[Beatriz]

Thank you for the info Mich

True Nora

[Cris]

You're right Nora, it does!

I can't wait for Sunday and Wednesday!

[Beatriz]

It's very close!

[Cris]

Yeah, it's like a b-day gift!

[Beatriz]

I know!

I also feel like singing 'Santa claus is coming to town' or something

[Brighter Than Sunshine]

Not close enough though. This week is going to go by so slow. Sunday is going to be even slower.

I was hoping that he might be on a late night talk show. But I checked, non this week. Maybe next monday.

[Beatriz]

Oh, a talk show! That would be great

[Mich]

Britney--James wouldn't do a late night interview over just a guest appearance, but he would be interviewed on ET, Access Hollywood or Extra. Not to mention the E! channel. Those are the shows to watch over the next week.

Also, I suggest that everyone watch CM's repeat this week, because that's where you'll see the promo for the next episode, Big Game. Also, North Mammon is the least violent (it's all psychological) so it's a good way to get your feet wet on the nature of the show. Next week will be very violent.

[Beatriz]

I hope to get that promo online if it airs Or at least a good detailed description of what it shows.

I also hope that even if the epsiode is gonna be violent, is not a very explicit and bloody violence because I don't like that very much

[Brighter Than Sunshine]

^ Don't worry Bea, it won't be "The Plague" violent. lol. Television has it's restictions on what it's a allowed to show. I mean we don't even have live tv anymore, everything is on a delay.

Thanks for the info Mich!

[Beatriz]

OK, I won't worry then

[Mich]

Hello, is this Pacey?
*brandishes big gleaming knife*

Heh. If only!

[Mich]

Don't worry about the promo--you've got way better now.

It's a happy day for you, guys!

I got my 2-minute sneak peek of CM last night, and it's gonna blow your mind. It certainly blew my mind.

Anyway, the bad news after the good news, I can't record it so the rest of you can see it. Tivo's tricky about what you can copy and what you can't, and it won't let you record the preview. So I'll do the next best thing and provide you blow by blow information on it. I can't do the dialogue right now, but later I can even get the entire transcript from it. I'm at work now, and not near it to watch it a hundred times to get the quotes.

I'll start with just describing it to you then I'll tell you more about Tobias and then I'll give my own opinions on James' role.

Okay, so the sneak peek starts with the BAU members sitting around their table (they're referred to as the Knights of the Roundtable-solving crimes Arthurian-style so the table is key for their briefings on serial killers) discussing the murder of a rich couple after their Superbowl party. JJ is giving them a run-down of crime scene photos, which are prominently displayed on the huge LCD monitors behind her. As each bloody and disturbing photo passes by, Gideon and Hotchner are shown for their reactions. JJ mentions that lying next to the body and pool of blood-they found a piece of paper with the verses of Revelations. Hotchner starts reading the verse off the screen, and Gideon takes over and reads the last words himself.

Then we cut to an POV view of this house. The camera is positioned so it looks like the viewer is inside the house and walking through its contents to check out the scene for the two raised voices. It sounds like two people having an argument about Jesus, God, sinners and doing holy work. The one voice is very timid and upset and the other is bombastic and strong. The strong voice says that they must obey God and punish all sinners, and the timid voice disagrees and says that's not how you serve the Lord. A slap is heard followed by the strong voice threatening the timid voice--the strong voice says that the timid voice better never disobey him and the teachings of the Lord. The strong voice promises that nothing can happen to them as long as they serve God and spread the Lord's message.

As the argument is happening, the camera winds through the living room (which is cluttered and full of drab furniture and no prominent overhead lighting) and through the hallway to the bathroom. In the bathroom, a man is pulling off a long black sweat shirt. It's James AKA Tobias. He's disheveled, covered in blood-including dried blood spatter on his face, and staring at himself in the mirror.

There were no two voices-it's him talking to his reflection. As he stands in front of the mirror, looking haunted and repetant, he notices some marbles sitting in the gritty soap dish and flashes back to his childhood. The pain and agony never leaves his face as he avoids looking himself straight in the eye in the mirror.

