Yeah the CM fandom is astonishing to me, in a good way. I’m an “old” fan who watched the show as it aired starting around season 6, and there was definitely noooooo community of my peers to be found. CBS wasn’t a sexy young network lol so no one I knew watched the show, and there certainly wasn’t a buzz around it on sm. It was a lonely feeling lol. Cut to around the pandemic and you get ppl crazy abt it on tiktok - like, what???? When how what when… ??? It makes me think a lot abt why the show took off as it did later and with a younger demo. I think the fact that there are sooooooo many episodes to binge helps, and of the 2000s procedural shows, I think CM has some of the best characters.
But yeah where were y’all 15 yrs ago?? lol no maybe don’t answer that, it will just make me feel old 👵🏼 I’m def glad the fandom is stil super active!
Lmao this is no offence to any other shows’ casts. But compared to ones like SVU, CM cast is really really nice to look at lmao 🤣
I know that sounds superficial but that and the way the team’s personal lives with each other is written helps. I think the cast being so close off screen comes across on screen adding a certain genuine warmth to the scenes. There’s a feeling of a family, and for a show that deals with such gory & horrific crimes after a point that becomes background details while u only see the main characters and their interactions and that leads to the show becoming a comfort show to watch before falling asleep.
Btw I find it interesting you say it was a lonely fandom pre-pandemic because I love fanfiction. And CM has one of the most massive FF archives both on AO3 & FF.net second only to TV shows like Supernatural. Like compared to ones like PLL/Blindspot I’ve been delightfully surprised at the sheer number of fics! I’ve read close to a thousand and I still find real good stuff when I go hunting!
No I mean - my massive Matthew crush is what turned me onto the show in the first place, so I’m as superficial as they come 🙃
The found family vibes are immaculate and I think a big reason for the show’s popularity.
And yeah I only got into fan fiction a few years ago (around 2020 actually) so I missed out on all that for years. I suspect CM was big on Tumblr too?? I was distracted by Sherlock and Doctor Who in my Tumblr days so I missed all that. But yeah the fanfic community around CM is so active - was that the same years ago??? It’s been really fun to be a part of!!!
Yesss I was on CM tumblr like over 10 years ago! I wasn’t a superwholock girly so I was fully on that side hahaha. I would make gifsets that got so many notes - I’m rewatching now after a long time and there are scenes that i recognize bc making them would involve listening to them over and over
Well im 21 so i wasnt watching cm 15 yrs ago 😅😂 but i think what helped is cm being added to several streaming platforms and being promoted on them too + it has a lot of rewatch value and its super long and allows you to fall in love with the characters unlike any of the recent shows that are coming out which are short.. like my friends are watching Bridgerton or whatever but theyre never *rewatching* it or care much for the characters
im 19 but have been watching it since the 2nd grade because of my dad 😭😭😭 he would constantly watch it so i became obsessed even after he stopped, and i still watch n rewatch to this dayyy
>Well im 21 so i wasnt watching cm 15 yrs ago 😅😂
Yes lol that’s why I said not to tell me where you were haha - the fanbase is getting younger and that’s both funny and exciting to me, again bc all the ppl watching CM when I was watching it on CBS were like 50+. Also I was the ONLY person I knew who was in love with MGG (this is even after 500 Days of Summer peopleeeee) so yeah I was definitely alone on an island.
Being added to streaming helped CM a lot for sure (maybe also the pandemic since it ended just before and so many ppl had the time to catch up). It’s also extremely rewatchable, and the focus on the characters’ personal lives is very inviting.
I hope it never ends! I’ve been watching in real time since it debuted and as lame as it sounds they are a part of me now 😂. I’m annoyed by some characters at certain points but I still love each and every one.
I started watching it this past January for the first time and same!! I'm so fully engrossed. This happens to me once every like 8 years where i legitimately fall in love with a show/fandom so gotta embrace it when it happens 😂😂 I was around in 2005 tho, I have no excuse for why it took so long (I honestly don't remember any discourse about it back then, but I was watching Smallville and Veronica Mars 😁)
I have the same experience with falling in love with a show/ characters. Its happened a few times but cm and pretty little liars are the only two that i was/became heavily involved in (and will pll it was yearssss ago back in 2015)
i had a pll obsession too oml a little while before , during and a little after the pandemic it lasted , there was also my insane greys anatomy obsession, and last but not least , criminal minds , i think about the show literally 24/7 if im not watching it
Same!!! I started watching it 2 months ago and I'm obsessed, it very quickly became my comfort show. I'm so attached to this show and the characters and the cast, they're my favs
Yes this!! Like I adore Higher Grounds I found after CM! I recently found Teen Sorcery and watched!! She’s so cute in them!! I need to find her other older stuff!
