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Chat Transcript with Criminal Minds Writer Rick Dunkle

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Chat Transcript with Criminal Minds Writer Rick Dunkle

Guinevere Welcome Rick
Sir_Bedivere How are you and thanks for joining us
Sir_Gawain Hi Rick
Lady_of_the_Lake Hi Rick!

RD Hi Knights!

merlin Welcome Rick!
Iseult Hi Rick
SesameSquirrel hello Sir Ttto!
Walburga hi Rick
Sir_Bedivere First and most important question, how was the Super Bowl?
Guinevere yes!

RD Super Bowl was Funtastic!
RD We took my eldest brother for his 40th birthday.

Guinevere awww
Sir_Galahad great present!
Lady_of_the_Lake that was nice of you all
SesameSquirrel That's a fantastic gift :)
Lady_of_the_Lake we were at the edge of our seats
Lady_of_the_Lake during the game

RD Indianapolis was a Great host city and I hope they get the opportunity to have the game there again.
RD Always nice to avoid the hotels by staying with Mom & Dad!

Sir_Bedivere so true
Sir_Bedivere So you have the next episode Closing Time. Looks exciting. What can you tell us about it?

RD I'm really excited about Closing Time. The director, Jesse Warn, was an absolute dream to work with. He's a New Zealander and will hopefully be working with us more in the future. He did a fantastic job, as did the cast, crew, everyone.
RD Closing Time adds a tidbit to one of the extracurricular activities Jj was up to while away working for the State Department.

Lady_of_the_Lake oooh, cool
Sir_Bedivere interesting

RD And plays some fun team moments...

Sir_Galahad yay!
Sir_Bedivere we always love those
Sir_Gawain we always love the fun!
Lady_of_the_Lake our favorites

RD The ending may leave some of you divided, but then, that's why I like it so much!

Sir_Bedivere oh oh sounds intriguing
SesameSquirrel ha! the worst reaction would be indifference, eh?

RD Exactly
RD Rossi and Hotch have a great moment in the elevator that I was at first hesitant to write... but once I did, it was my favorite scene in the episode!

Sir_Galahad love that relationship
Lady_of_the_Lake they have a great give and take, those 2

RD Yeah, they're great. Joe and Thomas have this way of playing off one another that's just a joy to watch.

Sir_Bedivere This has been billed as the Action Jj episode, something Aj said she wanted. Was this just the best fit episodewise as far as that aspect was concerned?

RD You know, it's interesting because the episode isn't a Jj-centered episode but I knew Aj had been jonesing for some action work and it seemed to fit with the theme of this episode to have her come to blows...

Sir_Gawain left.

RD The idea of emasculation is a theme in the episode and it got me thinking about how everyone always think the women need rescuing
RD We've got some bad ass babes on this show and I loved having the opportunity to show they can look out for themselves.

Sir_Gareth joined.
Guinevere That's awesome Rick
Sir_Gawain joined.
Guinevere They are bad-ass girls
Sir_Bedivere Very interesting. There is one thing that I've always loved about the ladies on our team is that they are not helpless
Lady_of_the_Lake they are every bit as kick ass as the guys

RD Aj had a lot of fun with the fight and it turned out really well. I hope we can throw more of that her way in the future.

Guinevere and more so than reid :L
Sir_Bedivere They are just part of the team and expected to carry as much weight as Morgan or Hotch or anyone else
Guinevere i can say that since i'm the reid fan, right?
Sir_Bedivere lol
Lady_of_the_Lake lol guin

RD Exactly... that's why i loved the shoot out contest between Matthew & Aj... Aj won! No one expected that!
RD Though, from how Matthew wears his gun, no one should've been surprised!

Sir_Galahad lol!
Sir_Bedivere well i wasn't lol
merlin That is one of the many things i like about Cm women are not portrait as helpless even some of the victims did fight back.
Sir_Bedivere i think some of the female victims have fought back harder than some of their male counterparts
merlin is that done to shut up some of the critics?
SesameSquirrel If you can't rely on sheer physical strength, you'll use every other tool available :)
Lady_of_the_Lake and some of the female unsubs are much crueler and their motivations so different than we normally expect

RD No, I think it's more to portray it honestly. I work for women, they're as tough and as bad ass as the men I've worked for. Too often on crime shows it falls to the guys to be the heroes but I think we really show equality amongst our team, regardless of gender. Remember, Strauss is a female, and sh
RD I bet she kicked down doors ala Morgan style while in Rehab!

