Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds
File:Criminal Minds Title Card.png Title Card for the series
Created by	Jeff Davis
Starring	Current: Joe Mantegna (seasons 3-present) Thomas Gibson Paget Brewster (seasons 2-present) Shemar Moore Matthew Gray Gubler Kirsten Vangsness Former: Lola Glaudini (seasons 1-2) Mandy Patinkin (seasons 1-3) A.J. Cook (seasons 1-6)
Country of origin	United States, Canada
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	125 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	45 minutes
Production companies	The Mark Gordon Company (2005–present) Touchstone Television (2005–2007) ABC Studios (2007–present) Paramount Television (2005–2006) CBS Paramount Television (2006–2009) CBS Television Studios (2009–present)
Original release
Network	CBS
Release	September 22, 2005 (2005-09-22) – present
Related
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior Criminal Minds Game

Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005 on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) based out of Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI NCAVC which stands for the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.Criminal Minds differs from many procedural dramas by focusing on the criminal rather than the crime itself. The show is produced by The Mark Gordon Company in association with CBS Television Studios and ABC Studios. The original title for Criminal Minds was Quantico, and the pilot was filmed in Vancouver. In the Quantico script, Jason Gideon was named Jason Donovan.

On May 26, 2010, CBS officially renewed Criminal Minds for a sixth season, which premiered on September 22, 2010 at 9:00 PM EST. A spin-off of the show, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, has also been announced and is set to premiere on February 16, 2011 as a mid-season addition to CBS's 2011 schedule.

CBS announced in October 2009 that Legacy Interactive will develop a video game based on the show. The game will require players to examine crime scenes for clues to help solve murder mysteries. The game is scheduled to come out early 2011.

Background

Originally, the series centers on Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) and the rest of the BAU team. For the first season, that includes Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Jennifer Jareau, or "JJ" (A. J. Cook), and Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness).

During the second season, Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini) leaves after the sixth episode, "The Boogeyman", and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) replaces her in the ninth episode, "The Last Word", surprising both Agent Hotchner and Agent Gideon. At the beginning of the third season, Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin) departs after two episodes, making his last appearance in "In Name and Blood". After several episodes, David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) comes out of retirement in episode six, "About Face", to replace him. During the sixth season, JJ (A.J. Cook) leaves after the second episode, "JJ".

The frequently used term "Unsub" stands for "Unknown Subject" of an investigation.

Characters

Main article: List of Criminal Minds characters

Season	FBI Unit Chief	Supervisory Special Agent				SSA - Media Liaison	Technician
1	Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson)	Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin)	Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore)	Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini)	Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler)	Jennifer Jareau (AJ Cook)	Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness)
2				Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster)
3		David Rossi (Joe Mantegna)
4
5	Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore)		Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson)
	Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson)		Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore)
6						Vacant

BAU team members

Supervisory Special Agent/Unit Chief Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner

Played by Thomas Gibson, Hotchner studied law and is a former prosecutor, originally assigned to the FBI Field Office in Seattle. He is one of the most experienced agents in the BAU, serving from its founding. He struggles, unsuccessfully, to balance the demands of his job with his family life. His wife Haley divorces him in season three, and is killed by a fugitive unsub known as the Reaper in season five. Hotchner kills the Reaper and saves his son Jack, then takes a leave of absence, temporarily passing leadership to SSA Morgan.

Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan

Played by Shemar Moore, Morgan is a confident, assertive, and often hot-tempered character. A once troubled Chicago youth headed for juvenile delinquency, he was rescued and mentored by a man who is later arrested for child molestation. Morgan developed an interest in football and went to Northwestern University on a scholarship. He then went on to serve in a bomb squad unit and as a Chicago police officer. He holds a black belt in Judo, and teaches FBI self-defense classes.

Former unit chief Aaron Hotchner promotes him to unit chief in his place, a promotion Morgan sees as only temporary until the Reaper is captured. He returns the position to Hotchner after the Reaper is killed.

Morgan has a special rapport with Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia. He frequently addresses her as "baby girl" and helps settle her into her apartment to recuperate after she is shot by an unsub.

After watching Detective Spicer's murder in episode 5x23 ("Our Darkest Hour") and contributing to the rescue of Spicer's daughter, Ellie, in 6x01 ("The Longest Night"), he has shown a special, almost paternal, interest in Ellie. Morgan texts her frequently in season 6 and is helping her to overcome her PTSD.

Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid

Played by Matthew Gray Gubler, Doctor Reid, the youngest BAU member, is a genius who graduated from a Las Vegas public high school at age 12, and holds PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering, besides BAs in Psychology and Sociology; and is working on a BA in Philosophy. It has been revealed that he has an IQ of 187, higher than even Albert Einstein's, and has an eidetic memory. . He may have mild shades of schizophrenia or a form of autism such as Aspergers Disorder. He is habitually introduced as Dr. Reid, in contrast to the other agents' introductions as Supervisory Special Agent. The purpose of this, as explained by agent Hotchner in the pilot episode, is to create a respectable first impression of Reid, deflecting judgments about his age. He is godfather to Jareau's son, Henry.

After being kidnapped by an unsub in Revelations, he is drugged with Dilaudid laced with an unnamed hallucinogenic and held captive by an unsub with multiple personality disorder, who alternately switches to his own abusive father, the archangel Raphael, or himself. As a result, Reid becomes addicted to the painkiller Dilaudid but later cleans up after going to a series of addiction support meetings specifically for members of law enforcement. In season 4, he questions what his mother has told him about his childhood, and discovers that his father abandoned the family after the mother has a breakdown at a crime scene. His mother has paranoid schizophrenia.

Technical Analyst/Co-Communications Liaison Penelope Garcia

Played by Kirsten Vangsness, Garcia is the team's computer technician at BAU Headquarters in Quantico. She is not Latina as her surname implies; Garcia is her stepfather's name. She lost both her parents at a young age and then lived "off the grid" as a computer hacker. She joined the Bureau after bringing attention upon herself by illegally accessing some of their equipment; she was offered her job in lieu of a jail sentence. She usually supports the team from her computer lab at Quantico, but occasionally joins them on location when her skills can be used in the field. She enjoys a big-brother relationship with SSA Morgan, often engaging in a little comical banter, sometimes of a sexually suggestive nature, when he calls in for information. She is shot and almost killed by an unsub who lured her on a date. She is godmother to JJ's son, Henry. In episode 6x04 ("Compromising Positions"), Garcia tries to be a Communications Liaison and fill JJ's role. Hotch and Garcia agree that it would be best to split the duties among team members.

Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss

Played by Paget Brewster, Prentiss is the daughter of Ambassador Elizabeth Prentiss (played by Kate Jackson). After SSA Elle Greenaway leaves the BAU, Prentiss shows up with papers assigning her to the BAU. At first it is implied that she pulled some strings through her mother to get her placement on the team; however, it is later revealed that FBI Section Chief Director Erin Strauss placed her there to have leverage on a team member in order to later undermine Hotchner. Prentiss refuses to do so, declaring she would rather resign rather than help Strauss. She decides to stay with the BAU. Emily is also fluent in some languages, such as Arabic and Spanish, and has a working knowledge in Italian, but in the episode 2x20 ("Honor Among Thieves"), it is revealed that Emily has lost comprehension of her other known language, Russian.

Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi

Played by Joe Mantegna, Rossi is a highly experienced profiler who once worked with Hotchner in the early days of the BAU, then took early retirement to write books and go on lecture tours about criminal analysis, until volunteering to return shortly after Gideon's departure. It turns out he has a personal agenda for returning, to close an old case for which he covertly gets Technical Analyst Garcia's assistance.

Supervisory Special Agent/Media Liaison Jennifer "JJ" Jareau

Played by A.J. Cook, Jareau acts as the team's liaison with the media and local police agencies. She is dating William LaMontagne, a New Orleans Police Officer. The two have a son together, Henry. She did not return as a series regular in season six, due to the production company opting not to renew A.J. Cook's contract, but she did return for two episodes to wrap up her storyline. In the second episode of season six, JJ was forced to take a promotion to the Pentagon against her will, causing her to leave the team.

Supervisory Special Agent/ Unit Chief Jason Gideon

Played by Mandy Patinkin, Gideon is known as the BAU's best profiler. Prior to the series beginning, he was Unit Chief, but had a nervous breakdown after sending a team of six agents into a Boston warehouse, where they were killed by a bomb. At the series opening, he returns to his position after six months medical leave during which Hotchner filled in as chief. Gideon holds a security clearance and has provided classified behavior analyses for the CIA.

