In the finale, I thought they wasted Tim Curry. There were a lot of shots of him - or at least part of him (face with cigarette, foot grinding out cigarette), but he wasn't speaking or visibly doing much. There was the section at the end where he was actually interacting with the others, but I felt kind of cheated.

I thought so too, but he did do a wonderful job of being super creepy while not having much dialogue.

I hate when they spend too much time all up in the unsub's face at the start, no matter who it is.

Me too. The only exception I can recall was Big Wheel, which I loved.

I'm hooked. Really, really hooked. Whoever said that this show would make me reevaluate the guest stars gets a gold star. James Van Der Beek is creepy as hell. And Alex O'Loughlin. My oh my. (Why yes, I watched the same eps as Kathy did on A&E this weekend, plus everything that was on ion!) Ashes to Dust in its entirety creeped me out, and poor Hotch....

"To Hell..."/"And Back" was phenomenal two-parter, in a freaky way. Garrett Dillahunt is such a good villain. Sarnia is such a sleepy city, except when the Silver Sticks hockey tournament is happening. I know the city isn't like that, but still...crazy. "Amplification" is probably the one that weirded me out the most. Disregarding the completely screwy geography concerning the DC Metro and MARC trains, I live right next to Ft. Detrick. There's always an underlying, low-level fear that something will happen. The episode is more plausible than most, to me.

Hotch has changed quite a bit over the seasons, hasn't he? He never was the life of the party, but he at least smiled on occasion. NSM anymore. I love Garcia--probably a little too much. Prentiss is still better than Greenaway, and despite the fabulosity of the Frank episodes, I can barely tolerate Gideon. Rossi, despite his flaws, is a much better character. Morgan--well the pretty does have a layer or two. I still don't have a good grasp of JJ, and I'm not sure about Reid. I can see how he could be woobie-fied, but he does very little for me. Heresy, I know.

It is, plus it's a big time cliffhanger.

What happened in the season finale? Hopefully I'll get to see it before the new season premieres, but I'm OK with being spoiled.

Well, if you really want to know, Morgan and the local cop go to his old house to confront the unsub because the unsub and the LC are linked in the past. The team thinks that they are going to another place, but they can't make cell calls so they don't know that Morgan and LC are going to the old house. Ergo, no backup on the way.

Then, Unsub ambushes Morgan, ties him up (dignified bleeding from the temple), shoots the LC and takes the LC's daughter. Cliffhanger is shot cop (may or may not be dead, shot from the side) and tied up Morgan and the team doesn't know where they are.

And now we wait until the Fall.

I KNEW I could count on you, Vortex! Thank you.

What is it with BAU members getting tied up and/or ambushed inside of their own homes? I can understand an unsub getting the drop on you during the chase, but in your own home? C'mon. Not even a security system?

Oh, I wasn't clear. They were in the local cop's old house, not Morgan's. However, this is the second time that he's been ambushed and left by the unsub. First Foyet, now this guy. My poor baby! I'll have to console him for a long time to get over this.

Ion's running season 1 of CM right now, so it's a good time to start watching (excellent timing on my part!). Last night, they had "LDSK," where Hotch and Reid are held hostage in the hospital and Hotch kicks Reid in the stomach to cover up Reid getting his back-up weapon so he could shoot the unsub in the forehead ("I was aiming at his leg"--hah!). I loved Reid telling Hotch that he kicked like a 9-year-old girl. A few hours later, it was Elle's turn to be held hostage on the train to Dallas, and Reid joined her in the train car to "remove" the chip from the unsub's arm.

They were really putting Reid in harm's way as much as possible, weren't they?

Last night, they had "LDSK," where Hotch and Reid are held hostage in the hospital and Hotch kicks Reid in the stomach to cover up Reid getting his back-up weapon so he could shoot the unsub in the forehead ("I was aiming at his leg"--hah!).

This is one of my favorite episodes and certainly one of my favorite Reid moments.

I do like that the writers seem to at least try and get some local color. "LDSK" was set in Des Plaines, IL, just south of where I live, and the unsub was a nurse who worked in both the DP hospital and Arlington hospital, which is close to reality (Arlington Heights is just north of Des Plaines).

Whoever said that this show would make me reevaluate the guest stars gets a gold star.

I was at least one of the people who said that. *preens* ita and brenda both did as well.

I couldn't rewatch "The Fox" last night. That one just wigs me out monumentally. But I did watch LDSK and I do love Reid in that episode. And I remember the first time I saw it, I couldn't believe Hotch was being such a bastard even though I knew he had to be planning something. (Another great Reid line: "I knew what you were planning the minute you moved the hostages out of my line of fire.")

A great episode for me, in terms of Hotch showing some cracks in the armor and sensitivity, is "Business is my Pleasure" (I think that's what it's called-- the ep where the Unsub poses as a call girl.) I love him staying with her at the very end.