He has a (so-far) minor role in Revenge too.

That's probably the preview I saw.

Got home from class and watched last night's CM and CSI.

CM: Sad case, well done by all the victims-of-the-week (including the unsub). However, the rather heavy-handed team stuff seemed shoehorned into the ep, although I liked each of the elements on its own. They're still trying to find the right groove, which is sad from a show that's in its seventh season, and just shows how much of an upheaval firing AJ and Paget was last season, and then losing Ed Bernero due to all the screwing around by TPTB at the network.

The humor in the Reid-Morgan pranking, as well as Reid profiling JJ as a Mean Girl, was handled nicely by the actors but didn't fit into the rest of the show. I just saw "52 Pickup" over the weekend, and that was an ep that seamlessly blended humorous character stuff with the horror of the murders. This week was tacked on. Also, having Reid be an MIT grad just seemed a gratuitous thing to make him an expert in pranking; I preferred the fandom fanwank of him having gotten his BAs from UNLV, since that fits with him still being a kid in college and having to take care of his mom.

CSI: Much more at ease than CM, even with having a new guy in the mix. Ted Danson is really doing a great job here! Love the way that his character bellows names to get other character's attention, and I'm really liking his continued demonstration of his closeness with his wife. And even the new girl, Ecklie's daughter, is fitting in well. (BTW, isn't she the one who played the twin daughters of the DA in the S1 CM ep "Broken Mirror"?)

My DVR apparently didn't feel like recording CM last night. Fortunately I noticed. Unfortunately, not until 35 minutes in. I got the gist of the unsub stuff, but what was the deal with the pranking? (The first I saw was Reid's cell ringing and him screaming at it).

Apparently, Morgan was dumb enough to try to be in a betting pool with Reid. According to Reid, it took Morgan three rounds to notice he was being hustled. In retaliation, when Morgan gave out contact information to the press for the case, he gave Reid's name and cell number, which prompted Reid's phone to ring like mad and him to flip out like a mammal.

While I don't mind the pranking, I can't imagine that Morgan would have actually given out Reid's number as retaliation while they're in the midst of a case like that. I'm with Kathy in that this one felt like you had two writers working on the main storylines-- one for the case and one for the personal stuff and then they tried to stitch the two together. Especially awkward was Emily asking Hotch about Jack because she "had a feeling." It would've been one thing if he'd been reading the progress report the teacher gave Hotch at the beginning of the ep and she noticed it, but the way she just bopped over, plopped herself in front of him and asked, "How's Jack?" prompted a little bit of whiplash for me.

When Reid and JJ were going through the first victim's crime scene, Reid asked her who were her tormentors in high school. She claimed not to remember them, and that's when Reid asked if she was a Mean Girl ("Valedictorian, soccer scholarship, corn fed but a size six--you were a Mean Girl!"). She denied it, but then said something about how she probably wouldn't have talked much to guys like him. He claimed that his social status improved after he started winning basketball games. She was shocked that he played basketball, and he clarified that he coached the team (figured out the opposition's shooting statistics and strategies). She figured out that's why Morgan kicked him out of the gambling pool, and he admitted that he'd been hustling Morgan. That's why Morgan was involved with the phone calls he was getting--he and Rossi were conducting a press briefing, and Morgan gave out his name and number as a contact, which were in actuality Reid's.

Oops, x-post!

I would liked the scene about Jack better if there had been some sort of clue from Hotch, like Prentiss noticed because he always checks his phone a lot when he's worried about Jack.

Thanks, All!

And yes, the character interactions are seeming kinda...forced of late.

She denied it, but then said something about how she probably wouldn't have talked much to guys like him.

Actually, I thought she said something to the effect that she talked to everyone, "even guys like you," which I thought was very out of character for J.J. to say. Which reiterates the point that things seemed just a bit off in this ep. (Although I do love when Reid's Vegas background pops up.)

Yes! it's the interactions that are off. The pranking with contact info in the middle of a case? Really Not Done. And Reid's not the person you want talking to the press ... or most people. And, unless Reid's still pissed off about JJ not letting him know that Emily was still alive, his comments to her were ... off. I know in the past they'd been fairly close - she was the only one to call him "Spencer".

Actually, she calls him "Spence." He's called "Spencer" by his classmates and family, and he had Lila call him Spencer, too.

Oh, gee, I really do watch this show waaaaay too much.