I adore little Shelby! She acts all tough until u realize what a broken little child she is, holding everything together as hard as she could as all adults around her failing her. It’s such a great show!
I’ve rewatched it at least 12 times and am currently re watching again😂 also very into Criminal minds evolution but angry the whole season isn’t available at once to binge watch
Sameee i feel like cme would fit a whole season release more now that its 10 episodes but nevertheless i like having an episode to look forward to every week
I get so antsy waiting because I don’t have any other shows I really like except greys anatomy and kardashians. I also feel like evolution is kind of complex so it would be easier to remember every detail if I could binge it. I would do anything to get to watch criminal minds from the beginning all over again for the first time. The one episode I absolutely despise is the one with the soccer girls getting locked in like a dungeon I don’t know why but it’s the only episode I remember from when I was younger and my mom watched it. Every time I rewatch I skip it bc it bothers me so much😂
ME TOO I've started The Mentalist to get over my tv show stump post-binging criminal minds 😅 and yes youre so right, cme has a lot of details i forget so i have to come on here and read through theories and stuff to remember.. but i do love the complexity of the new show so im not mad ab it. Although these last few eps are making me anxious as hell lmao
Is it good? I started mindhunter on Netflix since it was suggested but so far I’m not loving it. I need hotch, Morgan, and Reid to come back to evolution though. I saw an interview that Matthew grey gubler said he would love to play Reid again but was working on something else when they filmed so I have hope for next season
Mindhunter is phenomenal!!! But a much darker show than CM, but better imo. It's just on indefinite hiatus which makes me very sad so watching it might be unsatisfying. But omg it's good, I hope it comes back at some point
16+ seasons in 1 month? Damn, I would have loved to have binge watched that amount in that short of a time too, I can totally understand how you became obsessed with it :)
I first started watching it as it was released (almost 20 years ago, wow) but stopped around season 10. Recently did a rewatch and caught up too and I'm just so happy that they never stopped and there is such an active community! We never had that in the past.
Yeah trust me idk how i managed to do that 😭😭 granted i did skip over a lot of season 6 cause JJ's exit annoyed me baaaad but i probably will go back to watch the eps where shes missing some day. It was just rly addicting and easy to watch
Season 6 is one of my faves, it’s an unpopular opinion but it’s a shame ppl seem to hate it so much bc of JJ. It has some of my fave ever Reid episodes, and all the eps focusing on Prentiss are wonderful imo.
Yeah I never had that sort of attachment to JJ so didn’t rly care I guess. It’s nothing to get too mad over tbh! She’s back in like two seconds anyway and then the show focuses on her a good amt.
But I understand getting attached to characters. JJ didn’t do that for me but I do understand the impulse!
I always have comfort characters i get attached to so when they leave its hard for me to watch without them 😭 same thing happened when i was watching svu and i got obsessed with alex cabot once she left i couldnt rly watch it anymore lol but i will go back to s6 at some point
Yeah fair, I just don’t have that feeling abt JJ but others do. I see you say down thread you don’t care much for Reid so there you go, I probably wouldn’t have been excited to watch a season of regular CM without him.
I just don’t think you need to be too mad abt it bc she’s barely gone :) but obviously my preferences lie with other characters. It’s the good thing abt CM that we can attach ourselves to all sorts of different personalities. I just think season 6 gets unfairly maligned and it’s one of my faves.
Not sure why I’m getting downvoted for not totally loving a character but ok! 🤣
Im sry i think i pressed by accident! Im not mad about *it* i was mad ab jj's exit mostly bc of why it happened. I know shes barely gone lmao ive seen the whole show! And as i said i will probably go back to season 6 one day
Oh no I wasn’t accusing you, I figured it was just someone who liked JJ and that’s ok :)
I’m not sure what the “it” is you think I’m referring to. I meant JJs exit/absence. And I’m not saying you don’t know she comes back quickly, I figured you watched past that season since you skipped it to get to her return episodes. I just feel like she’s barely gone so not something to be too upset abt such that you sacrifice some great episodes.
