‘Be careful what you hope and you pray for, you know you’ll only get what you pay for...'

[marguerite_krux]

'...and I can hear the ticking of time bombs for poor Cinderella...'

After Angel Maker, I’m waiting for icons of Emily and Hotch with the caption ‘my ship shares brownies’. Anyone want to oblige me? ;P

I’ve been watching Criminal Minds for a year now and only at this late stage am I truly deeply irrationally in love with it. I enjoyed it before, but I think falling for Emily/Hotch [NEW SHIP!] is what sealed the deal for me. Ironically, it took an ep that made Emily/Reid shippers squee and flail and declare their ship canon to make an Emily/Hotch shipper out of me- because I am contrary and forever insisting on seeing romance where the writers do not deliberately write it.

Criminal Minds x 4.03

I love this show. I love these characters. Like, way beyond obsession. Emily Prentiss and Penelope Garcia are my favorites, so it makes me unbelievably happy that this ep focuses on Emily because YAY, the writers have answered my prayers. :D

But if anyone forces Emily/Reid shippiness on me, I will MURDER them. Be warned.

 

*Reason is not automatic. Those who ignore it, cannot be conquered by it.*

 

As Prentiss flashes her IDs, I find the juxtaposition of serious!Emily on her [fake] ‘Child Protective Services’ badge and Emily of the big cheesy grin on her driver’s license unreasonably hilarious. Love it.

I know it’s a fantasy, but it would be nice to see interagency co-operation FOR ONCE in the history of television. It’s always gotta be a pissing match as to who has jurisdiction and no one ever cares about the lives at stake, not enough to put aside egos anyway. and then there are the reporters giving away details in the interest of the ‘public’s right to know’ despite the lives endangered by this. I don’t think it’s a hard choice to make between keeping something under your hat in order to make sure people don’t get killed and going ahead to report it anyway, knowing what’s at stake, but somehow they always make the wrong choice.

For god’s sake, if the armed forces raiding the encampment knew that the kids were going to be gathered in the school, they had to know it was for a meeting with the FBI- how do they not share their intentions with the BAU, how is it not ‘need to know’? At least Emily and Reid would’ve been prepared, maybe carried guns so they wouldn’t be taken hostage or…I don’t know, something other than being blindside and victimized by the bad guys and the ‘good’ guys. God.

I have to say, that idiot law enforcement chick- however well intentioned- kinda deserved to die. I mean, I’d hole up somewhere safe til the fighting’s over and hope he was taken out by a bullet which would solve all her problems without needing to file a report or take him to court.

 

They need new opening credits, I’m bored. But my favorite part so far is the shot of Rossi on his own next to a shot of the team of Prentiss, Hotch, Reid, JJ, Morgan and Garcia- because they had no shots of the entire team PLUS Rossi, they had to divide the screen and give him his own panel, heh. The black-and-white check dress Garcia has on is so freaking cute on her.

OMG HOW PREGNANT IS JJ LOOKING? She was barely showing in the season opener- wtf happened?!


 

So, the main baddie’s Luke Perry. I just bought a movie of his the other day; he was the hero. What a twist. It’s kinda sick that I still like him even though he marries 15 year olds and has babies with them. I guess that’s what charisma is; makes people like you no matter how psychopathic you are.

 


A profile shot, because I feel like it. She makes me feel better about my nose- do you know, some silly upset fans were bitching about her looks when she was first cast in the show? They were so angry about the team being broken up, they took it out on her and were all like, 'she's so ugly, what a big nose she has' whinge whinge blah. Morons. I think she's gorgeous. But I'm getting to be like a broken record on that, so moving on...


 

OMGWHAAAAT?! Connor Trineer pops up again like a bad penny. I’m getting so sick of hearing his irritating voice and smug good looks. Okay, no, wait, that’s unfair, I met him at a convention and he’s sweet [though my paranoid cousin says he’s sleazy] but just…I’m sick of the characters he plays. They always irritate the hell out of me.

 

Is it my imagination or is Hotch ten times hotter when he’s being antagonistic and pulling rank and order people around like they’re his lapdogs and he’s king of the world? *worships him* Yay for alpha-male!Hotch.

A few minutes later, I eat my words. Connor is not getting on my nerves in this role, he’s actually quite cool. I like it more when he plays grim, serious characters.

Okaaaayyy, so Rossi brings a truckload of supplies but only lugs in one box to the religious cult members before taking off again? Wow, miserly, much? What about all the other boxes in the back?

