Criminal Minds - Alpha Male - Review: “Power”

We’re only three episodes into this whole “Reid in prison” storyline thus far. Three.

And yet, in many ways, it feels like it’s been many more, doesn’t it? We’ve had a LOT of information and shocking events thrown at us in that time frame, which many of us are no doubt still processing and sorting out, and it’s been such an emotional rollercoaster, to the point where I don’t know about you guys, but I’m already feeling exhausted just trying to keep up with all the crazy, scary, heartbreaking things that are happening to Reid. To say nothing of the endless amounts of speculation about what’s yet to come, and the nervousness I’m feeling in regards to wondering just how this storyline will ultimately end. Will things go back to the way they were before, or will this lead to some pretty significant changes for Reid, both professionally and personally, as well as his teammates?

For the time being, however, we must focus on the here and now, and to that end, let’s turn our discussion to the latest episode. After getting the horrible news that his bail would be denied due to him being a supposed flight risk in “Collision Course”, this episode picks up pretty much where that one left off, with Reid being transferred to prison. Barring some miracle or some really amazing work by his friends or his new lawyer, Fiona Duncan, he’s likely going to be spending his time there until his trial comes up in a few months.

And if this episode is anything to go by, Reid has a LOT to learn about adjusting to prison life, and he’s going to need to learn it fast, if for no other reason than it’ll help him avoid getting killed. Yes, this episode put Reid through quite the wringer with his new neighbors, and to say it was tough to watch would be something of an understatement. As intriguing as some of Reid’s prison mates are, this episode also made it abundantly clear that he, along with us viewers, is going to be spending a lot of time trying to figure out who’s worth trusting and who isn’t.

Oh, yeah, and there was also a case of the week involving a man struggling to deal with rejection, which sounds awfully similar to the plot of the case in “Collision Course”. The only thing that was really different was the killing method. Since I’m pretty sure many people are here to focus more on the bigger storyline involving Reid, though, let’s get the case out of the way first so we can properly delve into those other notable developments.

The Case:

Just like with the previous episode, we don’t get an opening scene introducing us to our case of the week, so we learn what’s going on right alongside the team. And this episode’s case looks like a pretty nasty one. Seems there’s been a recent rash of acid attacks in Philadelphia, with the unsub intentionally throwing said acid right in people’s faces. And just like the car hacker from the previous episode, there’s video footage of one of these attacks. We can see a man being assaulted right outside a nightclub, with the unsub running off immediately afterward. The man who was attacked is named Colton, and he’s the latest of four victims. Prior to his attack, there was one on another man named Simon the week before, and two women, Neela (who was attacked the same night as Colton) and Harley (attacked the same night as Simon) were also victims of this unsub’s cruelty. Harley unfortunately died as a result of her attack, but the other three are thankfully alive and currently recuperating in the hospital.

Despite the fact that these sorts of attacks generally tend to be committed by men, the team is willing to consider the possibility a woman could be their unsub, too, given the slight build of the person in the video and the fact that there doesn’t seem to be a specific victim preference. There’s an even bigger concern to think about as well – could this be the work of a lone wolf sort, or is this some sort of organized group of attacks, hinting at possible terrorist angles? After a brief moment with Emily trying to reassure the team about Reid’s current situation, they head out to Philadelphia.

On the jet, the team examines the victimology a little further to see if that gives them anything to work with. Turns out Colton was fairly new to the city, having moved to Philadelphia just the year before. Neela, meanwhile, worked in media marketing, Simon in an ad agency, and Harley as a trainee at a brokerage firm. Aside from all the victims being in their twenties and economically stable, there doesn’t seem to be any other sort of connection between them. Setting that issue aside for the moment, the team turns their focus to the use of acid as a weapon. Usually those kinds of attacks are personal in nature, based off feelings of rejection, and on a larger scale, they can be used in terror attacks, especially as a means of punishing women in very restrictive societies for showing any sort of interest in going outside their incredibly strict and subservient roles. So if their unsub is a man, these could be some of his likely motives for attacking these people.

The team also discusses the fact that it’s disturbingly easy to buy acid and create weapons with it, to the point where there’s how-to videos related to the topic all over the internet. Most people who use acid have a chemistry background of some sort, too, or work with it as part of their job, so that’s another possible angle for the team to pursue in regards to finding the person responsible for these crimes. As the team continues to discuss the use of acid, Rossi takes that moment to make note of the fact that if Reid were there, he’d be rattling off all the statistics he could think of about acid and its chemical makeup, and the team looks all wistful at the thought. On the one hand, aw, on the other hand, way to remind everyone what they’re missing, Rossi.