He is highly skilled at chess, the only member of the team consistently capable of beating Spencer Reid at it. He mentors Reid, and while it is an unwritten rule that the team not profile each other, he often provides moral support and encouragement to his team members when the stresses of the job get to them.

After a series of emotionally taxing cases, and the murder of his friend Sarah in his own house by a fugitive serial killer, he begins to feel burned out and passes team leadership back to Hotchner. The last straw occurs when Hotchner is suspended for two weeks by the team's boss — an action for which Gideon feels responsible. He retreats to his cabin and leaves a letter for Reid, who he knows will be the one to come looking for him. When Reid arrives at the cabin, it is empty except for the letter and Gideon's badge and firearm. Gideon is last seen remarking to a Nevada diner waitress that he does not know where he is going or how he will know when he gets there, leaving the diner and driving off.

Supervisory Special Agent Elle Greenaway

Played by Lola Glaudini, Greenaway was formerly assigned to the FBI Field Office in Seattle, Washington, and assigned to the BAU as an expert in sexual offense crimes. Her father was a New York City police officer who was killed in the line of duty. She is half Cuban and speaks Spanish.

Greenaway suffers extreme emotional trauma after being shot by an unsub calling himself the Fisher King in the season one cliffhanger. In the opening episode of season 2 she survives and returns to duty, sooner than Gideon and Hotchner would like to see. Several episodes later, while alone on stakeout of a suspected serial rapist unsub, she shoots the man in cold blood. The local police deem it self-defense, but Gideon and Hotchner question her ability as a profiler after this. She resigns, turning her badge and her gun in to Hotchner, with the declaration that this is "not an admission of guilt."

Supervisory Special Agent/Acting Media Liaison Jordan Todd

Played by Meta Golding, Todd is Jareau's handpicked replacement to serve as the BAU's Media Director during Jareau's maternity leave, from late 2008 through early 2009. Todd had formerly served in the FBI Counterterrorism Division, but only follows Jareau for one day of shadowing before Jareau goes into labor. Todd seems to get along well with most of the team, even flirting platonically with Derek Morgan. She is especially close with David Rossi, who is seen to counsel her while they are on cases. However, Todd clashes several times with Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. Later, she is overwhelmed by her emotions during the Los Angeles Freeway Killer case.

Supporting characters

Haley Brooks Hotchner

Played by Meredith Monroe, Haley was Agent Hotchner's high school sweetheart and is his wife and the mother of his only son Jack, born in late 2005. The couple's marriage is troubled, due to Haley's perception of Hotch being more devoted to his job and BAU team than to his family. This subplot progresses, and by the end of the second episode of season 3, Haley moves out, taking Jack with her. Later in the season, Haley serves Hotch with divorce papers, which he decides to sign without contest in order to save his relationship with his son.

Thereafter, Haley is occasionally referred to but not seen again until the first episode of season 5 when the Boston Reaper stabs Hotch and steals Haley's address. Haley and Jack are soon found unharmed, but Hotch has them put into protective custody, intentionally leaving himself unaware of their location for their protection. Hotch becomes obsessed with bringing the Reaper to justice so he can see his son and his wife again.

In episode 9 of season 5, the Reaper kills the US Marshal assigned to protect Haley, then lures her to Hotch's home, telling her that he is the replacement and that Hotch is dead. Meeting her alone at the house, he forces her at gunpoint to phone Hotch so he can hear his wife and son being killed. Hotch gives Jack a coded message to hide and says a tearful goodbye to Haley before the Reaper shoots her. Hotch reaches the house ahead of the rest of his team and engages in a life-or-death fist fight with the Reaper. He beats him to death, then finds his son alive in his hiding place.

Dr. Diana Reid

Played by Jane Lynch: Diana Reid is the mother of BAU team member Dr. Spencer Reid. Like her son, she has a genius IQ and was once a university professor of literature, but suffers from schizophrenia and is hospitalized in a Las Vegas sanitorium, where Spencer committed her when he was eighteen. Her husband William left prior to her diagnosis, because of his inability to cope with her illness. She is functional when on her medication, but frequently lapses into regression to her university career. Diana spent much time reading aloud to Spencer while he was growing up, and he continues to write her a letter every day. She is proud of her son, but is paranoid about the FBI and refers to his colleagues as "fascists". She features prominently in two cases in seasons one and four.

