Catching Out
Here’s where I should be writing about how much the PSAT sucked and how completely awesome John Green was last night (incredibly completely awesome, by the way) but I’m a bit too excited right now. So I’ll just segue into the review.
***SPOILERS FOR 04-05 CATCHING OUT***
1. Again – I love you, cinematographers. The unsub!vision was really cool (even though it got much less cool by the end of the ep, at which point I was starting to feel a little epileptic) and as usual, the camera!geek in me was entranced by the camera angles. It was good.
2. Emily. Freaking. Prentiss. For almost the second week in a row. I mean, if you skip Paradise, which had some good stuff but wasn’t really all that awesome. But this completely was. And now I’m sort of wishing that Emily Prentiss Appreciation day was tomorrow or something, because I’m even more in awe of her now. Especially at the little end scene (which gets its own number, so sit tight).
3. Reid’s fascination with JJ’s pregnancy both amuses me and makes my heart twinge.
JJ: Have you ever actually felt a baby kick?
*JJ grabs Reid’s hand and places it on her stomach*
JJ: You feel that?
Reid: Does that freak you out?
JJ: No, not at all. Why, does it freak you out?
*Reid retracts hand*
Reid: Very much so.
I’m debating over whether it’s because (like Emily said) he’s considering having his own little baby geniuses at some point (which he should be, because they’d be adorable little baby geniuses) or because he’s not really over JJ yet. Given that Reid is almost like Snape (sorry, dude) in that he can hang on to something for decades (especially if it’s guilt-inducing – he appears to be a guilt junkie [ignore DreamingOfNothing's suddenly tasteless druggie reference, seeing who it's being applied too. Also ignore all the confusing parantheticals]), I’d say that it’s probable that he’s still crushing on JJ. Which has got to make the whole Will’s baby-thing even more awkward for the poor guy as it already is. Because there is one rule in the universe of Criminal Minds: Thou shalt not be nice to Reid. He must suffer everything there is to suffer besides permanent death, because then he can’t suffer anymore. (I can’t even have death on that list, because he’s already died once – he just got CPR apparently before any brain damage could take place. But my point rests).
4. While I’m talking about Reid…. buffyaddict13’s cm poll made me look up the promo for next week (even though I don’t normally see the promos because it doesn’t come with the online streaming thing) and ZOMG NO WAY. While I repeat my earlier point about Reid never being able to have anything good happen to him ever (I’m serious. I love the character, but it’s almost verging on ridiculous at this point. I have a feeling that next week won’t help that much – you might be seeing a lot of my ‘Another Let’s Traumatize Reid’ Ep’ icon), that doesn’t really stop me from being excited. Guilty as charged. Especially since we’ve got some backstory coming, and there’s very little I like more than backstory from anyone. It’s like… Wow. Why is it not next Wednesday? I won’t have any guilt pausing NaNo to watch that. Alpha and Frikin’ Omega.
5. Morgan. Climbing after an unsub on top of a moving train. And crossing the tracks about a foot in front of a moving train.
I saw this scene coming, and I was like, “Morgan, you’re not.” Except that he completely did. I can’t really express how glad I was when Hotch came out and shot the unsub (especially when you consider the fact that at this point, Morgan’s hanging off the train by a hand and foot, basically. Because the unsub’s been trying to kick him off the moving train as he’s coming after the unsub).
And while I’m talking about Morgan-
6. So at the beginning of the episode he’s sort of hitting on this girl, right? And she knows his name and turns him down pretty harshly, and he’s like, “What just happened?” Because, as Reid has previously pointed out, “What kind of girl isn’t interested in Derek Morgan?”
*A homicidal unsub, train chase, and kicking baby later* We learn that the girl Morgan was hitting on is actually JJ’s replacement when JJ goes on maternity leave. Now, I tend not to like the new characters, (i.e. Rossi &/or Nikki from Numb3rs – though I plead the fact that they just happened to be jerks. It had nothing to do with the fact that they were new. Not at all) I actually like Jordan Todd. It’s probably because JJ likes her. And yeah, it might have something to do with that awesome bit with Morgan at the top of the ep.
This scene also helps:
(After officially meeting Agent Todd and Emily & Reid noticing that there’s something going on between Morgan and Todd [that would be the altercation the morning before, not a relationship])
Emily: Um, so – Is there anything you want to tell us?
Morgan: No. *Presses button to bring up the elevator*
Emily: Your forehead’s sweating.
Morgan: No, it’s not.
Emily: Oh, and he’s avoiding eye contact.
Reid: His blink rate just sped up.
Morgan: *Entering elevator* You know what guys, I don’t think I want that burger too much anymore.
Emily: Oh come on – You can’t run from us.
Morgan: *Closing doors* Watch me.
I mean, he’s not a terrible liar. He’d just have to be better than that to beat the BAU.
7. Hotch – who spit in your beancurd? I mean, the CotW (Cop of the Week) may have been wrong about some stuff (like the name – the BAU is very anti- giving unsubs names) but he obviously doesn’t watch your show, and I don’t think he really deserved even the semi-death glare. Because that death glare of yours is pretty darn potent.
8. Unsub was creepy. As they usually are. And we got to see the team this time, too, which was nice, even if Garcia was really snark free. It’s sad. I miss her snark. But there was cool stuff with Morgan and Reid (who was also awesome directing the main sting from the office, btw), so I’m willing to let it go one week. If all I have by November is her baby pandas from last week, I will not be happy. I want her to call Morgan for once. They’re so funny together.
And… Rossi didn’t suck. He actually smiled. I’m still in shock.
***End of Spoilers***
Right now I’m reading Paper Towns, which is a book I bought at John Green’s book signing and it is signed! And John Green pronounced my name right when he saw it on paper, (which as people like BlindinglyArticulate knows is not a common occurance), which makes my month, really. And the freaking PSAT’s finally over. So I’m good.