Since the information the team has thus far is rather thin, they’re hoping that the surviving victims can give them a little more in the way of clues. When they arrive at the hospital, they learn that Simon’s in the OR getting a skin graft, but luckily, Neela and Colton are alert enough to where they’re able to be interviewed. Rossi and Luke go see Colton, while JJ and Stephen visit Neela. At first, it doesn’t seem like either Colton or Neela will be able to be all that helpful – they can’t recall having issues with anyone in particular recently that would warrant such a violent attack, Colton and Neela have never met before despite both of them having various classes that take place on Tuesday nights (the night they got attacked), and Colton didn’t get a chance to see who attacked him.

Then JJ and Stephen manage to get a little headway with Neela, who did get a glimpse at her attacker. She says it was a man, describing him as short and wearing a black coat with gloves. She also tells JJ and Stephen that he might’ve spoke a foreign language of some sort, having heard him talk prior to attacking her. Unfortunately, it’s at this point that she starts to become visibly upset (understandably so, of course), and JJ and Stephen decide to cut the interview short to let her collect herself and get some rest.

So now they’ve at least got a potential description of their unsub to work with (and a later interview with Simon further confirms Neela’s description), as well as a possible means by which he found his victims, with the whole “Tuesday night activities” setup. Maybe he stalked them prior to the attacks, figuring out their routines? Further observation of Harley and Simon’s activities the night of their attacks seems to discredit this possibility, though. They too had activities they each were involved with...but on entirely different nights. One step forward, two steps back, it seems.

Shortly after, we see our man in the black coat and gloves walking through a park and observing various couples taking a stroll or being all romantic with each other. Some of them immediately get weirded out by this creepy guy staring at them, others ignore the guy altogether and continue going about their own business. Then the unsub finds his latest target, a couple who’s being kinda nuzzly, and before they’re even aware of what’s happening, the man’s running up to them, yelling something, and throwing acid in their faces.

These latest victims are David and Brandi, and while they fit the “attack both a man and a woman” M.O. of the unsub, that’s where the similarities end. Unlike the other victims, David and Brandi are an actual couple and were attacked together instead of separately, and unlike the other attacks, this one happened in broad daylight. Either the unsub’s perfecting their crimes at this point, or he’s devolving. The good thing is that since this attack happened when the park was full of people, there were plenty of witnesses who could hear what the man yelled this time, and one of them managed to tell the team the precise phrase he shouted: "Et disperdam illud!" It’s a Latin phrase, and thanks to Luke paying attention during twelve years of Catholic school, he’s able to translate that sentence into English: “I will destroy it!” Go you, Luke! Reid would be proud.

Garcia looks up the meaning of that phrase, and tells the team that it refers to gods and kingdoms, thus seeming to imply that their unsub might have delusions of grandeur about himself. The team, meanwhile, can’t help but notice the phrase bears an eerie similarity to one uttered by another notable killer from a few years back. Some of you may remember the real life news story of Elliot Rodger, a young man who went on a mass shooting spree in Isla Vista, California back in May of 2014. He posted a big ol’ manifesto prior to the shooting spree where he ranted at length about how horrible and shallow all women were, and how men like him felt shafted for not getting the attractive women they felt they were “entitled” to have in life, as well as how much he hated seeing attractive men and women hooking up because it made him feel insecure and inferior. He was also a virulent racist. Yeah. Charming guy, no?

Anywho, the team’s starting to wonder if this unsub is trying to emulate guys like Rodger, to the point where he might be planning a similar sort of attack, and decide to do a little investigating into his internet history. And boy howdy, do they find some very revealing stuff in their search. Turns out their unsub, just like Rodger, was part of the “manosphere”, a section of the internet where some men gather to talk about social issues related to men and men’s rights in general. Those sorts of groups have been accused of promoting anti-feminist and misogynistic attitudes of the sort people like Elliot Rodgers espoused due to the way some of them talk about women and the issue of feminism in general, and sometimes they seem determined to pit men against each other in some sort of “alpha male” competition as well.