In season one, Reid feels guilty about avoiding visiting his mother, and does so in the last episode while investigating an unsub who calls himself the Fisher King. Spencer discovers she is able to identify him because he had been institutionalized with her. Through Diana, the man has learned details about the BAU team members, enabling him to construct an elaborate Holy Grail quest with personalized clues for each agent to find the girl he has kidnapped, who is his own biological daughter.

In season 4, while SSA Reid is investigating the abduction of a boy, it is discovered that Diana has a peripheral involvement in a related cold case of a raped and murdered boy. Spencer is haunted by nightmares of finding a dead boy and by vague childhood memories he isn't sure are real, including one of his father William burning something. This leads him to suspect that he knew the boy in his childhood, and that William is the killer. It develops that Diana was in a car with the father of the murdered boy (a family friend) when he drove to the killer's house and killed him with a baseball bat, after which some blood was transferred to her clothes. These were what Spencer saw his father burning, for her protection. Shortly after this, Diana started her mental breakdown, which led eventually to William's leaving.

FBI Section Chief Director Erin Strauss

Played by Jayne Atkinson, she is the BAU Unit Chief's direct superior. Her FBI experience lies in administration, and she has never been in the field, until accompanying the team to Milwaukee in 3x02 ("In Name and Blood"). She believes Hotch's team is disorganized, and he poses a threat to the BAU. Hotch suspects that her hostility to him is due to her perception of him as a threat to her own advancement within the FBI. She places Emily Prentiss on the team to replace Elle Greenaway in early season 2, then attempts to enlist Prentiss's aid as her spy on the team, not concealing her intent "to take Hotchner down." Prentiss refuses, and instead briefly resigns. Strauss then uses Hotch's and Gideon's handling of a case as pretext to suspend Hotch for two weeks from the BAU pending an investigation of his methods. After seeing first-hand what the team's job is like (while catching Milwaukee serial killer Joe Smith), Strauss eventually backs off on her attempts to remove Hotch from the BAU or reorganize the team. Instead, she makes it clear that none of the team members should expect to be promoted to any higher positions within the FBI.

However, a season later, Morgan is being looked at to head the New York field office, making her power to back up her claim questionable. She then uses Hotch's questionable actions since being stabbed by George Foyet (AKA the Boston Reaper) in 5x01 ("Faceless, Nameless") to force Hotch to step down as Unit Chief, be reassigned or possibly be fired. Hotch decides to step down and promote Morgan, as this internal promotion will at least keep the team together. Morgan agrees, but says he will only serve in that role until George Foyet is caught (episode 5x05, "Cradle to Grave"). Strauss heads the 100th episode investigation in the incident with Hotch and George Foyet. The team is hostile to her (Morgan and Rossi, most notably) and though she seems to have it in for Hotch, in the end she shows genuine compassion for him and clears him of any wrongdoing.

She later makes an appearance in the pilot episode for the spin-off Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, episode 5x18 ("The Fight"). She first calls Hotch about the status of the investigation. SSA Sam Cooper then asks for the phone and talks to her. She then has a few words with Cooper about going by her orders and investigating the case. When she tells him to return, he refuses. Eventually, she then tells Cooper by the end of the episode to get on the plane with Hotch and his team to return to work, saying that she has a pile of cases for him.

Once again in season six, Strauss proves to be only concerned with herself and appearances within the agency; going as far as to force JJ to accept a promotion to the Pentagon (against JJ's wishes).

Detective William LaMontagne, Jr.

Played by Josh Stewart, Detective LaMontagne was first seen in 2x18 ("Jones") as a New Orleans detective investigating a serial killer case which had initially belonged to his father. Detective William LaMontange, Sr. was a detective and had made a breakthrough in the case right before being killed in Hurricane Katrina. The unsub was believed to have suffered the same fate, but when evidence to the contrary arose, Detective LaMontagne took over the case using the work his father had done and a single clue carved on the wall by his father, just before he had died. Detective LaMontagne, Jr. called in the BAU to assist him, and they were ultimately successful in capturing the unsub. LaMontagne, Jr. spent much of his time on the case choosing to work closely with Agent Jareau.