 

Brooding!Hotch is brooding! And angsting! *squees*



Reid is in disbelief that FOR ONCE he's not going to get tortured and all. Someone else gets to have ISSUES, OMG. [Except not, because later on, you will see that somehow HE is the one that's all whiny and moping and Emily is still perfectly well-adjusted when I wanted to see the whole team hugging her and being all warm and gooey, but...the world, it disappoints me.]



Emily's 'yeah, what of it?' face. Who could get angry with a face like that?


Well, maybe this guy.



You know, I thought she was making a great deal of noise simply about getting her hair pulled. Then I tried yanking gently on my own and YEEOWWWCH!


Goddamn, how did she still have a full head of hair afterwards? That must be some shampoo she's using. Maybe she can flog the brand some time. 'I was pulled down a corridor by my hair and look! No breakage! Still all shiny and glossy and healthy!'





Reid SUCK IT UP. Be a MAN. I can just see him thinking about relapsing into his drug addiction with all this stress. Gah.


 

 

It looks like Emily already has blood dripping from her nose when the wacko cult leader drags her by her hair into the Room of Holy Chastisement for the religious activity of ‘beating god’s will into the sinful’. Did he stop in the corridor along the way to beat her up a little? And we MISSED this? PTB, I am very disappointed with you.

 

I know it’s weird that I like seeing the main female characters I *adore* get beaten up- within strict parameters; no broken noses, no teeth flying, most definitely no rape- but let’s not go into that right now. Let’s just say I’ve been waiting for this scene since the day Emily arrived. She kinda got roughed up a little at the start of season 3, but it was pathetic; she was careless, the guy got the drop on her and she was dispatched with barely any effort. Nice try, but realllly bland. Scully excelled in getting attacked the way I approve- although Orison was a bit extreme. I’m not saying I disapproved, but damn, how much furniture did she break with her body? Yeesh.

Wow, Prentiss, what happened to your FBI training? Surely you should get in a blow somewhere. You’re making it way too easy for him. Although…I suppose she can’t fight back or risk setting him off, she has to sit back and let him kick her ass. Alright, since the writers have granted me this much, how about an ep where she’s actually ALLOWED to retaliate, pretty please? ;P

 


 

The guys are really squeamish. I’m not saying that they should be getting popcorn and sitting back to enjoy the spectacle of a teammate getting the crap kicked out of her, but jeez, I’m sure they go through worse in Academy training. Here’s hardened Hotch and tough guy Morgan grimacing and ready to consign everyone else to death if it means saving Emily from this.



OUCH OUCH OUCH. *grimaces* I'd've crumpled and cried like a baby by this point.
Ohhh, okay, way before this point. I am so not tough.



 

 


There is something really pretty and scary about this. Just...wow. I love visual metaphors. Broken, fractured...


 

Hotch angsts over whether this trauma will cause yet another female member of his team to lose her sanity and turn vigilante. [ELLE! *whimpers*] He can’t take another teammate going rogue!

 

‘Blows and wounds cleanse away evil’. Wow, maybe we should try implementing bible strategies when it comes to our prisons. Food for thought there.



"I can take it'. Aww, honey. This is the MOST AWESOME you've ever been. *dances*





She's so fragile! Look at her tinyness- I could break her, I swear. EAT MORE, PRENTISS, GODDAMNIT.


 

 

Omg, Prentiss. You are my hero. Look at her taking one for the team. MAJOR ouch and how my heart swells with love for her self-sacrifice. And damn, but the make-up dept’s gone to town on her face. NOT THE FACE! One of the inexplicable yet fun things about X-files was that no matter how many times Scully was punched in the face- or that time when a million cats clawed her to shreds- she never has more than a band-aid or two covering up her gorgeous features. Guess CM doesn’t adhere to the same rules, lol.


 

I love that Hotch is the only one that listens to her the whole way through, while the other guys tear off their headphones.



Look at that despair and helplessness! I love the note in his voice when he said earlier that 'she's talking to us, she's telling us not to go in' because that note of resignation and flat dismay is so so AWESOME. You can tell he wants to bust in there and get her out but she's forcing his hand, she's telling them she wants to stay in and to do their jobs properly, he has to abide by that though he's hating it every second her ordeal is prolonged. This is one of the reasons I like women being whumped on- not because I'm a sick minded freak, I just love the angst the men go through and what it reveals about their mental state and feelings towards the women. So there. :P