There’s even a specific website this unsub likes to frequent, a place called No Means Yes (lovely title, that), where guys like this unsub like to post photos of various attractive men and women. The men are referred to as “Alpha Males”, the women as “Badass Bitches”, and the people who post the photos do so to mock or judge them for their attractiveness and dominant personalities, in order to make them feel as ugly and unwanted as the unsub and his friends feel. It turns out that many of the victims the unsub’s targeted thus far look awfully similar to the people in some of the more recent photos on the website, thus giving the team an idea of how this guy picks his victims. Since the latest photo on the site features a redheaded woman, the team tries to prepare ahead of time so that a poor innocent redhead won’t be added to this guy’s victim list.

Sure enough, soon afterward we see the unsub waiting in a parking lot, watching a redhead woman making her way towards her car. To our (and her) surprise, however, she winds up being not the latest victim, but rather, a witness to the attack of another woman who entered the parking lot. The woman who’s attacked instead is named Melinda, and she has dark hair. So the unsub’s broken that part of his pattern, as well as the part where he would follow up that attack with one on a man. There’s no attack on any guy following the attack on Melinda. No, this attack was clearly much more personal. And who better to give the team some answers about why that could be than Melinda’s very own boyfriend, George, who, it turns out, is part of the No Means Yes site. Hmm.

At first, George certainly looks like he could be their unsub. The team reads back some of the stuff he’d said about women on that site in the past, and it’s pretty freaking unpleasant and nasty. George insists he didn’t mean any of what he said, however, claiming he only said that stuff to try and fit in and be “cool” (to which I ask, why would anyone want to waste time trying to impress these morons?). He assures the team that his behavior changed when he met Melinda, though, and he started trying to distance himself from the nastier aspects of that website, to the point where he was actually a little nervous to tell them about his new girlfriend. When George did finally let his friends know he was in a relationship, surprisingly, most of his friends turned out to be quite supportive and encouraging. Granted, they were mainly cheering about the fact that he was finally “getting laid”, but, y’know, baby steps, I guess.

One of his friends was not so happy about this news, however. Quite the contrary, actually – he felt betrayed and jealous of the happiness George had found with such a beautiful young woman. That friend’s name was Alan Crawford, and what’s worse, it doesn’t take long for us to learn that these resentful feelings have apparently been festering in him for a very long time. As the team digs into his past, they learn that at the tender age of ten, Alan watched his parents go through a bitter divorce only for his mom to completely give up custody of him and his dad to marry the nanny, of all people, just a few short days later. Alan’s new stepmother was apparently quite neglectful and cruel, and he was shuttled off to boarding schools and struggled to make friends. As a result of so much rejection from the most important women in his life as well as the bullying he encountered in school, he became very bitter and antisocial. And now he’s going around throwing acid in people’s faces.

Further investigating also reveals that, as predicted, Alan does indeed work at a chemical plant, and like Rodger, he put out a huge manifesto. There’s one-hundred and eighteen pages of rants against the world at large and women and alpha males and all that sort of thing...as well as hints about a major attack he’s planning towards the public at large that would make his recent attacks look pretty tame by comparison. He refers to the day this attack will take place as “The Day of Reckoning”, and what’s worse, that attack is scheduled to happen that very night. Uh-oh.

Rossi and Luke go to Alan’s house to see if they can get some clues as to where his attack is going to occur. Alan’s not there, but they do discover a lab in one of his rooms, complete with his plans to build a chemical weapon. Emily and Tara, meanwhile, figure out that Alan’s planning to attack a singles bar, and with the help of Garcia, they narrow down a bar in the area that’s having a big gathering that night. The team then immediately plot a covert operation to take Alan down without incident. Stephen casually plops down next to Alan at the bar, pretending to be there for the singles night activities, and the two men share a drink as Stephen spends some time trying to sympathize with Alan’s worldview in an attempt to get him to open up and confess his plans.

It works, too, as Alan starts responding to Stephen’s comments about how undeserving some people are of love and sex and happiness. Stephen then discusses the pain of having feelings for somebody that aren’t reciprocated, and calls Alan out by name. It’s at this point that Alan seems to start figuring out what’s going on, and reaches for his hidden weapon. Fortunately, Stephen halts him, telling him just who he is and who he works for, and letting him know there are other agents surrounding him. Alan tries to protest, insisting that people need to understand his pain, but after a reassurance from Stephen that the world will get to read Alan’s manifesto if he comes with them, Alan relents, and they manage to escort him out without any further incident.

So hands up, who really paid much attention to the case this episode? Anyone? Bueller?