In 3x17 ("In Heat"), it was revealed that they had been involved for over a year, and in 3x18 ("The Crossing"), JJ called Will to tell him she was pregnant with his child. In the season three finale ("Lo-Fi") Will showed up in New York City while the BAU was on a case, reiterating an off-screen proposal of marriage, and further telling JJ that he would be willing to give up his shield, move to Virginia, and raise their baby. As of early season 4, Will had moved to Virginia, and is apparently now serving as stay-at-home dad to their son, Henry. JJ has not, as yet, canonically accepted the marriage proposal, but they did exchange rings with insets of Henry's birthstone, citrine. He is seen briefly in the 100th episode getting medicine for Henry with JJ, as well as "The Slave of Duty," accompanying JJ and the team at Haley's funeral.

FBI Technical Analyst Kevin Lynch

Played by Nicholas Brendon, Kevin first appeared in 3x09 ("Penelope") in which he was required to search Garcia's computer to learn who shot her. Kevin sent the team live video alerting that the unsub was in the BAU headquarters. He was intensely impressed by Penelope's computer skills, and the feeling was mutual. At the end of the episode Garcia was introduced to Kevin, and the two have been romantically involved ever since. Though Garcia was briefly worried about violating FBI rules against fraternization after being "caught in the act" in her house by Rossi in 3x14 ("Damaged"), her worries did not bear fruit. Kevin visits the BAU often to spend time with Garcia, and seems to have been accepted whole-heartedly by the rest of the team.

In episode 4x23 ("Roadkill"), he told Garcia that he had applied for a better-paying job with the NSA, and asked whether she would be willing to move with him if he got it. Garcia struggled with this decision, eventually telling Kevin that the BAU was her home and she did not feel she could leave. Kevin then told her that the NSA position had just been withdrawn, due to a breach in security. Penelope let it slip that "you wouldn't have been happy in Karachi anyway," suggesting that she had hacked into the NSA mainframe to learn about the job. However, Kevin did not seem to be disturbed by her actions, and the relationship is, to all appearances, still going strong. In the fifth season when the team is forced to stay at a B&B with a limited amount of room making Penelope and Morgan stay in the same room, Kevin is seen talking on the phone to Garcia and tells her he is jealous and Morgan needs to 'keep his gun holstered'. He is seen briefly in the 100th episode and helps Penelope search for Foyet. Kevin was also seen assisting Penelope in episode 6x04 ("Compromising Positions").

FBI Cadet Ashley Seaver

Played by Rachel Nichols, Seaver is an FBI Cadet training at the FBI Academy in Quantico. She was recruited by Hotch to help with the investigation into murders at a gated community. She is chosen due to her unique background; her father was Charles Beauchamp aka the Redmond Ripper, who killed 25 women over a ten-year period before he was arrested before Ashley's 18th birthday by Hotch and Rossi. At first, they intend just to talk to Ashley but she insists on coming along, saying she can recognize the signs of a killer in a quiet community. She goes alone to the home of one of the victims, to return a laptop used as evidence, and soon after arriving figures out that the widowed husband is actually the killer. She is held at knifepoint before Hotch arrives to shoot the man dead.

Notable Unsubs

Frank Breitkopf

Played by Keith Carradine, Frank Breitkopf is a textbook psychopath. He is incapable of feeling any empathy towards others, incapable of feeling guilt or remorse, and claims no responsibility for his actions. Like others of his type, he is highly intelligent, manipulative and narcissistic. The BAU discovers that he always travels east and west along the same highway, and all of his victims were along his route. While investigating a series of murders, Gideon and Morgan meet Frank at a remote Nevada diner. Frank is interested in Gideon's name and explains to him what it means in Mythological terms. He explains that Jason comes from the Greek word meaning "to heal", and Gideon is an Isrealite who led his people against the Midianites. Frank wonders what his parents had planned for him. He then explains that Frank comes from the Germanic word for "spear".

The two agents then identify themselves and demand to know where "she"--Sheriff Davis--is. Frank explains that he is going to finish his milkshake. Gideon asks Frank if he would like to know how they caught him. Meanwhile, police cars have surrounded the diner. During flashbacks, the team realizes that Frank is sticking around town because of a local woman named Jane, an intended victim who had earned Frank's respect by not showing fear when he had previously abducted her years before. He had fallen in love with her, and had been passing through town each time he was in the area just to watch her and leave her gifts--wind chimes made of human ribs.

Frank is led outside of the diner by Morgan and Gideon. They are met by the local authorities, including Sheriff Davis, who had been found at Jane's house. Frank tells Gideon that if he is allowed to get away with Jane, he will reveal the location of a busload of children he has kidnapped. Gideon is skeptical, but eventually believes that Frank would not actually harm children. Gideon drives the two of them to the desert, and Frank tells Gideon that the children are two miles to the west. Gideon allows them to leave, locates the school bus and calls for support. They follow Frank and Jane's footprints into the desert, where they disappear. Gideon declares "We'll find him".

