Jennifer Jareau (JJ for short) is without a doubt my favorite "Criminal Minds" character, as well as one of my favorite TV characters of all time. JJ started out as the media liaison for the Behavioral Analysis Unit for the FBI, but eventually worked her way up to being a profiler for them. There are honestly endless reasons to love JJ, but here are my top five.
1. She literally always looks good.
Working for the FBI is not an easy job. The characters in "Criminal Minds" spend hours upon hours traveling, training, and chasing down the bad guys. There hasn't been a single episode where JJ hasn't looked absolutely fantastic. She was even kidnapped and tortured in one episode, and she still looked prettier than most people I know. That girl is seriously gorgeous.
2. She loves her family more than anything.
JJ has always been and always will be a working woman, but she completely ADORES her husband, Will, and son, Henry (who is played by her actual son in real life; how cool is that?). Any episode with Will and/or Henry in it is automatically a great episode, because they all have such a sweet family dynamic. The best example of this that I can think of is when JJ read Henry a bedtime story over the phone, holding back tears because of how much she missed him. I will always love JJ and the LaMontagne boys.
3. She's great with people.
JJ was the media liaison for so many years for a reason; she's remarkably good at interacting with the general public. My favorite JJ moments are normally ones where she's comforting a family or expressing empathy towards a devastated parent. She is kind, gentle, and always seems to know just what to say. Her job as media liaison was about more than just issuing press statements. JJ was the glue that held everything together during times of distress and hardship.
4. She's strong.
You could never accuse JJ of being weak; she's been through so much in her lifetime and she's always stood strong. Between her sister committing suicide, her son having a seizure, her husband being shot and kidnapped, and being kidnapped and tortured herself, she's seriously been through the wringer. And yet, she hasn't snapped under the pressure of it all. JJ has always been one of the strongest, most stoic characters on the show, and I really admire how she handles the adversity in her life.
5. She can bring it.
Yes, that is a petite little blonde woman beating the crap out of someone. Somewhere in the middle of the series, JJ learns hand-to-hand combat, and the episodes where she demonstrates her skills are awesome. She's smart, pretty, and can pack a punch. I'm really glad the writers gave her some actions scenes and didn't make her dainty and defenseless.