I kid, of course. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad case, really. The victims were sympathetic, the method of attacking them was horrific, and bringing in the real life parallels with murderers like Rodger made Alan’s crimes all the more chilling. I also got a kick out of the way the episode didn’t even try to hide its distaste for the manosphere – certainly a rather relevant topic to touch upon given some of the political climate nowadays – and appreciated them calling out and shining a light on some of these nastier attitudes that exist out there. And I quite enjoyed the way Stephen managed to subtly take down Alan as well – it fit well with what we know of his character thus far and it was a great opportunity to see him employing the “talking down the unsub” strategy. He was calm, smooth, genuine, firm, and Alan was smart to not try and fight him, ‘cause I think it’s pretty obvious that was a fight he wouldn’t have won.

But as noted at the beginning of this review, the whole “rejected unsub” thing was literally just done the previous episode. In and of itself that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because there’s only so many motives you can circle through for unsubs before you start getting too out there (Satan and sinkholes, anyone? Ahem…), but this episode’s case and that of the one in “Collision Course” were the sort where you could just change the names and method of attack around and get basically the same result. As I’ve noted in other reviews of late, I honestly think the show’s writers are well aware that this whole thing with Reid is going to overshadow whatever other storylines are going on, as well as understand the fact that there are many viewers who will be more interested in that storyline than a random case of the week, and so they’re just throwing together cases at this point to fill up the remaining time and meet the basic setup that comes with the procedural genre.

Mind, you know, that’s fine, too, however, because there are some viewers who do still care about the case of the week, and if nothing else, these sorts of cases can always be a good distraction whenever any dramatic story arc with one of the main characters gets too stressful or complicated or whatever. So there’s that. Woo.

So that’s the case for this week. Now to the latest developments in the craziness that is currently Reid’s life.

The Big House:

So far throughout this little arc, we’ve heard about Reid being forcibly drugged again (with cocaine and God knows what other possible substances, no less), seen him so out of it his eidetic memory is nearly shot, seen him arrested on charges of drug possession and murder, watched him get his mug shot photo, watched him get handcuffed and led away in shackles, and be denied bail and forced to stay behind bars until his trial. Surely, surely things can’t possibly get any worse for him at this point. Right?

Ahaha. Ha. Yeah. Think again. You ain’t seen nothing yet.

When the episode starts, we see Reid on a bus with other prisoners, making his way to his new living quarters. There’s a man in front of him, Luis, who’s banging his head against the bus window and tearfully muttering about how he doesn’t want to go to prison. Reid tries to get him to stop banging his head, lest he give himself a concussion. Luis’ response? “It beats what they’ll do to me inside.” Well. That’s...an unsettling thought. He keeps talking to Reid, though, asking him what he’s going to jail for. Reid tells Luis he’s innocent of what he’s in prison for, and Luis claims he’s in a similar situation.

Shortly afterward, Reid and Luis, along with the other prisoners, arrive at the jail. An unpleasant man carrying a gun (‘cause apparently he didn’t look nearly intimidating enough) steps onto the bus and gives the prisoners a rundown of the rules going forward. Shortly afterward, everybody gets off the bus, and scary gun-toting guy does roll call. At first, Reid is separated into a smaller group of prisoners who are meant to go to protective custody…but then something odd happens. Another guard comes up and orders Reid to join the other group of prisoners instead. Reid is confused at this sudden change, but before he can protest, the guard barks at him to get back in line.

After that, Reid is ushered into the prison with the others, and man, I thought watching him get his mug shot in “Spencer” was the most surreal moment of the series for me. It’s got nothing on this episode. Watching Reid go through the process of removing his orange prison garb, get his prison photo taken, get fingerprinted, given a minimum set of plain clothes to wear, and ushered into his new cell is just plain bizarre. It really could not be any more blatantly obvious at this point that he looks so very out of place here that it’s not even funny.

Judging from Reid’s unnerved reaction to his new surroundings, he seems pretty well aware of this fact, too. He eventually winds up in a big room with beds everywhere and prisoners all over the place. Apparently, all these guys are supposed to share this room, and as Reid takes a look at his new roommates, some of them….look pretty frightening. And big. Very, very big. At this point, the guard from earlier, who’s revealed to be Officer Wilkins, comes into the room to give everyone their bed assignments, and Reid tries once again to tell him there’s been a mistake and he’s been transferred to the wrong place.

