Criminal Minds 8.18 | Restoration

Criminal Minds 8.16 | Carbon Copy

Just thinking about this scene from Zugzwang(8x12)

Criminal Minds 7.12 | Unknown Subject

Criminal Minds 7.12 | Unknown Subject

I made an entire post about how Emily was noticeably being more present and kind to the other members of team since she came back at the start of the season. To have them dissect it here is honestly good writing. And again, it feels like I’m seeing two different parts of myself have a conversation. Hotch playing therapist again, but this isn’t like when he was counseling the others over losing Emily. This time it’s more practical than anything. “I don’t care if you lie to your therapist, but I do care if it affects your job.” Now, this isn’t to say that Hotch isn’t coming from a place of care and concern for Emily. Making sure everyone is at their best to do this job, is also a way of making sure that they stay safe and don’t get hurt. I think he was also the one to note early on, when Emily first appeared and we didn’t know much about her, that she seemed strangely unfazed by the horrors being a profiler actually entails. “I guess I’m just better at compartmentalizing than most people,” she says. So Hotch approaches Emily with that knowledge, that she is the type of person who can compartmentalize. We all process things differently, and there’s no use trying to force a person to confront their emotions, no matter how ‘healthy’ you think it would be for them. He just asks her to reexamine her true motivations for acting a certain way. For overcompensating. Emily’s the type of person who’s gotten so good at ignoring how she really feels, she might not fully realize she’s doing it. The deal Hotch offers her is a nice compromise. “You’re going to go weeks, months even, feeling fine. Then you’re going to have a bad day. Just let me know when you do.” (Is Hotch also speaking from personal experience? Probably.) It’s an elegant solution, because it’s a simple request that doesn’t ask Emily to do more than Hotch would be inclined to do himself. Emily just has to admit that she’s having a bad day and not keep it to herself. She doesn’t have to talk about it with him. Hotch is just giving her permission to feel what she needs to feel. And by knowing, he can adjust things to her needs accordingly. Parallel to Spencer and Emily, this is a nice development of their dynamic. From Hotch being incredibly suspicious of this highly skilled rookie agent coming into his office with unexplained assignment papers, to… this. They’ve come to trust each other as a boss and subordinate, sure. But there’s a fondness for each other that’s apparent here. The knowing look Hotch gives her when he reads Emily’s file, “She has reached out to her mother-” “I’m going to!” The playful comments about Sergio. Emily went out of her way to remind Hotch that he wasn’t alone after what Foyet did. It’s clear that Hotch intends to return the favor.

Criminal Minds | 7x10 - The Bittersweet Science