Aaron Hotchner

Aaron Hotchner
Criminal Minds character
File:Ahotch.jpg Thomas Gibson as Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner
First appearance	"Extreme Aggressor"
Created by	Jeff Davis
Portrayed by	Thomas Gibson
In-universe information
Nickname	Hotch
Title	FBI BAU Supervisory Special Agent FBI BAU Unit Chief
Occupation	FBI agent
Family	Sean Hotchner (brother) Jessica Brooks (sister-in-law)
Spouse	Haley Brooks Hotchner (ex-wife; deceased)
Children	Jack Hotchner (son)

Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner is a fictional character from the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by Thomas Gibson. He is a Supervisory Special Agent within the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, and has appeared from the series' first episode, originally broadcast on September 22, 2005. Hotch begins the series married to his high school sweetheart Haley (Meredith Monroe). They have a son named Jack (Cade Owens), though they later divorced over Hotch's dedication to his job. Meredith Monroe's character Haley was later killed in season five by serial killer George Foyet.

Development

Gibson was cast as Hotch having previously starred in the comedy series Dharma and Greg. Of the transition to Criminal Minds, he explained: "It's very nice to do a little bit of the darkness after a little bit of the lightness. Variety is the spice of life. I enjoy both and hopefully I will be able to do as big a variety as I possibly can." Gibson's family lives in San Antonio, Texas, while he commutes to Los Angeles to film Criminal Minds on a weekly basis, something he feels gives him an insight into Hotch's divided priorities. Discussing the effect working in the BAU has on the agents' personal lives, Gibson opined: "I think it can't help but take some toll. And the first casualty may not be the agents themselves, but their families, spouses and children." Prior to Hotch and Haley's divorce, in a 2007 interview Gibson stated that he hoped the two would make their relationship last, explaining: "Marriage can certainly survive lots of hardships. You think about in real life the marriages that survive. They certainly suffer... and I think it's going to be very interesting to see how they work it out because I know it's certainly taking its toll. Haley wanted the marriage to work out." Discussing the conflict between Hotch's career and home life, Gibson detailed:

He knows his family is getting the short shift. He knows his job is costing him in time spent with his wife and son. I think he's sincere when he says he wants to be there for his family. But it's really, really hard doing what they do - being on call and dedicated to the job. To be able to pull both of those things off, I think that his ambitions have to come face to face with a certain reality that's in contradiction with what he thought was possible. It'll be very interesting to see how it all shakes out, because I think his realistic appraisal of all the balls he thought he was capable of keeping in the air at the same time - something's gotta give... I'm not sure he's reconciled what's gotta give. His job is very important.

Gibson characterized Hotch as having "moments of levity", but continued: "Unfortunately, he has a very, very, probably-dusty-it's-so-dry sense of humor. It's pretty dark. It's pretty bone dry. We all need a little levity, but I wouldn't necessarily look for him to break into song and dance. I think Hotch feels there's a lot at stake all the time." Prior to the departure of Mandy Patinkin's Jason Gideon from the series, Gibson described Gideon and Hotch as "an old married couple", deeming them father figures to the rest of the BAU and professional peers to one another. Of Hotch's relationship with the rest of the BAU team, Gibson commented:

I think they all know he is dedicated to doing the job. I think he understands how to negotiate both his responsibilities to the team and his own responsibilities to the job and put aside some of the things that might be sources of conflict within the time. When you spend that much time with people you're going to have conflict, and he's aware of that... There's also a kind of detachment that has to be there for you to do this job acceptably, but at the same time there's a very engaged quality to the work where you have to dedicate yourself to the idea that you're putting yourself in these criminals' shoes, because that's how they're effective at doing it.

Before Gibson was cast in the role, the character was originally envisioned as a "blonde haired, blue-eyed Mormon".

Storylines

Backstory

Hotch first met his future wife Haley Brooks in high school. They married soon thereafter, and were initially happy together. Before joining the FBI, Hotch worked as a prosecutor^E301 for the District Attorney's office.^E319 He has a younger brother named Sean (Eric Johnson), a New York City-based chef.^E116 His mother is an alumna of Mary Baldwin College - home of the Squirrels - in Staunton, VA ("Blood Hungry"). Their father was a workaholic lawyer who survived cancer,^E219 and suffered a heart attack at 47, dying while Sean was still a child.^E116

Upon joining the FBI, Hotch was initially assigned to the Field Office in Seattle, Washington, before transferring to Quantico, Virginia.

In season 1 episode 8, Hotchner spoke to a serial killer, Vincent Perotta (Patrick Kilpatrick), and discussed the physical abuse he suffered as a child at the hands of his father. At the end of the episode, it was strongly implied that Hotch suffered similar abuse, and that his mother knew but did nothing to prevent it.

Criminal Minds

Following the birth of his son Jack, Hotch's work with the BAU began disrupting his family life. Following a two-week suspension in 2007 (engineered by office rival Section Chief Erin Strauss after a case at a college campus in Flagstaff, Arizona that ended in disaster when the serial killer, Nathan Tubbs and copycat killer, Anna Begley both died), he requested a transfer to a different division, which pleased Haley, until Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore) convinced him to help the team with a case in Milwaukee. He changed his mind about leaving the department, and when he returned home, he found that Haley had taken Jack and left him.^E302 He was later served with divorce papers at work.^E311 Hotch still attempts to see Jack weekly, but is unable to spend time with him as often as he would like.^E416

At the beginning of the show's fourth season, it was shown that the car exploding at the end of the Season 3 was Hotch's SUV. Both he and SSA Kate Joyner were caught in the bombing outside the New York City Federal Plaza. Kate eventually died from her injuries and Hotch suffered shrapnel wounds and a punctured eardrum which resulted in hyperacusis, causing temporary hearing problems.^E402

Later in the season, the team worked one of Hotch's old cases: the case of the Boston Reaper. Hotch revealed to Rossi that he had maintained an interest in the case over the ten years since he had investigated it. It was also shown that the Reaper, a power-hungry predator, had taken an interest to Hotch himself. After being misled for a time, Hotch and the team finally identified the Reaper as George Foyet, the only one to have supposedly survived the Reaper by injuring himself. Hotch and the team arrested Foyet but he escaped from prison shortly after, going on the run.