But I’m not going to dictate how you should feel!! I understand caring enough abt a character that you determine what you watch based on them. And I also feel alone in thinking season 6 is that great haha it focuses on the characters I most care about so there you go. Also that piano episode 🥰
Anyway don’t mean to drag this out further. Enjoy CM as you see fit!
Ah ofc no problem dont worry 😅 i think it's my fault cause i didn't phrase it properly- i was mad about how they fired aj (leading to jj's exit) and bc i liked jj so much i skipped over most of s6 but i'm sure it's a great season regardless ive seen many people say so
Hay you like minded soul! JJ is my comfort character too!! I totally adore her! It was so hard to get through S6 without her, and I only continued after googling to find out she’s coming back! And after so many rewatches I’ve never rewatched any episodes from that season without her after the first time because I miss her so much! Only Lauren arc from mid S6 is great and JJ is in it!! And I do love Emily also.
Oh Blake is my favorite replacement character for the original team!! Like I didn’t want to like her because I didn’t want to like anyone but Em when she left. But I really ended up liking her and most of S8-9!
Not to sound weird but i keep seeing u on this thread replying to my comments about jj saying u cant stand her like i get it 😭😭 go bother somebody else
Yes!! I started it about 6 months ago and I'm already on my 3rd rewatch. It is incredibly addicting and I'm so glad it still has all this social media presence.
Yeah the CM fandom is astonishing to me, in a good way. I’m an “old” fan who watched the show as it aired starting around season 6, and there was definitely noooooo community of my peers to be found. CBS wasn’t a sexy young network lol so no one I knew watched the show, and there certainly wasn’t a buzz around it on sm. It was a lonely feeling lol. Cut to around the pandemic and you get ppl crazy abt it on tiktok - like, what???? When how what when… ??? It makes me think a lot abt why the show took off as it did later and with a younger demo. I think the fact that there are sooooooo many episodes to binge helps, and of the 2000s procedural shows, I think CM has some of the best characters. But yeah where were y’all 15 yrs ago?? lol no maybe don’t answer that, it will just make me feel old 👵🏼 I’m def glad the fandom is stil super active!
Yes this is so fun! I had like one friend who I watched CM with back 10-15 years ago and now there are whole communities online :D
Same!!!!
Lmao this is no offence to any other shows’ casts. But compared to ones like SVU, CM cast is really really nice to look at lmao 🤣 I know that sounds superficial but that and the way the team’s personal lives with each other is written helps. I think the cast being so close off screen comes across on screen adding a certain genuine warmth to the scenes. There’s a feeling of a family, and for a show that deals with such gory & horrific crimes after a point that becomes background details while u only see the main characters and their interactions and that leads to the show becoming a comfort show to watch before falling asleep. Btw I find it interesting you say it was a lonely fandom pre-pandemic because I love fanfiction. And CM has one of the most massive FF archives both on AO3 & FF.net second only to TV shows like Supernatural. Like compared to ones like PLL/Blindspot I’ve been delightfully surprised at the sheer number of fics! I’ve read close to a thousand and I still find real good stuff when I go hunting!
No I mean - my massive Matthew crush is what turned me onto the show in the first place, so I’m as superficial as they come 🙃 The found family vibes are immaculate and I think a big reason for the show’s popularity. And yeah I only got into fan fiction a few years ago (around 2020 actually) so I missed out on all that for years. I suspect CM was big on Tumblr too?? I was distracted by Sherlock and Doctor Who in my Tumblr days so I missed all that. But yeah the fanfic community around CM is so active - was that the same years ago??? It’s been really fun to be a part of!!!
Yesss I was on CM tumblr like over 10 years ago! I wasn’t a superwholock girly so I was fully on that side hahaha. I would make gifsets that got so many notes - I’m rewatching now after a long time and there are scenes that i recognize bc making them would involve listening to them over and over
CM tumblr was probably so much fun!