SesameSquirrel Ha!
Sir_Bedivere lmao
Lady_of_the_Lake lol
Iseult lol
Sir_Bedivere Well we are looking forward to the episode. It's been a great season so far. How do you think it's going?

RD It's been a heck of a year. All of our new writers have just truly excelled. We've got a great team; great crew, and we challenged one another to make great stories.
RD I've enjoyed getting to delved more into the personal lives of our team.

Sir_Bedivere so have we
Guinevere weenjoy that as well
Iseult yes we do
SesameSquirrel Does the writing team know where each character is headed by the end of the season? For example, you want Jj to wind up at X place in her development by 7x20?
Lady_of_the_Lake we are glad the team is back and intact for you to delve into their personal lives
Sir_Bedivere so true lady of the lake

RD We're working on the finale right now which I think is a testament to what a great season we've had... lots of cookies for the fans, and a fun, action-packed story to ride us to the finish line of season seven.
RD Good question, Squirrel...

Sir_Bedivere Thomas said it's something different that what's happened in the past. Any hints? (even just a little one)

RD We know, at this point, where we're headed for the finale so we have kind of put tentpoles in different writers episodes to make sure we address the important bits before the end.
RD All of the storylines of season seven sort of coalesce (sp) into a bit, 2-hour finale

Lady_of_the_Lake now we are going to be tearing apart the episodes to find clues
Sir_Bedivere We're excited to have Cm on for 2 hours :)

RD *big not bit
RD It's something we've never done before... we're treating it like a 2-hour movie and it starts out with a bang and doesn't let up.

SesameSquirrel Lady of the Lake -- like we don't do that already?! ;)
Lady_of_the_Lake well, even more so squirrel

RD It promises to be one of the most suspenseful, action-packed stories we've ever done.

Sir_Bedivere oh we can't wait. the only bad part is waiting 4 months for the next season
SesameSquirrel And here we thought you could never top the exploding Suv ;)
merlin oh yes long summer waiting for a new Cm!

RD A lot of personal story mixed with Unsub story mixed with Unsub(s) story, muhahaha!

Sir_Galahad lol! Bring it on, we can't wait!
Sir_Bedivere :)
Lady_of_the_Lake it sounds like it is going to be Amahzing
Sir_Bedivere i'm imagining the evil grin on rick's face right now
SesameSquirrel at this rate - never mind the summer hiatus: Can I even bear to wait for May? :D
Sir_Gareth Sounds awesome,
Iseult sounds great

RD Luckily, we have a lot of great episodes to keep you occupied until then

Sir_Bedivere So what else does Cm have in store for us this year.
Sir_Bedivere i was just going to ask...
Lady_of_the_Lake and thank goodness for the Dvr so we can re-watch

RD I'm really excited about the race to the finish line of this season. A lot of great episodes coming up; some Wtf moments, it's going to be fun... and exaserbating (sp) all at the same time!

Sir_Gareth and itunes

RD Episode 19, Sharon Lee Watson & Matthew Gray Gubler's episode, is just... like nothing we've ever done before. Gube assembled an amazing guest cast to compliment the story and I'm excited to see the finished product before it's even started filming.

Lady_of_the_Lake woot
Lady_of_the_Lake the episodes he has directed have been wonderful
SesameSquirrel hence his maniacal laughter in the bathtub :)
Lady_of_the_Lake so that will be exciting

RD Also, Virgil Williams has a fun episode coming up in the form of 7x22 which all you die hard fans will simply eat up.

Guinevere he's multi-talented
Guinevere awesome, can't wait

RD Let's just say the password for this chat room is appropriate to his story :)

SesameSquirrel !!!
Sir_Bedivere You mentioned tentpoles for character development earlier, have you even been asked to fit something into an episode and said to yourself...how the heck am i going to get this into my story?

RD Yes! When we were planning on having Rossi's ex-wife come visit we were breaking the story line and suspected we wanted her to die at the end.
RD I knew I was doing a resuscitation story and suggested in the room that thematically it might fit to kill her in mine.
RD The room agreed and then suddenly I was like... Wait... Now I have to make that happen... How am I going to do that?

Sir_Bedivere interesting!
Sir_Galahad it was great, Rick

RD It was an example of thinking outloud before inside...
RD Luckily it worked out!

Sir_Bedivere it worked out well
Iseult it worked out great
Lady_of_the_Lake it was really great and very sad
SesameSquirrel "what a great idea, Rick. Why don't you work on making that happen." The classic consequence of making a great suggestion :)
Sir_Bedivere very true
SesameSquirrel (And yes, perfectly fitting thematically)
merlin I'm curious, About Hotch background, he seems to be living the middle class lifestyle but in 'true Genius' he did wear a Rolex. What is Hotch background when it comes to incomes? in other words how can he afford a rolex on a Gov salary?
merlin and yes many fans asked this question on twitter we even had a debate about it ;)

RD Maybe Rossi gave it to him as a wedding present?

Guinevere lol!
merlin good one!
SesameSquirrel that would be Very Rossi :)
Sir_Galahad perfect!
Lady_of_the_Lake I get the impression he has some family money

RD The real question is.... how does Garcia afford so many different pairs of glasses? I hope they're not all prescription, otherwise sign me up for a job as a technical analyst 'cause they make bank!

Lady_of_the_Lake idk why, I just do
Guinevere Lol!
Sir_Bedivere lol true...the Gov vision plan must be stellar
Lady_of_the_Lake truly
Sir_Gareth she ebays the lenses
SesameSquirrel Ha! Some women are all about purses, or shoes...maybe she's a eyeglass queen...? :) [I want that vision plan!]
Lady_of_the_Lake I had some Coach glasses frames - boy were they expensive
Lady_of_the_Lake emphasis on Had
SesameSquirrel It's not always the frames - if they're Rx lenses, That costs $$$
merlin Rick, What makes a great Cm episode for you?

RD I try to look at it from a fan's perspective. Being a glorified Tv geek myself, I think what I would enjoy seeing on one of my favorite shows... Hence, plenty of team moments, and some fun (read "sick") horror moments...
RD This week's ep definitely has my favorite killing scene ever.
RD That I've written, lol.
RD 100 was the best death scene ever on the show

Lady_of_the_Lake lol, bloodthirsty much?
SesameSquirrel sometimes we worry about you Cm writers ;)

RD You should

Guinevere Rick, what's your favourite ep that you have written so far?

RD My middle school English teacher reported me to a counselor because whenever we go to do creative writing assignments I would write stories starring Freddy Kruger and he would kill different students in my class (friends who requested it, don't worry!)... My teacher thought I would grow up to be a s

Sir_Bedivere lol
Lady_of_the_Lake hahaha
Sir_Bedivere at least you grew up just to write fictional stories about them
Iseult lol
Sir_Galahad lol!

RD and now, as I did in middle school, I name the characters after my friends!

Sir_Gareth Rick if Cm were over tomorrow, what network show would you like to write for?
SesameSquirrel heheh - so you get paid to kill off your friends ;) whatta job!

RD My favorite episode I've written is probably one I haven't written yet.
RD I'm more excited about the two-hour finale than I have been about any of my earlier episodes (save maybe my first ever).
RD It's an honor to get to write the first hour, and it's so actiony and suspensefully that I'm practically giddy in anticipation of shooting it.
RD Hopefully it turns out as well on the page as it is in my ehad.
RD *head.
RD If Cm were over tomorrow I would cry.
RD Then...

Sir_Bedivere we would too

RD I would apply for a job @ Doctor Who
RD Then...

Iseult yes

RD Network Tv...