Have a nice day, y’all. Or what’s left of it.
Listening to MyHope by sweetafton23, who performed at John Green’s signing and was completely awesome (and sounded better than her video).
Sure, what the heck – embedding…
~DreamingOfNothing
Happy Emily Prentiss Appreciation Day!
(I take no credit for these icons. They’re by glimmeringlight, fangirl1988, and yaiyeishka down at lj)
Today is (as you may have guessed) Emily Prentiss Appreciation Day. This is so for no other reason than that the fandom decided so and really, she has been acting worthy of an appreciation day in the last month or so. So she deserves all the loveliness she gets today.
In honor of this special occasion, I should be posting a fic or a graphic for Emily, but since I don’t have time for either (well, I could probably scribble off a Emily/Reid fic, since I like doing those, but it’d suck) I’m just going to sing her praises. And maybe gather more icons featuring her than the 47 I have, not counting 14 Emily/Reid icons. And that’s pretty sizable from a pool of 466.
I’ll give you a basic rundown of this character. Played by Paget Brewster, Emily (Often just called Prentiss) joined the team halfway through Season Two, replacing Elle Greenaway who’d lost it in 2-05 Aftermath and murdered a unarmed suspect. It was pretty creepy. Her first appearance was in 2-09 The Last Word, but wasn’t actually part of team and working until 2-10 Lessons Learned. She’s been part of the BAU ever since.
Her parents are American embassadors, so she spent a lot of her childhood in the middle east. She went to Yale and had been at the FBI for ten years in Season Two, meaning that she’s been in the Bureau almost twelve years now. When she first arrived, she was very nervous – every other word out of her mouth was, “Sir.” She’s a lot more comfortable now. She’s fluent in Russian, Arabic and Spanish (Edit: I wasn’t sure, but it was confirmed in Catching Out – she can speak Spanish), a fan of Kurt Vonnegut, and considers herself to be an absolute nerd. She’s a little nerdy, but she holds a geekier opinion of herself. Um, Emily – look around. You’re one of the most normal people in the BAU.
Some important things that have happened involving her over the course of the last season and a half include Reid’s kidnapping (The Big Game/Revelations), Gideon’s major depressive episode and subsequent departure (No Way Out II/In Name and Blood), a case where she connected very closely with an adolescent victim and wanted to adopt said girl though she ended up not being able to (Children of the Dark), Garcia’s shooting by a guy who took her out for a date (Lucky/Penelope), suicide by cop of a terrorist and the shooting of a fellow cop who she’d liked immensely (Lo-Fi), and the recent entrapment of herself and Reid in a cultist compound (Minimal Loss). As you may recall, she was absolutely incredible in that instance. And she’s pretty much been awesome in general.
Since I’m who I am, I’m also going chatter a bit about Emily and Reid.
(I don’t know who made this. They’re awesome, though)
They got along very well when she first arrived, but when the whole Henkle-Revelations-drug addiction thing happened shortly after, their friendship began to deteriorate. It only got worse over the rest of the season, because she knew that something was seriously screwy with him and wouldn’t leave it alone. He was pretty harsh with her due to that. However, when Season Three began and Gideon ditched them all and Reid had quit the dilaudid, they got along better and when Season Four opened, they were good friends again. As y’all might also remember, I had high hopes that their friendship would turn romantic when they were both trapped inside a psychotic cult (nothing says I Love You better than imprisonment by religious fanatics), but it didn’t happen. They’re much better friends now, and Emily obviously cares a lot about Reid, but… There’s nothing between them. No matter how cute they’d be together – it just isn’t there.
And now I have work to do and have said way more than anyone wants to know about Emily Prentiss. So I’ll leave you with some quotes for now, and maybe when I get home and have a decent internet connection I’ll post a vid, because it took ten minutes just to load the icons up at the top. And if I get around to it, I’ll scrawl out a fic. Though I can refer you to my post entitled I Left Your Heart in San Francisco, because that has a vid with Prentiss being awesome. She’s in both at the end there, so… Yeah. I’m incapable of finishing sentences.
All for you, Emily. Appreciate it.
(Gideon and Reid are playing chess when the jet turns sharply, knocking the board off of the table they’re playing on. Prentiss is watching them)Reid: I was winning!
Emily: Actually, he would have had you in three.
and
Unsub: (Recorded on video) In feudal times, the lord lived on high ground to spot the invader. He had serfs to serve his kingdom. The lord never had to leave his castle. The serfs would bring him everything. They were the appendages of his will.Prentiss: (making a face) We have 11 more tapes of this?
and
Reid: Normally you’d use a computer to run all the combinations, but it was quicker just to do them longhand until I found the right one.Prentiss: (poke) He’s so lifelike.
and
Reid: (holding up a bag of chips) Snack machine.Prentiss: Yeah, I don’t think he’s luring them with pretzels.
Well, I could basically be here all day, so… I’ll be off. For now. *Cackle*
Listening to White Houses, Vanessa Carlton, because she’s wonderful at unraveling my knotted brains. Which I get when I’m studying. And she’s not a slut, no matter what BlindinglyArticulate might say, and even if she is, she’s an amazing singer. And that’s really what matters to me at the moment.
NaNoWriMo in four’nahalf days! *Shriek of excitement* And I’ve got a plot. I’ve honest to gosh got a plot. Can’t wait.
~DreamingOfNothing
Paradise
Cue greatly delayed review:
**SPOILERS. HAVEN’T SEEN CM EP 04-04, DON’T READ IT***
1.Well, I have to say that I flashed back to True Night a few times. Why? Because, like True Night, it was one of those times when a lot of time is spent on the victims and not on the team. I knew that they were going for a horror movie type of thing with all of that, but I missed the team. It wasn’t quite as drastic as True Night (when at times it was like, am I on the wrong channel?) but still. That wasn’t a plus with me.
