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.

I love him staying with her at the very end.

It's an extension of him staying with the victim in...Ashes and Dust, right? I know he does it at least once with a burn victim.

But the king of "I'm not going!" is Morgan, because he stays with victims in jeopardy. Hmmph.

What is Unsub short for?

Unknown subject.

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

Reid is CM's Willow.

I also liked the small development of Reid and Morgan's big bro/little bro relationship with the whistle. At first I thought "Morgan's being a dick", but then realized that, while that is true, it is true to the nature of their relationship.

I couldn't believe Hotch was being such a bastard even though I knew he had to be planning something.

Is it wrong that I find bastard!Hotch kinda hot? Especially because he had a plan. And the moment that he draws down on the unsub at the beginning of the standoff in the emergency room pushes all the right buttons. ita has the thigh holster; I have the quick-draw with intensity.

It's an extension of him staying with the victim in...Ashes and Dust, right?

Yep. Do we ever find out the backstory on that one? Through his conversations with Gideon, I got the feeling that fire (arson/burn victim) is very personal to him.

We don't ever get more. The only hints to his backstory that seem to be concrete are abuse, but even that's vague.

The only hints to his backstory that seem to be concrete are abuse, but even that's vague.

There's never been a "Profiler, Profiled" or "Demonology" for Hotch? Huh.

I forgot to mention this earlier... but who in the hell reads a case file filled with gruesome pictures and prominently marked "FBI" on a train with civilians? Completely disregarding the unlikelihood of a psychotic sociopath as a traveling companion, isn't there an issue of confidentiality or clearance? No matter how much I dislike Elle, she's not that dumb.

We don't ever get more. The only hints to his backstory that seem to be concrete are abuse, but even that's vague.

Yeah, we saw that in the ep they showed on ion last night (damn, drawing a blank on the name) where they actually caught the Unsub midway through the episode, but they had to continue profiling him in order to find the FBI agent he had kidnapped and tortured. That line at the end, where he says that some abuse victims go on to become serial killers and others go on to catch them was absolutely chilling.