#the s3-s7 (minus jj's replacements) team will always be my favorite

[philtatosbuck]

seven seconds is my favorite early seasons criminal minds episode because it's immaculate it's right between gideon leaving and rossi coming. everyone absolutely did great they didn't NEED another person to solve the case everyone was on their shit. hotch and prentiss looked like they were going to beat the uncle's ass when they took him in that back room. emily looked like she was gonna swing on the aunt. jj and derek were on their shit at every turn. reid and garcia were doing their thing. it was perfect. my friend and i were talking about it the other day and like. the team up in the later seasons is good BUT this is the perfect team because they're frankly the only ones who can tolerate each other at their worsts (later additions were good but they never saw the rest of them at their lowest imo the only other person who did was alex and i think she was the only other good long-term addition as far as emily's replacements went + tara luke and matt at least saw reid at his lowest arguably) so like. it could've remained the six of them. no one else could be the leader of this specific group but hotch. derek and jj serve as the big guy / media liasion but also the more empathetic ones who make people feel safe and heard. reid and garcia are irreplaceable geniuses in their own right but emily is also?? not exactly replaceable. she has a very specific set of skills and hotch chose her to be his replacement when he left for a REASON. if i had to pick a line up it'd be these six (hotch, prentiss, morgan, jj, reid, garcia) and then alex, tara, matt and luke (i'm VERY biased)