2. However, I loved all the homages to horror movies. Like this:
They have almost that exact shot, as well as one of those creepy things when someone checks into a hotel and the sign out front changes from ‘Vacancy’ to ‘No Vacancy.’ I saw this in Safeway on Friday and almost died trying not to laugh. I’m not sure that those guys on the cover here aren’t the same people in Paradise – they look pretty darn similar.
3. JJ is awesome. She’s going to be a brilliant mother to Riley. (I’m calling him Riley now. I just hope I’m right.) Also this:
JJ: *wedges headphones over growing pregnant stomach*Emily: What’s he listening to?
JJ: Beethoven.
Reid: I personally preferred Mozart myself, but be careful to limit his exposure to one hour a day – embryotic fluids have a tendency to amplify sound.
*Glances exchanged between other team members who know that he still has a crush on JJ*
You tell me: Is Reid actually saying that he remembers music in utero or is he just saying, “Play your baby Mozart if you want him to be like me!” I’m not entirely sure. Of course, I’m not sure which is better. The guy really needs to get over JJ, especially since she’s going to be married and with a baby soon.
4. On that same note: Whatever happened on that date in Plain Sight? At the end, Reid asks JJ to a football game with him, and the night apparently disappears into the Twilight Zone because no one ever talks about it again. I’m really interested to know what happened, especially since neither JJ or Reid have any more development of that relationship. Especially since I’m guessing that it involves Reid making a fool of himself. (Though, that’s probably a wrong phrase. Making himself look like an idiot would be completely impossible. Fine: Doing something incredibly awkward and lame and pathetic. Better, Canon Fairy?)
5. Poor Hotch got so hammered in Paradise. I mean, besides the guy who was upset about his daugher and son-in-law being tortured and murdered (and the way he kept calling her his baby. You could see that that really got to Hotch – hit him right in the Haley-Jack mess) and the fact that he talked to the unsub and completely didn’t realize that he was the unsub. And he’s so upset about it – even though people do that all the time. They realize, “Oh, shoot. That was the bad guy,” and then go out and catch him. Hotch, like Reid, is physically incapable of getting a break. At least since Haley and he divorced, at any rate.
6.Garcia is BACK! She’s been here all along, but she didn’t really do anything since the season premiere, and even then she was cool, but not funny. Well, we have some of the patented Garcia humor back, even if it’s subtle:
Garcia: And you, my fine furry friends, are welcome.*Looks between JJ, Reid, and Hotch*
Hotch: In the morning, I’ve going to have her drug tested.
as well as
Garcia: For the last two days, I’ve been searching through ViCap for similar rapes and murders in cases that are still open. That has yielded me diddilysquat, so I regrouped, I looked at some pictures of baby pandas, I went back in and started looking for similar rapes and murders in cases that have been solved.
Her and her baby pandas. That’s her coping mechanism – bright clothing, tetris, wacky pens. Vibrant and happy things to cheer her up after doing stuff like looking through ViCap. It makes her even stronger, really, that she’s in this profession when the stuff she has to watch and listen to as an A/V tech upsets her so much.
And Hotch’s drug testing line, as funny as that was, made my heart pang for Reid. As per usual. He’s done with the dilaudid – at least, at the end of last season he was – but anything drug related still hurts. It’s a sign that he’s got to be doing okay there, though, for Hotch to even be able to make a drug-related joke after all of the very unfunny drug issues Reid had.
(Which, I would like to clarify for the record, were not entirely his fault. While being kidnapped and tortured and all that, he was injected repeatedly with dilaudid [which is three times stronger than heroin, BTW] and subsequently addicted. He took the dilaudid from his abductor after shooting the guy, which was a stupid move, and kept taking it, which was also a stupid move – but really, if I were in his place, I’d be doing the same thing, so it feels wrong the judge him on that. He was still really, really screwed up by the whole thing for, oh, at least half a season. He’s still not the same person he was before it all, but he quit at some undetermined point before the end of that season.)
7. Yeah, Emily, I also have a list of things I’ll never do, after watching too much CM. They are:
List of things that, because of Criminal Minds, I’ll never do (still in progress):
- Answer my door to a random person (Um, everywhere)
- Leave my windows open unaccompanied (Courtesy of the Fisher King 1)
- Lick envelopes (Courtesy of Poison)
- Buy a laptop with integrated webcam (Courtesy of The Big Game)
- Allow a computer tech remote access to my computer (Ditto)
- Trust anyone who’s just too good-looking or suave (Courtesy of Penelope)
- Fall for the ‘help me find my dog’ ruse (Courtesy of What Fresh Hell?)
- Doubt that someone I know could hurt me (Everywhere)
- Not notice someone who’s everywhere I go, stalking me (Courtesy of The Crossing)
- Not get the license plate number of everyone who comes to my door suspiciously (Me being paranoid)
- Fill out one of those ‘get to know you’ worksheet things at a doctor office (Courtesy of Aftermath)
- Open a suspicious-looking package without making sure it’s not ticking or something (Me being paranoid – or Numb3rs ep Burn Rate)
- Have any computer on my network that has lower security than the rest of my network (Courtesy of The Fisher King 1)
- Run away from home (Courtesy of No Way Out)
- Take any deal that’s just too good (Everywhere)
- Not call AAA and at least one other service if I break down on the road (Courtesy of Open Season)
- Going anywhere isolated without some form of security checking up on me (Every missing persons case ever)
- Give out any personal information to anyone I don’t know (Duh)
- Walk away from my computer without locking it securely (Me being paranoid)
- Check into a backwoods motel (courtesy of Paradise)
8. Wil Wheaton was really, really good. He was the guest star playing the super!evil unsub, who’s also apparently a teen idol, according to a lot of fans. I didn’t know that, but he’s a pretty cool guy, from the looks of his blog (which I’ve been reading, since he writes about filming Paradise. It’s pretty neat, especially since I don’t know a lot about the making of a series episode – and he’s a writer, too, which is cool). His character, was mucho creepy and Wil played him magnificently. It’s really too bad that we don’t get to see that much of the unsub this ep, since super!evil unsub seems to prefer remote torment and freaking-out of his victims.
