< I Hate The Name Gossi I Hatw It - Tumblr Posts
thinking very much today about how the entirety of "nelson's sparrow" was probably like ripping open the stitches of an old wound, for rossi?
spoilers for "nelson's sparrow", ofc❤️
(yes of course the episode focused a large amount on reid's grief, and you could say the exact same thing for reid!... but literally Everyone Has. like. come ON ?????? did you SEE ROSSI'S FACE WHEN HE SEES STEPHEN AGAIN??? DID YOU SEE HIM ALMOST CRYING IN THE CAR WITH REID? BECAUSE HE WAS SO CLOSE!)
rossi had convinced himself he was okay with whatever feelings he still had left lingering for gideon as they drifted apart during his retirement, platonic or otherwise. either way, they were close close ! you can't deny that. gideon literally named his son after rossi 😭.
and then gideon died.
and, nearly immediately? rossi questions if gideon ever truly cared for him, as much as he cared for gideon.
"you know, back then, i would've bet my life we'd always be close...... but maybe we never were. maybe, after all these years, i just... rewrote our history."
(<3 kirstin vangsness killing me, as usual. i love when she writes so much. that is such a raw line dude)
back to my main point :
even WITH these feelings, these awful feelings of doubt? in the end of "nelson's sparrow", he KILLS to avenge gideon!
he could say he killed mallick in self defense. he could say he killed mallick because he was just outraged at the torture he'd put those poor girls through.
... but that wouldn't be true!
not completely, anyway.
see, i think?...
he killed mallick because of that picture gideon kept in his wallet.
he killed mallick because of the years and years of torment this monster put gideon through.
he killed mallick because maybe, just MAYBE, killing him would make the loss easier. (it didn't.)
rossi SAYS he doesn't see the unsubs they face as monsters anymore- they're just humans who made bad choices. killers, but not monsters. he compares it to underestimating an opponent on the battlefield.
... but that sentiment doesn't apply when they hurt his family. they're "cowards", "bastards", ANY name he can throw at them.
and that is so important to me.