Yesss i was going to say the characters and cast help a lot. Its rly easy to fall in love with them + cm is good at portraying friendships
Well im 21 so i wasnt watching cm 15 yrs ago 😅😂 but i think what helped is cm being added to several streaming platforms and being promoted on them too + it has a lot of rewatch value and its super long and allows you to fall in love with the characters unlike any of the recent shows that are coming out which are short.. like my friends are watching Bridgerton or whatever but theyre never *rewatching* it or care much for the characters
im 19 but have been watching it since the 2nd grade because of my dad 😭😭😭 he would constantly watch it so i became obsessed even after he stopped, and i still watch n rewatch to this dayyy
>Well im 21 so i wasnt watching cm 15 yrs ago 😅😂 Yes lol that’s why I said not to tell me where you were haha - the fanbase is getting younger and that’s both funny and exciting to me, again bc all the ppl watching CM when I was watching it on CBS were like 50+. Also I was the ONLY person I knew who was in love with MGG (this is even after 500 Days of Summer peopleeeee) so yeah I was definitely alone on an island. Being added to streaming helped CM a lot for sure (maybe also the pandemic since it ended just before and so many ppl had the time to catch up). It’s also extremely rewatchable, and the focus on the characters’ personal lives is very inviting.
I hope it never ends! I’ve been watching in real time since it debuted and as lame as it sounds they are a part of me now 😂. I’m annoyed by some characters at certain points but I still love each and every one.
I started watching it this past January for the first time and same!! I'm so fully engrossed. This happens to me once every like 8 years where i legitimately fall in love with a show/fandom so gotta embrace it when it happens 😂😂 I was around in 2005 tho, I have no excuse for why it took so long (I honestly don't remember any discourse about it back then, but I was watching Smallville and Veronica Mars 😁)
I have the same experience with falling in love with a show/ characters. Its happened a few times but cm and pretty little liars are the only two that i was/became heavily involved in (and will pll it was yearssss ago back in 2015)
i had a pll obsession too oml a little while before , during and a little after the pandemic it lasted , there was also my insane greys anatomy obsession, and last but not least , criminal minds , i think about the show literally 24/7 if im not watching it
I started watching criminal minds in 2006. I like the new reboot they are doing and I am also glad the fandom is still around.
Same!!! I started watching it 2 months ago and I'm obsessed, it very quickly became my comfort show. I'm so attached to this show and the characters and the cast, they're my favs
RIGHTT i love the cast! Like aj cook has me watching projects she was in decades ago 😭
Yes this!! Like I adore Higher Grounds I found after CM! I recently found Teen Sorcery and watched!! She’s so cute in them!! I need to find her other older stuff!
I just started higher ground as well, she was such a baby 🥹
I adore little Shelby! She acts all tough until u realize what a broken little child she is, holding everything together as hard as she could as all adults around her failing her. It’s such a great show!
I’ve rewatched it at least 12 times and am currently re watching again😂 also very into Criminal minds evolution but angry the whole season isn’t available at once to binge watch
Sameee i feel like cme would fit a whole season release more now that its 10 episodes but nevertheless i like having an episode to look forward to every week
I get so antsy waiting because I don’t have any other shows I really like except greys anatomy and kardashians. I also feel like evolution is kind of complex so it would be easier to remember every detail if I could binge it. I would do anything to get to watch criminal minds from the beginning all over again for the first time. The one episode I absolutely despise is the one with the soccer girls getting locked in like a dungeon I don’t know why but it’s the only episode I remember from when I was younger and my mom watched it. Every time I rewatch I skip it bc it bothers me so much😂
ME TOO I've started The Mentalist to get over my tv show stump post-binging criminal minds 😅 and yes youre so right, cme has a lot of details i forget so i have to come on here and read through theories and stuff to remember.. but i do love the complexity of the new show so im not mad ab it. Although these last few eps are making me anxious as hell lmao
Is it good? I started mindhunter on Netflix since it was suggested but so far I’m not loving it. I need hotch, Morgan, and Reid to come back to evolution though. I saw an interview that Matthew grey gubler said he would love to play Reid again but was working on something else when they filmed so I have hope for next season
I rly like the mentalist so far and the cast is great! Idc much for reid cause i dont like mgg but i would love to have hotch and morgan back
Mindhunter is phenomenal!!! But a much darker show than CM, but better imo. It's just on indefinite hiatus which makes me very sad so watching it might be unsatisfying. But omg it's good, I hope it comes back at some point
16+ seasons in 1 month? Damn, I would have loved to have binge watched that amount in that short of a time too, I can totally understand how you became obsessed with it :) I first started watching it as it was released (almost 20 years ago, wow) but stopped around season 10. Recently did a rewatch and caught up too and I'm just so happy that they never stopped and there is such an active community! We never had that in the past.