We cut to an old beaten-up and worn down farmhouse with cattle strewn about, and a little kid (about 7 or 8) playing marbles in the dirt. The door clatters open and a man strides across the threshold. He's dressed in shabby clothes and has on a long leather apron. He calls out to the little boy, and the little boy starts trembling as the man approaches. The man is his father. He drags him off to the barn, and tells him to stand still. The boy can not stop trembling as his father purposefully applies his long black gloves and then goes over to start a fire. He tells the boy that all the Lord's messengers carry the mark. The boy hunches over as his father applies a brand to the hot fire, and comes closer. The boy starts crying and whimpering as his father places the burned hot brand to his forehead, and scalds him.

Interspersed with the young whimpering and crying Tobias is the older Tobias, who is clutching his forehead and shaking from head to toe. He's softly moaning as if the brand is touching his forehead now. There's a close-up of his forehead and he's got a deep scar in the form of a cross on his forehead-right under his bangs.

Then we cut to the shower stall being turned on and Tobias climbs in, blood starts poring off his body and trickling down the drain. He can barely stand up as he's trembling so badly. The camera cuts from a medium-shot of him, side-ways, to a shot of his quads and hamstrings as the blood washes off him and down the drain. Then the camera cuts to the bloody water swirling the drain and washing away.

So that's a very detailed account of what you see in the sneak peek.

Along with the sneak peek is another promo. It starts with the same song and the image of a guy driving. You never see his face. All you see is his blood-soaked gloves clutching the steering wheel as he drives and his long black sweat shirt arms. Then it cuts to Garcia watching the web cast of the crime of the rich couple after the Superbowl. She watches as a man cloaked in a dark sweat shirt sneaks up behind a woman and puts a knife to her throat. She then turns away and cries "no, no" which most likely means she's just seen him slash her throat. Then it cuts to reactions of Gideon then Hotchner and then it's the BAU members at the crime scene and switches over to them being watched at the crime scene via web cast. Derek moves closer to the web cast camera, and peers through as a guy dressed in dark clothes sits in front of his computer eating a bowl of ice cream.

I gotta say that the ice cream bit cracked me up. I had the willies from the music and such awesome quick paced editing and that just brought the tone back down to a more comical level for me. Who knew that song could feel spine-tingling?

Okay, so on to my impressions of Tobias. First off, James plays him so brilliantly that you actually feel sorry for this guy. Obviously his father tortured him and used the excuse of God. He branded him with a hot iron at 7-or-8-years old. He mentally berated him, and threatened him when he didn't do what he wanted. His childhood was Hell.

So it only makes sense that his most dominant personality is the emulation of his father, and that's where his killing spree comes into play. His father-dominant personality convinces him that he's cleansing the world of sinners and what he's doing isn't wrong.

Meanwhile, his submissive personality-his real personality wants to fight against the desire to kill, but cannot overpower the other personality to render any peace of mind. It's a real struggle. It's also obvious that's not the only personalities that he has, but are the most defined.

Tobias lives a very simple life, and is definitely not a homemaker. He's probably the quiet and shy neighbor that never leaves the house. His house is cluttered and dirty. Except for the computer, there is no more evidence that the man is aware of technology. He also hasn't shaved in what has probably been weeks, so he's not much for grooming habits.

As for my impressions on James' acting--wow. I can't say that enough. I knew James had it in him to do this role and I believed in him, but he still blew me away. I even read bits and pieces of spoilers about the episode, but reading what will happen and watching it are two different things.

First off, as the camera winds through the house--I didn't recognize James' voice. I knew it was James, but he really alters the tone and pitch of his voice. Both voices do not sound like the James we know. He did a phenomenal job of disguising his voice until his big reveal.

And when you see him--wow. Just the imagery of him staring at himself in the mirror, looking so broken and haunted... it grips you. You'd want to give him a hug if he wasn't covered in blood, LOL.

I've always said that the heart of James' acting is in his eyes and it's very true of these scenes. Everything is non-verbal. It's a very simple set-up, yet James brings all the introspection and back-story behind it into play by displaying such strong emotion in his eyes. You can see the anguish, pain, suffering, remorse, tiredness, and helplessness.

As he stares at the soap dish, you see for a brief flicker a sense of a long-ago happiness but then his face shuts down and his eyes go dead as he recalls his father branding him. And the way he stares with pain and loathing at his scar is interesting, too.