Sir_Gareth Oh yes, we would. I dread the day we hear Cm is ending.
Sir_Gawain the day Cm will be over Kleenex sales across North America will double
Walburga and germany :)

RD I might jump ship to the Cw... do something light hearted for a while

SesameSquirrel Rick, do you write specific songs into your scripts? Or is that part of the music team's scope? (they're fantastic, Btw, esp. Coda, which was like musical crack! :D)

RD The Secret Circle, Cm style!

merlin Network Tv and Not cable? from what I read seems like everyone wants to work on Cable for the freedom cable allows.
Sir_Gareth maybe in 3-4 years, you can do Green Arrow if it makes it :D

RD Network was the questions but cable has a lot of freedom I wouldn't mind at all.

Sir_Bedivere We have Rick for about 10 more minutes knights and ladies

RD I've definitely had to trim scenes to make them more appropriate to a Cbs audience.

Lady_of_the_Lake what # iphone are you on?
Sir_Bedivere lol
SesameSquirrel (14!)
Sir_Bedivere iphone unsub

RD that I wouldn't need to do on another network. But Cbs is king of the crime show and I love writing horror and heroes so I don't know if I'd stray to far from the eye anytime soon.
RD Unless it was to Syfy or Bbc!

Sir_Bedivere we love that dark side of you lol

RD Squirrel's right... 14!

Sir_Bedivere I'm not sure if you can answer this question or not (and if you can't, please just say so) but....do you think we'll have the entire team back next season?
Sir_Galahad You'd be awesome writing for 'spooks'
Lady_of_the_Lake ooh, or Alpha's

RD a
RD whoops, screwed that up
RD my answers is
RD Golly, I hope so!

Guinevere us too
Sir_Bedivere that's what we hope too
Sir_Bedivere and as long as there is hope, we're good with that. that's been the Best part of Season 7....having all of them back again

RD I think they just started talking about contracts recently so that can take months.

Guinevere yes it has
SesameSquirrel hear hearm Sir B!
SesameSquirrel er, hear
Guinevere we hate summers, they are so stressful
Guinevere i can't imagine how you all feel
Sir_Bedivere Anything fun planned for hiatus?

RD I'm moving! I'm finally buying a home so hiatus will be more packing & unpacking than vacation-themed... Though I am hoping for a quick getaway somewhere in May

Sir_Bedivere Congratulations!
Guinevere congrats on your new home!
Iseult very cool

RD Thanks!

merlin Congrats!
SesameSquirrel Congratulations!
Sir_Gareth congrats
Lady_of_the_Lake congratulations
Lady_of_the_Lake that's a big deal

RD Yup... And thanks to this show it's been much harder finding a place to live than I would have thought... I keep asking about the security systems and crime rates and police response times, lol.

Sir_Galahad wu whoo, congrats
Guinevere lol
Lady_of_the_Lake lmao
SesameSquirrel ahahahah!
Sir_Galahad lol
Sir_Bedivere Rick, thank you so much for being here this evening. We love when Cm stops by to visit.
Guinevere Thank you Rick, you're the best!
Iseult thank you, have a great evening
merlin Yes thanks Rick!

RD Anytime.... Thanks for your constant support, it is truly appreciated!

Sir_Bedivere Please stop by again soon. Maybe we can get you and Erica here for the season finale?
Walburga thanks for taking the time to chat with us
SesameSquirrel Thank you, Rick!
Lady_of_the_Lake thank you Rick

RD Be sure to stop in on the @cm_setreport chat Thursday for the post-show breakdown... You'll either love me or hate me, I can't wait to see which!

Sir_Galahad thanks Rick!
merlin will be there!
Sir_Bedivere We love Criminal Minds and all those that put in the hard work to bring it to us.
Iseult looking forward to it
Sir_Gawain ty Rick!
Sir_Bedivere We will be there for the Cm chat for sure!!
Guinevere we will still love you
SesameSquirrel Ha! We will!
Sir_Bedivere and we'll let you know haha
Lady_of_the_Lake looking forward to it
Sir_Gareth Thanks, Rick.

RD Bye!!!

Sir_Bedivere Good night rick!
Iseult bye
SesameSquirrel bye, Rick!

RD left.
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