He’s the mother of the team. Remember back when Morgan asked ‘where’s mom and dad’ when Hotch and Rossi were away? [So many duos are referred to in fandom as parents- Elizabeth and Shep= mama!bear and papa!bear; Roslin and Adama= space!mommy and space!daddy- but this is the first time in canon, to my knowledge, in a show I care about, that someone refers to other people in this manner!] Hotch is the mommy, he can’t separate himself from caring about them and wanting to take steps to ease their pain, no matter how much sense it makes to let it be, not matter how rational it is, he bleeds with them and if they’re suffering, he’s going to be with them while it’s happening, even if it’s in spirit while listening through the headphones; he ain’t leaving his precious children alone in their time of need. How much more can I love this man? *wriggles*



Stalker!Reid sneaks up on Emily. Well, I guess she ain't suffering PTSD or any sort of trauma. I mean, after what she went through, you'd think she would be hyper-aware of her environment and guys being near her, but such is her compartmenalization that she has dismissed the experience to a neat tidy corner of her mind, out of her way, allowing her to continue functioning efficiently and professionally. I love it, no tears from Emily Prentiss. *huggles*
 

 


Reid is overwhelmed by his ineptitude. MADE OF FAIL.

I wish Emily had never gotten that haircut- the bangs make her half-resemble a zombie, and now adding the bruising? Yikes. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” I sure hope not, darlin’, because it looks pretty bad.

Also, there is no Emily/Reid ship in existence. IT DOES NOT EXIST. Reid is like a kid, damn it. Shut up, shippers. This is merely the concern of a friend for another friend. [I admit, Emily/Hotch I’d condone, but since his taste runs to blondes, I’m afraid I’m out of luck there]

 

Gee, Hotch, way to make your secret message to Prentiss and Reid so obvious a five year old could pick it. Like the phrase ‘new owners’ and detail ‘3am’ won’t alarm anyone. At the least, I’d make sure the outsiders I’m holding hostage don’t see that message just in case it’s a code of some sort, which it is. Gah.

I do love the double-talk, though. Emily and Reid are so clever with the way they work messages for their team into the seemingly innocuous conversations they have with the religious dudes.




Hee, Paget Brewster did not expect her first time in a bed on this show to take place in quite this way. :P Those tricksy writers!



I've heard of a woman's shoes being used to attract attention, but this is a new one, heh. Btw, this technology? Is so cool. I want it to spy on my neighbors with- and like, stalk a few people. :D

Also, is this product placement or what? Seriously, how much attention do her shoes get in this ep?!
 

 

Aww, it’s so cute how the camera pans up to the seal with the motto ‘fidelity, bravery, integrity’ on it as Emily communicates with the team from captivity. Beaten, but not broken. Go Em! *puts on Team Emily shirt and cap*

That blonde chick plays a victim in every role I’ve seen her in. Sheesh. Badger her, Emily, it’s what she knows, it’s what she wants. But noooo, spill your guts on the FBI’s plan and hope and pray she does the right thing. God, didn’t profiling teach you to groom your target FIRST before revealing your team’s game plan?! *seethes*

 

I like the dichotomy- Hotch is too attached, too emotionally involved to go in with the team storming the compound; Rossi is detached enough to be professional and capable of doing his job, while still expressing his concern.

Hotch: If something happens to Prentiss or Reid, I don’t know- I don’t know… [you mean, apart from the vicious beating she was already subjected to?]

Rossi: You’re not alone. [Awww!]

 

This is a little random, but I never realized what spectacular cheekbones Hotch has. It just hit me. Thomas Gibson is so fun to look at.

I like the complete turn-around in his attitude towards Emily- he hated her guts when she first joined the team, he was so nasty to her in his passive-aggressive manner. Now he’s heading towards a nervous breakdown on her account. Heh.



*squishes him* How is he so awesome with his brooding?

That blonde chick is evil- she deliberately left Emily twisting in the wind, not sure of whether she just screwed her team or helped save the day. I think she was bitter that Emily forced her to actively defy their wacko leader rather than passively sit by and let the FBI handle things, so she didn’t say ‘ok, I’m going to follow the plan’ and reassure Emily, nope, she wanted her to feel the same doubts and fears she was. Evil, I say.

Oh, Reid. Why do you have to go and get beat up on now? Want to get attention too? Every dangerous situation that comes around, you need to have a scar or broken bone to remember it by? What’s wrong with you? He’s like CM’s McKay, he ALWAYS has to be the center of attention. This is Emily’s ep, damn it, just simmer down and stay out of the way. [I like Reid, I really do, he reminds me of a friend but his constant limelight-hogging is irritating]





Yay, reunion! Except there's panic and dread and the threat of bombs going off, so no warm and fuzzies here, damn it. Just Morgan yellign at her to get her ass out of there. Aww, brotherly concern expressing itself through temper. Heh.

