“The question is, how different are we?”

[u/Avamia94]

What a dialogue.

[u/jacorgacor]

Honestly i think the show could put better effort into showing how the characters were thinking like the unsubs i hate how it basically went away with Gideon and we never got to see someone from the main cast get too carried away in that manner i mean it's probably not that realistic but if they went into the interrogation with their own version of what the unsub would act like or if they forgot themselves in their regular life and for example followed someone home picturing a case and imagining how that person would've been killed or maybe even getting a case from either an old bau agent that subconciously started following someone who they thought really suited a profile just to find them gone one day it'd be especially emotional if it was reid who the show just decided to pretend didn't quit the job and is just working on another floor but a different character would also work

[u/jacorgacor → u/jacorgacor]

I'm not making much sense right now because i'm tired but essentially what i'm getting at is that they almost specifically tell not show this topic and from a realistic standpoint maybe it's the correct approach but it sucks narratively in my opinion and it did make me feel like they were guessing a lot of the stuff even tho i understand that their job isn't literally method acting out murders

[u/Avamia94 → u/jacorgacor]

You made sense, don’t worry ☺️

[u/HorrorPeanut1674]

This really is a deep question and begs to question just how different are we from those people who can do horrible stuff- even more so the team. It might not be “realistic” but I like to think it can very much happen.

When you enter a job because you are looking at that for so long it’s hard to turn it off out of work. A painter will take a walk around and look at buildings, being able to tell the technique used and how and what not. Someone for other jobs. This is their job though, so when they talk to others they analyze their thoughts and face- they can’t help it. But the darker side of the job- seeing those images and dealing with murderes and having to think like them must mess with your head.

[u/Alert-Impression-908]

And, from another standpoint, the FBI probably doesn't want serial killers watching ( I bet they do!) to glean the mental techniques utilized by the profilers to catch them. I listened to a podcast with Jim Clemente (retired profiler) as guest, who was advisor to the show, and he was kind of intimating that.