Frank appears later in the season in Maryland, where Gideon lives. Frank continues to taunt him, leaving a trail of victims behind as he challenges Gideon to catch him. Frank even manages to murder Gideon's girlfriend in Gideon's own apartment. Frank also kills Rebecca Bryant, the daughter--and former hostage--of Randall Garner. Gideon learns that Frank is now killing all of the victims that Gideon had previously rescued.

When Gideon finally locates and confronts Frank in Manhattan, "Jane" (Frank's girlfriend) appears and intervenes. Frank then grabs Jane's wrists, tells her he loves her, and the two jump onto nearby train tracks, and a train kills them. Gideon leaves the BAU in the beginning of season 3, due to the murder of his girlfriend by Frank.

George Foyet, "The Boston Reaper"

Played by C. Thomas Howell, he is first seen in the Season 4 Episode Omnivore. The episode begins with Hotch meeting with former Detective Shaunessy. 10 years earlier, the two had been hunting a serial killer known as The Boston Reaper, who always wore a mask and black clothing and would kill couples along highways in Boston at night. His M.O. varied between shooting with a .44 Magnum revolver, stabbing and/or slashing, and bludgeoning with some incidental object. To make sure the authorities knew he was responsible, he would take some personal item from one victim, place it on a second victim, and then take something new from the second victim and place on a third, and so on. Between 1995 and 1998, he had attacked 21 people, only one of which survived, until Shaunessy made a deal to stop hunting him, which was successful. As a result, the FBI, having never developed a working profile, was unable to catch him.

Hotch and his team are called up to Boston because Shaunessy is dying and knows that his demise will cause the Reaper to start killing again, which is proven true that night. A pair of glasses belonging to George Foyet are found on the male victim. Foyet is supposedly the only surviving victim of The Reaper. Hotch and Rossi pay him a visit to get information, where it is revealed that he was about to propose to the woman that was killed on the same night on which he was attacked. It is learned that Foyet has been teaching Computer Science courses at a local high school. Hotch and Rossi offer him protection, but he refuses to let The Reaper's attack drive him out of Boston.

The team develops a profile of The Reaper, believing him to sexually attracted to teenage girls, as well as a narcissist who thrives on fame. They decide to look for anyone who has been arrested for any sexual assaults. In the meantime, Hotch gets a call at his hotel from The Reaper, who offers him the same deal that was offered to Shaunessy. Hotchner blows him off, and in anger, The Reaper steps onto a nearby coach bus and shoots everyone on board. When the team arrives at the crime scene, they find each of Foyet's three addresses written in blood on the windows. The team then rushes to Foyet's latest address, where Morgan is knocked out by The Reaper. The Reaper vanishes, but not before stealing Morgan's badge and leaving a bullet behind to taunt him. After Morgan regains consciousness, the BAU finds a large amount of Foyet's blood. It appears that Foyet had been murdered by The Reaper, but his body is not found.

Garcia digs through Foyet's records, and finds out that he had been a substitute high school teacher, but was fired for sexual assault on a girl. Hotch then recalls Foyet's earlier statement about his fiance's murder: "Do you know long it takes to stab someone 67 times?" Based on the sexual assault charge, and knowing too many details about the murder, Hotch concludes that George Foyet is The Reaper, and that he had stabbed himself to throw off investigators. A reporter who is writing a True Crime novel about The Reaper is meeting with Foyet at a previously unknown fourth address, and Garcia tracks it from the reporter's cell phone. George Foyet then reveals his true identity to the unsuspecting reporter, angry because the reporter had written that The Reaper was either dead or in jail. While holding the reporter at gunpoint, the BAU storms the house and arrests Foyet without incident. However, while in jail, he inflicts an cut on his hand and makes himself appear to be vomiting blood. When he is rushed to the infirmary, he escapes the prison.

