Criminal Minds 3x18 - Tumblr Posts

I really love lines like these that show just how difficult JJ's job would be and I wish it was more thoroughly explored (maybe it is at some point. i don't know). She probably has dozens of stories like this; not even just ones where she feels like she made the wrong choice, but how many instances were there were JJ chose one case over another and it led to tragedy in the one (or multiple) she passed over? At what point does she stop feeling comforted by the knowledge that making a different choice just would have led to a different tragedy? How long until she feels less like she's weighing the danger and urgency of the various cases she's presented and more like she's weighing the value of peoples' lives?

SEASON SEVEN SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

I think I'll come back to this once I get to profiler!JJ. I don't know whether or not she continues to select cases (I'm okay with spoilers regarding that), but I am honestly kind of dreading that arc. I just can't see myself finding "JJ switches jobs to become one of six profilers instead of the only media liason" interesting—maybe my opinions will change, maybe it's unfair to have an opinion on an arc before I get to it, but. That's how I feel. If she's no longer selecting cases once she becomes a profiler, though, there could be something interesting there. Kind of similar to Hotch's line in 1x13:

"You know, I had prosecuted dozens of murder cases, and by the time they reached my desk it always felt like it was too late. And I wanted to stop them before they got to my desk."

Maybe JJ can no longer handle choosing who to save, and decides to take a more active role in the saving. Or maybe I'm talking blindly about an arc I haven't seen. Who knows.

i really love 3x14 damaged and 3x18 the crossing for how they split the team—(in 3x14, hotch and reid interview hardwick and the rest look into rossi's old case, in 3x18 hotch and rossi investigate the woman who killed her husband and the rest of the team go on the stalking case) and i wish they had done it a little more often. i like how both episodes give glimpses into the other jobs the bau performs, and how they showcase the dynamic between just two members of the team. i can't recall any other episodes that do that off the top of my head (disclaimer that the furthest ive gotten in my past viewings is 5x1) but if anyone has other examples, feel free to share! (even if they're past 5x1. gives me something extra to be excited about because i love it when cm episodes have A and B plots)