Monday, March 21, 2011

Criminal Minds: AWESOME Behavior

Okay, I am back!  And I just want to say this:

Hot British Sniper
Regular readers of this blog know who that is.  That is Hot British Sniper (aka Mick Rawson played by Matt Ryan) from Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior.  Now I'm a person who has exceptional faith in the Criminal Minds machine.  I am an uber-fan.  But I can easily admit that Suspect Behavior had a little trouble finding its footing right off the bat.

As of their latest episode, which I didn't get to watch until yesterday, I feel like they totally have it down.  The flow was there, great character relationships are developing, they've figured out definitively that Forrest Whitaker and Hot British Sniper are their strongest characters (although all the actors are fantastic), and I think they're ready to roll.

Revelation:  I obsess over television show relationships.  Actually, just relationships in general.  I'm particularly fascinated by father-son dynamics I think because I don't have any brothers and I lack faith in father figures (this is getting introspective and psychological - I have tons of male friends whom I love to bits so don't take that statement as the cold and depressing reveal it sounds like).

Anyway, all this rambling is going somewhere - I'm going to rave about the relationship CM is building between Mick (Hot British Sniper) and Cooper (Forrest Whitaker).


First off, we know that the two met while Mick was on some sort of British special ops mission, and that they went through something pretty traumatic together.  Through the dialogue and the finesse of the actors we get the sense that they are very close -- but the fact isn't forced on us, which I LOVE.  I.E., Mick lives the life of an escapist bachelor outside of his job, and he himself says, "Coop can always tell when I've had a rough night."  In the same scene, Cooper goes on to say, "Rough night, Mick?"

When Mick is really tense and angry at the end of the episode "One Shot Kill", Cooper knows it without Mick having said a word, and challenges him to a marshal arts fight, which Mick initially refuses.  Cooper cajoles him into it (makes him angry enough that he attacks), and it's exactly what Mick needs to blow off that steam and yell a little bit.

At the end of "Here is the Fire" Mick and Cooper have a talk about their military past together.  Mick reveals that it's not his job with the FBI that keeps him from sleeping at night, it's memories of being in the war.  "The harder I try to forget, the more clearly I remember," he says.  It's a really interesting bonding moment -- or rather, its an interesting moment for the viewers to see the bond that already exists.

And that's what I love about what the Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior crew and actors are doing -- it really is like we've stepped into a pre-existing relationship, and little by little we get to understand it.  Cooper and Mick are portrayed as equals in terms of skill and dedication, but there is a true father-son dynamic developing between them.  Cooper is older and calmer, more introspective and intuitive; Mick is a bit hot-headed and wants to act.  The characters play so well off of each other.  I hope hope hope the writers keep this going.

Bravo I say.



Anyway, that concludes my latest fanfare/parade about Suspect Behavior.  I am much the excited for the next episode!

Cayla

3 comments:

Victoria Stewart said...

Ah, you have convinced me! Should I start at the beginning, or just dive right into the recent episodes?

Cayla Kluver said...

Best part is, there are only five (or six? Not actually sure haha!) episodes out. So no matter where you dive in, you won't have missed much! I'd definitely recommend getting the episode "The Fight" from season 5 of the original Criminal Minds. That's the intro episode to the spin-off and tells you everything you need to know. (Plus it's FANtastic!) You can just download it on iTunes if you don't own the season. I <3 technology.

Victoria Stewart said...

Okay, cool! :)