Foyet later reappears at the end of the Season 4 episode ("...And Back"), when he surprises Hotchner at gunpoint in his own apartment, saying "You should've made a deal." A shot is heard as the episode cuts to black. In the Season 5 premiere episode ("Faceless, Nameless"), when Hotch does not show up to work, Prentiss goes to his apartment to check on him. She finds a pool of blood and a bullet in the wall. When she calls the ER, she finds out that someone dropped off an "FBI Agent Derek Morgan" although Morgan is accounted for, meaning that The Reaper dropped off Hotchner at the ER and let him live. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that Foyet had shot the wall next to Hotchner. Hotch tried to take him down, but Foyet prevailed in the struggle. He then stabbed Hotch 5 times, but did so only to wound him. When Hotch wakes up, he figure out that Foyet let him live because he intends to go after Haley and Jack. The BAU then raid Haley's apartment, where they find her and Jack unharmed. At the end of the episode, Hotchner places his family under the protective custody of the US Marshal Service.

At the end of the Season 5 episode "Outfoxed", it is revealed that Foyet had been visiting Carl Arnold aka The Fox, an unsub Hotch put away in Season 1. In the following episode, "100", the team becomes hot on Foyet's trail again after finding an alias, Peter Rhea, that Foyet had been using to buy painkillers with at area pharmacies. They find his apartment and storm it, but find that he has already left, and is carrying several guns. They go to the home of Sam Kazmayer, the Marshal assigned to protect Haley and Jack, where he has been shot 3 times, missing 2 fingers, and has been left for dead by Foyet. Right before he dies, he reveals that Foyet took his phone and had gotten a hold of Haley. Foyet called Haley, posing as a US Marshal, and stated that Hotch was dead and that she needed to relocate. He manages to lure her to her own house. Hotch figures this out, and rushes there to save them. Foyet has Haley call Hotch, and she then determines that she is in danger. Hotch manages to tell Jack in code to hide in a hope chest until he gets there. Hotch does not arrive in time to save Haley, as Foyet shoots and kills her over the phone. Hotch gets there and finds her dead body. He goes upstairs, and finds Foyet hiding behind a curtain. He empties a clip into Foyet, who had been wearing Kevlar. A struggle ensues between Hotchner and Foyet. This time, Hotch gets the upper hand and beats Foyet to death.

Billy Flynn, "The Prince of Darkness"

Played by Tim Curry. Billy was born in 1955 in Southern California. His mother, Nora Flynn, was a prostitute who would put him in the bedroom closet and make him watch her have sex with her clients. She would also pimp him out to them on occasions. When he was 13, he finally snapped and shot her and a client to death, making the latter beg for his life before shooting him anyway. He was arrested and found guilty, but was released from juvenile detention when he turned 18, never making any statement as to why he killed his mother. In 1984, he began burglarizing houses across California (coinciding with the first known murders committed by real real-life serial killer Richard Ramirez, on whom Flynn appears to be based) and quickly escalated to murdering the residents of the houses as well as robbing them. He would strike when it was dark, either during lightouts or by cutting the power himself, torture his victims, rape the female ones and kill everyone in the family, usually leaving behind a single survivor (unless there are more children, as he never kills children), usually killing them using a .44 revolver. After a number of murders, he left California in an RV and continued his killings across the U.S. In 2010 (Our Darkest Hour), after 26 years of seemingly unconnected murdering, he returned to California upon learning that Detective Matt Spicer, one of his survivors, had a daughter, Ellie, and feeling responsible for her since she wouldn't have been born if he hadn't let Matt live.

Upon returning to LA, he begins recreating his original murders before abducting Ellie and her aunt, Kristin, and taking them to the home where he killed Spicer's parents. As the BAU has figured out his goals, Derek and Spicer goes to the house while the others are stuck in traffic as the power had gone out all over LA. Inside, Flynn ambushes Morgan and tied him up. When Spicer arrives, Flynn holds Ellie at gunpoint, forcing Spicer to surrender. After Derek promises Spicer he wasn't going to let anything happen to Kristin and Ellie, Flynn executes Spicer with a single shot in the chest and left, taking Ellie with him. After taking her to his RV, killing another couple on the way using an unknowing Ellie as bait, he shared his twisted philosophy with her, saying him choosing who lives and dies makes him like God. He then kills a motorist about to call the authorities after hearing about Billy's RV on the radio. Flynn then takes her along on his next home invasion, trying to form a "team" with her. After he kills the father, he learns that Ellie sent one of the family's sons to the neighbors to call the police. They leave and find that the residents have rallied together outside. Flynn steals the family's car and drives away with Ellie.

