But in the pilot ep, Gideon was definitely a Unit Chief when he lost those six agents in Boston six months earlier. In that ep, Hotch is in a position to render judgment on his ability to function in the field, so I'm guessing he's either the new Unit Chief for Gideon's old team, was already a Unit Chief and brought in to take over Gideon's team when he went on medical leave after Boston, or was promoted from within the team.

And thanks for clearing up my confusion on his bachelor degrees. For some reason, I was thinking they were in physics and psychology, not psych and sociology.

On further reading, Gideon was the Unit Chief before his breakdown.

I guess you could look it up and read it all for yourself, too.

I'm gonna keep reading! I am so hooked, damnit!

I just wanted to be sure there was nothing in the canon to contradict that timeline I'd put together (other than my messing up the degrees).

I want to write a fic about how Gideon first met Reid and got him for the BAU, but I first have to figure out for myself if he recruited Reid or if Reid searched him out. That's the big question in my mind, because it'd be interesting to see who had the initiative, Gideon searching out a protegee, or Reid looking for a mentor, or maybe both.

that would be good, and I have no idea!

Oh, opening episode of Season 5 on CBS tonight!

Man, that was painful!

Especially because I went and spoiled myself for what comes later while reading Wikipedia today.

BTW, as far as I can recall, Reid actually joined the BAU at 21, from earlier comments. I think he turned 24 early in S1 and it was mentioned that he'd already been with the BAU for three years by that point?

And for anyone interested in CM fanfic I *cough* have been writing some to get myself unstuck from the other writing. I just finished one that I really enjoyed where Hotch writes a series of letters to the team. It's here: [link]

Oh, Barb, those letters are great! And the letter to Garcia reminded me that she did call him "Aaron" at least once very early in S1, as well as "honey" a few times before the "sirs" started. That makes me think that he had been promoted from within the team.

Thanks for the insight!

My mom is coming out for a family party on Labor Day weekend, and spending a few days with me. The last time she came out last fall, she got me hooked on NCIS. I think I'll exchange the favor and show her a few eps of CM off my dvr, starting with LDSK and Derailed--those should take care of it!

There's a bit of a discrepancy over Reid's age when he joined the BAU. He did turn 24 in one of the first episodes in 2005, and in LDSK, Hotch does tell the unsub that he'd had to put up with Reid for three years. However, one of the articles that Garcia found on Reid's dad's computer said that he was 22 when he joined, so I'm going to go with that. Also, "Tabula Rasa" was from the end of S3 in 2008, and the events in the flashbacks date to early in Reid's BAU career and are from 2004.

Interestingly enough, the article on his starting with the FBI goes into the fact that all of his intelligence doesn't mean he'd be able to handle himself or victim's families in the field, but Gideon says that "with a little tutelage and some experience" he'd be able to handle himself, which he shows in the flashback in "Tabula Rasa," handling the victim's dad with such gentleness that he still had a connection with the man four years later.

Thanks, Kathy! They're fun for me, especially since it's not something I'm stressing over-- it just sort of flows and it reminds me that I can do the same with my "real" writing.

I keep trying to remember which episode it was where Garcia called Hotch both "Aaron" and "honey" within the context of the same conversation, because it was one of the most hysterical exchanges: "Oh, and Garcia? Don't call me honey."

I think it was in the one set in the bank, which I Tivo'd the other night, but haven't gone back to watch.