**SPOILERS**
There is of course the dichotomy regarding a.major revelation between Reid and J. J. in this episode (more later) however this tactic again comes down to a screenwriting tool of making a season end episode intentionally nebulous and ambiguous to attract viewers for the following season.
In some cases this works, as in "who shot J. R?" from Dallas but in other cases the use of unreal circumstances such as a major character's departure and return (again Dallas, Patrick Duffy takes a season off) explained by writers that his wife had a "dream" he was gone. Then there is phenomenon such as time travel (LOST) or prequels that introduce characters that reoccur chronologically later (STAR TREK movies) but no recognition of previous encounters..
There is a hint about the J. J./Reid situation as the team plays poker while on the clock waiting for a case (which parallels the game) and J. J. bluffs Reid to go all in and wins the pot, collecting the candies and proclaiming "I'm a better liar then you thought" even though Reid said he knew her "tell". Had the writers incorporated this into J. J.'s revelation so Reid could be in on it, then the discussion here might be moot.
I am more troubled with the fact that in the J. J./Reid moment, we are given insight that the BAU has live video (no audio) of the closed store so they are able to watch what happens. How could the team miss the non-verbal cues that J. J. is saying something significant to Reid, we see it inside the shop and get audio but it is clear J. J. is expressing a deep emotion that any profiler worthy of the title should detect, yet no mention by other team members in the debrief or at Rossi's wedding, instead it is left that J. J. and Reid are the only ones that know.
I gave the episode a 5* as it could have been better but the premise of an unsub using others for dirty deeds has been used in prior episodes.
There is of course the dichotomy regarding a.major revelation between Reid and J. J. in this episode (more later) however this tactic again comes down to a screenwriting tool of making a season end episode intentionally nebulous and ambiguous to attract viewers for the following season.
In some cases this works, as in "who shot J. R?" from Dallas but in other cases the use of unreal circumstances such as a major character's departure and return (again Dallas, Patrick Duffy takes a season off) explained by writers that his wife had a "dream" he was gone. Then there is phenomenon such as time travel (LOST) or prequels that introduce characters that reoccur chronologically later (STAR TREK movies) but no recognition of previous encounters..
There is a hint about the J. J./Reid situation as the team plays poker while on the clock waiting for a case (which parallels the game) and J. J. bluffs Reid to go all in and wins the pot, collecting the candies and proclaiming "I'm a better liar then you thought" even though Reid said he knew her "tell". Had the writers incorporated this into J. J.'s revelation so Reid could be in on it, then the discussion here might be moot.
I am more troubled with the fact that in the J. J./Reid moment, we are given insight that the BAU has live video (no audio) of the closed store so they are able to watch what happens. How could the team miss the non-verbal cues that J. J. is saying something significant to Reid, we see it inside the shop and get audio but it is clear J. J. is expressing a deep emotion that any profiler worthy of the title should detect, yet no mention by other team members in the debrief or at Rossi's wedding, instead it is left that J. J. and Reid are the only ones that know.
I gave the episode a 5* as it could have been better but the premise of an unsub using others for dirty deeds has been used in prior episodes.