When the BAU learn Billy's identity through newspaper clippings about his mother's murder found in his RV, they contact Flynn by having JJ talk to him using the city's emergency broadcast system. She reminds him that what he is doing to Ellie is just what his mother used to do to him and reminds him that he is in charge and can choose to spare Ellie the suffering he endured during his childhood. In response, he lets Ellie go and takes a couple hostage in their home. He calls the LAPD outside and requests that Morgan enter, alone. He complies and confronts Flynn. When he shares more about his mother's death, he recounts how she looked relieved when he killed her and asks whether or not he just imagined it to make killing her easier to live with. He then asks whether or not Morgan believes in heaven. During his monologue, he is crying. Realizing what he is planning, Morgan raises his gun. Flynn stands up, raises his gun at one of the hostages and is shot to death, looking relieved as he falls down.

Episodes

Main article: List of Criminal Minds episodes

The first season ran from September 22, 2005 to May 10, 2006, and the second season ran from September 20, 2006 to May 16, 2007. The series' third season, ran from September 26, 2007 to May 21, 2008 and was interrupted in late 2007 by the industry-wide WGA strike. On May 14, 2008, Criminal Minds was renewed for a fourth season, which ran from September 24, 2008 to May 20, 2009. The fifth season ran from September 23, 2009 to May 26, 2010. The sixth season started on September 22, 2010.

Spin-off

Main article: Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior

The spin-off will debut on February 16, 2011 on CBS.

Television Broadcasting

United States Wednesdays on CBS Primetime 9pm Eastern Time Zone/8pm Central Time Zone

Australia Mondays and Wednesdays 8:30pm on Channel 7 HD

Canada Wednesdays 9pm EST on CTV

DVD releases

CBS DVD (distributed by Paramount) has released the first five seasons of Criminal Minds on DVD in Region 1.

In Regions 2 & 4, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (formerly Buena Vista Home Entertainment) has released seasons 1-5 on DVD.

DVD Name	Ep#	Release dates
		Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
The Complete First Season	22	November 28, 2006	February 12, 2007	April 18, 2007
The Complete Second Season	23	October 2, 2007	May 5, 2008	May 5, 2008
The Complete Third Season	20	September 16, 2008	April 2, 2009	March 18, 2009
The Complete Fourth Season	26	September 8, 2009	March 1, 2010	March 10, 2010
The Complete Fifth Season	23	September 7, 2010	February 28, 2011	March 2, 2011

Ratings

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Criminal Minds on CBS:

Season	Timeslot (EDT)	Season Premiere	Season Finale	TV Season	Rank	Viewers (in millions)
1	Wednesday 9:00 P.M.	September 21, 2005	May 10, 2006	2005–2006	#27	12.80
2	Wednesday 9:00 P.M.	September 20, 2006	May 16, 2007	2006–2007	#22	14.01
3	Wednesday 9:00 P.M.	September 26, 2007	May 21, 2008	2007–2008	#23	12.70
4	Wednesday 9:00 P.M.	September 24, 2008	May 20, 2009	2008–2009	#11	14.89
5	Wednesday 9:00 P.M.	September 23, 2009	May 26, 2010	2009–2010	#16	13.70
6	Wednesday 9:00 P.M.	September 22, 2010	May 2011	2010–2011	TBA	14.05 (to date)

Series high: 26.31 million viewers (10:30pm ET; week of 1/29/07) (following Super Bowl XLI-93.18 million, and Super Bowl XLI Post Game-57.34)

DVR ratings

The show ranked number nine in DVR playback (2.35 million viewers), according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data from 9/22/08 - 11/23/08.

For the week of October 10th, 2010, Criminal Minds ranked sixth in DVR playback (2.40 million viewers), and seventh in the demo playback (1.0 demo) according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data.

Syndication

The series is now in syndication on A&E Network and ION Television. Both networks edit the show for profanity; A&E likely for both timing reasons and the ability to air the show in marathon runs in the morning and afternoon hours, while ION is traditionally family-oriented.

See also

• Andrew S. Wilder

External links

• Official website
• Template:YahooTV show
• Criminal Minds at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• A&E's Criminal Minds site
• "List of Criminal Minds Episodes". TVGuide.
• Gamespy Article On The Game
• Legacy Interactive Offical Game Site

Preceded by Grey's Anatomy 2006

Criminal Minds Super Bowl lead-out program 2007

Succeeded by House 2008