Wilkins has no sympathy for Reid’s plight, telling him he’s where he’s supposed to be. O-kay. He then asks Reid if he recognizes any of the other prisoners in the room as people he might’ve put away. Wilkins is aware that Reid’s an FBI agent, you see, and he apparently doesn’t take kindly to law enforcement officials who find themselves in prison. After that snide little comment, he leaves, and Reid stands in the middle of this room looking horribly lost and quite scared. Hell, I’m scared, and I’m not the one sitting in jail!

Later, Reid comes over to his bed only to find his clothes he’d picked up earlier are missing. He spots them over by a group of men nearby who are playing cards, and Reid decides now is totally the right time to be bold and confront these scary-looking dudes, and comes over to ask them about his clothes. The group of men proceed to mock and challenge him, but Reid doesn’t seem fazed, passing by to grab his stuff and heading back towards his bed. The leader of the group, Milos, gets offended by Reid’s attempts to argue with him, however, and confronts him, looking pretty ready to punch his lights out.

Fortunately, Wilkins is passing by at that moment and manages to get Milos to stand down. Reid then asks Wilkins what he plans to do about Milos and his buddies, but Wilkins remains gruff and snarky, with his only advice to Reid being to keep a better eye on his things, or Wilkins will tell the other inmates that he’s part of the FBI. Not exactly winning himself any friends here, our Reid.

The next day, Reid’s wandering around the prison yard, when he runs into Luis. Unfortunately, Luis isn’t stopping by for a friendly chat. Instead, he asks Reid if he’s got a plan, and Reid, confused by what he means, says no. This is a bad thing, because Luis then warns him that “inmates are coming” for him. Sure enough, shortly afterward, we see the guys from Milos’ gang strolling up to Reid, asking him if he’s got a smoke. When Reid says no, they proceed to taunt him a bit, but then things seem to change for the better for a moment, as the guys express a bit of admiration for the way Reid stood up to Milos.

Key words, of course, being “for a moment”, as this possible friendship is squashed as quickly as it began. The gang then tells Reid that people like them have to stick together in prison – and by “people like them”, they’re implying they want Reid to join their white supremacist group. Yikes. Obviously Reid declines...but this displeases the group very much. Before leaving, they seem to threaten Reid once again. After that unsettling encounter, Reid then notices a man off in the corner of the yard playing chess with another inmate. Considering how much Reid loves chess, perhaps this can be a chance for him to make a friend.

Before he gets that opportunity, however, we’re made to be witness to the scariest moment of the entire episode. It’s lights out time as the prisoners get ready for bed. Reid’s about to turn in, when suddenly the guys from earlier surround him. In case we needed any further proof of just how intimidating these guys look, they actually tower over Reid! He’s far from short, sure, but next to these guys, Reid looks rather...shrimpy. The gang surrounding him should be frightening enough in and of itself, but nope, the show’s about to up the ante, as one of them proceeds to brandish a knife and point it at Reid, ordering him to come with them. Eek.

That’s when things get REALLY terrifying. These guys apparently believe that Reid thinks he’s “too good” to hang out with them or be in the same prison as them, and they’ve decided they’re going to make him pay for his attitude by bringing him to Milos for punishment. To our horror, Reid is then bound and gagged, and he’s trying to wriggle free and scream for help while I’m sitting here desperately trying NOT to think about whatever God-awful things these creeps are planning to do to the poor guy. Seriously, this entire scene is disturbing as hell. All hope looks pretty well lost…

...until salvation arrives, in the form of Chess Guy from earlier! Hooray! The man orders the gang to let Reid go, which, thanks to any and all deities above, they do, and Reid manages to escape without any further injury. WHEW. The next day, Reid finds Chess Guy in his cell, and introduces himself in the most polite way imaginable. Seriously, there is something truly hilarious about somebody as uber-polite as Reid trying to talk to hardened prisoners.

Fortunately, the guy who saved Reid’s life seems equally amenable, and he introduces himself in turn. His name is Calvin Shaw, and it turns out that Reid is actually quite familiar with that particular name. You see, years ago, Calvin actually used to work for the FBI as well, at the Detroit office, specifically. He and Reid get to talking about the events that led to Calvin winding up in prison, and it’s quite a story. Calvin and his co-workers had been assigned to take down a branch of the Russian Mafia that had been doing drug operations in the area, and they recruited an informant to help them infiltrate the Mafia, a young woman by the name of Elena Olegnova.

