I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but I am a big fan of the show, Criminal Minds. I mean, huge. I can’t categorically state that I’ve seen every single episode multiple times, but I’m 
pretty sure it’s actually true. I’ve been watching since the beginning, watch religiously each week, and then watch the syndicated showings on ION Television until the wee hours of the morning several days a week. I know which episodes I really like often by the title, or at least by the almost generic description. (For the record, “The Big Wheel” is one of my all-time favorites, and it was on ION just last night.) And, though it’s eternally surprising to my husband that I can watch the show at all (‘fraidy cat that I am), I can also say that there’s only one episode that is just too creepy for me to re-watch—“North Mammon”. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons.
I bring this up now, because today is the birthday of one of the stars, Joe Mantegna. (Technically, it’s yesterday by now—November 13 is the day.) For me, Mantegna is one of those guys I’ve just “seen around”. Even when I read over his list of credits, there is nothing that makes me slap my forehead in sudden realization of where I first encountered his face, though I know I’ve seen many of his works. But that’s okay, because now he’ll forever be FBI Special Agent David Rossi.
In truth, even though I recognized him as a worthy actor, when he first joined the show, I wasn’t really prepared to like his character at all. Mantegna was brought into the cast when Mandy Patinkin (Agent Jason Gideon) chose to leave the show. I thought Gideon sort of made the show, and I wasn’t sure it could survive without him; I am very glad to have been wrong about that. In fact, as much as I really loved the character of Gideon, in some ways, the show is better without him, as it has moved to more of an ensemble storyline. My instinct is it would have developed into that eventually, even if Patinkin has stayed with the show, though I think it might’ve taken longer. (As an aside, the same thing sort of happened when David Caruso left NYPD Blue, though I think I kind of preferred it when it was a show focused on John Kelly, but that’s for another time.)
Image credit: Bill Jones, via Wikipedia Commons
At any rate, the point is that though it may have taken a while, I have grown very attached to the character of Rossi because he’s a really big part of why I enjoy Criminal Minds so much. So, happy birthday, Mr. Mantegna; I’m glad you came along.
Image credit: digitalart/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
