I'm with Zenkitty--since he was the big name in the original cast and the obvious lead, the writers really featured him in so many of the early S1 eps before they got a feel for the rest of the cast's strengths. That made him just overbearing for me, not just in his screen time, but he had that streak of narcissism. Bleh.

It took me a while to get to like Rossi, but tonight's A&E rerun of "Masquerade" made me see that he is the only real non-geek on the team (now), and the working-class profiler is a nice contrast to the rest of the group. I liked the hints of him feeling threatened in some small way by Reid's smarts--it's a good transitional moment for his character being viewing Reid as this exceedingly odd creature to appreciating his talents overall, as seen in "Uncanny Valley."

I did not see "Masquerade" tonight because I was watch the Emmys. Is it from the latest season? I haven't seen all of those. I didn't get hooked on the show until a couple of months ago.

eta: I've also never seen "Uncanny Valley".

I think Kathy means "Masterpiece" which is the S4 episode featuring Jason Alexander as the UnSub. Wonderful episode.

Oh, yes, I've seen that one a couple of times.

I came to CM thinking of Mandy as Inigo Montoya, so there was nothing but love.

Gone now.

I agree with the assessment of ZenKitty. He was just too good and too great and too aware of it all. And then the whole leaving thing just made it ten times worse.

Oops, yes, I meant "Masterpiece"--sorry about that! And quester, insent to your profile addy about Uncanny Valley.

I got the email and will check it out! Thanks for enabling my addiction!

bt mentioning his favorite (so far) ep as LDSK made me look at my favorite eps. I think my favorite S1 ep is Derailed, with LDSK being a close second and Riding the Lightning third. S2 is Revelations, followed closely by Ashes and Dust and North Mammon (and Sex, Birth, Death an Honorable Mention). S3 is Seven Seconds, then Elephant's Memory, Penelope, and Tabula Rasa.

For me, S4 is my favorite in the number of really strong eps. Instincts/Memoriam are tied for first, then Minimal Loss, Normal, and Amplification gets the Honorable Mention.

S5 I haven't seen often enough (yet), so I'll reserve judgment there. But, I do love both Uncanny Valley and 100, as well as The Internet Is Forever.

Season 1:

• The Tribe
• LDSK
• Riding The Lightning

Season 2:

• Empty Planet
• Lessons Learned
• Ashes & Dust

Season 3:

• Seven Seconds
• Lucky/Penelope (cheating, I know)
• Tabula Rasa

Season 4:

• Mayhem
• Minimal Loss
• To Hell...And Back

Season 5:

• 100
• Uncanny Valley
• Exit Wounds

I feel bad for leaving out Profiler, Profiled and Revelations, but I pretty much stand by those choices (they're in airing order, not preference order (except for The Tribe, which is just the best)).

My list is definitely biased in favor of Reid (as if you didn't notice!), otherwise I would definitely have put The Tribe higher up on my list. I think the Hotch/Blackwolf vs. Mansonesque Family showdown at the end is my favorite action sequence in the entire series.

ETA: For me, as much as I love the Reid monologue at the end of Derailed, that ep is all about the unsub. Ted Bryar is so well portrayed, and so pathetic for all that he is "whacked out of his mind" (as the drunk kid says), that he steals the entire show.