Um… yeah. I’d love to say more about the team, but I sort of didn’t see that much of them. Mostly the Vacancy victim-freaking-out and subsequent marriage-disintegration of the victims. In short – mainly about the victims. I missed the team.
***SPOILERS END. AS DOES POST***
Just a few days until Catching Out! And maybe Riley!
~DreamingOfCutieJareauBaby
Jack of All Trades
One thing I must say before I put up the spoiler alert – this is one of the best Numb3rs episodes I have ever seen. The only thing I can think of that would make it better is Megan, and that’s not going to happen this season, unfortunately. It was drop-dead amazing.
(I’ve calmed down from my earlier rant, by the way. Just in case you were wondering. Jack of All Trades really mellowed me down)
***Spoilers for Jack of All Trades, Numb3rs Ep 04-05. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. Now***
1. Cinematography was an absolute work of beauty. I loved it – especially the sped-up scene shots, the Larry-Amita visions, and the swooping of camera into buildings and whatnot. I think that I am in love with this cinematographer.
2. Carl. McGowan. Is. Death. I hate him with all of my heart, if not more than that. He is definitely as detestable to me right now as Evil!Frank is. Even with the entire dissecting-Gideon’s-girlfriend thing. Especially because his main platform seemed to be, “I hate Don Eppes because he’s willing to bend the rules to save innocent lives, so I’m going to do everything I can to try and nail him and his career. I also hate Charles Eppes, for no particular reason other than that I hate his brother and that he won’t turn traitor on him, so I’m going to do everything I can to try and keep him away from the FBI. Basically, I’m just essentially evil and hate the world.” And the way he kept telling each brother, “I hate you, so I’m going to screw your brother over.” Which made Charlie feel horribly guilty (because this wouldn’t have really come up without his stupid, idealistic move in the season finale) and made Don feel horribly guilty (because his rule-bending was stopping his brother from doing what he loves to do – and because Don is apparently still blind enough not to see that half of the reason why Charlie loves what he does is because he gets to do it with Don) and in short, both of them feel horrible. And I hate McGowan.
2.5. Though, did I see a glimmer of something resembling a heart in Evil!Frank/McGowan? At the end, when he’s telling Don that, “You know, you may be what the Bureau needs now. People who value lives over rules.” That was obviously paraphrased, but if I understood him correctly, that’s what he meant. It’s a bit of a stretch for me, and even so – I don’t forgive Evil!Frank/McGowan one iota.
3. YAY CHARLIE’S BACK AT THE FBI. I knew it was going to happen – the question was just how long would it take. Apparently the ADIC is smarter than Evil!Frank/McGowan. It was awesome.
4. Nikki’s in terrorist training! I’ll assume that this means counter-terrorism training and not that Nikki’s planning to blow herself up, as much as I may want her off of the show. She’s not worth the collateral damage. And Liz was replacing her… And I didn’t hate her at all. I actually loved her and it was great to have her back, especially since she and Don can keep their hands off of each other now. It’s like when Rossi became likable. I’m checking to make sure that the north and south poles haven’t flipped.
5. I think I may love you, Alan Eppes. Basically, at the end, Don’s feeling guilty because he wasn’t punished for the Crystal Hoyle stuff (even though personally, they made a pretty big deal out of that already) or the Clay Porter stuff (which was also majorly overblown by Evil!Frank/McGowan, I think) and he’s feeling like he’s done something bad and should be punished for it, which segues into a cute story about 12-year-old Don breaking Mommy’s vase and not getting punished and going absolutely crazy about it. Guess he was into law enforcement early, or he just wanted some attention in a house that seems to have primarily revolved around his high-maintenance little brother. And Alan tells his son this:
Alan: Maybe you feel you got away with something here, and that next time no one will be there to stop you. Well, don’t worry, someone will be there. You. You’ll be there.Don: Is that supposed to make it easier?
Alan: Who said it’s supposed to get easier?
He’s actually acting like Don’s dad, which I haven’t noticed much of recently. I’m also glad that Alan’s finally getting some character development. I haven’t seen any of it for… a bloody long time. And he’s a cool character. I’m glad to see more of him.
5.5. Though Don – he may feel terrible about it, but I’m really glad that he didn’t get suspended or fired. I’ll refer y’all to this:
Amita: What are you gonna do, though, I mean . . . (referring to Don’s possible disciplinary action)Don: Something new. Probably time.
Donnie. You’d be devastated without the FBI – and unlike Charlie, at least you’re willing to admit it.
6. Larry and Amita kick ass. That’s really all there is too it.
***Cessation of spoilers***
I’m going to do my Paradise review tomorrow (or at this point, later today), mainly because I’m a little Numb3red at the moment and because my hands are getting tired (Oh, yeah, I’m thrilled for NaNo too. I’ll have carpal tunnel at the end of it, I swear). Sorry if I got a little out of control on my angry rant before (which is entitled Lawrence because I wanted to say something about how Larry manages to merge science with God. And yeah, I do use fictional characters for everything). I get pretty mad about some things.
Nolita Fairytale
Because I am a master at procrastination:
1. My icons are finally organized. It was my present for finishing two PSAT sections. ‘M so proud of myself and contended now.
2. I think JJ’s baby’s named Riley. Because I’ve been stalking press releases. And because Riley’s such a cute name. Riley LaMontage. 
