CM: The opening theatre fire in "House on Fire" (reran on Ion last night) pinged me big time. Ever since I first read about the Iroquois Theatre Fire (Chicago, 1903, 602 died, one of the many temporary morgues was at the local armory which is now Harpo Studios), I've had nightmares about theatre fires, and this one included most of the details I've imagined.

Based on the praise I've seen the show receive here, I've started watching Criminal Minds. Love it! But... I hate A&E! There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to how they air the episodes, and it's driving me insane. The only positive thing is that they seem to be keeping 2 parters together.

I love every single character. And I like Mandy Patinkin and Joe Mantegna equally, so that works out well for me. Love my eye candy (Shemar Moore). Due to the episodes skipping around so much, I'm a bit confused on one of the female characters, but I'm guessing I'll figure it out eventually.

I just don't understand why A&E wouldn't air them in order. Wouldn't that make more sense?

If you're confused about the Elle/Emily confusion, you're not alone. It took me a long time to realize they weren't the same character.

I'm a bit confused on one of the female characters, but I'm guessing I'll figure it out eventually.

We can probably clear up any questions, if you want to ask them here.

Yeah, it was Elle/Emily that was confusing me. I just couldn't figure out when Elle was on and why she left and when Emily came along. I've looked up enough to clear things up though. Elle doesn't really do much for me, so I'm happy with the addition of Emily.

Rayne, if you get Ion TV, they should be starting up with S1 of Criminal Minds next Monday. They're finishing off with the S4 finale 2-parter (To Hell... ...And Back) on Tuesday night, and then showing a relatively early S1 ep on Thursday (The Fox--excellent ep!). My cable doesn't have the listing up for next week yet, but they always show the series in order, so it makes sense they'll be starting it anew then.

As for confusing Elle and Emily, just remember that one of the actresses can act (Paget Brewster, who plays Emily Prentiss) and one can't (Lola Glaudini, who plays Elle). I really dislike Elle, and she ruins most of S1 for me.

Actually, ION's starting over tonight. They're showing "To Hell... and Back" as the first two eps of the three hours block, and then "Extreme Aggressor" (AKA, the pilot) as the third hour.

It's silly of me to consider watching CM from the beginning on ION when I have the freaking DVDs right here.

I've been thinking about picking up the S4 dvds--I think that might be my favorite overall season in terms of rewatchable episodes.

My main problem with the A&E reruns is that they seems to draw from a pool of about 10-15 eps that they rerun constantly, completely ignoring entire chunks of certain seasons.

Also, they tend to slice out a few seconds of show to stick in more commercials. Ion doesn't do that. (I first noticed this with NCIS reruns on Ion vs. USA--in McGee's first ep, USA always leaves out the bit where DiNozzo pretends to be playing football before tossing the rock through the bad guy's window. I wouldn't notice it, but that bit is included in the S2 opening credits, so when I first saw it on the Ion rerun, I thought "Oh, that's where that scene is from!"