 

Frak that stupid brat to hell. I don’t give a damn about her, but oh, her poor mother, who sought help, who offered help to Emily, who did her best to make sure everyone lived- and she loses her own daughter. So unfair.

One other thing. She reminds me of a female Eric Van Der Woodsen, from Gossip Girl. It's...weirding me out. O.o

 

Also? WHY DID NO ONE SECURE THE EXPLOSION-CAUSING DEVICE? You don’t leave something like that lying around unattended! God!

 

Yeah, yeah, E/R shippers, pipe down. Sure, they hugged but they just survived a traumatic situation together. If it had been her and anyone else, they’d’ve hugged too. I just wish there had been a big team reunion but other than a few relieved murmurs, that hug was pretty much IT. Wow. I’m sure glad she knows how worried and all they were about her. Men.

 

‘Reason is not automatic. Those who ignore it, cannot be conquered by it.’

 

Words to live by. But I can’t appreciate them long enough because OH GOD there is HAND HOLDING. *freaks out* I usually love these team bonding moments but because I stumbled across shipping insinuations on the forums, I’m inching away in terror at all the feelings and intentions read into every small gesture. Look, Em was flat out flirty-awkward with that cop that got shot in Lo-Fi so I wouldn’t read too much into this, ‘k? [Speaking of that cop, I sure hope we don’t find out in the fifth season that he’s left his wife and kid and gave up his job to move to be with her because I will LEAVE THIS SHOW IMMEDIATELY]

 

Final verdict? 9.5/10. Loved the whole ep, the plot, loved that Emily got the spotlight shone on her because it’s about damn time, but what kept it from being truly awesome was the failure of Hotch, Rossi and Morgan to welcome her back properly. Some words of validation on the plane in the final scene would not have gone awry- instead, she had to go babysit Reid and tell him it wasn’t his fault. He’s probably going to get high on drugs again to cope with the trauma. Ugh. Stop being so frakking emo, kid. And why the hell did she thank HIM when she took that beating so he wouldn’t have to? He didn’t even have the decency to ACT like he wasn’t blaming himself so that she could feel better- no, she has to bear the physical wounds as well as the guilt that he’s feeling guilty that she…oh, wtf, I don’t care anymore.

 

But for the record? I LOVE EMILY. :D

 

 

 

Comments

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Are there seriously people who ship those two?? What the???

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Ok, you're either going to make me happy or break my heart...which 'two' is it that you can't believe people ship? *cringes* There's a hotch_prentiss comm on LJ that I've discovered, and it's packed with fics and stuff, so yes, there are people insane enough to ship these two, lol. Always comforting to know others believe in the same thing. :D

[kaliweir.livejournal.com]

It's the Best Episode of the show mouahahah xD.
The relation brothers and sisters of Emily/Reid in this episode is AWESOME !!! (last scene lol)

[amaranth-moon.livejournal.com]

found my way to your lj via h/p comm, just read this and it's a BLAST! of course, minimal loss is an ep just made of win, but your recap here makes it all the better! willl have to revert to your journal once i muster some decent amount of time to indulge in it :o)
yay!

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

OHAI! :D Thanks for the kind words, lol, I can't fic CM or create pretty art, but I can nitpick and analyze it to death. My idea of fun...*g* I'll see you around, it's great to get to chat with CM fans! ♥

[woodchoc-magnum.livejournal.com]

Oh my god. I seriously love you. I think our thoughts are the same, like whoa.

This was awesome. I'm going to friend you now - I hope that's okay. (I need to read more of this stuff!)

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! You just brought a huge smile to my face, which I really needed, considering some of the RL drama happening. *huggles* Thanks for leaving that lovely comment, I appreciate it.

[ohsillytwigg.livejournal.com]

"She reminds me of a female Eric Van Der Woodsen, from Gossip Girl. "

I thought I was the only one who wondered that.

Great picspam and commentary!

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

OMG, thank you! I thought maybe I was crazy for seeing the resemblance! I am much relieved to know I wasn't making this up.

I'm glad you enjoyed the picspam!

[ohsillytwigg.livejournal.com]

I actually went to IMDB and looked to see if they were related after the episode aired!

[borg-princess.livejournal.com]

*glees* That's fantastic, I did the same thing! *high fives*

[annadelko.livejournal.com]

This is one of my fave epis, my shipper heart was so happy to see Hotch near a nervous breakdown because of Emily and OMG, when he's listening to her getting beatten is so awesome , I've seen that scene at least 10x ♥
I really like the way Hotch is looking at her when she's calling for reid and Morgan .
I wish he had said something to her but that look was good too (:
And I LOVE the last pic of Emily, she has such a cute smile :D