3. Paradise was okay. Too tired to write a full review tonight.
4. When I ran out of CM madness to procrastinate with (and was too worn out to write), I started reading Scrubs quotes on Wikiquote. Mainly because I saw them on Wikipedia’s List of Fictional Doctors (which has Dr. Spencer Reid but not Dr. Charles Eppes… When I figure out what template they’re using, that will be remedied). And because BlindinglyArticulate forced them on me one night, and they’re not half as stupid as they sound. Plus, the opening thing is really cool, from a cinematography standpoint.
5. My father would love to tell this to one of his obese patients someday:
Dr. Cox: Lemme ask you a quick question: are you trying to make my head explode? Because you have no idea just how frustrating it is working your ass off trying to inflate a tiny little balloon inside somebody’s clogged artery when all that person has to do, really is–oh, I don’t know–go for a walk in the morning or choke down a fresh green salad. And you come back here looking like that? And, I know here, I’m supposed to be Dr. Give-A-Crap, but you wanna hear the God’s honest truth? And this is a fact: you are what you eat. And you clearly went out and devoured a big fat guy, didn’t ya?
Except that Dr. Cox doesn’t have to stand there and tell the guy, before his bypass surgery is needed, “Eat properly! Exercise!” And then know that the guy isn’t going to and will need bypass surgery regardless.
*headdesk*
6. Nolita Fairytale is an amazing song. Vanessa Carlton is an amazing singer. I exude love.
It’s late. Going to sleep, since I’ve got to (grawl) go to school. Hate the reinstated schedule – hate it, hate it, hate it.
Honestly, though – I’m sorry that all I ever do here is complain. I plan to rave about Paradise tomorrow, if that helps. Or today, I guess. It is 12:29.
Whatevs.
~DreamingOfNothing
won’t you take me to, super AWESOME toooown…
Hiya.
I’m back at school, after holidays letting me off for almost three weeks – I’d forgotten how much it sucks. Ugh.
Also, I’d forgotten about the PSAT. Which I’m supposedly taking next week, since the official dates landed on days I’m not allowed to write, so my school got a special permission to take it later. Because we’re just cool.
But it’s only a week later, and I haven’t really been able to study for the last three weeks (no, I don’t want to hear anything out of you, viewers of my procrastination) and I had a moment like Chris Baty’s, here:
“Every year this seems to sneak up on me, and I had my annual reality check about it two nights ago in the grocery store while buying milk. The expiration dates on all the cartons said “November 3,” and I laughed, thinking how simultaneously gross and awesome it was that these hormone-packed dairy products stay good for so many months.“Then I did some math and realized that we were just a week and change away from November 3. At which point I screamed, dropped the milk on the floor, and collapsed, sobbing, beside it.
“The staff at Safeway must deal with this kind of thing a lot in late October.”
So yeah. That sounds a bit like me last night, while taking down my monster of a Sukkah. (It’s really a monster – complete with raintarp and everything. It’s gigantic.) About both the PSAT and NaNoWriMo. Especially since my plot = nonsensical. And completely not thought-out.
So, in short – I screwed.
I hope you’re happy, CBS, as I feel no guilt blaming you. Especially since it’s probably your fault, you time eater.
But I will have you know, O watchers of my misfortune, that I haven’t even alphabetized my newly collected CM icons yet. And I’m a bit OCD about those. And they’ve been nagging at the back of my mind all day, whispering, JJ might be next to Rossi and a Reid icon might be before a Hotch icon! Which is a criminal offense, in my files, because Aaron comes before Spencer. Obviously. ABC… QRS. And I’m compulsive about the alphabetizing of my files.
I’m suffering for you, stupid PSAT. I didn’t even watch Paradise yet, and you know why? (Besides actually being in school for once and disassembling a sukkah until a freaky hour of night, at which case I had to sleep in order to be operational come morning) Because I was studying. It’s never happened before. Mark your calendars, people.
But I have heard that JJ’s baby’s going to be a boy. Which is exciting, since everything related to Baby Jareau (or LaMontane, I guess. She’s not married to him yet, but she will be – I don’t know how the kid’s name’s working) makes me quiver. And whisper, “Baby!” And stroke a pretend baby head.
Yeah. Still excited. And I really want to know the kid’s name – not knowing is killing me. But now I know it’s a boy, so – mucho excitement.
Kay. I’m going to stop complaining. Good things that have happened:
1. I read Skinned by Robin Wasserman. The main character, Lia, was interesting, even if a bit annoying for most of the book. I personally liked Auden best, out of all of them, but… I’ll not spoil. Just to let you know – I’m mad. Very.
2. I have consumed the very best pasta fresca on the planet. It was heavenly.
3. buffyaddict13 updated Haunted Minds. (The link is to the update, BTW – part 6. It begins here.) Even if I don’t have time to read it, I’m still excited that she updated. And even if I’ve never seen Supernatural in my life (it’s a CM/Supernatural crossover), I’m pretending that all of that is just OC stuff. Because her writing is just that good. And even though I’m sure that means that I’m missing the hundreds of insider cookies that she weaves through everything she writes, I’ll handle it. Because… It’s just really too good not to.
And A Note Pertaining To This: CM peoples or not CM peoples, read this. I am dead serious. I force you to. If you look to your cursor, you’ll notice that it’s moving on its own. That’s me hacking your secure network. (Now I’ve got her file, now I’ve got her social, and because you’re grumpy, I’m going to send your boss those Jamaican vacation photos. Oh, look at you. No tan lines.)
Ignore the bit in the parenthesis. I get carried away sometimes in my quotation.
Anyway – I’ll take leave of you now. To study. Though I might sneak Part 6 of Haunted Minds in there.
Or Paradise.
Or all of Season 2, why not.