All was going well, too – the FBI was getting all the information they needed from Elena. Soon after, though, Calvin started getting suspicious about just whose side Elena was really on. He began suspecting her of being a double agent, a theory which seemed to be confirmed when Elena started blackmailing Calvin and his co-workers, threatening to out them to the Mafia if they didn’t pay her enough. Obviously, having the team’s cover blown could put them at serious risk to be attacked and possibly killed, and Calvin didn’t want that. And unfortunately, he felt even arresting Elena would further tip off the mob and endanger everyone.

So Calvin decided to do the only thing he thought he could do. He killed Elena so she couldn’t talk, and blamed her death on a rival gang. This spared his co-workers, but it didn’t save Calvin – he was ultimately revealed to be her murderer, stripped of his badge, and sent to prison. Calvin then turns the tables on Reid, asking him if he did indeed kill Nadie in Mexico. Reid simply continues to state his innocence once again, and Calvin leaves it at that.

Calvin then tells Reid about how he managed to survive his time in prison, and it’s pretty simple. He keeps to himself and spends his time either playing chess or reading, and it’s here where he and Reid further bond. Calvin asks Reid if he likes to read, a question that made me laugh and say, “Oh, buddy, you have NO IDEA...”, and tells Reid that any books he wants from the library, he will be happy to get for him. He then gives Reid a book about fishermen caught in a storm, describing it as a metaphor for prison life. He tries to reassure Reid that so long as he learns to survive in prison and toughen up, he’ll be all right.

Later, when Reid and Calvin are in their respective cells (which Reid was moved to after his encounter with the scary gang), Calvin asks Reid if he likes to play chess, and they play an unusual form of it, with Reid calling out moves from his cell while Calvin moves the pieces in his. They then continue to further discuss what all Reid can do to occupy himself in prison, and Calvin mentions possible jobs Reid can do, such as working in the laundry room. They also talk about how little the FBI’s changed since Calvin’s time there, and that leads Reid to bring up something that’s been troubling him. Why is Wilkins so eager to threaten to expose Reid’s FBI history? After all, Calvin’s a former FBI agent as well. All the other prisoners know that. And yet, Reid notices, nobody harasses him for it.

Simple, Calvin explains. He killed somebody, and admitted he killed them. He also killed an informant, which apparently gets you plenty of respect in prison, since informants are considered snitches, and inmates hate snitches. Reid, on the other hand, keeps insisting he didn’t kill Nadie. The message seems to be clear: if Reid wants to survive in prison, he may need to act more like Calvin, even if that means confessing to a murder he didn’t commit, or, God forbid, finding out down the line he actually did commit that murder, and using that to his advantage somehow.

The more important question here at the moment, though, is this: Just how trustworthy is Calvin? The guy certainly makes the best first impression possible with viewers by literally saving Reid’s life. How could anyone not like him right away after that? And the fact that he loves to read and can play chess, both things Reid also loves to do, well...it’s hard to not support Reid’s efforts to get to know him. It’s beyond clear that he could use an ally (or two) during his time in prison, and in many ways, Calvin certainly seems to present himself as a worthy friend. He’s giving Reid advice about how to protect himself, he shares his interests, he’s the first person Reid’s met in prison who’s even remotely sympathetic to the fear and concern Reid’s feeling about his current situation.

At the same time, however, Calvin did kill somebody, and for a rather flimsy reason at that. He’s an FBI agent. Does he seriously expect people to think there wasn’t anything else he could do to take down Elena that was completely legal and above board? If murdering her really was his only option, that seems to tell me there’s much more to that story of his than what he’s sharing with Reid. But if that indeed winds up being the case, will that “much more” benefit Calvin in the end, showing him to be a desperate man who literally had no other way out, or would revealing more of the story further prove he’s not as nice as he seems?

And while I get that sometimes inmates have to act tougher than they might be in order to survive the hell that is prison life, well, using the fact you murdered somebody as a shield to protect yourself from other prisoners, while perhaps logical, is still unnerving all the same. And I’d hate for Reid to have to try and pull a similar stunt in order to get these scary gangs to back off and let him be. Especially since I honestly don’t know if he could even pull off such an attitude, since he’s, y’know, innocent. We all know just how crappy Reid is at lying, after all.

The next question to consider is this: if Calvin is trying to manipulate Reid, what would be his motive for doing so? Is he trying to get Reid to confess to a crime in the hopes of taking him down somehow? They both worked in the FBI – could there be some sort of history there that led Calvin to become resentful of the organization, and people like Reid who thrived in it? If Calvin is involved in this whole “framing Reid” business, how? Does he know Mr. Scratch? Does he know any of the other prisoners who escaped in that big prison break at the end of last season, a break which Mr. Scratch helped orchestrate? Or is he working all on his own, and trying to get Reid to do his bidding for some other plan he’s working on?

