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derek morgan was
under appreciated and
hated on for no reason
a thread defending one the
best criminal minds characters
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❀ this whole thread is based on MY OPINION surrounding derek morgan, along with some criminal minds fans when it comes to him. i adore morgan with every ounce of my being and thinking back to things i’ve seen about it, he doesn’t get the credit he deserves and it makes me mad ❀

❀ i’m going to start the thread with situations where derek morgan was bashed for how he handled a situation / his character in general. i’ll end the thread with reasons why his character deserves more love and recognition. yes he’s fictional, but i’ve grown attached. ❀

❀ the carl buford story line

to start this thread off, i have seen multiple tweets, tiktok videos, and replies regarding the carl buford storyline that started in season 2. this storyline led to a case in the episode “Restoration” of season eight.

the unsub was another victim of buford, and this was found out by morgan due to the phrase “look up to the sky”. it was graffitied at every crime scene. along with there being a case surrounding derek’s traumatic childhood, in the episode “Foundation” of season seven, there is -

mention of his experiences in more detail. in summary, this was an ongoing storyline in the series that, in my opinion, shaped morgan’s character. some people have said that
1) morgan was overreacting since it was years ago
2) that drawn out storylines are “boring and unseeded”

yet some of the people who made these comments loved the lauren storyline, reid’s prison storyline, rossi’s unsolved case storyline, jj’s torture storyline, the mr.scratch case, everett lynch, etc. if they did not like drawn out storylines, they would have hated these as well.

and even if it was years ago, the abuse he suffered shaped who he became. he joined the FBI in order to save kids from men like carl — it scarred him. every character has trauma events that changes them, and morgan’s shouldn’t be undermined because it happened when he was a child

❀ the case surrounding morgan’s cousin

in the episode “The Company” of season 7, derek morgan finds out his cousin, who was missing for years, signed a slave contract because of her severe stockholm syndrome; he also had to tell his aunt that he lied about her death.

anyone in this situation would have been emotionally distraught, hurt, filled with guilt, snippy with the team, and angry with themselves. however, morgan was criticized by some viewers saying that he was taking the case too personally. of course he was, it was his own blood.

yes, he was also snippy with garcia, but that’s to be expected. he wanted to find his cousin and rescue her, and he didn’t want anything to slow that down. he was in pain and even penelope’s bubbly personality couldn’t make him smile.

how he handled getting called out by name by the unsub was valid. he felt that it was his fault that his cousin was missing. he felt responsible for his family’s pain, and being called out was the icing on the cake. it was a HUMAN response and he shouldn’t be bashed on for it.

❀ emily’s “death”

emily died basically in morgan’s arms, and he couldn’t save her. he went months believing that if he had gotten there sooner, he would’ve saved her; he blamed himself for one of his closest friends dying. when she came back, he had ever right to be angry.

he was the only one, other than reid, who showed how hurt he was. he was angry, hurt, relieved, and happy that she was alive. but he was ALLOWED to be pissed off at hotch, jj, and emily. he handled it like a friend would. the fact he gets hate for this boggles my mind.

❀ his “creepy” demeanor

this is just bullshit. just because he calls garcia “babygirl” and multiple other nicknames, it doesn’t make him a creep. it’s their relationship, they’re close friends and they would do anything for each other. if anyone else did it, it would be loved.

and he is anything but creepy. he’s one of the most light-hearted on the team, is there when someone needs it, and made rational decisions when it was needed. at that point, it’s just comes across as racist when people paint the black man the creep of the office.

❀ onto the reasons why morgan should be given nothing by love and affection ❀

❀ his relationship with the team

he would do anything for his team. he was willing to help hotch out around the time of his divorce. he knew when reid was in pain and became that person that he could lean on, no matter the situation. he was a soundboard for jj.

he became penelope’s person. she looked at him when she needed to be kept sane. he was one of the first people who didn’t judge her for who she was; he embraced her love for knick knacks and bright colors. he loved her for who she was, and he never left her. he kept his promise.

one event that stands out to me is when he becomes the acting unit chief in order to keep their team together. this position brings even more stress onto an agent and he didn’t think he could handle it. he did it to keep the team together and ignored his personal concerns.

❀ his selflessness

i remember watching this episode and falling more in love with derek morgan. without thinking of himself, he drove the ambulance with a bomb in it away from the hospital. he knew he had a high chance of dying, but he cared more about saving everyone else.

morgan put himself in multiple situations where he could have died: going alone to try and arrest the reaper, going in to try and save emily, getting shot twice in “Demons”, and more throughout the show. he did this in order to save his team’s lives, and he didn’t hesitate.

he even returned to work after being kidnapped, tortured, and inches from death. he did this because he knew his team needed him and he couldn’t leave them out to dry. arguably, he is the top character that puts everyone before himself (until he leaves the BAU to raise his son).

❀ his smile, i mean come on

there isn’t much explanation needed here. his smile would literally LIGHT UP the night sky. he’s fucking precious and deserves to be protected at all costs.

❀ if you read this whole thing, i love you even more than i already did. as you can tell, i will defend morgan with every ounce of my being. i’m just tired of the morgan slander i see (mostly on tiktok), and decided to make a thread. again, THIS IS MY OPINION, don’t hate me (: