CM: In Heat

Matt Roush and I don't disagree much, and when we do, it's usually due to philosophical, moral or political differences -- namely, my beliefs and values dictate what I watch, and, for instance, I don't care how well-written Weeds is, I will never, ever sympathize with a show built around a suburban mother who sells drugs to earn a living. (If you like it, more power to you. I, however, do not need to "give it a chance" to know that I won't ever like it.)

Anyway, the one show that I really disagree with him over is Criminal Minds. He really has a problem with the show and feels it's ridiculous and badly written and gratuitiously violent. I don't think it's badly written at all; I find the premise -- the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit profiling and hunting violent serial predators -- fascinating. The beginning and ending voiceovers and some of the speeches offered by characters like Hotch or Rossi might get a little heavy-handed from time to time, but I really like the show and actually prefer it to any of the CSIs and Law and Orders.

As for the so-called gratuitious violence, it's no bloodier than any of the other criminal procedurals -- or even Grey's Anatomy, for that matter. Seriously, I couldn't look at the bear attack victim's intestines hanging out of his body cavity during last week's Grey's. I'll be the first one to call something over-the-top gory or graphic or whatever -- I couldn't make it throught the pilot of Showtime's Dexter. (Although I like the PG-13 version CBS has been running on Sunday nights.)

I really enjoyed last night's CM, especially since it was JJ-centric. JJ is the liason between the BAU and the rest of the world -- she handles the press, handles the requests from the police departments who needs the unit's help, deals with the families of the victims if necessary, etc. She's an agent, but not a profiler, and so her character isn't quite as involved as the others. Therefore, whenever she gets to play a front-and-center role, it's awesome. ("North Mammon" remains my favorite episode of all three seasons thus far.)

AJ Cook got pregnant during the writer's strike. I had no idea until watching last night. JJ usually wears very tailored blouses and suits, and that definitely wasn't the case last night. I Googled her after the show was over and was glad to learn that her pregnancy is being written into the show -- which would explain the return of a character JJ had an ongoing flirtation with in an episode about a year ago. The writers handled the storyline very well. They explained the fact that JJ and Will had been having an ongoing relationship since then very realistically, and they should be able to now work the pregnancy in without it looking like it came out of nowhere.

I hate when shows try to cover up real-life pregnancies. It's very, very obvious that Angela Kinsey is pregnant on The Office, as it was when Courtney Cox was pregnant during the last season of Friends...I realize that storylines and characterization aren't always conducive to pregnancies, but the lengths these shows go to hide them border on the ridiculous.

Anyway, with all deference to the esteemed Mr. Roush, I really like Criminal Minds. A lot. It's moved into my top 5 shows and is one I'll always watch live or at least the night it airs. (Ironically, Lost is my current favorite show and I'm still two episodes behind -- soon to be three after tonight.)