Normally, I do some type of blogging about electronics, radios, or robots, this one is a little different, and something that I've been thinking about for some time now.
Here my little theory on Spencer Reid from Criminal Minds:
So a little background for those who have been living in a box, under a rock or on the other side of the moon for the past 50 plus years, and have no idea who the Lone Ranger, Sherlock Holmes or Spencer Reid are.
1st The Lone Ranger - he is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fights outlaws in the American Old West. His first appearance was in 1933 radio drama, and was inspired by Zane Grey's "The Lone Star Ranger" from 1915.
A bit of the back story - He and a group of other Rangers including his brother, were ambushed by the Cavendish gang and left for dead. There are two different versions of the back story, one where he is the only survivor, the 2nd where him and his brother are the only survivors. His first name is left to a little speculation, most believe it to be John, his last name is Reid. And his brothers name is Dan or Daniel Reid.
What's important about his brother surviving the ambush, is that He had a son that went on to have a son named Brett Reid. Brett Reid went on to carry out his uncles legacy with the Green Hornet. The Green Hornet went on to have children, that carried on that legacy.
So that is a little background on The Lone Ranger.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lone_Ranger
Next we need to talk a little about Sherlock Holmes was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, He was a "consulting detective", And worked a number of "baffling" cases, the general setting was in the late 1880s. Attempts have been made to "remake" the great detective in modern times with some successes and some not so successful attempts. What makes Sherlock special was/is is ability to make connections (deductions), see clues that others don't see, and bring a modern approach to solving crime. He had a very high IQ, may have a eidetic memory, He may also have Asperger's syndrome (even though the syndrome was not identified until the 1940s). He probably also has some forms of OCD. As well as a small drug habit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes
According to this website:
http://www.pjfarmer.com/secret/chron/chron/chron10-revised.htm
(more on this website later)
Sherlock Holmes Son is Nero Wolfe, and a Detective in San Francisco named Spencer Holmes maybe the grandson of Sherlock Holmes (or Son of Nero Wolfe). This might be important when trying to figure out if Spencer Reid is related to Sherlock.
When we get right down to it, it's easy to see why Spencer Reid maybe related to Sherlock Holmes, all we have to do is look at his wiki entry and we see a very similar description to Sherlock.
Spencer Reid is a member of the FBI's BAU on the popular show Criminal Minds. - when he started with the BAU he was 22, and the youngest member of the team. In fact he had to get special wavers to even join the FBI, let alone carry a weapon, and join the BAU. He holds at least 3 B.A.s and a couple of Ph.D.s, he has also demonstrated some medical knowledge. With the BAU, he helps puts serial kills and other really bad people away.
He has a genius level IQ, eidetic memory and Asperger's syndrome, as well as some tenancies to be OCD. Sound like some one else we know?
Reid was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada by his mother Diana Reid. His father is William Reid, but left when Spencer was 10. Spencer on many different occasions has stated that Sherlock Holmes has influenced his life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Reid
So clearly I can see how Sherlock Holmes was a major influence in creating Spencer Reid. But this is about how he maybe related to Sherlock, not just influenced by him. It may not be so easy to make a connection to the Lone Ranger or Green Hornet. The name is a give away for me however, it's hard to think those characters didn't have some influence on who Spencer is.
Remember the website above that I we'd get back to, the site that claims Nero Wolfe is Sherlock's son. That site makes some pretty interesting connections over many many different books, tv shows, series, movies. It's called "The Wold Newton Universe" and he can explain it much better than me. I'll attempt to hit the high lights thou of the "Universe".
http://www.pjfarmer.com/woldnewton/Pulp.htm
"The Wold Newton Family is a
group of heroic and villainous literary figures that science
fiction author Philip José Farmer postulated belonged to the
same genetic family. Some of these characters are adventurers,
some are detectives, some explorers and scientists, some
espionage agents, and some are evil geniuses."
"According to Mr. Farmer, the Wold Neton family originated when a radioactive meteor landed in Wold Newton, England, in the year 1795."
"The radiation caused a genetic mutation in those present, which endowed many of their descendants with extremely high intelligence and strength, as well as an exceptional capacity and drive to perform good, or, as the case may be, evil deeds."
The web goes on to list some of the people who are included in "The Wold Newton Universe". Two names caught my eye, Lone Ranger (and by extension his family) and Sherlock Holmes (and by extension his family)
The website goes on to give some very detailed accounts of and reasoning for links between seemingly unrelated people.
http://www.pjfarmer.com/secret/chron/chron/chron10-revised.htm
But despite all of the work already done on this site, and even the Reid Family Tree they did, there is still no reason to think Spencer is related.
http://www.pjfarmer.com/secret/graphictrees/reidfamily1.gif
So, let's keep looking for some other clues that may not have been picked up on.
Let's look at Spencer's parents. Diana and William Reid.
We assume Reid is Diana's married name, but what if (just what if) Her name was Reid when she married William Reid. While this doesn't happen often, it more common than people think. We really don't know much about Diane despite Spencer talking about her from time to time, and her help with some of the BAU cases. We know she has a high IQ (genius level) even thou it has never been said what her IQ is. We know she raised Spencer pretty much as a single mother. We know that she has schizophrenia. We know she was a teacher. We know she is still living in Las Vegas, at a sanatorium. We know she has a fear of flying. We also know that when Spencer was very young she witnesses the murder of Gary Michaels.
A few other things we know, Her favourite author is Margery Kempe and she use to smoke.
http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/Diana_Reid
Unfortunately we don't know her age, but the actor that plays her is Jane Lynch, who was born in 1960 (making her at the time of this writing roughly 56). So we can make a couple of educated guesses here, and say that Diana Reid would be in her mid-50s, and very likely no older than 60.