~DreamingOfNothing
The Decoy Effect and Blowback
Okay: I’ve seen both the second and third episodes of Numb3rs in the last few days, and since I just finished Blowback, I’m going to add my commentary for them both now.
***SPOILERS FOR EPISODES 2 & 3 OF SEASON 5 OF NUMB3RS***
1. Don – I didn’t see that coming. He basically said, “You’re giving my brother back his clearance, or I quit.” Which was unexpected, but traditionally heroic. And Evil!Frank/McGowan is really hammering him right now, so his career might be over anyway. I’m surprised that Ian’s questionable interrogation came up – that was never really addressed before, even though a big deal was made out of Don’s shooting of Crystal Hoyle (who was driving at a police barricade with an unpinned grenade, BTW). I’d thought that they’d forgot about Ian. Or didn’t know about it in the first place. But I guess not, especially since Evil!Frank/McGowan seems to know everything.
2. Charlie – I hoped you’d do that. He basically said, “I’m not giving you (Evil!Frank/McGowan) dirt on my brother when he bends the rules to save lives to get my FBI job back. I can get another job – I’ve only got one brother.” Plus, Charlie – half of the reason you like working at the FBI so much is because you can work with Don, the older brother you still idolize. So getting him fired to get your consulting job back kinda defeats the purpose of getting the job back in the first place.
2.5. Though Charlie was still awesome when he signed on with LAPD when LAPD was working with the FBI. Because then he’s working for the FBI without actually working for the FBI. He’s not called a genius for nothing.
3. Colby – What exactly were you thinking? Or were you not? Sleeping with a material witness is not something I expected out of you. Luckily, David agreed with me and probably so would Don if he’d heard about it – actually, he’d kill you if he’d heard about it. That I want to see. I was almost wishing that she’d blown up, so that the problem would be over. But I guess not. This does, however, explain why Numb3rsNews on lj hasn’t updated since this airing. Shirtless Colby on screen has undoubtedly sent several fangirls into epileptic fits, since fangirls seem to get particularly excited about Colby. I think it’s pointless to repeat that I don’t see it.
4. Nikki – What exactly were you thinking? Or were you not? In The Decoy Effect, you were stupid. Really stupid. They gave you a code word, which is generally given to someone being used as bait so that they can signal to be rescued before they’re shot, but Nikki’s invincible. She doesn’t need SWAT. Really, you’re just lucky that you didn’t die in the five seconds it took backup to rescue you. Which is kinda what Don said, and that’s why he put you back on the phones. Because he’s not dumb enough to trust you anymore. Um, plus – getting yourself killed isn’t just a problem for you. Because I wouldn’t really be all that bothered if you died, to be honest. But it would probably get Don fired because of Evil!Frank/McGowan, so it would suck for him more than you. So don’t do that again.
4.5. Nikki, I have this to say about this week’s episode:
©theoriginalspy and numb3rs
5. Evil!Frank/McGowan – You’re still evil. And stupid. Especially since you’re trying to turn the two main characters against each other. It’s not going to happen. You will go down, just like Frank did. You’ll see.
6. Megan – you are still missed. Desperately. Especially with the stupidity of your replacement.
7. Evil!Frank/McGowan’s Interrogation of David&Colby = Love. It was great, mainly because David and Colby were like, “You know, we do actually care about Don and Charlie, and don’t want to step on others to get power. We aren’t all you.” Obviously they didn’t use those words, because they don’t want to lose their jobs, but it was there. And when Evil!Frank/McGowan was using the disciplined!army angle with Colby, Colby said, “We had one rule. When in doubt, empty your magazine.” Which is going to be my new motto from now on. It was spectacular, no matter how stupid Colby was later in the ep.
8. Shout out to the Special Effects Crew: Did any of you see Mayhem? Or watch Mythbusters? Explosions are bad things. And explosions big enough to make gigantic fireballs and wipe out cars are big enough to burn papers inside said car and do more than knock down people outside said cars. Okay, probably Mayhem was a bad rebuttal, since it’s also TV (even though it’s from the same network a few weeks ago, so you’d think you’d learn from each other, and even though Criminal Minds is always right) but Mythbusters does real explosions. And they’re big. And can hurt people. So you’re not making me feel any more convinced of your realism here, Numb3rs.
9. Nothing really that funny here. Or there. Or anywhere since Season 5 started, actually, not counting Larry. Larry makes anything funnier. *Files missing humor report* Maybe Criminal Minds (namely, Reid and Garcia) has just made me spoiled, but… I feel the loss. And Larry’s been conspicously minimal in the last two episodes, so I feel justified in complaining.
So, in summary: Nikki is disliked, Charlie and Don are heroic and brotherly, Fireball Explosion is completely harmless, Evil!Frank/McGowan is evil and beginning to be hated as much as Original-Evil!Frank, Megan, Larry, and Humor are missed greatly, and Colby is male.
***SPOILERS END. AS DOES POST***
~DreamingOfNothing
I Left Your Heart in San Francisco
*Hysterical laughter* Basically, blame it all on this:
Yeah, that’s Inigo Montoya. And that up there = hilarious. It’s just the kind of dark humor that the normal world probably finds horrifying, but… I’m just creepy like that. And I’m so sure that this is one of those things that people will watch and say, “Well. Any thoughts I ever had thought about seeing this show – kaput.” But it’s not this morbid in real life. Well, it sort of is. Just humorous in a way that doesn’t relate to murder and death and whatnot.
I totally want these CDs, though. Or I would, if they were real. S’too bad.
Anyway, as I’m sure you’ve guessed, I’ve wasted my entire day on CM obsession again. Except completely not, because I do seem to have picked up some self-control. I actually worked most of the day – aren’t y’all proud of me? While researching for my research paper (on blood – *evil cackle*), though, I saw this and… Well. That was that.