The shower scene would be hot--c'mon it's James!--but the whole sloshing blood and swirling down the drain kinda ruins it, along with the soft crying and shaking of his body. Oh, well, I guess it's still hot, LOL. I'm sick that way!

I think James is gonna impress a lot of people. His acting is unlike anything you've seen him do before. Tobias is nothing like any of the other characters he's played. And James switches between his personalities with such ease and distinction that we might want to avoid dark alleys with the guy, LOL. It really is scary how one minute he switches from a very sadistic killer to a vulnerable abused little boy. And it all happens in his eyes and facial expressions. That's all it takes for James to transfix the viewer. And you will be transfixed.

I've warned you guys that it'll be violent and it will be. I don't mean like in-your-face type gore. This isn't a horror film. TV has standards that it must adhere to with its ratings system. What I meant is that CM employs the same film-school history lessons that were made so incredibly powerful by the legendary Hitchcock. The bulk of the scenes reveal very little in terms of graphic imagery. The majority of the spine-tingling and freak outs come from what you don't see. It's the whole sleight of hand trick. They give you the impression that something is going to happen and then they let your imagination do the rest to scare the beejebus out of you. It's all scary music and quick cutting to give the impression of macabre. The show is incredibly good at this level of drama.

So you won't see James cutting people up or huge amounts of blood--you will most likely see quick sketches of his evil deeds cutting off before the killing occurs and the aftermath. You will see disturbing imagery play out on LCD monitors at the corner of your eye during the briefings and in scenes with Garcia. You also will see dead bodies blurred out with blood pools at crime scenes. That's really the extent of the graphic nature.

I can also tell you guys that for these particular episodes--you'll see one lengthy torture scene but it'll be all talking no doubt and heightened fear with no real action.

The rest is all psychological and leave a more permanent effect on you as you watch.

So that concludes Mich's review on the sneak peek. I hope everyone enjoys the show on Sunday. And if you can't watch it on Sunday then do not fret because they will re-air Big Game right before Revelations on Wednesday. This gives you all two chances to see part 1 of the episode.
__________________

[Mich]

Here's a little behind-the-scenes for what went into making of the episodes:

But the real fun comes after the game.

"You mean when you pass out and think that it's midnight and go to bed?" you're asking us.

No, we mean for the airing of CBS's suddenly hit series "Criminal Minds," which the Super Bowl airer is placing in the "coveted" post-game slot on Sunday.

Not that we normally, or ever, watch "Criminal Minds," but this one is special on account of the fact that it's the episode in which they shot mucho scenery inside the now semi-vacant and largely already forgotten Press-Telegram Building at 604 Pine Ave.

(We're more sentimental than most people, but we gave the Grand Old Lady of Pine the heave-ho once we were installed in our new suite of offices here at 300 Oceangate, with views that are almost maddeningly sweeping and glorious. Plus, for some reason, they have given us the entire 15th and final floor to do anything we want with, which was to install a foosball table, an electronic dartboard and 150 ugly chairs.)

The P-T scenes were shot a couple of weeks ago in the former circulation offices and the ruthlessly gutted publisher's quarters. The old newspaper plant plays a couple of roles in the post-Super Bowl "Criminal Minds" - a police department in Georgia, and an Atlanta field office of the FBI.

A few other Long Beach locales show up in Sunday's "Criminal Minds": you get some scenery filmed at the Auld Dubliner on South Pine at the Pike, and a couple of residences come into play as Georgia homes: one at 4211 Pacific Ave., and the other the semi-famous "Donnie Darko" house at 4252 Country Club Drive.

Synopsis of Big Game & Revelations:

9 p.m. on CBS

Criminal Minds: Dawson Leery a psycho? A special airing in the plum post-Super Bowl time slot casts former "Dawson's Creek" star James Van Der Beek as a messedup guy who takes Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) hostage. Reid uses his profiling skills to try getting inside his captor's twisted mind, but his own brain is a little twisted at the moment, as the man has drugged him. Paget Brewster and Mandy Patinkin also star in the new episode, whose story concludes Wednesday.

[*Nora*]

Wow, Mich. That sounds amazing. And a little creepy. <hides behind the couch> I've never been into drama or thrillers, but I definitely wanna see how James pulls that one off.

Thanks for the review!