And if Calvin turns out to be a trusted ally, what role will he play in trying to help set Reid free? Maybe he’s not asking Reid those questions about Nadie to try and get him to confess to a murder. Maybe he’s asking those questions to help jog Reid’s memory and get him to finally remember just what all happened the day she was killed, and perhaps figure out who her actual murderer was in the process. Could Calvin be planning to round up everyone who’s been falsely imprisoned and try and get them to fight for their freedom? Sure, he killed an informant, but if he felt it was a justifiable homicide and there’s evidence that can prove that, that could benefit him in the long run. Heck, maybe his confession to murder was completely falsified, too. Maybe he’s covering up for somebody else.

There’s all sorts of ways this storyline could go, and right now, I’m leaning towards Calvin being an ally, and hoping that’s the route they’ll wind up going. I just really want Reid to get a friend who can look after him, and I would like to see those two work together to try and navigate prison, and swap more FBI stories, and discuss books, and things of that sort. I think they could make for quite a formidable team if Calvin proves to be a good guy. Plus, I think there’s just enough sincerity in Calvin to where I get the feeling he really does care about Reid and wants to help him out. I think it’d be hard for somebody like him to fake sincerity.

If Calvin does turn out to be a bad guy, though, then I hope that this allows Reid the chance to show us once again how he manages to “do some of his best work under intense terror”. Thus far, we’ve seen Reid so uncertain and scared about what he’s dealing with, and I certainly don’t blame him for feeling that way. Fact is, this is a scary situation, and it’s one that doesn’t have an easy, predictable outcome. I think anyone would react the way Reid does on their first couple days in prison. The fact that he’s still recovering from being attacked and drugged and still has these foggy moments of his memory just further explains why he’s been slow sometimes to respond to some of the situations he’s found himself in.

Still, my favorite thing about any storylines that involve Reid being in some sort of danger is seeing how he uses that sharp intellect and quick thinking of his to save himself, along with showing just how strong he is both mentally and emotionally (and occasionally, physically). That’s a side of him that’s been a little more subdued this time around, and again, while I understand the reasons why, I also hope that as time goes on we can see that side of him come out in full force. Reid is particularly good at using people’s dismissive and negative assumptions about him to his advantage and giving them the element of surprise, after all. Wouldn’t it be great to see him use that ability on those goons who tried to jump him this episode? Reid has been inside prisons before, after all – granted, on the other side of the bars, as an investigator, but still, he has some understanding of how the system works. He should use that knowledge to help himself.

I also hope we get a few more scenes with Reid and Luis as this storyline continues to play out. If Calvin doesn’t wind up being the ally Reid’s looking for, I can totally see Luis stepping up in that role. The two already bonded a bit, and if Luis’ comments about being in jail for something he didn’t do are anything to go by, he certainly would be able to sympathize with Reid’s plight, and the two could bond over that whole mess of a situation. Plus, considering how scared Luis was when the bus made its way towards the prison, I think Reid could actually wind up being a good protector for him. I think they could form a really good friendship.

And what about Officer Wilkins? Is he just trying to test Reid’s toughness with his taunts and threats? Since he’s the one who moved Reid into general population, there’s got to be some specific reason for that. Is he using that as a way to keep a closer eye on Reid, and if so, is he doing so to protect him or to spy on him? And if so, who is he either protecting Reid from or spying on him for? I can totally see the show spinning it so that Wilkins, who’s been pretty cold to Reid thus far, turns out to prove helpful, while Calvin, who seems so nice and friendly, turns out to be a threat, but they could surprise us and play it straight with those two as well.

Another thing that kept nagging at me during the entire scene with Reid nearly being attacked by those guys, something I touched on in another recent review: where on earth is Morgan in all of this? There is absolutely no way that he would sit by and let this whole thing with Reid play out, have his life in such danger, and not get involved. So I’m really, really hoping that the show will surprise us with an appearance by him at some point, because I think the longer Reid stays in prison, the more he could use somebody like Morgan to visit and help bring out that tough side of him.