In the Season 4 finale, "...And Back", Hotch was confronted in his apartment by the Reaper (identified by his trademark mask).^E426 Foyet stabbed Hotch nine times before delivering him to the hospital. Although Hotch survived, Foyet took Haley's and Jack's address from Hotch's apartment, requiring them to be placed in protective custody and unable to contact Hotch while Foyet was at large.

Following the encounter with Foyet, and subsequent loss of contact with his family, there was concern within the Bureau, and also on the part of Agent Morgan, that Agent Hotchner was suffering the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Hotchner's actions were analysed more closely . When Chief Strauss once again began putting pressure on Hotchner , Hotch decided to stand down as unit chief to avoid being reassigned to a different unit, relinquishing his position to Morgan. Morgan accepted Hotch's position, but stated that he would stand down once Foyet had been captured.

Shortly thereafter Foyet reappeared , baiting Hotchner through correspondence with an old Unsub (The Fox) who had since been imprisoned since being captured in the Season 1 episode, 'The Fox'. With the help of the team, Hotchner proceeded to track Foyet, who posed as a US Marshal in order to locate Haley and Jack. Having gained access to her home, Foyet had Haley call Hotch, where she realized what happened. While Hotch managed to issue a code to his son, Jack, to get him to run and hide, he didn't arrive in time to save his ex-wife, who Foyet murdered while she remained on the phone with Hotch.

Upon arriving at the house, Hotch found Haley's body in the bedroom and noticed Foyet hiding behind the curtains. A full-out fight ensued, with Foyet eventually surrendering, though Hotchner, enraged and afraid for his son's life, continued to beat him to death until the rest of the team arrived and Morgan physically restrained Hotch to get him to stop his rampage.

During an inquiry by Section Chief Strauss, the team demonstrated complete support of Agent Hotchner, despite Strauss's persistence in painting Hotchner's actions as premeditated. Her position towards the events eventually changed upon speaking directly with Agent Hotchner who, when asked what he believed would have happened if Foyet had lived, responded: "I don't have to think; I know that he would have tried to kill my son too." Chief Strauss concluded that Hotchner's actions were entirely justifiable.

After his ex-wife's murder, Hotch took time off to grieve and spend time with his son. He spoke at Haley's funeral. It was clear that Jack was missing his mother, and was comforted to sleep in his dad's bed. Hotch was offered early retirement from the BAU in order to be with his son. However, after Haley's sister, Jessica, offered to stay with Jack when Hotch had to go away, Hotch agreed and decided to go back to the BAU.

Since then, Hotch has attempted to build a better relationship with his son by being his pillar of support. Many of Jack's actions make it clear that he holds his father in high regard. For example, in one scene, Jack is shown playing with two figures at the dinner table. He explains to his father that one figure is Hotch, while the other is a "bad guy". When Jack's Aunt Jessica, who is making pancakes for dinner, asks Jack who is going to win, he replies: "Daddy. No one beats Daddy." In another episode, he refuses to dress up as Spider-Man for Halloween because "he's not a real super hero". Instead Jack puts on a suit that is slightly too large for him, and when Hotch asks him what hero he's supposed to be, he says, "I'm you, Daddy." Later on, Hotch is asked to coach Jack's soccer team when the team's performance lacks and he decides to do it with a little help from Rossi who he takes on as his assistant. At the end of the episode, Hotch and Rossi are shown coaching Jack's team and making them win.

Despite his many responsibilities, after JJ's departure from the team, Hotch has chosen to take on part of JJ's role as media liaison.

Hotchner considers his team to be his friends. He is protective of the team and its members, especially Emily Prentiss and Spencer Reid, showing particular concern for their well-being. In the episode 'Lauren', when Prentiss is tracking down her old nemesis Ian Doyle, Hotch calls in Jennifer Jareau to help find them. The team arrive too late to stop Doyle and find Prentiss badly injured with a wooden stake in her stomach. Knowing that Doyle would come back to finish Prentiss if he found out that she was still alive, Hotch and JJ fake Prentiss's death, even to the eyes of the team to protect her and get her out of the country with a new identity and enough money to be comfortable.

References

Episode sources

^E116 "The Tribe". Criminal Minds. Season 1. Episode 16. 2006-03-08. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E219 "Ashes and Dust". Criminal Minds. Season 2. Episode 19. 2007-03-21. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E301 "Doubt". Criminal Minds. Season 3. Episode 01. 2007-09-26. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E302 "In Name and Blood". Criminal Minds. Season 3. Episode 02. 2007-10-03. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E311 "Birthright". Criminal Minds. Season 3. Episode 11. 2007-12-12. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E319 "Tabula Rasa". Criminal Minds. Season 3. Episode 19. 2008-05-14. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E402 "The Angel Maker". Criminal Minds. Season 4. Episode 02. 2008-10-01. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E416 "Pleasure is My Business". Criminal Minds. Season 4. Episode 16. 2009-02-25. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E418 "Omnivore". Criminal Minds. Season 4. Episode 18. 2009-03-18. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

^E426 "And Back". Criminal Minds. Season 4. Episode 26. 2009-05-20. CBS. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

External links

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