Thursday 12 April 2012

Criminal minds for breakfast

A good Criminal Minds episode today (The Company), for breakfast. I am not particularly fond of the character of Derek Morgan, no man who must spend so much time grooming his perfect eyebrows doesn't do it for me, but he delivers good stuff when the spotlight is turned on him. In this case he gets first torn to bits, then his ego bitch-slaps him and then he finally comes out the tall dark hero that women around him need them to be. Mind, though, the characters of JJ and Prentiss weren't half bad either, doing that interrogation on the character of Ford. I thought I was gonna choke on my cereals out when she says to the evil slave-happy unsub: "Sssh. The adults are talking. When it's your turn to speak, I'll give you permission. Okay?"


Half of the episode delves into the issue of Stockholm syndrome, a fascinating, very slippery issue in cases of kidnapping and abuse (that I employ in my literature to a degree, as most of my heroine's relationships often start or develop through violence and sexual abuse). The second half is less intense and more understandable - mini spoiler alert - but also not inconceivable. I especially liked the whole mail order bride hints. Though, honestly, if you're a mail order bride, what are you expecting?

The bit I find particularly curious about the whole thing, the syndrome, is that it is evolutionarily explained: the female doesn't need to give consent to the male to impregnate her ... This is where all the turn-on for a man to be domineering and playfully violent comes from. In the end we are just incubators. Our species seriously needs a mental make-over.

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