21 November 2011

MANic Monday

I'm sorry I've denied you mancandy. Granted, #mancandymonday on Twitter is a fantabulous hour (9pm EST) where the lovely ladies give us linkage to delicious men, but I like to focus on specific characters from movies, books, tv, and video games. And today's specific character comes from my new obsession, Criminal Minds.

Ah, the delicious Dr. Reid.

There are a bazillion reasons to love Spencer. He's a certified genius with an IQ of 187, has an eidetic memory that allows him to remember ANYTHING he's ever read, and is so socially awkward he's just damn adorable.

Spencer's an incredibly complex character. He holds PhDs in math, chemistry and engineering with BAs in Psychology and sociology. His mother is a paranoid schizophrenic who lives at an asylum in his hometown of Las Vegas. His father abandoned him and his mom when he was 10.

 What the series seems to point out is that Spencer makes attachments very quickly and is extremely loyal to those people. He's the youngest member of the BAU, which leads him to be treated almost like a kid brother you just feel really bad for. His almost surrogate father is Jason Gideon (played by the amazing Mandy Patinkin), who watches out for him. The two frequently play chess together and seem to know what the other is thinking. When Gideon leaves, it's Spencer who figures out what's going on, and though he tries to hide it, he's crushed. After that, we get a more hardened Spencer, though he still attaches himself to new agents, Emily Prentiss in particular.

As per genius (if Big Bang Theory is any indication) Spencer lacks most social skills. He seems to have a crush on Agent Jennifer Jareau, but she becomes a sort of sister to him. He feels safe when he's spouting statistics--that's when he really feels like he knows what he's talking about, although his eidetic memory allows him more linguistic skills than 800 writers on crack. Need an answer for crossword puzzles? Spence is your man. Want an epic Words with Friends partner? Call Spence. But when it comes to the ladies, so far Spencer has been without a prominent love interest, though he's had a couple of close calls (including a pretty hot pool makeout scene with the ever-irritating Amber Heard). It's actually endearing to watch him trip over himself when he's around women. Kinda like you wanna just cuddle him until he hyperventilates.

Speaking of cuddling, here he is with a puppy:

*Dies of Squee*

And a couple more gratuitous Spencer photos.



Oh I do so very much love the long hair....





9 comments:

julie fedderson said...

Ok, I thought I was the only one with a crush on this guy. Even when he's unstable, he's amazing. He's part inspiration for my current mc.

Landra said...

I honestly have not watched the show. I started to, caught the pilot at least, but that's it. Maybe it's time to get back involved.

Teri Anne Stanley said...

I've only recently discovered this show, but yeah...I get it!

lexcade said...

I heart Spencer so much. Really, the entire cast is fabulous (even Thomas Gibson of Dharma & Greg fame who is so very handsome when he smiles). I love how the show doesn't try to be something it's not. For me CSI and NCIS try too hard to be clever. Any humor in CM is at least organic and not the cause of a writer trying to be funny.

I've laughed, I've cried, I've gotten angry while watching this show. It's fantastic, and if *ever* they write Spencer out (which will be TRAGIC), I'll still watch it.

Julie, what's not to love about Spence? ;)

Lisa Fox said...

Criminal Minds is a good show, but if I had to pick one of them, I'd have go with Special Agent Derek Morgan.

Not that Ried isn't hot. He does have a certain appeal. He was once a model wasn't he?

lexcade said...

I love Derek too, but there's something about Spencer that reaches out to the geek in me. Derek will have his own MANic post soon.

Yes, the Gube was once a model. Went to NYU for directing and somehow ended up on the show. He's directed a couple of episodes. *SEXY*

Anonymous said...

I must agree with Lisa Fox up there. To me, Derek Morgan is the pick of the cast. Yummy.

Xakara said...

I know this is an older post, but before I comment on Derek, I just had to backtrack and give you virtual hugs for choosing Spencer Reid!

The character is my ultimate Geek Crush and like you, there are times where I just want to cuddle him and give him hot cocoa. Of course, after the milk calmed him down, there's a laundry list of things I want to do to get his heartrate back up! *wink*

For this post, you are my new best friend. I heart you so much! :)

~X

lexcade said...

Xakara, that's the best comment I could have gotten! I heart you too! And Spencer. And I totally agree with you. I want to cuddle him, before and after ;)