To say nothing of the fact that Morgan knows firsthand what it’s like to be arrested for something you didn’t do. He may not have spent time in jail in “Profiler, Profiled”, but he experienced the same fear Reid felt, the same confusion and frustration. He could give Reid all sorts of advice about how to fight these accusations, share what he learned from his experience, remind Reid that he’s not alone. Reid very vocally came to Morgan’s defense when he was arrested in that episode, after all. It seems only fitting that Morgan get the chance to do the same thing here in turn.

And if Morgan doesn’t wind up actually appearing on the show for whatever reason, the writers had still better make some acknowledgment of the fact that he visited Reid, or has been kept in the loop thanks to Garcia, or is doing his part to help from wherever he is, or something. Anything. I refuse to believe the show will let this entire storyline go by without any nod whatsoever to Morgan and Reid’s friendship and support of each other. Nope. Not happening. Don’t drop the ball on this part of things, CM.

On the note of team support, by the way, we got a few more glimpses of that this episode. Not as much as we’ve seen the last couple episodes, because the higher ups are mean and made the team work another case instead of spend their time helping their friend. But what we did get this episode was still sweet and lovely all the same.

Meanwhile, back at Quantico:

The rest of the team is still clearly shaken up by the events of the last episode, in which they watched as the judge denied Reid the opportunity to get out on bail, and Reid was lured away in handcuffs once again to sit in a prison cell. At the start of the episode, they’re gathered in the bullpen, debating over whether or not Reid should’ve taken one of the deals that he’d been offered. They all ultimately agree that he did the right thing in sticking to his guns, but admit that they’re scared of the other risks he’s brought on himself by not taking either deal and waiting for the trial.

Leave it to Garcia to break up this downer conversation, however. She comes in with a big piece of whiteboard, on which she’s got all the team’s names and dates and it’s all in sparkly, colorful writing. Turns out it’s a chart scheduling when and in what order each team member will get to go visit Reid, and since she’s the one who made the chart, her name is first on the list, as she explains to Luke. Garcia is also adamant that the team will constantly send letters, puzzles, magazines, and anything else they can think of to Reid to make sure those “gorgeous gears inside that Boy Wonder brain” remain as active as ever, which, awwww.

Then Rossi brings the mood back down again, as he and Emily come in to inform the others of Reid’s sudden transfer from protective custody to general population. The reason? “Overcrowding”, Rossi explains, though considering Wilkins made a point of telling Reid that he didn’t make a mistake in putting him in general population, I can’t help wondering now if this “overcrowding” explanation is simply an excuse on the guards’ part. Especially considering how small the list of people being sent to protective custody was in comparison to the list of people being sent to general population.

We don’t see the team touch all that much on Reid’s situation while they work the case, but there are moments throughout where Emily looks particularly troubled and clearly seems to be thinking about Reid and how he’s doing. And at the end of the episode, as promised, Emily hands Garcia the first of what will no doubt be numerous batches of letters for her to bring along on her first visit to see Reid. Despite the circumstances, Garcia is eagerly looking quite forward to seeing Reid and finally getting to talk to him again, and I think it’s safe to say her presence will be a much needed bright spot in Reid’s day in turn, especially after all he’s been through thus far.

I hope we get to see more of those team visits as this storyline continues to play out. The promo for the next episode shows JJ coming to visit Reid, and Emily’s already been to visit him multiple times as well. I’d love to see how the others’ visits with Reid go. What all would they talk about, aside from this whole mess of a situation? What advice would they give him for trying to stay safe? Maybe we can hear more about the various things they’re all each doing to try and help get Reid out of jail as soon as possible. All sorts of good conversation material here to explore. And it’d be nice to see Reid curling up with a box of their letters at the end of the day, or smiling upon seeing some puzzle or magazine one of them had sent him, or something. It’d just be nice to see him having something to look forward to, and putting their gifts to good use.

Presuming nobody else tries to steal them, of course. Unfortunately, the promo for the next episode also seems to indicate that Reid’s time in prison is only going to get even tougher and scarier for him. Will he take Calvin’s advice? Or will he forge his own path, and figure out his own survival method? Time, as always, will tell.

What did you think of this episode? Do you trust Calvin, or are you suspicious of him? What do you think his long-term plan is in regards to Reid? Do you think Luis can be trusted? Were you just as uncomfortable with seeing Reid in such danger, and how much worse do you fear things will get for him? Did you like the case this episode, and the way it targeted the “manosphere”? Did you enjoy Stephen’s role in taking down Alan? Are you hoping Morgan will make an appearance at some point? What sorts of things would you like to see among the team’s gifts/letters/visits to Reid? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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