I think CM got significantly better in season 3. Not only was it free of Gideon, who was an unpleasant character who took up way too much screen time, but the writing seems tighter and the production more sophisticated.

Flashpoint was excellent tonight.

I'm seeing CM the way I first saw SG-1, all out of order. Except for Patinkin and the other guy I have no idea what season I'm watching.

Rossi and Prentiss are a huge bonus from Gideon and Elle. (Though the first Elle episode I saw was when she was going off the rails, so I might not have given her a chance. Emily still kicks her ass.)

The Luke Perry one is amazing, and yeah, when they bring in a guest star they really work it.odd how unusual that is.

One of the capital C creepiest eps is set in my mom's home town. Ew.

Quester, it took me a long time to get that figured out too.

I thought for a while that Prentiss and Elle were the same person. I just couldn't figure that out! I still get them mixed up.

True Night (the Frankie Muniz one) is really good. Profiler, Profiled is amazing. Also Mayhem. And Penelope is really good, too.

I seem to always discover procedurals when they're late in their shows run. My first CSI:Vegas ep was the S5 Tarantino-directed finale, I just started with NCIS last fall, and now I'm thinking about watching CM and Leverage due to y'all.

Leverage is starting with a 2 hour season premiere 2 weeks from Sunday.

If we're calling out CM guest stars I gotta put in a vote for James Van Der Beek (who coincided with the start of Reid's first deep arc) who redeemed just about all of the ill will I might have borne for him because of Dawson's Creek. He was marvellously creepy.

I don't miss Gideon or Elle either. Gideon was stuffy and insufferable, and NOT IN CHARGE. But the show wasn't agreed on that, and I thought it messy. Elle was cardboard "I'm a chick, but tough as the guys, and sassy!" Prentiss is so much better. She's a woman, who lays down the law. And Rossi just cracks my shit up. The way they introduced him, to underscore that this isn't your sensitive Gideon (who never shot anyone, unlike the rest of his team) was pretty funny.

And of course, in all of the CM "Which eps should Maria watch?" none of us mentioned "100."

Maybe because it's this last season and so it's not gonna be on A&E or ion, yet, but oh holy shit, is it gut-wrenching.

And another excellent one is the S4 ep with Alex O'Loughlin as the Unsub (The Big Wheel). He was so cast against type and it was amazing.

ETA: ita, yeah, I gotta agree with you on James Van Der Beek as well. Again, just cast against type and worked it tremendously. I think that's the thing that the show does so remarkably well with its guest stars-- it really asks them to stretch and go to really unfamiliar places as actors.