Plus, I saw The Decoy Effect with my brother earlier – and Keith Carradine (who was a very evil unsub in CM a year or so ago named Frank Breitkopf) played a FBI security guy named Carl McGowan. He was just as detestable as Frank was. I mean, not as, because Frank did stuff like chop up random people like Gideon’s girlfriend (the guy in that video up there, Mandy Patinkin, also known as Inigo Montoya, played Gideon before Gideon had a mental breakdown after his girlfriend was chopped up) and leave them in the desert. McGowan didn’t exactly do that, but he was a complete and utter jerk, so the comparison wasn’t too far off. So – I still hate him.
I’ll go on about The Decoy Effect in a later post, I think – I’m too giggly at the moment. I’m waving at my brain from the other side of my desk.
I left your heart
In San Francisco
Within a bag
Inside my fridge
*Presses ‘replay’ for the fifteenth time* I think I’m going to make a youtube playlist to repeat it over and over for me. Yeah.
Also, I’m going to watch something that I taped off of the Discovery Channel called the Secrets of Body Language. Part of my psychology curriculum. Which I am so excited about.
And the baby. For the last hour, a little voice in my head has been shrieking, as background music, “(JJ’s having a baby! Baby baby baby baby!)” Complete with parenthesis. I feel like I’ve walked into my sister’s mind. But it’s a baby – and it’s a really, really cute baby. Even if I haven’t really been able to see it. (JJ’s having a baby!) I’m sure it’s adorable. I’m sure that it’s as cute as Baby Max from 12 posts back. (Baby!) Yeah. I’m not sure how to get rid of the squealing.
So… BlindinglyArticulate, you asked for a post. Well, here you are. Complete with a soundtrack.
So… I’m going to post a video that’s funny.
*Weak grin* See. Not dark and depressing. And the guy in the suit – that’s Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner. Usually known as Hotch. Their boss. And he is capable of humor, as you can see.
Nerdy guy in the sweater = Dr. Spencer Reid. As you could probably guess. I’m sure you already know more about him than you ever wanted to know.
Thin blonde = Jennifer Jareau. Also known as JJ. (Baby!) Always having to fight with the ravenous wolves of the press.
Blonde with the dark shirt and glasses = Penelope Garcia. Generally one of the funniest people here. Says things like, “Your friendly neighborhood oracle of all things knowable and unknowable at your service!” or “Rainmaker – how wet do you want it?” Yeah. She’s awesome.
Brunette who gets hit with a film canister = Emily Prentiss. She’s brilliant. I raved about her a bit last week. (A bit! A bit?) Okay, I raved about her a lot. But she was completely awesome, so… Yeah.
Sure, I’ll do this too. What the heck. (They’re all FBI agents, by the way. That’s the point of the show).
Happy days.
*Presses ‘replay’ on Criminal Minds’ Greatest Hits again*
It’s an addiction. What can I say.
Anyway. No episode until next week. 
The debate cut it off, but it was worth seeing too. Just saddens me to lose CM for it.
S’okay. I’m alive.
Blood drops keep falling on my head-
~DreamingOfNothing
Reccage of Awesome Things
Firstly, this twilight commentary is eating my life. Honestly.
Secondly, it does not get much more awesome than these NaNo desktops. I will be using them the whole time, I tell you.
Thirdly – Five People You Meet in Heaven is a sweet movie. I haven’t read the book, but the Hallmark movie was really, really good. Even if it gave me fifteen plot bunnies that vanished by the last scene because everything vanished in the last scene, it was so melty. *Butterflies twitter, having apparently discovered the skill to do so*
Fourthly, Dove Chocolates are heavenly. I love. Even if they tell me that I need to write someone a love letter this week or make my eyes twinkle.
Fifthly, Bliss is a creepy book. Darn good, but creepy. The accent I’m adding to every single character might be helping with that, since my brain has Texan Accents automatically linked with ’safe and awesome and totally not bloodthirsty.’ And I gave them the accents before I found out about the bloodthirsty bit (which means that I’m dumb enough to miss subtle clues like blood dripping all over the cover. I’m smooth) so there’s no going back now.
Sixthly, Disturbia is a darn creepy song. And not in a Bliss-good-creepy way, but in a shivery-squick-creepy way. It’s now on the list of things I’m scared of, right under gigantic moths that won’t drown, which featured prominently in the cast list of DreamingOfNothing’s Morning. And the music video is about twenty times creepier than the song itself. *Shivers*
Seventhly – Pixie dust rocks. Seriously. And faires completely have awesome fairy wands. I’m being a fairy for Purim, okay, don’t knock them, BlindinglyArticulate. Even if Skype did decide to die on us.
And… That’s it. I love my computer. Vista and all.
G’day. I need to go waste more of my life.
~DreamingOfNothing
Minimal Loss
After a long day of fasting and repentence, it’s good to sit back and smash the promises not to sin to smittereens.
***Spoilers for Criminal Minds, Season 4, Episode 3, Minimal Loss. Srsly***
1. Okay, so I totally intended to open this post with the words, “I SO CALLED IT.”
Except that I didn’t. Because there was not a glimmer of Emily/Reid ship in this ep. Which, upon reflection, is not such a bad thing. I’ve been watching ship-loaded Numb3rs for way too long.
I mean, there is the whole awesome hug and reassurance bit, which was really sweet, but it’s completely platonic. Which really kinda squishes my little baby ship into mush. Which I guess doesn’t surprise me too much. Though I think I’ll still be writing it, because I’ve been feeling remarkably fluffy lately. Yes, I’m horrified too.
Looking at the non-canony shippiness of this fandom, though, I was 100% expecting about twenty Prentiss/Reid fics to follow the airing of this ep.
So far, I’ve not seen a single one, though Hotch/Prentiss ships seem to be exploding. Go figure.
2. See below for, quite possibly, the best line in this episode.
Cyrus: (Religious whacko, and pointing gun at Reid) No one had to follow. God could have stopped me.