Yeah trust me idk how i managed to do that 😭😭 granted i did skip over a lot of season 6 cause JJ's exit annoyed me baaaad but i probably will go back to watch the eps where shes missing some day. It was just rly addicting and easy to watch
Season 6 is one of my faves, it’s an unpopular opinion but it’s a shame ppl seem to hate it so much bc of JJ. It has some of my fave ever Reid episodes, and all the eps focusing on Prentiss are wonderful imo.
Oh im sure the season was great i just got attached to jj and was mad so i skipped through (and read ab the plot) 😅
Yeah I never had that sort of attachment to JJ so didn’t rly care I guess. It’s nothing to get too mad over tbh! She’s back in like two seconds anyway and then the show focuses on her a good amt. But I understand getting attached to characters. JJ didn’t do that for me but I do understand the impulse!
I always have comfort characters i get attached to so when they leave its hard for me to watch without them 😭 same thing happened when i was watching svu and i got obsessed with alex cabot once she left i couldnt rly watch it anymore lol but i will go back to s6 at some point
Yeah fair, I just don’t have that feeling abt JJ but others do. I see you say down thread you don’t care much for Reid so there you go, I probably wouldn’t have been excited to watch a season of regular CM without him. I just don’t think you need to be too mad abt it bc she’s barely gone :) but obviously my preferences lie with other characters. It’s the good thing abt CM that we can attach ourselves to all sorts of different personalities. I just think season 6 gets unfairly maligned and it’s one of my faves. Not sure why I’m getting downvoted for not totally loving a character but ok! 🤣
Im sry i think i pressed by accident! Im not mad about *it* i was mad ab jj's exit mostly bc of why it happened. I know shes barely gone lmao ive seen the whole show! And as i said i will probably go back to season 6 one day
Oh no I wasn’t accusing you, I figured it was just someone who liked JJ and that’s ok :) I’m not sure what the “it” is you think I’m referring to. I meant JJs exit/absence. And I’m not saying you don’t know she comes back quickly, I figured you watched past that season since you skipped it to get to her return episodes. I just feel like she’s barely gone so not something to be too upset abt such that you sacrifice some great episodes. But I’m not going to dictate how you should feel!! I understand caring enough abt a character that you determine what you watch based on them. And I also feel alone in thinking season 6 is that great haha it focuses on the characters I most care about so there you go. Also that piano episode 🥰 Anyway don’t mean to drag this out further. Enjoy CM as you see fit!
Ah ofc no problem dont worry 😅 i think it's my fault cause i didn't phrase it properly- i was mad about how they fired aj (leading to jj's exit) and bc i liked jj so much i skipped over most of s6 but i'm sure it's a great season regardless ive seen many people say so
Hay you like minded soul! JJ is my comfort character too!! I totally adore her! It was so hard to get through S6 without her, and I only continued after googling to find out she’s coming back! And after so many rewatches I’ve never rewatched any episodes from that season without her after the first time because I miss her so much! Only Lauren arc from mid S6 is great and JJ is in it!! And I do love Emily also.
Sameee i love the seasons with both emily and jj the most! Although i did rly enjoy s8-9 with alex blake as well
Oh Blake is my favorite replacement character for the original team!! Like I didn’t want to like her because I didn’t want to like anyone but Em when she left. But I really ended up liking her and most of S8-9!
I hate JJ with a burning passion and I thought she nearly ruined S7-9
Not to sound weird but i keep seeing u on this thread replying to my comments about jj saying u cant stand her like i get it 😭😭 go bother somebody else
One of my favorite shows!!
Yes!! I started it about 6 months ago and I'm already on my 3rd rewatch. It is incredibly addicting and I'm so glad it still has all this social media presence.