.
And does s17 JJ still carry that within her, that need for freedom? She's grown SO far from s3 JJ, and so far from s7 JJ too. She is comparatively so self assured now. She also doesn't operate under the same pressures, her responsibilities are arguably less burdensome bc as a profiler she is one among many. She trusts her team and she has a team she can trust. Makes a difference maybe.
"why didn't you say your transfer was a backstop?" god the way AJ plays this. at first she is...ashamed? at Emily calling her out. She looks down, looks a little small, like she thinks she should have hid her secret better. "Ugh. I know that look. The 'I can't trust anybody but myself' look? I invented it." Then JJ lets the facade go, admits she feels like she's in way over her head. Trusts Emily. And the way her voice changes over the course of this conversation! At first she's putting on a bit of a show, trying so hard to keep the tone light. Then we see the cracks, the vulnerability - the uncertainty that has come with having her professional life totally turned upside down, and experiencing consequential failure. Emily helps her get on track by invoking Hotch, and now we get to see and hear the confident, intelligent investigator come to the fore. This is a great scene!!!!
which is capped by a line that is, in retrospect, kinda nonsensical. "sounds like it's time for you to be the blackbird and flip the script". Does this line make sense and I'm missing something? The implication is that JJ has to go on the offensive in order to gain control of the situation & flush out the unsub. But wtf does that have to do with "being the blackbird"? Anyway the more I think about blackbird as some sort of metaphor the less coherent it feels. So I'll just leave it be.
Y'know how it's nuts that JJ names her second kid Michael, given that's also Hastings' first name? Maybe it's some kind of family name, and she decides to 'reclaim' it. Take the sting out of her ordeal. What's the timing of her second pregnancy? Can't remember if it's before or after the one year anniversary of her abduction.
"no more lies. nothing but the truth from now on." Sure, JJ. Okay, JJ. 😬
Girl can't help but lie... "it's not important"... 🙃
Jennifer Jareau. When I first dipped my toe into CM, and then tripped and fell in, I didn't know quite what to make of you. I get it now. You're wonderful and beautiful and beautifully fucked up, and resilient and strong and so so used to going it alone on a fundamental level. It's such a struggle to let someone in. You're magnificent.
- oh it’s that one young lady horror actor whom I don’t know but saw in the promos
- is she gonna kidnap him….oh, yes
- so not kidnap so much as beat him to death
- Erasmus! ok
- PRENTISS MUGSHOTS. Barbie memes here we go!!!!
- ok so who did she call. Tara. Or Dave.
- Penelope standing firm on her boundaries, good for her
- she called Dave. :):):)
- I remain, as ever, a Prentiss lover. She is so great when she’s pissed
- oh no JJ, bb
- god Tara is beautiful
- is it weird that they’re talking about a conspiracy theory manipulating people as though “it” has such power? rather than someone using a conspiracy theory to manipulate others? is this how people talk about conspiracy theories?
- Emily big mad. and that look from JJ…
- AAAAAH they need to talk!
- Tyler you little interrupting bitch!! Lol
- still, this is like already more than they got last season, in terms of looking directly at one another and speaking, in the same frame no less. I love this stupid show
- but yeah. JJ. the traumatized body language, the long sleeves pulled all the way to her hands, the fidgeting. girl you didn’t deserve this
- “and does it involve you pretending to go to the bathroom” 🤣
- Emily is ON A TEAR. I love it. I also love when she turns and we see her little smirk. like that scene when she profiles Bailey last season
- this is crazy. hold them? 😬 I mean yeah I guess I don’t think he would actually physically harm his daughters.
- and now Emily’s more cautious about the gold star connection
- “you are a worthy nemesis, tiny machine, but I will best you” 😂
- this scene with Penelope was cute. She seems more settled this season, a little more level-headed about her place with the BAU and whatever's going on (or not) with Tyler
- wait, what did they hand to Holly? A note and…lip gloss? Bubbles? WTF was that
- this reminds me of Seaver's background. These sisters are going to process this situation differently. Actually it would be kind of cool if Seaver made a cameo for these girls
- wow, really? more women than men have tattoos? huh.
- I’m so happy that fuckin’ Brian has such a big part this season
- OH SHIT. She brought her own shiv!!!! Holly!!!!
- this season is better than last. A lot more going on, overall better pacing. They've pulled back from showing the personal lives of the agents in favor of working character stuff into the case/more professional contexts and I think it works better. They’re setting up a lot of secrets/mysteries and I’m not sure if they will be able to pay everything off in a satisfying way, but the build up is so far more exciting than all the Voit show & tell in s16. And even though Rossi is hallucinating, the volume is dialed down on him and dialed up on Emily, JJ, even Luke (a bit) and I couldn't be more glad for that.
