Melissa Ann

I loved this episode.

The few things I didn't like were:

1) Rossi trying so hard to disprove the psychic. People need hope at a hard time, and he took the only hope that mother had left when he handed her the psychic's file.

2) JJ's apparent discomfort at the thought of loosing a child. Now that she is a mother, I hope she's not going to back out of the show because of a change of feelings. Hotch has a son and if anything, it motivates him more to get the scumbags.

I'm afraid that there is going to be a change in how the characters relate, now that JJ is a mother and new emotions arise on new cases. Things that might not have effected her before, will effect her now.

I wasn't too excited about Cybill Shephard's appearance, it was kind of bland, just like her role as Martha Stewart (no offense to Cybill fans).

I liked the ending when Hotch pulled the tarp down to show Rossi the psychic's vision. It may not have been literal, but it mattered.

Not a lot of Derek in this episode and I missed that.

Prentiss was awesome as always. I love her facial expressions. When they were questioning the blond wig dude, Stanley Usher, she conveyed what she was thinking without having to say a word.

What did everyone else think of the cast performances this episode?

What were your favorite moments and least favorite moments?

ssbailey

What's going on with JJ in this episode? She seemed to totally be adamant that the psychic could be real, so much so that she took evidence to him so he could get a reading on it--the old JJ would NOT have done that. And then at the end Rossi was all the way across the room and he still managed to startle her--does she have PTSD now? That confused me, I almost thought she was a little out of character in this one, even at the beginning she seemed odd when she went to find everyone for the briefing. Like I understand that she's a mom now, but she was more like the JJ we know when she was pregnant and hormonal than she is now.

And now we're back to "Angry Dave" again. I understand that he has bad issues with psychics--and rightly so--but he could have just kept an eye on the psychic guy and let the mother have her hope until the psychic did something completely immoral or they found her daughter's body.

Another thing I was confused on was Hotch. At first he's all aligned with Dave on 'psychics don't exist', even telling JJ "You're not a profiler" like saying if she was one she'd know the psychic was a fraud, and then I felt like he knew she was taking the letter to the psychic. When has Hotch been so wishy-washy in his opinions and decisions?

Then we have JJ who fits the victimology perfectly, especially with that new haircut, and they don't use that in the episode at all? Why? And what's the deal with the little use of Reid and Morgan? Prentiss got a little more time, but ultimately it was Hotch and/or Rossi that took up the whole episde.

At the end, did the victim think she was "Abby"? I thought she was just faking it, but she was almost like an emotionless zombie when they got her off the embalming table. And why did it feel like the whole episode was more to show how Dave feels about psychics than the case?

I do have to admit that I LOVED the breakroom scene at the beginning.

Next week, "Zoe's Reprise", looks pretty good though! Maybe we'll get some good team scenes? *fingers crossed!*

Melissa Ann

I agree with your points.

At the same time, the thing with JJ and the psychic. Like she told Hotch, they didn't have a good solid lead, she was hoping for anything.

Plus, she believed more after the psychic told her congratulations. Yes she was wearing a ring, but it wasn't on her ring finger on her left hand, it was on her right.

So he knew something.

I think that made JJ believe and give her some hope as well because she could relate to the mother, now that she is a mother.

ssbailey

I agree that it did give her hope that she could relate to the mom like another mom now that she's had Henry, where before she really couldn't relate because she didn't have kids--not that she wasn't great at her job before, she definitely was.

I wonder if the psychic just made an educated guess on the ring? Like he read her behavior and then due to the placement of the ring on a different finger and hand in a different spot than a wedding or engagement ring would be placed he was able to deduce that it was to remind her of something that required 'congrats'? Maybe he noticed the birthstone in the ring?

I do agree that Hotch pulling down the tarp and showing Dave the scenic painting meant something.

Melissa Ann

^^ I thought the psychic was playing the Mom, but at the end with the tarp, and the rocks and sealine image with the light tower.

It meant that what his vision was was real, but not literal, so in a way, it almost is meant to make you re think what you do believe in.

The line the psychic gave Rossi about "Not everyone believes in what you do either..."... it was harsh but true, which was sort of sad in a way you know.

broken crown

I really enjoyed the episode! It's about time they talked about psychics on the show, considering they're a popular thing these days with so many shows dedicated to them.

I enjoyed seeing Nicholas Brendon again and it was great seeing Mercedes McNab (who played Harmony on Buffy and Angel). And Michael Biehn!!!! Hello Kyle Reese!!!

Rossi sort of bugged me in this episode with the whole "psychics are always frauds" nonsense and while I adore JJ (and her new haircut), the black or white dynamic with her and Rossi, felt like a forced attempt at personal conflict.

The whole case was very creepy and I'm glad the girl was alive at the end.

The episode definitely needed more Morgan and Garcia. I miss their bantering dynamic SEVERELY!

Chris

Me too.

Agreed. They each seemed to go out of their way to annoy the other, and it didn't seem very professional.

I liked that scene too. Just enough to give the psychic some plausibility.

Is it just me or has their interaction been in short supply this season?

i never learn

i thought the psychic was going to turn out to be the killer! but alas, nope... i still think on some level it was just too convenient to have someone like that assist them with the case... i liked the quote in the end by stuart chase though... you either believe or you don't... but i didn't dig the shoreline reveal at all... it's like they were contradicting the quote by suggesting anything is possible by proving the psychic was right... what happened to no proof?

the two cast scenes we got in the beginning and end were nice too... the first one showed their unity, which is rare lately... and the last one between rossi and jj was a surprise, but a good one... i don't think they were trying to draw angst from them either... i think they were trying to show a common ground between the believers and non believers... like in the end the only thing that matters is the outcome... tied it all together nicely imo

Musidora

That's how I interpreted too.

I thought Rossi was unnecessarily bitchy a few times, but he had point. WTF was JJ thinking, going for the psychic for help? Seriously, love, get a grip. If that's how JJ's going to be from now on, I'm not sure I'm too keen on that. I love that she's the families connection to the cases. and I love how much she cares, but I don't want her to be all emotional about things now.

Was anyone else a bit shocked by the 'crack open a cold one' joke? I was completely taken back, such a dark humour We don't see that often on CM.