Crime TV Heroes: The mythos of ‘Criminal Minds’ and Thomas Gibson’s Hotch

There are few stable Crime TV Heroes out there quite like Aaron Hotchner of “Criminal Minds.” He’s someone with a superior reputation for solving crimes, and doing so in a methodical way to ensure that justice is served. Yet, at the same time he’s a detached character, someone you see often but do not always know an extreme amount about. He’s fairly quiet, and chooses often to remain outside of the spotlight so that his work is what shines.

What makes this man tick, and what more would we like to see from him? These are topics we are certainly interested in exploring further.

What makes him a hero – Determination. A thirst for justice. Really, the same sort of things that we’ve seen from many other people on the show. Also, he’s a capable leader, and understands that he has an example to set for other members of the BAU. He takes his job seriously, and while we are not going to say that he is perfect, he strives at least to put the best image for himself out there and be a friend when people need him.

What he can learn – While he’ll be there when people need him, is he there the rest of the time? Hotch is a man who has become so skilled at his job that we wonder just how good he is at everything else these days. He doesn’t always have a softer, personal side that he lets us see, other than a few scenes with Garcia earlier this season. There are things that he can learn when it comes to communicating with others and thinking outside of the case; also, there’s still probably more he could learn about himself and what he wants out of his own life and his future.

What we’d like to see – Above all else, how about a chance to let this character open up and share a little bit more of his tender side once more? We already know that Hotch is the kind of guy who has that sensitive part of himself, but we rarely see it on the show these days. Really, it hasn’t quite been there since Bellamy Young was around more frequently. A love story has done the character good in the past, and we haven’t heard much of anything about that for him in some time.

Other than romance, there is still something else we’d love to see from Hotch when you look at things from the angle of mere crime-solving. Why not introduce an UnSub who makes him think back on a certain time of his past, and exposes some of those layers? That’s something that any fan of this character would appreciate.