- did they let this happen? Did they have some idea that Holly was going to try to kill him? Nah. nah? But Luke jumps right on the opportunity to skewer Voit with it
- the angelic face of Jennifer Jareau 😇
- god this scene with JJ and Holly. AJ Cook really bringing her A game. You can see it all - her compassion, her empathy, her fear. Her fear. For Holly, for her sons, for herself?
- lol at Tyler roasting in the server room
- so yeah, I’m thinking of Seaver. And the Anton Yelchin kid from season 2... all the times the show has brought up the question of how murderers - serial murderers - are made, of how that kind of violence may be passed on (as a contagion, as a genetic predisposition), of how we may fail to control or subdue it.
- JJ AND EMILY HAVING A FULL CONVERSATION. Wow. It feels pretty natural to me, which is funny in retrospect bc we came up so empty on this vector in s16
- NO. JJ!! “it’s not important”. NO IT’S VERY FUCKING IMPORTANT. you’re very fucking important!! gut reaction she feels useful in this situation w/ voit’s family so is more able or willing to tuck her pain away at the moment. this is something she can do.
- k I rewatched that bit a few times. The way JJ brings up her shields, makes nice/light, but then does land, at the end, on a semblance of a real smile. She's no fool. She sees Emily losing her shit. She sees that if someone is going to truly prioritize the well being of Voit's kids, it can & must be her. She accepts that this is the way the world is - for her. This is one of the ways she expresses what motherhood means/is to her. There is always someone to protect, and she will find a way to set aside her own pain to do that. That's where she gets her strength, in the face of all the awfulness she has seen and experienced.
honestly you all are so annoying because motherhood IS interesting but fandom people are simultaneously obsessed with deciding that every woman has motherly qualities and completely disinterested in actually exploring motherhood as a role that informs a character. I do think exploring a character being a mother can be wildly interesting if they are canonically one, but because of misogyny, people just view motherhood as a totally unremarkable naturalized state that all women must inhabit!
and what if Brian Garrity's buffoonery has been part of the act all along? I mean that's a reach, but I'm imagining something vaguely like "The Americans" where Brian's basically been some kind of sleeper agent keeping tabs on Emily. can you imagine 🤣
maybe more likely that during/post pandemic he went further down the rabbit hole(s) and was somewhat unwittingly recruited by people interested in using him. easy to imagine him bragging about knowing an FBI agent who faked her death. And Emily does not seem to have her guard up as carefully as she might have in the past.
- Emily ordering Luke not to tell JJ about the deepfake porn site IM YELLING. when JJ finds out they are gonna have WORDS
- just remembered when JJ says "we're boned" in ep2 and it made me giggle
- ok so I've said it before and I'll probably say it 157 more times, but Jennifer Jareau this season is FINE AS FUCK. I can't pinpoint what it is that's different but she is MESMERIZING. aj cook my god. I don't care what this alleged jemily moment might be, I'm sure it will make me feel some type of way bc both Paget and AJ are 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
- wow ok I thought it would be a big deal but she already knew (...sort of? sounds like it's worse than they assume). "Emily using discretion is not lying, it's leadership" I do enjoy that she's expressing full faith in Emily. Does this also sound like a line she's used for herself? Or that she heard from someone in the course of her sometimes clandestine career?
- so the last couple months I've been watching station 19 and when kiele sanchez showed up as a firefighter sub in season 6, I couldn't remember what I knew her from at first, only "hot mom of some sort". lmao when I finally remembered it was from CME
- BRIAN GARRITY!!!!! 😂
- "that sounds...like a book" I want more of Emily reacting to him forever
- is it just me or does the "regular" case plot drag? like, it's taking me out of the flow of the (more interesting) voit/gold star stuff.
- I take it back, it didn't drag for long
- I guess I just have to make peace with the fact that motherhood is a core part of jj's identity that they simply will not shut up about. and like, okay! it is a very very important part of who she is! why does it bother me that they bring this up so consistently all the time?
- whoa whoa whoa. this scene with Luke dropping the bomb on JJ in the kitchen nook. here's the other shoe, or one of the shoes. but... I'm not sure if I like how this was shot. it feels weird to not be able to see her face very well. the shock and discomfort is palpable (good job I Guess!).
- I am enjoying Tyler more this season
- zomg Emily drinking wine at her desk??!. the way she says "Brian" lmao. reminiscent of her "ma'am" moment with Strauss
- oh no JJ. Oh noooo baby, no! 😭 facing this all by her lonesome
- Prentiss to the rescue in that baller long coat. oh shit. Uh oh. A setup!!! And I bet she's gonna get dinged for the alcohol too. WTF! Fuckin' Brian!
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