(Morgan enters and guns the guy down)
Reid: He just did.
I really, really liked that. Reid was particularly awesome here, especially since the entire thing had to be riddled with flashbacks, even though they didn’t actually show any evidence of that. Also, since my entire day has been riddled with Revelations flashbacks, due to the confession/repentence theme of that particular holiday.
(Disembodied, flashbacky voice: It’s time to repent, Spencer Reid.)
*Shiver* Yeah. Plus, Reid was so, so awesome with the whole ’sorta running the show with Cyrus (religious whacko) without Cyrus even really noticing that he’s being totally manipulated’ thing. I’m so proud of him. Even though, as usual, the entire world is out to get him.
3. Emily. Freaking. Prentiss.
She was… I don’t even know how to properly say it other than ‘Abso-bloody-lutely Incredible.’ She was all protective of Reid by saying that she was the bad guy and getting herself all beatup over it (which is going to send Reid into fits of guilt again – he really never gets a break) and all super-womany and tough and… Ooh. She’s slotting her way into my utmost favorite characters right now.
Plus, the way she knew that the team had bugged the place and kept talking to them and ended up having that awesome laser-pointer semi-conversation with Morgan (basically, she talked, and he moved a laser-gun-sight on the wall to tell her things) and basically spearheaded the whole rescue effort and called after Morgan and Reid when the complex they were in blew sky-high was just really cool. A lot of reaction posts I’ve read seem to be from people who don’t really like Prentiss, but personally – I love her. She’s incredible.
Also, the little sob-inducing powow in the jet at the end – where she basically tells Reid that Cyrus was a psycho and that Reid shouldn’t blame himself for the whole getting-beat-up thing, because he ended up being sort of able to save everyone except at the end when Cyrus got a bit too paranoid and started beating Reid up too. See icon at top of post. (Everyone is out to get him, I tell you).
Of course, Reid is totally going to keep feeling guilty anyway. Because he’s, well, Reid.
4. Rossi. Why am I actually liking you? It’s a very freaky feeling. I’m too used to hating your guts. This new feeling of actual like is disorienting me.
Rossi was a lot more major in this ep than he usually is. Being that he was running the negotiations and all. He was actually really, really good and not acting as stuck-up as he usually does. I was shocked to discover that yes, Reid and Prentiss’s lives are in his hands, and yes – I actually trust him with those lives. I would never have said that a few months ago, when I was still happily hating David Rossi with all of my heart.
5. Hotch was also really good.
Firstly, there was the throwdown with the jerk of an Attorney General (who basically made the whole mess in the first place, by making an ATF raid while Reid&Prentiss were investigating a child abuse allegation and most importantly not telling JJ when she called ATF to say, “Are you going to make a raid?” so that they’d know if they could send Team in there), where he basically told the guy that he’ll be lucky not to be brought up on homicide charges if this goes bad and to, I quote, “Get off my crime scene.” Which is a line not easily forgotten.
Secondly, as Morgan-Rossi-Hotch listen to Emily being squished into a pulp through their bugging devices (and, even better, repeatedly saying, “I can take it,” even though she’s sort of not because she knows that Big Brother is Watching and doesn’t want them to raid the place and get all the adorable kiddies killed), Hotch never puts down the headphones. Morgan stops first, because he can’t stand to keep listening to Emily shrieking, then Rossi, but Hotch, despite his obvious agony, doesn’t ever stop listening. Because she’s talking to them, and he’s the true leader of the team. Gideon and Rossi respectively have sort of been semi-leaders of the team (AKA, not offical leaders but kind of taking the role anyway) but it’s moments like this that show that Hotch is the leader of the team, and he really cares about them and protects them.
And he’ll remain strong for them, his own pain completely aside. Because that’s what good leaders do for their teams.
6. Really, though, I think this should have been a two-part episode, like The Big Game/Revelations or the Fisher Kings. Because it all seemed a bit rushed, and it was like they were trying to cram way too much into the 41 minutes they had. That’s just my feeling.
Also, the scenarios I plotted out in my fanfiction ideas I almost like better. Well, I had thought before this thing aired that Reid&Prentiss were undercover. And thusly the first thought I had was What was that brilliant strategist on, because Reid would be the absolute last person I’d send undercover into a religious cult. So I’d come up with all these reasons why he and Prentiss were the only two that could go, and a whole undercover discovery scenario, and… it was fun to write. I’ve got to see if I can finish it, though, after finally watching the real Minimal Loss.
Though in my writing, Reid got whumped a lot more. Because I’m just evil that way. We scare because we care (Which sorta means that I have no place to critize the writers of Criminal Minds for making Reid’s life basically a living hell, because I’d do that too – but I’m not putting it on television. And you know, there is a point when it just becomes ridiculous.)
So at the end of the day, it was great, but I’m torn between whether I like this or The Angel Maker better. Because The Angel Maker was awesome, and after how excited I got about Minimal Loss, it’s almost a let-down. Still really, really good, especially if thou likes Emily or Reid. Or Hotch. Or Morgan. Or Rossi. Just about anyone, really, except Garcia or JJ, both of whom didn’t really show. I miss Garcia. Though JJ’s baby bump isn’t being hidden anymore, and we don’t have to resort to the pregnancy-desk/file/laptop/vase/box/etc. that Numb3rs had to use for Megan. Which is good, because it also keeps JJ on the show. I hope.
Anyway, that’s about it, I think.
***Cue cessation of spoilers***
I’m going to go work on my fanfic, even though I should be plotting for NaNo.
Or alphabetize my collected 153 CM icons again. I do this about twice a week. Right now they’re alphabetized by first name of character, name of designer, and name of icon. But it can change.
Or drink some cranberry juice.
Either one.
~DreamingOfNothing
