Criminal Minds

[ElleCee]

I didn't realize there was a spinoff in the works. More detailed character lists from Ausellio with his picks:

* Cooper is the B-team’s leader, a middle-aged alpha male who’s as loyal to his team as he is sketchy about his past. How come he’s laid so low for nearly a decade? Something tells me that over the course of the show we’ll find out. My pick: Tyler Perry fave Lamman Rucker.

* Thirtyish Gina escaped the mean streets of Baltimore, only to wind up being sent back to them as an undercover agent. After her father died not knowing she hadn’t really fallen in with a bad crowd, she quit the FBI… until Cooper re-recruited her. My pick: Mental escapee Marisa Ramirez.

* Ex-British Special Forces operative Mick, 30, a sniper who’s as good with words as he is with a firearm. My pick: soap stud Paul Leyden (As the World Turns).

* And last but not least, Prophet, also in his 30s, is a born-again African-American ex-con who’s eager to clean the slate he so completely filled pre-prison. My pick: Angel alum J. August Richards.

[Deleted]

The spin-off is a very, very bad idea. I'm so sick of spin-offs.

[ElleCee]

I think the characters sound cheesy.

[lpatrice]

CBS: always messing with a good thing. Seriously, Criminal Minds does not need a spin off. I can understand why NCIS and CSI got spun off, it sort of makes sense. But it does not make sense at all with Criminal Minds considering that the BAU is based out of D.C. or whatever and goes wherever their cases take them. Plus the original is so awesome, why mess it up with a mediocre spin off.

[incognito]

WTF.

Apparently Criminal Minds has decided to drop AJ Cook for next season, and they're reducing the number of episodes that Paget Brewster appears in. Which leaves Garcia as the only regular female character among a sea of testosterone.

What the fuck is wrong with you, CBS? If you're going to get rid of someone for financial reasons, get rid of Joe Mantegna. I don't hate Rossi the way a lot of other people do, but 1) his character's useless and doesn't do much except be a growlier version of Hotch, and 2) I bet Joe Mantegna's salary is more than either AJ's or Paget's. The show doesn't do much for AJ's character because the writers pretty much spend all their time on the boys, but at least she has a specific role.

[Witchie]

incognito, WORD to everything you've said. My friend IM'd me with this last night. I don't know of anyone that likes the Rossi character. The show would have been fine with just the original cast once Mandy left. They didn't need to add another character in that same role. I like AJ & Paget. It is a nice balance.

[ElleCee]

That is so disappointing. I so agree with both of you, the Rossi character really adds nothing to the show for me. I'll be missing AJ & Pajet.

[NappingAthena]

Jun 15, 2010 10:34:45 GMT -4 ElleCee said:

That is so disappointing. I so agree with both of you, the Rossi character really adds nothing to the show for me. I'll be missing AJ & Pajet.

I was just talking to my mom about this, and you don't need Rossi at all and while I like Prentiss she's not as needed as JJ.
I mean, the shake down is this:
Hotch is the leader, Morgan's the muscle, Reid's the brain, JJ's the compassion and Garcia's the tech.

[incognito]

It's not even that I'm terribly invested in this show, as I haven't watched it regularly for almost half a season. But the fact that two women are getting shoved out in favor of the men just angers me to no end. I know it's only a tv show, but tv doesn't exist in a vacuum. The dearth of strong female characters in media is downright depressing.

ETA: According to a link someone posted over on TWOP, the decision was actually made for creative as opposed to financial reasons. A new female character will apparently be introduced. What sense does that make? Are the showrunners hoping that Criminal Minds will turn into the next L&O, with an ever-revolving door of cast members? Why not just write fresh material for the existing female character - you know, the one that the fandom actually likes? If you introduce a new character, you run the risk of having everybody hate that person, especially if the new character replaces someone well-liked. Remember how everyone hated the new ADAs on SVU? Heh.

[tamaradixon]

AJ Cook actually is from my hometown (go Whitby) and went to high school down the street. This really sucks.