We don't know and don't really have enough information to really guess.
But here is something interesting:
From the Reid Family Tree (http://www.pjfarmer.com/secret/graphictrees/reidfamily1.gif), we do find a daughter of Britt Reid II and Ruth Hopkins who has a name of Diana Reid. The bad part the date listed she was born in 1947. That would make her 69 or 70 in 2016. And probably too old to be "our Diana Reid". It could be that the date on the Tree is wrong, And maybe it's should be 1957...That would make her 59/60 in 2016 - hmmmm it's on the high end of what I think Spencer's mother would be, but it is in the range of possibilities.
Let's see if we can find out any traits or habits that Brett Reid II daughter might have, if we can.
So I go back and see if I can find anything in the 1941 to 1970 section of "The Wold Newton Universe"
http://www.pjfarmer.com/secret/chron/chron/chron9-revised.htm
nothing is said about Diana Reid, but Brett Reid II took up the mantle of The Green Hornet in 1966. If my reasoning that the date is wrong, at the time her father took over Green Hornet she would have been 9. It seems very unlikely that a new father would go on dangerous missions in the underworld with such a young child at home. However if the 1947 date is correct, she would have been 19, and most likely would have understood why he needed to do this.
It seems like a bust..... But I'll put yet another hypothetical in play - it appears little is know of 1947 Diana Reid - could it be possible that she had a daughter in the 1960s (1964/1965) - and named the daughter after her (?) That would make her daughter 52/53 in 2016, and She would have been 17 or 18 at the time of the birth - a hard life no doubt, but very modern. And with the Reid family money it wouldn't be that hard to image raising a strong very intelligent female.
Don't buy any of that - ok, let's look at Spencer's father - William Reid.
We don't know very much at all about William at all.
For the most part, He is an Attorney, He still lives in Las Vegas, his favourite author is Isaac Asimov, he likes cats, drives a Prius, still works at the same law firm (Kierschenbaum, Wieder, and Moore) He has also keep an eye on Spencer via news reports and electronic means.
We don't know his age either, but again, the actor that plays him was born in 1959. IF we base Williams age on that - it would make him 56/57 in 2016.
http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/William_Reid
That doesn't really help at all, on the Reid family tree that is no one even close to being named William. But wait, I'm not done digging into the "Spencer Reid" family. (But here is were it's going to get weird again).
On Both Diana Reid's entry and William Reid's entry There are two people listed.
Daniel (brother (in-law); deceased) and Ethel (sister (in-law)) - The thing is they are listed the same way on both entry pages- and there is no more information about them (More digging is needed) Also no last names are given, I have to figure they are both Reid's on Spencer's page Daniel is listed as his UNCLE! and deceased....Do we finally have a solid connection to the Reid Family Line in "The Wold Newton Universe" I'm not sure, there is a Daniel Reid III listed as being born in 1983 on the family tree - It's listed that Daniel is still alive however, and would be roughly the same age as Spencer. Also thou, there are many Daniel's listed on the family tree, so based on the name alone it fits very well into "The Wold Newton Universe".
We don't know at this point (we may never know) - Spencer Reid's middle name, if he has a middle name.
It would make things very interesting if his full name was "Spencer Daniel Reid"
Not just in the fact that there is a Daniel Reid III listed with a very close birth year, and very close to the age. But it would almost certainly firmly cement him in the "Lone Ranger - Reid line"
I've said money a few times now so - let's think for a few minutes. Spencer effectually supports two houses, Himself, and his mother.
While it's true Spencer could count cards or had systems that got him banned from casinos, that isn't how he made his money. He's just too honest to do that.
He does work for the FBI we don't know what his pay grade is. Based on his age, he's been with the BAU 7 or 8 years - if we just guess he gets a pay raise every year that would make him a G3 step 7/8 or 31500/32252. He may get additional pay for BAU, hazardous duty, etc. But let's face it he doesn't make a lot of money.
Where does money come from, how did he pay for school? -the answer - The Reid Family Money.
My prediction is sometime in the future it will be reviled that he had a great uncle who was a Texas Ranger.
Geographically there are some similarity as well - Nevada, and Texas, Brett Reid lived in New York, and Washington DC is a short train ride away. So while not prove, all the players are located in a very similar area.
Let's move on to Sherlock Holmes - I'm going to keep this one brief
and point to a few things I already touched on.
Sherlock had a son name Nero, Nero (possibly) has a son named Spencer Holmes.
Spencer Reid shares trades common with Sherlock Holmes, in most respects he is a modern interpretation of Holmes.
Spencer's first name is Spencer - it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to name someone after someone in your family, even if distant cousins.
Despite these things hitting us in the face with each episode, I have found little to nothing to backup any idea that Spencer Reid maybe related to Sherlock.
It is much more likely that Sherlock did inspire the writers to create Spencer Reid, and that he is really related to Brett Reid/Daniel Reid/John Reid and is carrying on the "family" business of taking out the bad guys.
I didn't just base this idea off the name, there are some other things that make me believe it. For instance Lone Ranger, Green Hornet and Spencer Reid all fight against crime syndicates.
Each has dawned a mask to help (or try) to save someone else.
The Lone Ranger was a Law Man (Texas Ranger) -
(Here is another IF) - IF Texas were not part of the United States, The Texas Rangers would serve very much in the same role as the FBI, and U.S. Marshals combined.
It is not any stretch of the imagination that a great grand nephew of the Lone Ranger would want to go into that type of work, but on a bigger scale (all of the U.S. not just Texas).
There are other little things
Like I think Gideon early on gave Reid a bullet. And think that bullet was silver - Reid carried the bullet with him for a period of time. (Time to rewatch the first few seasons)
